Windows 10 will not only automatically download and install quality and security updates but also the driver updates. This is especially true for video card drivers. Generally, automatic driver installation is pretty good as this eliminates the necessity to manually find, upload the drivers by yourself. However, every so often, Windows might download wrong or incompatible graphics driver. In those situations, Windows 10 will either crash or even the video card won't work correctly.

Recently, I've gone over with you how you can pause automatic updates and the way to stop Windows 10 from automatically installing drivers for all devices. If you do not want to go to the extream and just want to stop the automatic graphics driver update then follow the below steps.

To prevent the automatic graphics driver update, we are going to use the devices hardware IDs and also the Group Policy Editor. All we must do is tell Windows not to install drivers for a device which has a specific hardware ID(s). Since hardware IDs are unique to every device on your system, this works perfectly to stop Windows from automatically installing the graphics driver update.

Note: Since we are going to make use of the Group Policy Editor, this method works only on Windows 10 Pro devices.

Warning: Before proceeding, make sure that you've manually installed the compatible graphics driver and disconnected from the internet.

Stop Automatic Graphics Driver Installation or Updating in Windows 10

1. The first thing we need to do is be aware of hardware IDs of the video card. Thankfully, the unit manager provides for us all sorts of information such as the hardware IDs. So, open the start menu, search for "Device Manager" and open it up.

2. Within the device manager, expand the "Display Adapters" section and you will find your graphics card. With my case, the graphics card is Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti. Right-click onto it and choose the option "Properties".

3. Within the properties window, go to the "Details" tab. Now, select "Hardware Ids" from the dropdown menu underneath the Property section.

4. This action will show the hardware IDs of the video card. Generally, you will notice four different hardware IDs. Keep this window opened and go to the next phase. We'll come back to these IDs inside a bit.

5. We now must find the target policy where we can make use of the hardware IDs. So, press Win + R, type gpedit.msc and click on the "Ok" button. This course of action will open the Group Policy Editor.

6. Within the group policy editor, you will see different folders around the left panel. Visit the following folder. This is where we will find the relevant policy that blocks Windows 10 from installing the graphics driver.

Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Device Installation -> Device Installation Restrictions

Stop graphics driver automatic installation 05

7. On the right panel, find the "Prevent installing of devices that match these device IDs" policy and double-click on it.

8. Within the policy properties window, choose the "Enabled" radio option. This action will enable a few more options underneath the Options panel. Click the "Show" button.

9. The above mentioned action will open the "Show Contents" window. Here, we have to enter the hardware IDs we've previously seen in step four. To go in the hardware IDs, right-click around the hardware ID, select copy after which paste it within the "Show Contents" window. When you paste all of the four hardware IDs, this is the way it ought to look like. Click the "Ok" button to continue.

Note: Double-click on each column within the Show Contents window so that you can paste the hardware ID.

10. In the primary policy properties window, click on the "Apply" and "Ok" buttons in order to save the changes.

11. Though we've changed the group policy, the policy settings aren't yet applied. To use the changed policy, restart Windows 10.

That is all. After restarting, you can safely connect with the internet. Windows 10 will no longer install or update the graphics driver. In fact, all types of driver installation or updating is disabled for that specific device.

When you wish to update the motive force for that specific device, you need to manually disable the policy. To disable the insurance policy, simply select the "Disabled" option in step 8, restart the machine, and you're simply all set.

That is all. As you can see, it is quite simple to stop Windows 10 from installing or updating drivers of a specific device.