driver updates | DriverFinder - We Make Drivers Work for You

How to Disable Automatic Driver Updates in Windows

By default the latest Windows versions automatically install new updates, including driver updates. Updating your PC software in general is a good idea to ensure maximum security and performance. But there are cases where driver updates are not desirable, and you need to disable automatic driver updates.

Some hardware only operates with a specific driver version. Other hardware devices need a specific driver version to ensure all functionality is available. You wouldn’t want a driver update to suddenly remove features, or introduce device problems.

Steps to disable driver updates

If you find yourself in a situation where you want to decide which driver updates to install and which ones not, you can disable automatic driver updates in Windows.

To do this, open the Control Panel and go to System and Security.
Next, select the System option, and click Advanced system settings.
Tip: type “sysdm.cpl” in the Run or Search field in Windows, followed by the Enter key to open the System Properties directly.
In the System Properties windows, you need to select the Hardware tab.
Now click the Device Installation Settings button.
This will bring up the Device Installations Settings window. Here you will need to change the option from Yes, do this automatically to No, let me choose what to do. And then select the option Never install driver Software from Windows Update. Next, click the Save Changes button.

After this Windows will still install regular software updates through Windows Update. But the drivers on you system are no longer automatically updated.

Disable automatic driver updates in Windows 10

For Windows 10 the steps are almost identical.

Start the control panel by typing “control panel” in the Seach box.
Click the Control Panel app in the search result.
In the Control Panel window, click the System icon.
In the Settings window, scroll down to the Related settings, and click Advanced system settings.
From here on the steps are the same as step 3 above. The only difference is the Device installation settings window looks a little different.

Disable automatic driver updates in Windows 11

The instructions for Windows 11 are almost identical to the instructions for Windows 10. Here are the quickest steps to disable the automatic driver updates.

In the Search box on the taskbar type “change device installation settings“.
In the search results, click Change device installation settings to bring up the Control panel dialog for Device installation settings identical to step 5 in the previous section.
Select the No (your device might not work as expected) option and click the Save Changes button.

Hide specific driver updates in Windows 11

Perhaps disabling all automatic driver updates in Windows 11 is not what you want. If only one specific driver update is causing a problem on your system, you would rather just not install that.

This can also be achieved. Ignoring a driver update (or any update for that matter) is possible in Windows 11 by hiding the update.

Here are the steps to do that:

Download the wushowhide.diagcab file from the Microsoft download page.
After the download completes, execute the file by double-clicking it in the File Explorer.
In the Show or hide updates window, click the Next button.
Next, select the option Hide updates.
Once the Hide updates option shows with the list of updates, select the update to hide and click Next again.
(In the example screenshot we have selected the Intel wireless driver update.)
Once complete, the window wil show Troubleshooting completed and show the update as Fixed. The update will now be ignored in the Windows Update process.
Click the Close button to finish and close the window.

Note: If you want to enable the update again, simply run the wushowhide.diagcab file again. This time, select the Show hidden updates option to re-enable the hidden update.

Keep in mind that if a newer update for the driver becomes available, that will not automatically be ignored as well. These steps pertain to the specific update selected only.

Of course we recommend checking and updating your drivers with our DriverFinder software. That way you can decide which updates to install and which not!

We just joined PLIMUS! If you …

We just joined PLIMUS! If you want to earn with DriverFinder via Plimus, be sure to check us out!

How to Install a Driver Update in Windows

Driver updates normally come as one, often big, single file. If the driver file has the extension “.exe”, that means the driver file is a self-installing driver file or a self-extracting driver file. Simply double-click the driver file to execute the driver installation process. Follow the instructions of the installation program to complete the hardware driver installation. A reboot might be required on the end of the driver installation.

In the case of a self-extracting driver file, executing the “.exe” file will result in the extraction of the compressed driver files. You often need to specify a destination for the driver file extraction. Once the files are extracted, you will see the driver files that are required to install the driver update.

However, if the driver update file has a “.zip” or “.rar” extension, you need to manually uncompress the driver files. Windows supports the “.zip” extension, but if required get a program like 7-Zip to uncompress the driver files.

Within the folder with the driver files, you would typically find a driver installation program. In most cases it will be called “setup.exe” or “install.exe”, but other program files with the “.exe” extension are also possible. Again, simply double-click these installer programs to install the hardware driver update. An installation wizard will guide you through the driver install process.

In the example below the “.exe” file is called “DPInst64.exe”.

install-drivers

Note: Make sure that you are logged in with Administrative rights when you want to install a driver in Windows Vista or Windows 7. Another option is to right-click the “.exe” file and in the popup menu, select Run as Administrator.

windows7-drivers

If there is no file with the “.exe” extension in the folder with driver files, you will need to manually install the driver update.

Installing Drivers in Vista and Windows 7

Open the Control Panel from the Windows Start menu. In the Control Panel, select Hardware and Sound. Next, select Device Manager. If the UAC message comes up, click the Continue button.

In the Device Manager, select the device for which you want to update the drivers. Right-click the device, and in the popup menu select Update Driver Software.

realtek-drivers

In the next screen, select Browse my computer for driver software. Click the Browse button, and select the location where you extracted the driver files.

After you selected the driver file location, click the Next button to update the drivers.

Installing Drivers in Windows XP

In Windows XP the steps to install a hardware driver update manually are almost the same, but the screens and selections differ a bit.

In the Start menu, select the Control Panel. Next, select Printers and Other Hardware. Next, select System in the left-hand panel (If you use the classic view, you can click System immediately).

In the System Properties window, select the Hardware tab. Next, click the Device Manager button.

device-manager

In the Device Manager, select the device for which you want to update the drivers. Right-click the device, and in the popup menu select Update Driver.

update-drivers

In the Hardware Update Wizard, select the option “No, not this time”, and click Next.

In the next screen, select “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)”, and then click Next again.

Then select “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install”, and click Next again. Now you need to select the hardware category to which your device belongs, and click Next. If you do not know the category, simply select the default Show All Devices.

In the next screen, select the Have Disk button.

hardware-update

The Hardware Update Wizard will now show an Install From Disk window, where you need to click the Browse button.

Using the file browser, you will now navigate to the location where you extracted the driver update files. The file browser will look for a file with the “.inf” extension.

inf-file

Once you have selected the file with the “.inf” extension, you click the Open button and the click the OK button. Windows will then show you the list of devices supported by the driver update, from which you need to select your device. Then click Next to proceed with the driver installation. When the driver installation is finished, click the Finish button.