Advice Request Should I install these drivers in Update?

[Morro]

Okay, I do not have optional updates activated in Windows update, but today I all of a sudden have a update named "INTEL - System - 10.1.7.3"?

But I am not sure if I should install this update? Reason is that ever since I bought my current computer at the beginning of last year, I never saw a INTEL update
as a main update, only as optional downloads? ( I have never installed an optional download through Windows update so far. ) So my question to those who know
more about this stuff ... Should I install this update, and if not is there a way I can hide or ignore this particular update?

 

[EndangeredPootis]

It says on that tab unless youre facing driver related problems then you dont need to update them, hence why are they are optional

 

[woodrowbone]

But do they add something on the positive side?
I mean if you get drivers installed by "Normal" W update, they usually just work, but are far from optimized regarding speed etc.
Can it be so that the optional drivers are newer, better?

/W

 

[Eggnog]

I install optional updates and have never had a problem.

 

[rain2reign]

If the system has no issues nor instabilities, I would just leave it as it. The driver itself refers to Intel Chipset Driver, which contains several Intel (System) Driver updates and microcodes.

The date mentioned on the driver itself 7/18/1968 is purely symbolic as that is the day Intel was founded. Some manufacturers push their driver updates through Microsoft's Update Catalog, instead of solely through their own component specific manufacturer's webpage. Whenever a manufacturer (in example Lenovo) pushes their own driver updates through the Microsoft Update Catalog, the OS will push and recognise that one as the most recent update of that particular driver. The date is also used to lower the rank of some of the driver/chipset device software as it's not always needed, and to prevent some cases of overwriting the existing installed drivers.

You could potentially hide specific updates from being shown --NOTE: Doesn't mean they aren't there!-- in the list, but I would recommend not too for the day it may or may not be needed. Of course, you can also go directly to intel's download center and get the latest updated driver there as well. The only way i know how is by using a tool from Microsoft themselves: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...t-a-windows-update-from-reinstalling-in-windo, see How to hide unwanted driver updates in Windows 10 for visual assistance regarding it (do not use it if you don't have too...).

"Don't fix it, if it isn't broken."

 

[Morro]

It says on that tab unless youre facing driver related problems then you dont need to update them, hence why are they are optional

I get that, but this update is not in the optional tab, but in the main Windows update tab.

And no I do not have driver related problems, the problem is that if I do not need to install these INTEL Drivers, then how can I remove it from the main
Windows update.

EDIT: rain2reign: I tried that link you gave and it shows nothing?

 

[rain2reign]

I get that, but this update is not in the optional tab, but in the main Windows update tab.

And no I do not have driver related problems, the problem is that if I do not need to install these INTEL Drivers, then how can I remove it from the main
Windows update.

You can't in that case, well technically you can in a roundabout way. It means that that update was pushed for your PC (or component, if self assembled) by the manufacturer through Microsoft Update Catalog. The 'main' updates can't be stopped unless an already newer version is of said component driver is present on the system. In the days prior to Windows 8/10 you could hide and block them permanently as those systems had a longer list of updates. In the days of Windows 8/10 most of those have become more simplified and merged into one.

The only other way to potentially stop these drivers from the 'main' updates is to block driver updates through the Group Policy Editor. But that comes at the cost that it will stop all main updates marked as driver updates through the main updates. Meaning you need to look and manually troubleshoot and install the driver in question when there is an issue. Not an issue for most people on MalwareTips of course, but most of the users of Windows don't ever touch drivers let alone update them themselves, which is the majority of their costumers/users.

Edit: my previous post #5 was for optional updates. I should have mentioned that.
Edit2: For Windows 10 Pro:
Group Policy editor (gpedit.msc) > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > 'Do not include drivers with Windows Updates' > Enabled

 

[Morro]

You can't in that case, well technically you can in a roundabout way. It means that that update was pushed for your PC (or component, if self assembled) by the manufacturer through Microsoft Update Catalog. The 'main' updates can't be stopped unless an already newer version is of said component driver is present on the system. In the days prior to Windows 8/10 you could hide and block them permanently as those systems had a longer list of updates. In the days of Windows 8/10 most of those have become more simplified and merged into one.

The only other way to potentially stop these drivers from the 'main' updates is to block driver updates through the Group Policy Editor. But that comes at the cost that it will stop all main updates marked as driver updates through the main updates. Meaning you need to look and manually troubleshoot and install the driver in question when there is an issue. Not an issue for most people on MalwareTips of course, but most of the users of Windows don't ever touch drivers let alone update them themselves, which is the majority of their costumers/users.

Edit: my previous post #5 was for optional updates. I should have mentioned that.
Edit2: For Windows 10 Pro:
Group Policy editor (gpedit.msc) > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > 'Do not include drivers with Windows Updates' > Enabled

Well I have Windows 10 Home so I guess I do not have gpedit.msc. ( I think it can be installed on the Home version. ) But since you mentioned that it will come at the cost of stopping all main updates marked as driver updates through the main updates, then that makes me not comfortable in doing a thing like that in Group Policy Editor.

So with that in mind I guess I have no other choice then to first make a backup with EaseUS Todo Backup Free, and then install the drivers. If I do not that then the will be installed with the next main Windows 10 update anyway?

 

[plat]

Why don't you just install it and get it out of your hair? It looks to be an older chipset driver--you can get the latest drivers by using the Intel Driver and Support Assistant aftwerward if you want. Zip, zip and it's done.

For amusement, I installed that Intel one dated 1968 in optional driver updates...and it's still there. Just ran that Intel driver updater and it said there was nothing available for my Z390-A board. I understand that it may be a cause for anxiety if something goes wrong. But, it's not a BIOS update, which carries far greater risk.

Spoiler

 

[rain2reign]

Why don't you just install it and get it out of your hair? It looks to be an older chipset driver--you can get the latest drivers by using the Intel Driver and Support Assistant aftwerward if you want afterward. Zip, zip and it's done.

For amusement, I installed that Intel one dated 1968 in optional driver updates...and it's still there. Just ran that Intel driver updater and it said there was nothing available for my Z390-A board. I understand that it may be a cause for anxiety if something goes wrong. But, it's not a BIOS update, which carries far greater risk.

Spoiler

View attachment 253173

It's not necessarily an older driver cause of the date specified in the screenshot. The date is used as a marker for Microsoft to recognise it's an Intel driver pushed by a third party manufacturer. Quote from my earlier post #5:

The date mentioned on the driver itself 7/18/1968 is purely symbolic as that is the day Intel was founded. Some manufacturers push their driver updates through Microsoft's Update Catalog, instead of solely through their own component specific manufacturer's webpage. Whenever a manufacturer (in example Lenovo) pushes their own driver updates through the Microsoft Update Catalog, the OS will push and recognise that one as the most recent update of that particular driver. The date is also used to lower the rank of some of the driver/chipset device software as it's not always needed, and to prevent some cases of overwriting the existing installed drivers.

 

[plat]

It's not necessarily an older driver cause of the date specified

No, I knew this already long ago, just because it was a little bizarre when it first showed up in Updates. It's more like a placeholder, though why it's presented like that is a little baffling. It's actually a turn-off when it could be useful and beneficial, esp. if you're not into keeping things rigorously updated.

I wouldn't be overly worried, but instead, just get it out of the queue. It takes literally one second to do so.

 

[Morro]

Why don't you just install it and get it out of your hair? It looks to be an older chipset driver--you can get the latest drivers by using the Intel Driver and Support Assistant aftwerward if you want. Zip, zip and it's done.

For amusement, I installed that Intel one dated 1968 in optional driver updates...and it's still there. Just ran that Intel driver updater and it said there was nothing available for my Z390-A board. I understand that it may be a cause for anxiety if something goes wrong. But, it's not a BIOS update, which carries far greater risk.

Spoiler

View attachment 253173

Well I made a backup first and then tried to install the INTEL update, I first got some kind of warning that something had gone wrong with the update. I then remembered
I had used Wise Disk Cleaner to clean up my PC and that the download must have been removed during the cleaning. So I clicked "try again" and then got the message that their was no update available.

After that I installed the Intel driver updater and ran it, it updated the drivers for my computer and after restart I checked again in Windows update if there was an update. And there was no update, so even though it is solved now it was a bit odd.

 

[FireHammer]

Hey, I also install optional Updates, never have had an issue.

 

[plat]

And there was no update, so even though it is solved now it was a bit odd.

Sort of a relief, right?

I can understand the hesitation, though. I've seen a couple of terrible outcomes when someone strongly recommends a procedure for someone else's hardware and the computer is destroyed as a result. But in this little old case?--nah!

 

[Morro]

Sort of a relief, right?

I can understand the hesitation, though. I've seen a couple of terrible outcomes when someone strongly recommends a procedure for someone else's hardware and the computer is destroyed as a result. But in this little old case?--nah!

Yeah it is a relief, I was worried that something bad might happen, but luckily it did not.