from Hacker News

Microsoft Is Deleting Old Drivers from Windows Update and It Might Break Your PC

by speckx on 6/20/25, 6:19 PM with 70 comments

  • by Uvix on 6/20/25, 7:51 PM

  • by gwbas1c on 6/20/25, 8:14 PM

    This article is alarmist clickbait and doesn't stand up to scrutiny:

    > this could mean unexplained failures after a Windows update

    I'm not sure how the author concludes that. From https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/hardwaredevcenter/r...:

    > The first phase targets legacy drivers that have newer replacements already on Windows Update.

    So only outdated drivers with replacements will be removed.

    Likewise:

    > Technically, expiring a driver means removing all its audience assignments in Hardware Development Center, which stops Windows Update from offering that driver to devices.

    I don't interpret that as Windows Update proactively removing a driver that's already downloaded to a computer.

  • by qualeed on 6/20/25, 8:12 PM

    The most important part of this, which it appears people may have missed is:

    >legacy drivers published on Windows Update

    You can still go download the legacy drivers directly. They just wont be automatically installed/updated via Windows Update. No devices are being bricked, your PC isn't breaking.

    I get that Microsoft is the most evil company in the world, or whatever, but this is way overblown.

  • by birdman3131 on 6/20/25, 7:42 PM

  • by Kozmik1 on 6/20/25, 7:55 PM

    As if my ATI video card doesn't lose its Windows driver every other reboot.

  • by kachapopopow on 6/20/25, 7:56 PM

    I don't see the point when drivers are exploitable as ever on older hardware that doesn't have good virtualization performance and hyper-v solves majority of these problems with core isolation.

  • by methuselah_in on 6/20/25, 6:36 PM

    Time to download old drivers from OEM website and create fresh system drivers backup.

  • by systemswizard on 6/20/25, 8:15 PM

    This blog post is FUD at best. They’re not removing these legacy drivers nor are they preventing them from being installed. WU at best just won’t offer them moving forward, not a big deal

  • by zsoltkacsandi on 6/20/25, 7:42 PM

    And that's why I don't use Windows.

  • by sandworm101 on 6/20/25, 7:42 PM

    Every bad day for windows is another great day for Linux.

    You have choices. Make them.

  • by eddythompson80 on 6/20/25, 7:56 PM

    Lol, I get the outrage bait. nerds.xyz, go get that bag dude.

    Though like... they are reviewing their driver store and notifying hardware partners who publish and maintain drivers in their repository to re-visit and/or resubmit their drivers in an attempt to clean up old stuff. I'm super mad at stuff....

  • by downrightmike on 6/20/25, 7:24 PM

    Good, they are security risks. They should also prevent them from being installed.