Forum Discussion
Why does Microsoft insist on replacing video card drivers with every update?
This has gotten supremely annoying.
For years, every update that Microsoft sends out for their Windows product, every single update seems to include some sort of Microsoft approved video driver that replaces the manufacturers video driver, and renders some of my games unplayable because the screen output disappears...seemingly locking up my system. Black screen of death, so to speak.
I restart my system, reinstall the video driver, open the affected game and everything is back to normal and working.
Why does Microsoft insist on replacing video drivers? Cut it out! It's annoying.
1 Reply
Hi, I get why that is annoying. Windows Update may install display drivers when the hardware vendor publishes a driver through Microsoft, or when Windows thinks the offered driver is a better match for the device ID.
Things you can try:
1. Install the preferred driver from NVIDIA/AMD/Intel or the PC manufacturer.
2. Use "Roll Back Driver" if the Windows Update driver caused a problem.
3. Use Group Policy to prevent driver delivery through Windows Update on managed systems.
4. Hide a specific bad driver update using Microsoft's update hiding tool if needed.
For gaming/workstation machines, I usually prefer vendor drivers and tighter control over driver updates.
