How To Prevent Windows 8.1 From Installing Drivers Automatically
May 10, 2014
You can prevent Windows from downloading the latest drivers for whichever device, BUT you can't prevent it from auto-installing drivers that it already has for whichever device. Meaning, the below trick, does nothing and Windows still installs drivers for several devices after you uninstall them and restart:
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How can I prevent it from auto-installing drivers completely??
I am trying to troubleshoot a problem I am having with a non-typical HID device. The device in question is called a NEO2, manufactured by a company called Renaissance Learning. This device is used in schools for students to test 'smartapplets' on. These smartapplets teach things like keyboarding and math, etc. The device looks like a keyboard with 2x8 inch LCD screen on it. Typically you are able to connect this device to a computer and it will transfer the information to an application that can manage it all.
The problem that I am having with it is that when I connect this device to a computer, it should install 2 drivers back to back. This is how it had previously worked on all Windows operating systems in the past. You connect it, it installs a standard HID driver for allowing the device to be used as a secondary keyboard, then another driver to allow the device to connect to the NEO Manager software. Windows 8 will install the HID driver automatically, but not the second driver.
When I view the device in Device Manager, I can see it there with an asterisk by it, as if it knows that drivers were not installed properly. Right click the device, choose to update drivers and choose the search option. It will find the drivers locally (I know this since fiddler did not report any communication http wise) and then install them and everything is fine. So, this is my question. What has changed in Windows 8 that now does not install both drivers automatically as other versions have in the past? The drivers are signed properly, and I see no events in any section of the event viewer that would denote an issue. I also tested turning off the strict driver enforcement or whatever that was called, and it did the same thing. This happens on both the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 8. It works on all other versions from Windows XP to Windows 7.
The user account is automatically logged off from my PC Windows 8 though the antivirus program is still running. Thus, I have to reenter the password to check the program running status. How to prevent user account to be automatically logged off in windows 8? I have already selected Never in the option of Put the computer to sleep.
Windows 8 seems to detect my Xbox 360 and it automatically installs the SmartGlass app. While I quite like what SmartGlass can do, I have no need for it. If I uninstall it, it will just auto-install again next time I use my 360. How can I prevent this from happening?
Every time I need to do something on my external hard drive, it has to spin up. I'm using an SSD for my primary HD, so waiting on an external HD to spin up makes me have to wait 4-5 seconds for something to load when it's on my external -- I'm not used to waiting.
Is there a way I can make sure my external HD continues to spin regardless of I'm using it or not? I also notice that I have to wait on it to spin up when I'm shutting down or booting up.
I am unsure whether I should enable "Automatically get device drivers, apps, and info for new devices" when installing Windows 8 Pro?
What exactly will it do?
If I enable this, will Windows then automatically install software packages/drivers from the manufacturer, like for example the Logitech Setpoint software for their keyboards and mouse and similar software for other devices? I don't want or need that. Or will it behave like in Windows 7?
On my other PC with Windows 7 I see in Windows Update that there are a couple of optional updates, including that Logitech stuff, as well as some driver for a BenQ monitor I have and also nvidia video drivers. This kind of stuff I don't want or need installed automatically as important updates in Windows Update - so I am worried if enabling this automatic driver stuff in Windows 8 is different than Windows 7? Meaning that it will get installed secretly/automatically?
However, it's fine that Windows finds them so I can manually go and check if I want to install any of it.
The key is that the updates are optional in Windows 7, but I have seen a few people complain about Windows 8 installing stuff like video drivers and mouse drivers automatically.
Every time I plugin a device (Memory card, Cell phone etc.) Windows 8.1 automatically opens Devices and Printers which is very annoying. I set Autoplay to "Take no action" but in vain. How can I disable this behavior?
I'm running a custom build PC on which I clean installed a (legal) copy of Windows 8.1
My system works fine except it can not install drivers for ANYTHING non-standard. Keyboard, mouse, memory sticks, HDDs all work fine, however when I plug in my phone/tablet/camera etc via USB, it fails to install drivers and I can't use my device.
Here's what device manager looks like with my (android) phone plugged in
And when I select Update driver software, I get this error:
on Acer Aspire Windows 8 - All the drivers I have to instal, do not include an installation program and I have to instal the drivers manually. I don't know if I am doing it right or if there is an easier way of doing it but I have to right click the downloaded Zip file for Bluetooth, extract all files, search for the Bluetooth folder in Device Manager to instal the driver. I have got six drivers (not all Bluetooth) to instal and just want it get it right. before I upgrade to Windows 8.1 again.
I've been trying to install xperia play drivers in windows 8 (drivers from flashtool). but it always fails... how to install flashtool drivers in windows 8?
I have HP 630 laptop ( 2GB RAM , 320 GB HDD , intel i3 processor ) after that my blue tooth is not working ....
Few more drivers of intel are not working (not getting installed ) ( error is : The installer can not run this platform . Please select package for your operating system)
Its atheros driver . Previously it was working fine with window 7 32 bit. A friend of mine told me that window 8 does not require drivers to be installed provided by laptop vendor.
But again as i told above my blue tooth not working. Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) is also not getting installed.
Is there an problem with system performance if all drivers are not getting installed due to error
Moved from windows 7 to 8.1 Now not able to install driver for the HP deskjet 6980.
followed the wizard (add printer) and used windows update, showing the printer, but refuses to install.
The msg: windows can not find suitable driver, despite the driver was on the windows update list, and the cmd screen flashes for two seconds, hence not able to see what is says.
Trying to install a Canon MF5750 Printer on windows 8.1. Canon has a driver for this printer and windows 8.1 64. My primary problem is that when I get to the point of selecting a port, I am unsure of what to do. My choices are LPT 1-4, COM 1-4, FILE, and PORTPROMPT, none of which would seem to represent a usb port. By crawling through the Device Manager listings, I should have plenty of usb 2 and 3 ports. So my question is what happened to my usb ports. An additional observation is that while the printer and fax functions are installed (though not working) the scan function is not installed.
Since installing Windows 8 to my laptop, I can no longer display to my Samsung USB hub monitor.
When I try to duplicate or extend, the hub says 'Connecting to PC...' but then nothing happens. Something is working as my mouse and keyboard are plugged into the hub and they work. I just cant get the display. I think all my drivers are up to date.
Ok after recently installing 8.1 and installing Kies 3 for my S3 Ive been checking my event viewer and seeing the below error consistantly , googled it but no real joy.
The device GT-I9300 (location (unknown)) is offline due to a user-mode driver crash. Windows will attempt to restart the device 5 more times in its own process. Please contact the device manufacturer for more information about this problem.
Ive checked the drivers uninstalled and reinstalled removed kies 3 and reinstalled but still showing.
After the upgrade to Win 8 Pro from win 7 64, I tried the LifeCam Cinema ...nothing happens. I uninstalled and reinstalled and the exe file is said to be the wrong file. When i clik the tray icon nothing happens. When
The camera connects under windows but essentially useless with very dark image.
I am getting a BSOD when I try intalling the drivers for my graphic card, the version to try install is a Geforce 340.52 Driver, each time it was unsuccessful install, in the middle of the install it totally crashes. So I am totally lost in what is happening . I am getting in BSOD as error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOD_HANDLED (nvlddmkm.sys) while is installing drivers and from system restart is error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (nvlddmkm.sys).
When I turn my HP LaserJet CP1215 on, on a fresh install of Win 8 Preview the Printer Driver loading icon appears on the taskbar and the green shade goes across as if it's installing correctly. Looking in Control Panel/Printers and devices shows the printer installed and the properties shows the device is working correctly.
However when I try to print in any application no printer is shown, and trying to add a printer runs through the search and finds nothing.
I was updating my drivers, and had wanted to update my Synaptics driver. I had removed the older version of Synaptics driver (because I was required to) and wanted to restart. My computer restarts, and I try to install the latest version of the Synaptics driver, it doesn't work. It says "install failed." I have tried multiple times.
I've had my computer for about four years with an Asus motherboard, and I recently (like two days ago) had it changed to a Digilite motherboard. I'm also a regular user of VMware or VirtualBox, whichever is feeling fancy to me.
About six months ago, my Seagate hard disk started clicking regularly at about 10 seconds interval, which quickly came down to 1-2 second interval, causing the hard drive to click furiously. Due to this, my Windows 8 would get stuck and won't even give a BSOD. Same thing would happen at restart. Automatic Repair didn't work, but chkdsk would find some corrupted sectors and fix the issue. On the next restart, after running smoothly for 5 minutes, the clicking and stucking would start again. I finally narrowed down the problem to VMware and removed it and ran chkdsk again. This seemed to solve the problem.
After getting my new motherboard, I thought the results might be different, so I installed VMware and ran it for a long time. There was no clicking of HDD until the next startup. As soon as I logged in, desktop became slow and stucky, and finally I heard the horrific sound of that clicking again. (Now whenever I hear ANYthing click ANYwhere, I freeze for a second.) I knew what the problem was and applied the same solution I applied months ago.
I need to be able to run VMware or VirtualBox to go through a few Linux and python books I'm reading. My brain just cannot grasp how a software could affect the hardware this badly! I'll try a few other things to narrow down the problem while I wait for responses. At this point, where changing the HDD seems to be the only option
I have a Brother HL 2270DW printer in one room of my house. Each of my two Win7 machines, all in different rooms, print to this printer wirelessly with no problems. However, my new Dell One 2020 detects the the printer as a wireless printer but reports something like 'Driver Unavailable' in Settings/Devices. How do I go about making a driver available? I have the latest Brother drivers on my HD but can't seem to figure out how to install them under Win 8. The CD that came with the printer has only very old, out of date drivers.
Today I just found my 2 ram modules hidden in my drawers, since these 2 are the same as the 2 I am using along with 2 other modules, I decided to install the 4 identical ram modules(GEIL 1D DDR2 800mhz). Initially, I had 2 ramaxel 1g 667mhz and 2 GEIL 1G DDR2 800mhz. When I did this, there were several beeps, I couldn't define how many because the beeps sounded weird and not in sequence. Some pauses were longer than the other. When I hear it longer, I think it's 2 or 3 beeps. I have never seen any problems with installing identical rams as its the optimal thing to do and most users do it. Here's my computer manual [URL] .....
when i try to install a driver for the serial port PCI i get this error message : " Windows found a driver for your device but encountered an error while trying to install, installation of this device is forbidden by system policy. contact your system administrator . " knowing that i am the administrator!!
I have a Dell Inspiron 1545, the screen is broke so I use an external monitor which doesn't project BIOS or Boot up so I cannot see anything. I found a thread on here that adds the Intel Graphics Driver for Mobile 4 Series for Windows 8 which I supposed would work on 8.1.
The link I installed:
Mobile Intel Series 4 and Intel HD Graphics 1st Generation. I installed it and restarted the laptop for the GUI to start.
But as I restarted, the screen was blank. I tried cycling through projection modes as I usually do, but this time It didn't work.
I have no clue of how to remove the driver to as I cannot see anything on the external monitor as I've tried it on 2.
I've tried booting into Safe Mode but as I've said, I cannot see anything on the screen so I'm not sure where I am.
I like to watch videos on my left monitor while using windows 8 apps on my second. The only problem is that as soon as I interact with the monitor I'm watching the video on the app on my other monitor closes and it goes right to the desktop.
A lot of the time i like to just put on a youtube playlist and just lay in bed and watch it. Idk if this only happens with the youtube app that i am using or if its with jsut being inactive for anything. Is there a way i can prevent windows 8 from auto locking?. I have already disabled the lock screen, but it will still lock and jump to the login screen. I have turned screensaver off. And messed with the advanced power options. Nothing seems to work.
I run this copy of Windows 8 Professional in a virtual machine and every time I leave that VM for just a couple of minutes the OS starts using up an enormous amount of HDD that significantly slows down my host machine. It turns out that Windows 8 begins what they call "Scheduled scan" when there's no user input:
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and as soon I switch back to the VM with Windows 8 the HDD "hogging" stops. Obviously this is very annoying!
In light of this, I'd like to ask how to stop this background scanning?
PS. I tried going to the Action Center and schedule maintenance for 3AM or something remote but that doesn't seem to have any effect.
How do I ensure that nobody can slip in a Windows 7 or 8 disc and reinstall windows on my laptop? I have a BIOS password, but in the boot priority order it doesn't list my disc drive as an option.. Only "Windows Boot Manager"... So I'm unsure as to whether someone can just stick a disc in and reinstall windows.
Reason being is that I had my laptop stolen two months ago. I had tracking software on it (Prey), but the theif never connected to the internet, which is required for the software to work. Which leads me to assume that they just formatted (my win 7) laptop and reinstalled windows straight away. So I'm learning from my mistakes, and wanting to do it right for my new laptop.
Am I able to use the Applocker to prevent this from occurring? I can sadly not give a screeny of this... because if the message appears, there seems to be no way to get rid of it, but making a new local account?
I have just bought a new laptop which came with Windows 8 preinstalled. I have since updated to 8.1 Pro with Media Center and so far, touch wood, things appear to be running well.
Having used Windows 7 for ages, I found the change to 8 somewhat difficult but I am slowly figuring it out. There will undoubtedly be things I cannot sort for myself but straight off the bat I have one question:
Where can I change a setting to stop in 8.1 from automatically going on line and downloading stuff I don't want? I do not want to prevent automatic downloading of Windows Updates etc, but I have just turned on and been greeted with a message telling me that Windows has downloaded 9 new apps - Alarms, Calculator, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, Tips, Reading List, Scan, Sound Recorder, Bing Desktop, and MS Silverlight (yes, I know, this is 10!)
I particularly want to keep this new Laptop free of unnecessary software which I will never use, basically all I want is Word, Excel, email capability, the ability to view TV (when away from home, hence the upgrade to 'Pro with Media Center') but little else. I will soon be abandoning my home cable internet connection and will be relying on a much reduced plan and so will not want the limited data used up because the O/S automatically loads the computer with rubbish.
I like to make my own custom Username for any Windows installation. However, Windows 8.1 Pro will simply create a Username for me based on my Microsoft account and that Username is just not tidy enough for me with dashes and not something cool and it doesn't ask me whether I want to type one up myself. The only way I found to prevent that from happening is disconnecting from the internet or disabling NIC in BIOS. Is there another way of doing so?