A Registry Hack to Stop Windows 11 Replacing the WinUSB Driver Installed via Zadig

Thank you to Paul Sudduth who submitted a registry hack he's found to stop Windows 11 from overwriting the WinUSB drivers installed by Zadig during each automatic update.

Windows overwriting the WinUSB drivers with broken TV drivers during automatic updates is a common issue, and usually the fix is to re-run Zadig and reinstall the WinUSB drivers. However, this registry hack should prevent Windows updates from touching the driver, preventing the issue. Paul writes:

To "stop" receiving driver updates, copy the following text into a .reg file and import it by double-clicking on the file you created.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update\ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate] "value"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Device Metadata] "PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching] "SearchOrderConfig"=dword:00000000 "DontSearchWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000001

---

To "start" receiving driver updates, copy the following text into a .reg file and import it by double-clicking on the file you created.

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update\ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate] "value"=dword:00000000

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Device Metadata] "PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork"=-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching] "SearchOrderConfig"=dword:00000001 "DontSearchWindowsUpdate"=-