Need to block audio driver updates on W11 Laptop

Fiveish · Nov 12, 2023

Greetings, I have a recurring issue: my Lenovo Yoga C930 constantly gets the "audio renderer error - please restart computer." The only "fix" seems to be reverting to one of older drivers from Lenovo, but Windows 11 insists on updating the driver automatically, causing the issue to happen on a daily basis. I forget what setting I changed about 6 months or so ago to block the updates, about a month or two in, Windows decided (possibly via a general system update) to automatically update it again, bringing the issue back.

So my question is this: how do I permanently block Windows from updating the Realtek HD Audio driver? Preferably without shutting down all of my other device driver updates. Any help is much appreciated.

glasskuter · Nov 12, 2023

You can disable include drivers for ALL devices if you want to maintain your drivers yourself.
You can see if option 2 in this tutorial will stick for you. Some have reported it didn't work for them. For others it has.

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

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable including drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Update will include drivers when available in Windows 11 by default. You can enable the Do not include drivers with Windows Updates policy to not include drivers...

www.elevenforum.com

I always make the following change as well.

Open System Properties by typing “sysdm.cpl” (without quotes) in the Search box on the Taskbar, then hit the Enter key.
In System Properties, select the Hardware tab, then click on Device Installation Settings.
In the Device installation settings screen, choose NO.
Click on Save Changes to exit.
Restart the system.