How do I stop Windows 10 from updating my graphics driver?

Every time Windows 10 runs updates (which I see no way to control), it updates my graphics driver. I like the old one because it is faster. So, I have to reinstall it. This is getting to be a pain. Is there any way to stop Windows 10 from updating it again?

Answer

There are a few ways around Driver Updates. Sadly most of them behave like a bull in a china shop. The easiest way would be to use the official Microsoft trouble shooting guide consisting of a downladable tool which enables the option to hide updates, as known from previous Windows versions. However this only enables you to hide a driver update; you have to uninstall it manually. The devices manager should help.

Details on the Microsoft site can be found at support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930:

To uninstall the unwanted driver:

1. Launch the Device Manager with a right click on the lower left corner of the desktop and a left click on Device Manager.


2. Located the device driver with the problem driver installed, right click and choose Uninstall.


3. In the uninstall dialog, check the box to Delete the driver software
   for this device if available.

To temporarily prevent the driver or update from being reinstalled
until a new driver or updated fix is available, a troubleshooter is
available that provides a user interface for hiding and showing
Windows Updates and drivers for Windows 10. You can obtain and run the
"Show or hide updates" troubleshooter by downloading it from the
Microsoft Download Center.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft
Download Center:

Download the "Show or hide updates" troubleshooter package now.

When you click on the download link, you will be prompted to open or save wushowhide.diagcab.
Opening wushowhide.diagcab will launch the troubleshooter. Then click Next to proceed and follow the instructions provided by the troubleshooter to hide the problematic driver or update.

There's also the option for some clunky, collateral-damage-inducing solutions I will describe as follows.

• Services - The check for Updates is a background service. You can change its settings in the "Services" windows. You could set it to "deactivated", for example, to completely block all updates. This is what I'd call collateral damage (but to be fair, most people I know used to never update their Windows, so blocking updates completely is back to status quo).




• A bit more sophisticated, but sadly it does not come with all versions of Windows 10 - Group policies: Set a group policy allowing only the Administrator-Account to start the Update-Service.

You'll find these options here:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows
Components>

..or..

Type "admin" in the taskbars search field, it should show up in the first entry. Type "services" to directly open the service windows.