How to avoid 'unpausing' windows update and keep it paused

Question

I keep getting a faulty audio driver on Win11 updates that cuts off audio to my HP Elitebook laptop when connected to a 2nd monitor. Only fix has been forcing back to the older driver but 'updates' starts the problem all over again. Is there a way to just stop updates or pause again without restarting them?

Answer 1

You don't need to fully disable Windows Update to stop this loop. The cleaner approach is to block that specific driver from being reinstalled while still allowing normal updates.

First, once you've rolled back to the working audio driver, you can prevent Windows from automatically installing drivers through updates. Open System Properties, go to Hardware, then Device Installation Settings, and set it to “No.” This alone often stops Windows from pushing the faulty driver again.

If Windows keeps forcing it anyway, use Group Policy to block driver updates entirely. Run:

gpedit.msc

Then go to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Update → Manage updates offered from Windows Update, and enable “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates.” This keeps all driver updates out of the normal update process.

For a more targeted fix, you can block just that specific audio driver. First find the device ID in Device Manager under your audio device's properties (Details tab, Hardware Ids). Then in Group Policy go to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Device Installation → Device Installation Restrictions and enable “Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs,” adding the ID you copied. That stops only that driver version from coming back.

If you're on Windows 11 Home without Group Policy, you can still pause updates for a long stretch, but it's temporary. You can repeatedly extend the pause with:

net stop wuauserv
net stop bits

That halts the update services until the next reboot, but it's not persistent. A more durable Home workaround is using the Microsoft “Show or Hide Updates” troubleshooter tool, which lets you hide that specific driver update so it won't install again.

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hth

Marcin