“Windows Update Configured to never install drivers” Detected by Troubleshooter

The Hardware and Devices troubleshooter in the Control Panel may show "Windows Update Configured to never install drivers  – Detected" in the detailed report, and that the troubleshooter couldn’t fix it. You may be wondering which exact setting the troubleshooter is referring to.

It’s referring to the SearchOrderConfig registry value at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching

If this value is set to 0, then driver updates via WU are blocked. The troubleshooter assumes the same even if the value is missing.

Possible values

Data	Setting
0	Never install driver software from Windows Update
1	Always install the best driver software from Windows Update

Set it 0 and ignore the device troubleshooter warning. If you want to set it to 1 which is the default Windows setting, you can do so using the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe.) But I’d not suggest installing driver updates for your hardware via Windows Update. Note that in earlier versions of Windows, this can be configured via Windows Updates options, which is removed in Windows 10.

Check the Policies Key

Also, check for the SearchOrderConfig Policy, which is set here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching

In the above branch, right-click SearchOrderConfig and choose Delete.

Note that if this was set as a Group Policy, you need to reset it using the Local Group Policy Editor.