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I've upgraded my PC from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro; overall it seems to be working fine, with small bugs here and there. One thing that I find really annoying is that Windows seems to think it is OK to install drivers and vendor-specific control panels for me.

I've always installed drivers manually to get around having all the bloatware (i.e., Realtek's audio management panels and other vendor-specific tweaking tools).

How do I stop Windows from automatically installing bloat on my custom PC, so that I can use the drivers I've exported from packages and binaries to get around bloats?

If I uninstall everything Windows automatically installed, it seems as if a reboot persists them and installs again.

Preferably I'd like to perform a clean install and have Windows skip installing any drivers automatically. Is this possible?

enharmonic
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Daniel
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  • http://superuser.com/questions/946957/stopping-automatic-updates-windows-10/946991#comment1291068_946991 the answers here are about deferring or shutting off "updates" temporarily at least, which is where the automated driver/software packages come from. Generally (but i dont have facts for win10) after you install fully the driver set for a specific piece of hardware, and it is mostly up to date, the updater will quit stuffing updater versions of drivers in. At any rate after you perfect things, getting a backup clone of the OS , you could then releace the dogs of update again. – Psycogeek Jul 30 '15 at 17:02
  • I actually disabled that function but still I got bloatware. Though it may have been so that the drivers installed before I got to disable it. – Daniel Jul 30 '15 at 17:05
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    And the only problem with being disconnected is getting the activation key stuff going once, which one might want to do before spending hours manually updating. . – Psycogeek Jul 30 '15 at 17:10
  • @Psycogeek Yeah, thats a big **note to everyone**: Update first, and get your Windows 10 activated before you do the clean installation! – Daniel Jul 30 '15 at 17:11

2 Answers2

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After 2 hours of angry web searching, I posted this question. And of course the next search I did yielded the answer I was looking for;

Note: Make sure your windows upgrade has been activated before you perform a clean installation!

Performing a clean installation with the Windows 10 ISO with the network cable disconnected seems to be the way to go. After first boot one have to disable this feature by;

  1. Open File explorer (Win+E)
  2. Right click "This PC" and select properties
  3. Click "Advanced system settings" and select "Hardware" tab
  4. Click "Device Installation Settings"
  5. Select "No, let me choose what to do" and check "Never install driver software from Windows Update"
  6. Reconnect your network cable

Windows will be activated sometime after you connect the network cable again.

Hope this helps others too, and save hours of anger in search for a solution.

Daniel
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  • Does this only apply to Windows 10 Professional? I understand updates are required for Win10 Home, but I'm not sure this applies to drivers. – ChrisInEdmonton Jul 30 '15 at 17:16
  • @ChrisInEdmonton I don't think this would be a Pro specific feature, best way to know is to check the procedure before you perform a clean installation. – Daniel Jul 30 '15 at 17:17
  • @Ramhound Precisely the way it should be. Windows 7 was optimal! – Daniel Jul 30 '15 at 18:09
  • If I set it to "Never install driver software from Windows Update" in Windows 7, will it stay that way during and after the upgrade to Windows 10? – marczellm Aug 25 '15 at 11:14
  • @marczellm I really don't know but my bet is that it wont. – Daniel Aug 25 '15 at 11:32
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    "Never install driver software from Windows Update" this dialogue is no longer there in v1511 – Moab Jan 12 '16 at 23:49
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    The text on this has changed to "Do you want to automatically download manufacturer's apps and custom icons available for your devices?" with "Yes (recommended)" and "No (your device might not work as expected). This has no effect on Windows Update installing drivers and does not prevent it. – Joshua McKinnon Jan 29 '16 at 00:27
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The best solution for Windows 10 updates is using a 3rd party software to install and hide updates.

It installs nothing, it is portable, it allows you to hide any update including drivers. This Software makes no changes to the normal windows update or your system (except for the updates you allow it to install) but does use the Windows update service, once you have hidden your updates and installed others you want, be sure to go into Windows Services and stop the Windows update service and then set it to disabled, or it will install the updates you hid using the other software.

So keep the windows update service disabled, the minitool will start it automatically when you run it, then disable it again when done using the minitool.

Originally found it here

Can be downloaded here

Double arrow = check for updates

Down Arrow = download Only

Down Arrow with underscore = Download and Install selected updates.

+H = Hide Selected Updates.

Trash Can = Uninstall updates from the Installed Updates menu.

Also if you do not want any automatic updates set the automatic Upades drop down to "Disbaled"

enter image description here

Moab
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