Switch from PC manufacturer to Intel driver

I have an Acer Aspire E5-571 and am trying to switch from the graphics driver provided by Acer to the newer version for my graphics card available directly from Intel. The card model is HD Graphics 4400 and the CPU is a 4th gen Core i5 so I'm pretty sure this is the correct driver.

I have tried uninstalling the graphics driver through the Windows Device Manager, then rebooting and installing the driver from Intel, but I continually get the message about my computer having a customized driver from the computer manufacturer. It seems that as soon as I uninstall the driver, it is immediately reinstalled by Windows, thereby not giving me the chance to switch to the Intel driver.

Is there a way to manually switch to Intel's driver?

The problem is that OEMS often use customized hardware for which the Intel driver is not appropriate. I have seen warnings from Intel about this issue.

Thanks for the input and I know that is a good point, however I know that some people have had success using the newer non-OEM drivers. In my case, the latest build from Acer seems significantly older (10.18.15.4248) than the build from Intel (15.40.10.64.4300), so I'd at least like to give it a shot. Worst case I simple go back to the Acer version, so I'm all ears if anyone knows how.

TeeJay3800 said:

I have tried uninstalling the graphics driver through the Windows Device Manager, then rebooting and installing the driver from Intel, but I continually get the message about my computer having a customized driver from the computer manufacturer. It seems that as soon as I uninstall the driver, it is immediately reinstalled by Windows, thereby not giving me the chance to switch to the Intel driver.

Is there a way to manually switch to Intel's driver?

Yes, install it manually (not with the setup.exe) in the Device Manager. Don't let Windows search for drivers, use the 'I have a disk' option and point to the unzipped driver's folder, where the inf file is. Then it will be installed over the older version. I also recommend to disable automatic driver updates, if you have W10 Pro.

If you see any artifacts or sudden BSODs, then switch back to the manufacturer's driver because you have a customized system.

TeeJay3800 said:

Thanks for the input and I know that is a good point, however I know that some people have had success using the newer non-OEM drivers. In my case, the latest build from Acer seems significantly older (10.18.15.4248) than the build from Intel (15.40.10.64.4300), so I'd at least like to give it a shot. Worst case I simple go back to the Acer version, so I'm all ears if anyone knows how.

When you uninstall the current driver, don't reboot the laptop, install the Intel driver immediately after uninstalling the old driver.
EDIT: disable Windows updating your drivers in System properties, you could do this in Device Installation settings.

TeeJay3800 said:

In my case, the latest build from Acer seems significantly older (10.18.15.4248) than the build from Intel (15.40.10.64.4300), so I'd at least like to give it a shot.

I've always been confused by these numbers. For example I get 10.18.10.4276 from Windows update but the Intel driver utility recommends 15.33.38.64.4252

I don't know if it is only the last 4 digits which are interesting or if there is no correlation at all.

I tried the intel one (installed through their update utility) and it made no difference so I'm none the wiser really.

Another option would be to remove the Acer version and let Windows Update find the latest. That's how I normally install any Intel graphics drivers.

TeeJay3800 said:

I have an Acer Aspire E5-571 and am trying to switch from the graphics driver provided by Acer to the newer version for my graphics card available directly from Intel. The card model is HD Graphics 4400 and the CPU is a 4th gen Core i5 so I'm pretty sure this is the correct driver.

I have tried uninstalling the graphics driver through the Windows Device Manager, then rebooting and installing the driver from Intel, but I continually get the message about my computer having a customized driver from the computer manufacturer. It seems that as soon as I uninstall the driver, it is immediately reinstalled by Windows, thereby not giving me the chance to switch to the Intel driver.

Is there a way to manually switch to Intel's driver?

Check out this link, How-to: bypass "The driver being installed is not validated for this computer" , https://steamcommunity.com/app/23325...9190911446231/

Works like a charm, but follow instructions carefully. Not hard at all.

Between several different helpful replies, I was able to successfully install the Intel driver, so thank you all for the help.

I am confused though by the driver version that Device Manager is now showing. This is the driver that I downloaded and installed: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/dow...15-40-4th-Gen-

I believe that is the correct driver as it is for a Windows 10 64-bit machine with a 4th gen Core processor and HD 4400 graphics. The driver version listed there is 15.40.10.64.4300. However, after installing the driver, Device Manager lists the version as 20.19.15.4300. Does anyone know why that would be?