How to Prevent Windows Update from Updating Specific Device Driver in Windows 10


If you want to disable automatic updates of Windows 10 drivers, Shawn Brink has created some excellent, as always, tutorials, which prevent installation of new drivers for all devices.

Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10
Turn On or Off Device Driver Automatic Installation in Windows 10

These really work, if you want to disable updates for all devices.

But what if you want to disable driver updates for specific device(s).

Fortunately there is an alternative way which allows to disable driver updates for specific device(s). You can accomplish that by setting the Group Policy "Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs".

According to Microsoft:

You can use this procedure to prevent installation of any device that matches a specified hardware ID.

You can choose any of the hardware IDs that apply to a device, from the very specific to the very general. If you choose a more general ID, then you prevent installation of an entire set of devices, rather than just one device.

If this policy is enabled, in addition to preventing installation of the affected devices, it also prevents users from updating the device drivers for already installed devices that match the policy setting.

Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

Please have in mind that once you follow this solution you will not be able to update your driver, neither automatically via Windows Update, nor manually by applying a downloaded driver, for as long as the Policy is in force.

If you set the Group policy for a specific device, as outlined below and at a point of time you decide that you want to be able to update your driver, before trying to update, you need to DISABLE the Policy, as described in section B of Step 3 below.

These are the steps to be followed to set the Group Policy.

Contents

• Step One: Update the driver
• Step Two: Find the device Hardware ID
• Step Three: Enable/Disable Group Policy to prevent Driver installation for a particular device

Step One

Update the driver

You must first update your device driver to the version you want. It’s better to do that without an active internet connection, as Windows Update might try to update it to another version.

1. Download the driver version you want.
2. Disconnect from the internet.
3. Open Device Manager and locate the device you want to update.
4. Double-click on it, or Right-click and select Properties from the context menu.
5. Switch to the Drivertab.
6. Select Update Driver to update your driver to the new driver version, you just downloaded.

Step Two

Find the device Hardware ID

The process requires you to know the Hardware ID for the device you want to prevent its update. To do that:

1. You need to open the Device Manager again if it is closed already.
2. Locate the device again
3. Double-click on it, or Right-click and select Properties from the context menu.
4. Switch to the Details tab.
5. Under the Property menu at the top, select Hardware Ids.
6. For most devices there are more than one Hardware Ids. Usually the first two are the ones you need. The first one is the actual Hardware Id of your device and is specific to your device. For proper prevention, it is recommended to select the second one, which is more generic.
7. Right-click on the ID you want, and select Copy from the context menu to copy it to and save in a notepad txt document, for Step 3.

Step Three

Enable/Disable Group Policy to prevent Driver installation for a particular device

The Group Policy can be enabled/disabled:

In Windows 10 Pro edition:

• Using the Group Policy Editor, or
• By changing the Registry.

In Windows 10 Home edition, which doesn’t have Group Policy Editor:

• By changing the Registry.

 A. Enable the Group Policy

I. Setting the Update Prevention in Group Policy Editor

1. Open Group Policy editor, by typing Edit group policy, in Windows search or by typing gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter key. This will open Group Policy Editor on Windows Pro edition.
2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions.
   
   
3. Double-click on "Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs".
4. Change the status to "Enabled".
5. If you wish, you can also select the "Also apply to matching devices that are already installed", which will prevent installation or update of already installed devices. That means that already installed devices that match the Hardware Id, will be retroactively uninstalled and not allowed to be installed for as long as the Policy is Enabled (active)!
   
   
6. Click on the "Show" button.
7. Add the device Hardware IDs, that you copied in Step 2.
   All device values (= Hardware Ids) entered in this section, will not be updated neither by Windows Update nor manually by the user. Note that one hardware ID, per device, is enough, you don't need to add all the Hardware Ids listed in Device Manager.
8. Once done, Click ok.

II. Setting the Update Prevention in the Registry

Windows 10 Home, does not include the Group Policy Editor. That means that Group policies (most of them) can be set by making the appropriate changes to the Registry. These changes are the same, the Group Policy Editor when you enable or disable a group policy.

You can get a copy of all available Group Policy Registry settings in this Microsoft Excel document.

The downloadable .reg file below will make the following additions/changes to the registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions
DenyDeviceIDs DWORD
DenyDeviceIDsRetroactive DWORD

1 = Enable
0 = Disable

The DenyDeviceIDs DWORD is set to 1 when the policy is Enabled.
The DenyDeviceIDsRetroactive DWORD corresponds to the "Also apply to matching devices that are already installed" checkbox: 1 for checked, 0 for not.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions\DenyDeviceIDs
1 String
Value of 1: <Device Hardware Id>


Please use the following reg file as a template and change and/or add device Hardware Ids under the section [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions\DenyDeviceIDs]

Prevent installation of new drivers for device (the audio device is used as example): Enable_DeviceInstall_Restrictions.reg

Download

When changing/adding Hardware Id in the reg file, if the Hardware Id contains a backslash character (\), you need to “escape” the character by adding a second backslash (\\)
e.g.
For the device Hardware Id: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0282&SUBSYS_103C80C1
You should enter in the reg file: "1"="HDAUDIO\\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0282&SUBSYS_103C80C1"

You can increase the number of devices you prevent from updating, by adding another <Device Hardware Id> and incrementing the number e.g.
"2"="<Second Device Hardware Id>"
"3"="<Third Device Hardware Id>"
etc.

 B. Disable the Group Policy

To reverse the above process and allow device driver updates, you either disable the Policy with Group Policy Editor (Windows 10 Pro) or merge the following reg file (Windows 10 Pro and Home).

The downloadable .reg file below will make the following changes to the registry.

Remove the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions

Allow installation of new drivers for all devices: Disable_DeviceInstall_Restrictions.reg

Download

That's it. HTH

Dimitri