Many users are determined to prevent Windows 10 from automatically updating drivers, even if Microsoft stated that this is a positive feature, primarily for security reasons.
Try 5 methods tested by experts
If you prefer manually updating your drivers, you need to prevent Windows 10 from automatically doing it.
Changing some values in the Group Policy editor will stop your automatic driver updates.
If you are on a metered Wi-Fi connection, there is a toggle to prevent such updates.
We’ve also shown you how to block auto-updating on an Ethernet connection.
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The drivers are installed without users’ confirmation and that can lead to all kinds of issues, like unusable hardware, all-around underperformance, and, eventually, to the Blue Screen of Death.
So, we’ve prepared some temporary workarounds that will let you surpass the automatic drivers’ update. For more info on how to do that, check the solutions below.
5 ways to prevent Windows 10 from updating a specific drive
1. Use the Group Policy Editor
The first method involves manually tweaking the Group Policy Editor. All you need to do is access it and change some values to restrict updates installation on a specific drive of your choosing.
1. Right-click on Start, then choose Device Manager.
Find the drive you want to block updates on and right click on it.
Select Properties from the list of options.
Go to the Details tab.
In the Property drop-down menu, click on Hardware Id.
Select all Ids, then copy + paste the data in any text editor.
Press the Windows + X keys on your keyboard and type gpedit.msc. Select Run As Administrator.
Then follow this path: Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemDevice InstallationDevice Installation Restrictions
Select Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs.
In the Policy window, click Enable, and then Show.
Copy Ids one by one from the saved document and paste them in separate Volume columns.
Save changes and exit Group Policy Editor.
At the next update, you should be prompted with an error. That is the confirmation that the tweaks were successful and the selected drivers won’t install anymore.
This is a complex workaround that won’t work on the Home edition of Windows 10. You’ll need the Professional, Enterprise, or Educational version in order to access Group Policy Editor.
If you fulfill these requirements, you could try it out. Have in mind that it is not advisable to make rush moves since this is a quite powerful tool.
The main advantage is that the update is still enabled. Namely, Windows Update will still download drivers but it won’t install them. You’ll first need to find a hardware ID for a wanted driver.
Some PC issues are hard to tackle, especially when it comes to corrupted repositories or missing Windows files. If you are having troubles fixing an error, your system may be partially broken. We recommend installing Restoro, a tool that will scan your machine and identify what the fault is.Click here to download and start repairing.
Expert tip:
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Keep in mind that updating your drivers is an advanced procedure. If you’re not careful you can cause permanent damage to your system by downloading the wrong driver versions.
We strongly recommend a dedicated tool to download all the outdated drivers on your PC, on a schedule, not necessarily on a daily basis, to avoid certain conflicts.
2. Prevent auto-updating on a metered Wi-Fi connection
- Open Start and click Settings on the left.
- Go to Network & Internet.
- Choose Wi-Fi on the left side panel and click Manage Known Networks.
- Select your Wi-Fi network and click Properties.
- Enable Set as metered connection.
- If you are using more wireless networks, you’ll have to set them up individually.
Since Microsoft forgot to implement standard selection, we must use tricks. This is a simple workaround that will prevent Windows 10 from updating.
DriverFix
Let your PC performance peak by optimizing and updating all your drivers.
Have in mind that this shuts down the update completely, so you’ll skip on various security and stability updates. This makes it a temporary solution.
While a metered connection is enabled, PC updates are on hold. Consequently, your system assumes that you are using an alternative connection.
We showed you how to use an alternative connection or another limited data package in our great article about phone tethering.
Windows automatically sets limited connections to metered, but you can do it with your Wi-Fi, too.
3. Block auto-updating on a metered Ethernet connection
- Open Search, and type Regedit.
- Right-click on it, and choose Run as administrator.
- In the left sidebar follow this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersionNetworkListDefaultMediaCost
- Right-click on DefaultMediaCost, and choose Permissions.
- Select Advanced, and click Change at the top.
- Type your Microsoft account e-mail address in the Enter the object name box.
- Click Check name and confirm.
- In the Permissions for the DefaultMediaCost window select the Users group.
- Check the Full Control box, and confirm.
- Right-click Ethernet and choose Modify.
- In the Value Data box type 2 instead of 1.
- Save the settings.
When it comes to the Ethernet connection, things are not as simple as this. Apparently, Microsoft thought that all the Ethernet connections have unlimited data, and we know that is not the case.
In order to tweak the wired connection, you’ll have to use a registry edit. Have in mind that Registry Editor misuse can cause all kinds of trouble, so use it carefully.
Additionally, you’ll have to tweak permissions in order to make changes. If you can’t access the Regedit, follow our useful guide dedicated to fixing the Registry Edit access error.
4. Hide troublesome drivers with the Show or Hide updates tool
- Download the Troubleshooting tool.
- Let the tool scan for the available updates.
- If there are available updates, you can choose whether you want to hide them or not.
- Select Hide unwanted updates and then Confirm.
- When the next update occurs, selected updates will be skipped.
Since even Microsoft is aware of possible driver malfunctions that may occur after updates, they prepared a downloadable tool. You can’t block updates with built-in software, so this is a viable solution.
Microsoft presents this tool as a temporary solution, but we think you can use it as long as you want.
You should use this troubleshooter software before you install updates, so it is worth using it as often as you can in order to hide unwanted updates.
5. Uninstall malfunctioning drivers
- Open Search, and type Windows Update Settings.
- In the right section, click View Update History.
- Select Uninstall updates.
- Find the unwanted ones and uninstall them.
Moreover, you can additionally try to roll back drivers from Device Manager. This way you’ll retrieve the older, functioning version of the driver.
- Right-click Start and open Device Manager.
- Find a faulty device driver.
- Right-click it and open Properties.
- Open the Driver tab.
- Click Roll Back Driver.
If everything is as should be, you’ll get the pre-update version.
Therefore, we strongly advise you to ignore all Windows generic drivers and obtain drivers from the official site of the device producer. That is the best way.
Microsoft insists on automatic Windows updates no matter what the users say. If you encounter any error with the process, our about fixing Windows automatic updates will solve it for sure.
People were ignoring updates to previous Windows versions too often. And, in some cases, their system security and all-around stability suffered because of that.
That’s about it, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions, just let us know in the comments section below.
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