DAMN BLOODY WINDOWS 10! (Driver Installation)

[John Faulkner, Skegness]

.... and that's putting it VERY politely!

I don't know if anybody is able to help. I have a new computer with Windows 10 and WOW has it caused me some grief.

The big problem I have failed to overcome is the automatic installation of Windows drivers. Let me tell you this Bill Bloody Gates .. (and I know many of you will have had this problem.) "NO!!! The best drivers are NOT bloody well installed. That is why you lock up every few minutes, my screen reminiscent of 625 line sporadic E interference on an old 405 line picture."

So, I changed the auto-driver installation in Settings, GP Edit, Local Group Policy Editor, the registry, etc. I think I've done it all. It worked the last time, but then there have been many pointless Windows updates since then.

My monitor is an LG Flatron. The driver Windows chooses is a generic Intel driver, or its own "'Basic' driver. I can uninstall the Intel driver, delete it from the system, stop Windows from re-installing it again, yet it manages to, every bloody time!

WINDOWS ... I HATE YOU! I am now referring to you as WINWOES.

Has anybody been able to find a workaround to this driver problem? I think the reason it isn't working for me now is because I have Winwoes 10 PRO. It's not a downloaded pirate, it's my own. It came with the new computer.

If I don't get a solution in the next few hours I will have to take this back to the shop.

Thanks for any tips.

[daveB]

It is long winded enough uploading everything you need to a new computer without having to contend with these sorts of issues. It is yet another instance of the "law of unintended consequences" kicking in

Driver updates should be optional - and selectable though Settings>Windows Update>View Optional Updates. The Settings menu is accessed via the Start icon on the bottom left of the screen.

Having confidently said that, when I went to verify updates I found it has installed 13 driver updates since 16/10/2020! including a Realtek update for the 2832U in my RTL dongle. Fortunately nothing here is broken - but it might explain why my 2nd (Dell) monitor needs to be turned on/off/on three times or more before the image stays in place. It has installed a Display adapter update - but there is no option to roll back the driver!

I found this article - https://www.laptopmag.com/uk/articles/d ... windows-10

It seems straightforward enough - choose the option not to allow the automatic update of manufacturers apps and custom icons. [warning your device might not work as expected].

It is worth a try - I shall see what happens/doesn't happen.

Can you roll your computer back to an earlier restore point? If so does it undo the driver installs?

[John Faulkner, Skegness]

Hello David.

I had forgotten the language I had used in the title of this thread. I know it was fairly mild compared to what I felt like using, but I was successful on this occasion in restraining myself.

I know I am not alone in these things, and it seems like you are having a few, relatively minor issues yourself. Thanks for the information and image. I had already done this and I was desperately hoping for some magical solution before the computer went back to the shop, which it did. No problems were found! But it did lock up from first startup there. Then it managed to stream 4k video non-stop for 48 hours without a single problem. All memory was tested, which took a couple of days apparently. There is room for 32GB in there but I can only get 12GB to show, even though there is 16GB installed. Don't ask. I have tried all sorts.

There were still problems on the computer's return. The solution was to wipe the drive and install Windows 10 from scratch, which I did ..... TWICE! Again, don't ask. The solution was, if you can call it a solution, was to let Windows choose all its own generic drivers and not install the correct ones. (Grrr!) This actually works. I ca understand why, but you would think Windows would let you install the correct manufacturer drivers and then leave you alone. As if.

So, so far so good! Looks like it was indeed a driver issue. The characters on the display actually look nice and smooth now, even with the settings optimised for 'Performance' as opposed to 'Appearance'. They were appalling before.

A slightly amusing and unrelated thing to finish off with. One evening a few weeks ago, an unfortunate bout of clumsiness on my part resulted in me catapulting my laptop across the room at speed, whacking it with force on to a concrete floor. There's not a mark on it and it still works perfectly! Things sometimes go unexpectedly right!

[daveB]

One evening a few weeks ago, an unfortunate bout of clumsiness on my part resulted in me catapulting my laptop across the room at speed, whacking it with force on to a concrete floor. There's not a mark on it and it still works perfectly! Things sometimes go unexpectedly right!

My son-in-law was in a motorbike accident a while ago which ended with him being catapulted across the road. Fortunately the injuries were relatively minor as he wears top-of-the-line protective gear. The works laptop ended up rather battered and the company replaced it and didn't take back the damaged one. Despite the damage to the case the screen 'miraculously' stayed in one piece, and with a bit of work to straighten out the worst of the damage and make sure all connectors were properly plugged in - it still worked! [And is now the home laptop].

Back to Microsoft's irritating "we know best" attitude. In Win 8.1 you could set up updates so that if one was available you had an option to set it to "install on shut down" or "install on restart" . That has gone in Win 10.

To avoid unexpected updates/re-starts I've set the PC not to update during active hours - which also means it won't update if the PC is in use outside the specified hours. (07:00 to 01:00)

[John Faulkner, Skegness]

I set the 'active hours' bit last time I used Windows 10. It works fine. Plus, the local computer shop tell me there is now a way to permanently STOP Windows 10 doing updates. I need to find out more about this as I don't know if it is still possible to perform selected updates as and when you want to. This would be useful if so. My active hours are 20:00 to 10:00, covering the overnight period for recording MW.

[John J Cahill]

Depending on which version of windows 10 you have installed this website may help.
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop ... windows-10

JJ

[John Faulkner, Skegness]

Hello John.

Thank you for this. I actually tried all these things and WIndows 10 just walked all over me. It really does not want to play ball. So the last time I installed Windows I had to concede to Window's better knowledge that its own generic drivers were superior to the manufacturer's own drivers - which I doubt many would agree with. Amazingly, everything works fine this time. I have to concede that Windows knows what's best for its own operating system, which kind of makes sense, even though I am probably missing features on certain applications which would ordinarily be fully present and working with the correct drivers. It's really infuriating. At least it's all working .... at the moment.

[John Faulkner, Skegness]

I spoke too soon. Once I returned to audio production and, in particular, a programme called WaveLab which I use for most of the work I do, the new computer began to lock up, randomly. I recorded a video of the lock-up to show to the folks at the computer shop.

https://app.box.com/s/ty0me9xzc74pghpgytpibzw8ttq67blf

It reminds me of an old 405 line TV picture being walked over by tropo or Es. There is an accompanying buzz, but that's just an audible indication of the rapid loop which has come into play.

The shop owner thinks it's a video driver issue but this has yet top be confirmed. I need to dig deeper into the computer to see if there are any useful error reports at the times of the crashes, which are happening every few minutes. WaveLab saves regular backups files so that side of things is covered nicely, even if the masters I have been working on become permanently damaged.

There is probably little doubt that using the new computer to record DX files would be a mistake at the moment as these loops would continue to occur, as they did during the first installation. I am thinking of Jaguar in particular.

This leaves me with little option but to install Windows 7 and see how that goes. Although they say that 7 is not supported anymore, there are still regular updates for the security side, at least for now.

Linux would be a preferred choice if I only could get my head around software installation. Why does that have to be so different?

Square 1!