[Windows 10 Tip] Disable Automatic Driver Updates Installation via Windows Update
We know that Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs all available updates via Windows Update without notifying or asking the user. We have posted detailed tutorials long time back to fix this issue and disable automatic updates installation problem in Windows 10 which can be read at following links:
- Fixing Windows 10 Automatic Updates Installation Problem
- [Windows 10 Tip] Change Windows Update Download and Installation Related Settings
- Forcing Windows 10 to Always Notify Before Downloading Updates
Windows 10 also automatically downloads and installs available device driver updates via Windows Update. If it finds any updated driver for your computer hardware or if it thinks that the available driver is better than the currently installed driver in your computer, it automatically upgrades the driver with the new one.
Following screenshot shows Windows Update automatically downloading device drivers in Windows 10:
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Sometimes it causes issues to the users. Many times users install a verified driver for their sound card, graphics card, GPU, etc downloaded from their PC manufacturer website and suddenly Windows 10 replaces the new driver with an old one downloaded from Windows Update.
Recently one AskVG reader “Rajiv Kumar” faced similar problem. He sent us following email regarding his problem:
I have downloaded the Windows 10 image using Media Creation Tool, and after perform clean installation when the Windows downloads and updates audio driver of IDT HD Audio, Tally.ERP9 release 5.5.5 is not working. How can I stop drivers downloading automatically? I didn’t find any option in Windows update setting to disable driver update.
Today in this tutorial, we are going to share a way to disable automatic driver updates downloading and installation via Windows Update in Windows 10. After following the methods given in this tutorial, you’ll be able to turn off the automatic driver updates feature in Windows 10. It’ll exclude driver updates from Windows Update, rest OS updates will be downloaded and installed without any problem.
So if you don’t want to disable Windows Update in Windows 10 but just want to disable automatic driver updates installation via Windows Update, this tutorial will help you.
We can turn off automatic driver download and installation with the help of following 2 methods:
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- METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
- METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:
METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type gpedit.msc and press Enter. It’ll open Group Policy Editor.
2. Now go to:
Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
3. In right-side pane, look for “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates” option.
4. The option would be set to Not Configured. Double-click on it and set it to Enabled.
That’s it. Apply the changes and it’ll exclude driver updates from Windows Update and now Windows Update will only download and install OS updates.
You can also disable searching for driver updates on Windows Update feature to completely disable driver updates download via Windows Update. Whenever you try to install driver for your device hardware, Windows may search for the best driver on Windows Update. So you can disable this feature as well and force Windows to install the driver provided by you only.
In previous Windows version, we could change the search order for device driver source locations easily using System Properties as mentioned in this tutorial. But Microsoft has removed this option in Windows 10. You’ll need to use following steps to do this in Windows 10:
5. In Group Policy Editor, go to following:
Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Device Installation
6. In right-side pane, look for “Specify search order for device driver source locations” option.
7. The option would be set to Not Configured. Double-click on it and set it to Enabled and select “Do not search Windows Update” option from the search order drop-down box.
That’s it. Apply changes and now Windows 10 will no longer download and install your device drivers automatically.
PS: If you want to restore default settings in future, simply set both options in Group Policy Editor to “Not Configured” again.
METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
If you are using Windows 10 Home edition, you’ll not be able to run gpedit.msc command because this edition doesn’t come with Group Policy Editor.
If you can’t use or don’t want to use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:
1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
3. Create a new key under Windows key and set its name as WindowsUpdate
4. Now select WindowsUpdate key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate and set its value to 1
5. Now again go to following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
6. Create a new key under Windows key and set its name as DriverSearching
7. Now select DriverSearching key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD SearchOrderConfig and set its value to 0
That’s it. Restart your computer to take effects and it’ll completely disable automatic driver installation via Windows Update feature in Windows 10.
PS: In future if you want to restore default settings, simply delete both DWORDs created in above steps.
NOTE: If you are not familiar with Registry editing tasks, we are also providing ready-made Registry script to do the task automatically. Download following ZIP file, extract it and run .REG file. It’ll ask for confirmation, accept it. Restart your computer to take effects:
Please accept my sincere gratitude for this post.
I had used only Method 1 (Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update -> Do not include drivers with Windows Updates) using Group Policy Editor but it was not working.
Thereafter, I have Enabled Configure Automatic Updates Policy with 2 – Notify for download and auto install option, and disabled Windows Update completely until Tally Solutions will address the compatibility issues with all editions of Windows 10 Creators Update (except Enterprise Edition).
Can I use both Methods to disable driver update, after Windows Update has detected required drivers for my notebook?
How can I reset the Windows Update list?
^^ As mentioned in the tutorial, you may need to apply both group policies. So first apply both policies.
You can also hide available updates found by Windows Update using Microsoft official tool. Check METHOD 2:
https://www.askvg.com/fixing-windows-10-automatic-updates-install-problem/
To reset Windows Update list, check out following:
https://www.askvg.com/fix-windows-update-problems-using-automatic-reset-script/
Since applied both group policy and reset Windows Update list using reset script, I am getting following message whenever trying to run gpedit.msc
UAC Alert: “An administrator has blocked you from running this app” mmc.exe.
^^ These methods has nothing to do with that error message. You might have changed or tweaked UAC settings or some other settings which are causing this issue. Did you try any 3rd party software?
No, Never, Not At All… I didn’t try any third party software.
^^ As I earlier said the script and group policies can’t cause the problem mentioned by you. There must be something else which is causing this issue. Try to restart your computer.
Thanks Vishal!
Tally.ERP 9 Series A Release 5.5.5 is working after disable Automatic Driver Updates and Windows Update on Windows 10 Pro x64 Creators Update (Except Enterprise Edition).
How to disable windows 10 update ? Thankyou
^^ Check following:
https://www.askvg.com/fixing-windows-10-automatic-updates-install-problem/
Great guide, however this tweak doesn’t work anymore in latest version of Windows 10 21H1
In addition to these tweaks, I found another online:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching
Adding “SearchOrderConfig” to 0.