Windows Update Enable or Disable Include Drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 11

Jett said:

After reading this thread I am a bit confused. So is the consensus that the OP tutorial of either the gpedit or reg edit the way to go? Even with the disclaimer "This will still not always prevent drivers for existing devices from getting updated via Windows Update." is it even worthwhile?

Jett.................

Click to expand...

A couple of things stopped mine.

Winaero Tweaker - Great Windows 10 and 11 tool.





And the Chris Titus web tool. Pick the middle selection.





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Compatible with both Windows 10 and 11.

I personally use both but either one by itself will do...

@cheaterslick

Winaero works fine, BUT... some Windows Updates will UN-check the "Disable Driver Updates" in Winaero.
After any Windows update I check Winaero for things that MS turned back on.


The easiest way to check, after Windows updates... is to go to File > Import/Export, and pretend to Export your tweaks.
It will show you a list, like below, of all your tweaks. Take a screenshot of the list.
Then after Windows update, just compare the current Export list with the screenshot.





After a while, you'll get to remember which things MS likes to "undo".



Another option, is to actually Export the list, then after every Windows Update... just IMPORT your tweaks. ^^




_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




1. Make a backup before the Windows Update.
2. Do the Windows Update.
3. Check for any broken things. Then fix them if possible.
4. Check for tweaks that MS... undid. And redo them.
5. Run SFC and DISM...StartComponentCleanup. If they're OK, move to step #6.
6. Run Disk Cleanup and CCleaner (if you use CCleaner).
7. Do steps 3 and 4, again.
8. Make a new fresh backup, so you don't need to redo steps 1 thru 7.




I do the steps above, after every Windows Update.
Sooner than you think, you won't need the list. All this will become... habit.

cheaterslick said:

A couple of things stopped mine.

Winaero Tweaker - Great Windows 10 and 11 tool.


View attachment 119318


And the Chris Titus web tool. Pick the middle selection.


View attachment 119320

The Most Popular Windows Utility

This is the biggest update to WinUtil since its inception. It is now a full-fledged Windows utility suite. It has a lot of new features and improvements. It is …

christitus.com

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Compatible with both Windows 10 and 11.

I personally use both but either one by itself will do...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Cheaterslick!

Ghot said:

@cheaterslick

Winaero works fine, BUT... some Windows Updates will UN-check the "Disable Driver Updates" in Winaero.
After any Windows update I check Winaero for things that MS turned back on.


The easiest way to check, after Windows updates... is to go to File > Import/Export, and pretend to Export your tweaks.
It will show you a list, like below, of all your tweaks. Take a screenshot of the list.
Then after Windows update, just compare the current Export list with the screenshot.


View attachment 119323


After a while, you'll get to remember which things MS likes to "undo".



Another option, is to actually Export the list, then after every Windows Update... just IMPORT your tweaks. ^^




_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 How to deal with Windows 11, updates...

1. Make a backup before the Windows Update.
2. Do the Windows Update.
3. Check for any broken things. Then fix them if possible.
4. Check for tweaks that MS... undid. And redo them.
5. Run SFC and DISM...StartComponentCleanup. If they're OK, move to step #6.
6. Run Disk Cleanup and CCleaner (if you use CCleaner).
7. Do steps 3 and 4, again.
8. Make a new fresh backup, so you don't need to redo steps 1 thru 7.

View attachment 119324


I do the steps above, after every Windows Update.
Sooner than you think, you won't need the list. All this will become... habit.

Click to expand...

I always get the burger on the right....with a side order of 25 napkins and 5 wet wipes. Then I stop by the car wash to vacuum the trimmings from my car seat and floor.

Jett said:

I always get the burger on the right....with a side order of 25 napkins and 5 wet wipes. Then I stop by the car wash to vacuum the trimmings from my car seat and floor.

Click to expand...

Well, here's ten points for your burger bravery, and because you filled out your computer specs.

Jett said:

Thanks for the advice Cheaterslick!

Click to expand...

No problem. I just started using the Winaero Tweaker tool a couple of months ago, so it's fairly new to me.

I've been using the Chris Titus tool for about a year now and about once a month, I run that tool just to keep it updated. Works fine for me. The only thing you install is the Power Shell link to his server, and that's it. Nothing more. No clunky .cab or .exe software to install.

You can even see the Power Shell running through it as the commands you choose are being applied. There is also an undo function under that Tweaks button should you change your mind. He also has a built-in software updater under the Install button as well. All adware-free.

what's the best way then to have the optional updates but still getting notifications ?

on my other computer I get optional updates but on my main they are show up on the main .

I have Network Meter On + Windows update minitool notify only

Isn't SearchOrderConfig supposed to be set to 3 for having the driver updates disabled? @Brink

Boggy said:

Isn't SearchOrderConfig supposed to be set to 3 for having the driver updates disabled? @Brink

Value	Meaning	Behavior
0	Yes, do this automatically (recommended)	Windows automatically searches Windows Update for drivers whenever new hardware is connected or a device needs a driver.
1	No, let me choose what to do → Always install the best driver from Windows Update	Windows asks you first, but if you allow it, it will always pick the best driver it finds online.
2	No, let me choose what to do → Install driver software from Windows Update if not found locally	Windows prefers local drivers first; if none are found, it will then check Windows Update.
3	Never install driver software from Windows Update	Windows will not search Windows Update at all; it only uses local drivers (in‑box or manually installed).

Click to expand...

Yes indeed. Thank you.

Brink said:

Yes indeed. Thank you.

Click to expand...

There are multiple sources stating that 0 should be the value, but on older versions of Windows it was 3. We no longer have documentation to verify this as Microsoft got rid of that legacy UI, so I found no evidence to prove it changed to 0. Did you somehow verify it or do you have the means to test it?

Boggy said:

I saw multiple sources stating that 0 should be the value, but on older systems it was 3, and now we no longer have documentation to verify this, or evidence to prove it changed to 0. Did you somehow verify it?

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I saw the same thing, but found more for 3 instead of 0. If 3 turns out to be invalid now, it'll have the same effect as 0 anyways. Best to use 3 to be safe.

Brink said:

I saw the same thing, but found more for 3 instead of 0. If 3 turns out to be invalid now, it'll have the same effect as 0 anyways. Best to use 3 to be safe.

Click to expand...

I actually found the group policy setting which maps to those values, but this one is not in the same registry location as the one in the tutorial since it's a policy configuration. Here it seems 0 is the correct value, at least on my Windows 11 (24H2) and on latest Windows 10, can't find this policy on Windows 10 in my VM:

I'm still confused. Is it 0 or 3?

cheaterslick said:

I'm still confused. Is it 0 or 3?

Click to expand...

You can use either one.

If 3 turns out to be invalid now, it'll have the same effect as 0 anyways.

Along with group policy I also disable in advanced system setting.

KevTech said:

Along with group policy I also disable in advanced system setting.

View attachment 147449

View attachment 147450

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Unfornutately this setting is not useful on newer w11 builds starting with 22h2, 23h2 ect..

Brink said:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching]
"SearchOrderConfig"=dword:00000003

Click to expand...

On Windows 10, I always had to additionally create the "SearchOrderConfig" value under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching].
It would probably make sense to write it to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching], since anything under ...Policies... is automatically mirrored.
I also believe that the value 0 is the correct one here.

Brink said:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UpdatePolicy\PolicyState]
"ExcludeWUDrivers"=dword:00000001

Click to expand...

I've never seen that value associated with that registry key - is there an official Microsoft source for it?
Alright, alright — I suppose a bit of fun is allowed.

Cheers, Martin

Hi all,

I'm running Windows 11 Home, so I don't have access to the GP Editor. I am not a Windows expert. I have a Prolific USB to serial cable that works just fine with an old driver. The device is identified by Device Manager with two entries as follows:

USB\VID_067B&PID_2303&REV_0300
USB\VID_067B&PID_2303

Windows either doesn't like this device or insists on updating the driver with one that does not work. In any event, I can install the old, working driver and run the cable just fine. When Windows "fixes" it by assigning a non-working driver, I have to uninstall that driver and reinstall the old one. I'm trying to find a way to prevent Windows from messing with this driver.

I've tried .reg "enable" file given here with the device ID replaced with the first one on my list above. When I do that, Windows un-installs the device and then fails to install the old one rather than just leaving it alone. When that happens, I have to install the old device driver and reboot. On reboot, Windows changes the driver to one that doesn't work, whereupon I uninstall that non-working driver and re-install (again) the old, working driver. Upon rebooting again, I can use the cable for awhile until Windows decides to update the driver again to a non-working one. That is, using the "enable" file forces an extra install/reboot to get he cable working again, so I ran the disable .reg file. That put me back to where I started.

I noticed in this thread there is an option to navigate to "Device installation settings (use "Search" to get there) and set "Do you want to automatically download manufacturer's apps for your devices?" to No (your device might not work as expected). I decided to use this option, but I'm wondering what I've done. Will I now have to search for drivers anytime I add a new device? Will this setting prevent Windows from updating other drivers?

Again, all I'm interested in is preventing Windows from updating a working device driver with one that doesn't work for a particular device. Any advice from folks here would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

A different solution is to block WU driver updates for a specific device ID. This still allows you to manually update the driver, but not WU.

Windows update keeps installing older Intel Arc graphics drivers

garlin said:

A different solution is to block WU driver updates for a specific device ID. This still allows you to manually update the driver, but not WU.

Windows update keeps installing older Intel Arc graphics drivers

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I want to do, but I'm unable to figure out how to do it. The "enable" .reg file evidently is supposed to do this, but, for me, it does not work (see my post above). Is there some other registry key or setting that will do the job for me?

Thanks for any help.