Windows automatically updates the AMD graphics driver whenever a new update is available. Generally, automatic updates are a good thing. However, in this case, the automatic AMD graphics driver update can cause compatibility issues with AMD Radeon or Adrenalin software.
When the AMD graphics driver and software are incompatible, you may encounter the following error message when opening the AMD Radeon or Adrenalin software on Windows 11.
Windows Update may have automatically replaced your AMD Graphics driver. Hence, the version of AMD Software you have launched is not compatible with your currently installed AMD Graphics driver.
If you encounter this error, you must stop Windows from automatically updating the AMD graphics driver.
In this article, let me share a couple of ways to stop automatic graphics driver update on Windows 11.
Table of contents:
How to stop automatic AMD graphics driver update in Windows
There are two methods to stop automatic updates to your AMD graphics driver, depending on your preferences. The first method is to use the Device Installation Settings, which will disable all automatic driver updates, including the AMD graphics driver. The second method is to use the Group Policy Editor, which allows you to specifically prevent automatic updates for only the AMD graphics driver.
Depending on what you want to do, follow either of the methods.
Note: You need administrator rights to make changes to windows driver settings.
1. Using Device Installation Settings
Windows has a neat little tool called Device Installation Settings that allows you to disable automatic driver updates for all your devices, including your graphics card. If you don’t want Windows to automatically update any device driver, including the AMD graphics driver, follow the below steps.
- Press the Start key on your keyboard.
- Search and open Device Installation Settings.
- Select the “No” option.
- Click the “Save Changes” button.
- Reboot the computer.
- With that, automatic driver updates are disabled for AMD graphics cards.
- Next, download AMD auto-detect driver tool.
- Run the tool and follow the wizard to install the graphics driver.
- Reboot the computer, and the graphics driver issue is fixed.
- From now on, Windows will not update the AMD graphics driver automatically.
AMD auto-detect driver tool link: https://www.amd.com/en/support
Steps with more details:
First, launch the Start menu by pressing the Start or Windows key on your keyboard or clicking the Start icon on the taskbar. Next, search and open “Device Installation Settings.”
In the Device Installation Settings window, select the “No” option, which will prevent Windows from automatically updating any device drivers, including the AMD graphics driver. Then click the “Save Changes” button to apply the changes.
Once you have saved the changes, restart your computer to ensure that the changes take effect.
After the computer has restarted, the AMD graphics driver will no longer be updated automatically. To manually update the AMD graphics driver, go to the AMD support website and download the AMD auto-detect driver tool.
AMD auto-detect driver tool link: https://www.amd.com/en/support
Run the AMD auto-detect driver tool, which will automatically detect your graphics card and install the relevant driver and software package. Follow the recommended on-screen instructions provided by the installation wizard.
After installing, close the installer and reboot the system. From now on, you can open the AMD Radeon or Adrenalin software and use it to configure your graphics settings without any issues.
Since you’ve disabled automatic driver updates, Windows will no longer update the AMD graphics driver automatically.
2. Using the Group Policy Editor
If you’re looking to disable automatic updates just to your AMD graphics driver, you can use the Group Policy Editor to do this. The process involves telling Windows not to update a specific driver with certain Hardware IDs. While it may sound complicated, the steps are actually straightforward and easy to follow. Let me show you how.
Note: You should be running the Pro or Enterprise edition. If you are using the Home edition, follow the first method.
Step 1: Find the hardware IDs of your graphics card.
First, we must find the hardware IDs of your AMD graphics card. To start off, right-click the Start icon on the taskbar and select Device Manager.
Next, expand the Display Adapters section in the Device Manager, right-click on your AMD graphics card, and select Properties.
Go to the Detailed tab in the properties window and select “Hardware Ids” from the Property dropdown menu. It will immediately show all the hardware ids of your graphics card. Right-click on each hardware ID, select “Copy,” and save it in a text file.
We will use these hardware IDs in step 4.
Step 2: Open the Group Policy Editor.
Once you have all the hardware IDs, launch the Start menu by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. Search for “Edit group policy” in the Start menu and click on the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.
Step 3: Open the ‘Prevent installation of devices that match these device IDs’ policy.
Once the Group Policy Editor opens, go to the “Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/System/Device Installation/Device Installation Restrictions” folder.
Find the “Prevent installation of devices that match these device IDs” policy in the Device Installation Restrictions folder and double-click on it. It will open the policy settings window.
Step 4: Add hardware IDs to the policy to stop automatic AMD graphics driver update in Windows.
On the policy settings window, select the “Enabled” option. Next, click the “Show” button on the “Option” panel.
The above action opens the ‘Shown Contents’ window. Here, paste all four hardware IDs you got earlier in step 1. Each hardware ID should be in a new line.
After adding all the hardware IDs, click the “Ok” button to save the contents.
Next, click the “Ok” button in the policy properties window to save the policy changes.
Close the Group Policy Editor.
Step 5: Reboot the computer
After closing the Group Policy Editor, reboot the computer to apply the policy changes.
If you don’t want to restart Windows, right-click the Start menu, select “Terminal (Admin),” type the “gpupdate.exe /force” command, and press Enter. This will force update Windows policy settings.
Step 6: Manually update the AMD graphics driver
After adding the AMD graphics card’s hardware IDs to the automatic driver update exclusion list, Windows will no longer install the AMD graphics driver automatically. The next thing you do is manually update the graphics driver.
To do that, go to the AMD support website and download the auto-detect driver tool. Run the tool and follow the wizard to install the up-to-date graphics driver and software package.
AMD auto-detect driver tool link: https://www.amd.com/en/support
Once the appropriate driver is installed, you can open the AMD Radeon or Adrenalin software and use it to configure your graphics settings without any issues.
Since you’ve disabled automatic driver updates, Windows will no longer update the AMD graphics driver automatically.
Stopping Automatic Updates to AMD Graphics Driver — Conclusion
All in all, automatic updates are generally beneficial for keeping your system up-to-date and secure. However, in certain situations, such as with AMD graphics drivers, automatic updates can lead to compatibility issues with other software.
I’ve shown you two methods to disable automatic updates, specifically for the AMD graphics driver. By following the above steps, you can prevent Windows from automatically updating your AMD graphics driver and avoid compatibility issues with AMD Radeon or Adrenalin software.
Though the automatic updates are disabled, AMD Radeon or Adrenalin software can still download driver updates for your graphics card. So, there is no functionality loss, and the driver will be up-to-date.
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That is all. It is that simple to stop automatic updates to your AMD graphics driver.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need help, email me, and I will try to help as much as possible.
