How to prevent windows store from installing apps related to drivers?

I did a clean install to get rid of all the crap on a Dell XPS yet after installing drivers, windows decides to install intel graphics command center, and another app for the audio card and another for thunderbolt ports and probably more that i havent discovered yet

Yes i am certain these are windows store apps because it gives me the notification bar saying it installed it

The worst part is while the graphics app and thunderbolt apps are shown in the apps area to uninstall but not the audio app, i havent done the right click way yet

steve108 said:

Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10 this should do it

I want drivers, not the apps

dalchina said:

Open the Store. Check your library. Are they actually - really really - listed there?

If so, please post a screenshot. Thanks.

I mean its obvious they are there, not sure why it has to be really really listed there

dalchina said:

And which of those do you believe represent a driver? I note the Nvidia and Thunderbolt Control Panels. What happens if you uninstall those apps?

Also have a look at your driver updates at the bottom of your Update History.

There are tutorials which allow you to block drivers in general, drivers delivered via WU, and drivers for specific hardware.
None of these relate to the Store.

In the past, it has proved, for some people at times, to stop the delivery of Nvidia updates.

The waves max from dell is also related to a driver

For the video and audio drivers i installed direct from nvidia and direct from dell so i didnt use WU for those, yet windows store decided to give me these apps, the thunderbolt driver i did get from WU

I dont want to block the drivers as i need them i simply dont want the store to automatically give me the apps

When i right click to uninstall it does show the dialog box for all of them except for the 2nd MaxAud Pro that is installed, when i right click that to uninstall it takes me to programs and features but its not even shown there and that particular version is not shown in the store yet it automatically installs itself

I clicked the shortcut and it has this as the file location: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\wavesapo10de.inf_amd64_4dc188860e6d8a75\WavesSvc64.ex e /toast

I had the exact issue DELL XPS will install when Windows installed the drivers for my Dell printer via Windows Update. I then simply uninstalled the Dell Store app after that. After which, no longer does the Store app reinstall this unless of-course I had to reinstall the printer drivers again. But usually this will no longer be needed unless I reinstalled Windows again or had to install a new printer or in a new USB port.

Recently got a XPS13 9305 and have the exact same problem. Been googling for a while and find this thread.

I'm trying to fresh install Win10 21H2 on it, and only connect it to the internet for the first time after all offline driver are installed.
(drivers are downloaded from Dell's support page and saved on a USB drive before OS install)

Some of the driver installation packages doesn't come with a GUI / control panel / utility app to use,
and the GUI part will be downloaded automatically from Microsoft Store as an UWP app once internet is connected.

I guess this is normal behavior of modern so-called "DCH drivers",
where the "H" in "DCH" means "(H)ardware Support App" (HSA).

Any user interface (UI) components associated with a universal driver must be packaged as a Hardware Support App (HSA) or preinstalled on the OEM device. An HSA is an optional device-specific app that's paired with a driver. The application can be a UWP or Desktop Bridge app. You must distribute and update an HSA through the Microsoft Store.

Some of the HSA (GUI component for a device driver as a MS Store UWP app) examples are:

Intel Graphics - Command center
Realtek HD Audio - MaxxAudio Pro
Intel Killer WiFi - Killer Intelligence Center
Intel Thunderbolt - Thunderbolt Control Center
Alienware AW410K RGB keyboard - Alienware Command Center

Which I find
MaxxAudio Pro
Killer Intelligence Center
Alienware Command Center
Extremely annoying.

So the question would be,
Instead of uninstall those GUI UWP App (HSA) after they got installed.

Is there a way, by editing registry / some file, or by remove them from a "pending to install" list etc.,
to prevent some of the device drivers from installing HSA after internet is connected (like Alienware Command Center),
but still allow other drivers (like Intel Graphics) to get HSA from MS Store automatically?