14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 Creators Update (Redstone 2) will bring a new feature that will allow users to exclude drivers from Windows updates shipped through the built-in Windows Update system.
The feature is already integrated into build 15002, which got leaked a few days ago and which was supposed to be released by Microsoft to insiders last week. The release was canceled at the last minute, after the Windows team discovered a bug that would have made it harder for insiders to update to next builds.
The new option is available in Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced options and is called “Include driver updates when I update Windows.” If disabled, users no longer receive driver updates with Windows updates for their installed hardware, and have to manually update drivers.
Additionally, there’s also the new update pausing feature that’s been integrated into a previously leaked build, allowing users to postpone installing updates for up to 35 days.
“You can temporarily pause updates from being installed for up to 35 days. Some updates, like Windows Defender definition updates, will continue to be installed,” this feature reads.
Issues with driver updates
This new driver updating feature comes in handy particularly for users who experienced issues with the new drivers that were shipped automatically to their PCs via Windows Update, mostly because of compatibility issues that led to various problems on computers.
Graphics, network, and sound drivers were most often the ones causing trouble to Windows users, and the only workaround in the majority of cases was to manually roll back to the previous version.
On the other hand, keeping such a feature activating and automatically receiving driver updates is a more convenient option for those who don’t want to spend too much time manually downloading drivers, but this obviously implies that everything is thoroughly tested before it’s being shipped to PCs and no issues are experienced.
This new feature, however, will become available for insiders most likely with the next build expected this week, while everyone else should be getting it in the stable version of the operating system coming in April.