Are 20H1 drivers also 20H2 compatible?

zebal said:

The older your hardware is less driver updates you'll get, so there is no point to delay because probably there may be no newer drivers anytime soon.

After contacting my manufacturer (Gigabyte) regarding updating the drivers for my motherboard (Gigabyte Z370 HD3) they told me they are planning to update my motherboard drivers but they can't because the vendor hasn't released any new drivers yet.

That's when I noticed Intel hasn't released any newer drivers for a while now. It strikes me because Intel usually updates their drivers after each big Windows feature update from what I know.

I'll try and test out your advice of installing the 20H1 drivers. It has been a long habit of mine to clean install a newer Windows 10 build version only if there are newer drivers for it that has been tested with it.

NavyLCDR said:

They are using their own version numbering system.

So there are users there who modify these files their own way and name them WHQL even if they aren't?

JohnnyGui said:

So there are users there who modify these files their own way and name them WHQL even if they aren't?

Hardware manufacturers will.

NavyLCDR said:

Hardware manufacturers will.

Ah, does this mean that hardware manufacturers like Gigabyte also put these drivers from station-drivers.com on their own websites? I thought they always use official ones like from Intel.

zebal said:

Independent sites such as the one you listed surely do not modify any OEM drivers because that would invalidate digital signature. (and you would know they are no longer original Intel or which ever drivers)

WHQL drivers are additionally signed by MS which means these are specially tested for Windows and can be included in Windows update.

Gigabyte and similar manufacturers may modify drivers but these modifications must again be signed by Intel which likely means Intel reviews modifications before signing drivers for other manufacturers.

As long as signature is in place you have nothing to worry about.

Independent driver sharing sites only distribute drivers, therefore users need to make sure they are digitally signed because this is the only way you know these drivers were not modified without OEM consent.

So station-drivers.com shares drivers modified by different hardware manufacturers all in one place? The fact that these driver versions are quite a bit newer than the ones from original driver developers (like Intel) should mean that they're modified somewhere right?

But this means that a driver modifed by, say, Asus for their own hardware can be used by a user with different hardware like from Gigabyte, since station-drivers shares them for everyone without mentioning for which hardware brand it is specifically intended.

zebal said:

You first need to verify driver signature.
Without this step there is no point to draw any conclusions.

Sorry for not being clear. My question was in the case of an Intel signed driver modified by say Asus. Can a Gigabyte user then use that driver without any issues?

Very few members here would recommend using station-drivers.com or any other third party driver program. Stick with getting your drivers from Windows Update, the manufacturer of your motherboard/computer or the manufacturer of the specific hardware device itself.

NavyLCDR said:

Very few members here would recommend using station-drivers.com or any other third party driver program. Stick with getting your drivers from Windows Update, the manufacturer of your motherboard/computer or the manufacturer of the specific hardware device itself.

I never installed anything from station-driver hence me wondering whether it's actually reliable. For me it has always been drivers from my manufacturer. Thanks for your advice!