Installing the drivers in Windows 10 is a relatively simple task. The operating system brings by default a large number of generic drivers to make most of the devices that we can connect to our computer work, and, in addition, it automatically searches Windows Update for new drivers and downloads the most recent versions of them, or those that are not installed by default on the PC, as part of the Plug & Play experience. However, with this new Windows feature, this may change very soon.
Last August, Microsoft revealed a new Windows Update feature called ” optional updates .” Within this section, Microsoft distributes to users all kinds of non-mandatory updates for the PC, including drivers. These optional updates are not automatically installed on the computer, but we ourselves must install them by hand from Windows Update.
The search and automatic download of drivers is one of the pillars of Plug & Play . However, this may change very soon.
Many drivers will not be downloaded automatically as of version 2004
Microsoft currently offers developers two ways to distribute their drivers. The first one is marking them as ” automatic “, automatically downloading the drivers when a new device is connected, or an emergency update for a specific driver comes out, and the second is “manual”, forcing the user to download these drivers by hand from Windows Update. Until now, if a driver was marked as ” manual “, but was part of the plug & play process, it would still be downloaded. But this will change.
As of November 5 , all drivers that come to Windows through the “optional updates” process will no longer be downloaded and installed automatically on the computer. This will mean that, when we connect a new device to the PC, if there is no generic driver that makes it work, we will not be able to use it. In that case, Windows 10 will issue a DNF (driver not found) error and the hardware will not work.
We will be the ones who will have to go to Windows Update, within the optional updates section, to download the driver and make it work.
The end of Windows’ signature Plug and Play?
Obviously, this new way of searching, downloading and installing the drivers on the computer breaks with what we knew as plug and play, or Plug & Play. And this is one of the best features of Windows. It is true that it is impossible for Microsoft to control 100% of the drivers , and there will always be very specific components that we cannot install automatically. However, for most cases, it was very convenient for everything to install automatically just by plugging it in.
It is not known why Microsoft has decided to break with this feature. You may be preparing another similar feature to make the driver installation easier and more automated . Or it may simply be because. The only way that this change would make sense is for the company to have at least one generic driver for each of the hardware components that we can connect to the computer. And this is not so.
