Windows is reportedly force-installing graphics drivers, ignoring user settings

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DragonSlayer101

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What just happened? Microsoft is reportedly force-installing AMD and Nvidia drivers on Windows 10 and 11 PCs, causing unexpected issues in some cases. Windows users can configure their update settings to include or exclude particular types of updates using the Group Policy Management Console. However, in this case, users claim that the drivers are being installed despite turning off the automatic recommended driver update option via the device installation settings.

One of the first people to have reported the issue was Twitter user @ghost_motley, who claimed Windows 10 and 11 are ignoring the group policy editor settings and installing driver updates even if that option is disabled. The issue was reported by Neowin, which scoured social media to find Windows users complaining about Microsoft pushing GPU driver updates ignoring device settings.

On checking the Windows Update install history on his own computer, Neowin's Sayan Sen found that the exact same thing happened to him as well. Microsoft reportedly updated the Radeon RX 6800 XT on his PC with its own drivers, even though he had manually disabled the driver update option via the device installation settings.

While the new drivers did not cause a problem for Sen, it did create major issues for at least one Windows user, who ended up reinstalling Windows to fix the glitch. According to Twitter user @adi6293, their PC started showing an error message following the automatic driver install. The message, which popped up on the homescreen after every restart, read, "Windows Update may have automatically replaced your AMD graphics driver. Hence the version of AMD Software you have launched is not compatible with your currently installed AMD Graphics Driver."

While the user ended up reinstalling Windows to fix the issue, an official AMD support document suggests that it could have been fixed by simply reinstalling the graphics driver package. To prevent unwanted driver installations from Microsoft in the future, AMD recommends you disable Windows Device Installation Settings by opening System Properties (search for sysdm.cpl), selecting the Hardware tab, clicking on Device Installation Settings, hitting the radio button next to NO, and clicking on Save Changes. Finally, restart the PC for the change to take effect.

Even if the fix is relatively easy, it is still a major cause for concern that Microsoft is ignoring users' preferences to auto-install drivers on Windows devices. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if the company will acknowledge the issue publicly and reverse its course to respect user choices.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99028-microsoft-reportedly-force-installing-graphics-drivers-windows-1011.html

 
I've noticed this a long time ago. I would disable Windows from automatically updating drivers but as soon as I would uninstall current ones Windows would push their older drivers right as I'm about to install the new ones from AMD.
 
Neatfeatguy said:
Windows 10 Pro for the win!

I outright stopped all updates, screw MS and their forced crap that constantly breaks things.
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yes
I personaly like win 11 more because its WAY easier to navigate to most things, but aside from that it way worse than 10
 
I've had this happen many times on my AMD rigs, specifically with the november driver being force installed. Extremely annoying.
p51d007 said:
I guess one could change their firewall settings to block windows update?
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If it was that simple the whole forced updates thing wouldnt have been such a shatshow with 10.
 
dangh said:
Usually it is simpler to install some Linux os, of you have that option and are fine with changing of the workflow. I'm sure ms will come with ideas to ensure they will be doing anything they want with you copy of os...
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I've almost given up on MS. I play around with Ubuntu in a VM from time to time.
I do a LOT of photoshop that won't run on Linux. Guess I could flip the switch and
run Linux as the main, and Windows in a VM and install photoshop in there. ;)
 
I am using German Internet monitoring software. I can see what my internext connection is doing per second in real time through monitoring a RT traffic analysis graph which is always on my desktop.

I discovered that even after disabling Background Intelligent Traffic Service windows would re-enable it and start downloading God knows what hogging my internet connection.

There were no updates pending for my rig yet Windows would keep downloading and downloading.

I used a hack to permanently disable Background Intelligent Transfer Service and now Windows has stopped hogging my internet connection and the downloading also stopped.

I am guessing that it was downloading NVIDIA drivers as I don't update these like ever b/c I don't play triple A games.
 
I have it on an Intel laptop...keeps reinstalling the old Intel driver from Win 10 updates....irritating.
 
I always use DDU to block the Windows Update drivers. That method still seems solid as I have yet to run into this issue.
 
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I've not had a issue with drivers installing other than the ones I choose. If it's optional like most are, they sit in the optional drivers section.
I don't know why some people keep having issues. Maybe windows isn't setup correctly or that pre built isn't very good.

My son has a pre built gaming desktop from MSI, he don't have any issue with drivers, he's using win 10. I am using win 11.
 
texasrattler said:
I've not had a issue with drivers installing other than the ones I choose. If it's optional like most are, they sit in the optional drivers section.
I don't know why some people keep having issues. Maybe windows isn't setup correctly or that pre built isn't very good.

My son has a pre built gaming desktop from MSI, he don't have any issue with drivers, he's using win 10. I am using win 11.
Click to expand...

I work in IT for a living. Its not Windows is setup wrong and don't even know what "not a good prebuilt" even means in reference to the driver issues?
 
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Are people saying Windows is force-removing current drivers to install older ones? Or are they saying that some versions of Windows will insist on at least a minimum driver level that may be required to adequately support Windows?

One policy seems a lot more reasonable than the other.
 
brucek said:
Are people saying Windows is force-removing current drivers to install older ones? Or are they saying that some versions of Windows will insist on at least a minimum driver level that may be required to adequately support Windows?

One policy seems a lot more reasonable than the other.
Click to expand...
Well, lets not gaslight people into thinking that this is a requirement from microsoft that newer secure drivers are being installed in the background. That is not what is happening. Anybody that uses windows can attest that windows update does not always have the newest drivers. What MS is doing here is forcibly installing a driver to replace the one currently installed on your system. Sometimes this driver is newer. Sometimes its older. Sometimes its a newer driver that was pulled due to stability issues.

Regardless of which one it is, this is causing system compatibility problems because these are not clean installs, they are being done in place without peoples knowledge, often while leaving digital debris behind, causing system instability, software errors, ece. MS has, once again, shown their incompetence with managing updates, and is once again ignoring the end user's configurations to force what MS thinks is acceptable.

There are perfectly legitimate reasons to keep older drivers. Bugs in newer drivers, lack of support for older hardware, specific configurations, ece. If I go into the settings and click "do not auto install new drivers", there is a reason I am doing that and the OS should not be forcing them anyway.
 
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This is so annoying and pathetic. I've had this issue for over a year on my work rig RX580, tried reinstalling AMD software, no luck. I don't see how to easily uninstall the 3 AMD drivers windows sent my way. I don't care to spend more time while my PC still functions okay. I get that same error message now but it used to be something different. (AMD error message- PA-300 currently takes me to a page that's under maintenance).
 
"AMD recommends you disable Windows Device Installation Settings by opening System Properties (search for sysdm.cpl), selecting the Hardware tab, clicking on Device Installation Settings, hitting the radio button next to NO, and clicking on Save Changes. Finally, restart the PC for the change to take effect."

LOL this hasn't worked for like a decade but ok bud. Also since when is this article news anyway? Windows has been auto installing gpu drivers and more since windows 10.

Allow me to teach you the proper way to disable driver installation. Write it down for later because basically no guides tell you the full way to do it and good luck digging I guess.

open gpedit.msc. with command prompt running as admin. if you're on home edition just stop reading.

navigate to computer configuration>administrative templates>windows components>windows update>manage updates offered from windows update>double click and enable the do not include drivers with windows updates and apply

next navigate to administrative templates>system>device installation>double click specify search order for device driver source locations and select do no search windows update for drivers and apply. In the same spot also double click prevent device metadata retrieval from the internet and enable that and apply.

close gpedit, open commmand prompt as admin (you don't have to do this step I just do out of paranoia) and type gpupdate /force and hit enter then reboot. you can reboot with shutdown /r /t 0 for purposes mentioned below if you want.

no more driver installs ever. best way to do this method is on a fresh install, internet unplugged and during the OOBE/welcome screen for windows where you choose your language, hit shift+f10 and command prompt will open. CLICK INSIDE THE COMMAND PROMPT WINDOW before u begin typing, its not properly in focus and you'll start choosing your language etc. when/if you immediately begin typing. type gpedit.msc and do what I said above. once done plug the internet back in, it's safe. you'll want the internet on during the oobe setup process I promise. I've seen weird things happen when trying to bypass windows setup process without internet. you can domain join on pro too. dont need online account. just set up an account for work or school and choose other options. its just a normal offline account.

now you're on a fresh install with windows updates never touching a single driver install...like the good ol windows 7 days.

sorry if this post seemed a bit all over the place but these companies simply don't know what they're talking about and it's a joke so I needed to step in. the world will fall if everyone thinks practicing the wrong methods will result in evolution. The evolution of failure maybe, which is the path this article will lead you down honestly.
 
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Theinsanegamer said:
If I go into the settings and click "do not auto install new drivers", there is a reason I am doing that and the OS should not be forcing them anyway.
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Yeah, all I was trying to say is that if Microsoft legitimately believes the choice is between updating a driver to the minimum compatible version, or not being able to output a signal to the monitor, 99% of users are going to want the former. Although even then I'd agree with you a better choice would be to simply abort the update entirely, display a message explaining the conflict, and wait for the user to clear the conflict by either updating the driver themselves or unchecking the box.

As to updating the driver for any other reason, and particularly an older one, yeah I have no idea why they think that's a good idea.
 
McKocoa said:
This is so annoying and pathetic. I've had this issue for over a year on my work rig RX580, tried reinstalling AMD software, no luck. I don't see how to easily uninstall the 3 AMD drivers windows sent my way. I don't care to spend more time while my PC still functions okay. I get that same error message now but it used to be something different. (AMD error message- PA-300 currently takes me to a page that's under maintenance).
Click to expand...
McKocoa said:
This is so annoying and pathetic. I've had this issue for over a year on my work rig RX580, tried reinstalling AMD software, no luck. I don't see how to easily uninstall the 3 AMD drivers windows sent my way. I don't care to spend more time while my PC still functions okay. I get that same error message now but it used to be something different. (AMD error message- PA-300 currently takes me to a page that's under maintenance).
Click to expand...
Its called "disabling driver updates" via windows update, the option has been around for years. However I only use pro/enterprise versions of windows, so cant say for sure if home versions respect that setting (it should).
 
fps4ever said:
I work in IT for a living. Its not Windows is setup wrong and don't even know what "not a good prebuilt" even means in reference to the driver issues?
Click to expand...
Pre built pcs are known for having issues due to manufacturer not keeping update to date updates which in turn plays havoc with windows. Its nothing new.
Windows, just like any other software can very easily be setup wrong. You are in IT and don't know this?
I don't know run into issues where my PC is installing drivers without my say so or knowledge. Likely culprit could be a possible pre built issue with their software or maybe windows isn't or hasn't been setup correctly. Just cause windows boots up doesn't mean it's setup correctly.
 
texasrattler said:
Pre built pcs are known for having issues due to manufacturer not keeping update to date updates which in turn plays havoc with windows. Its nothing new.
Windows, just like any other software can very easily be setup wrong. You are in IT and don't know this?
I don't know run into issues where my PC is installing drivers without my say so or knowledge. Likely culprit could be a possible pre built issue with their software or maybe windows isn't or hasn't been setup correctly. Just cause windows boots up doesn't mean it's setup correctly.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean and its not driver issues for OEM's as I've worked with all the major ones. The new Windows image can be corrupted (rarely, but it happens as I just had one with a new Win 11 laptop) but that is not the same as what's going on. You are confusing the actual issue we are talking about in the article.
 
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Stupid microsoft again, why dont they LEARN?
when I set to NEVER update drivers, then DO NOT update drivers. there is a fcking reason people set it not to update...

messing up printers
messing up graphics drivers
etc etc
 
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