Home windows 11 customers are not happy campers in the mean time for a number of causes, however Microsoft is doing one thing about a difficulty round updates. The corporate simply introduced “Cloud-Initiated Driver Restoration” (let’s name it CIDR) for Home windows Replace, a system that can roll again defective drivers detected in the course of the firm’s shiproom analysis course of, with no person intervention required.
Microsoft famous that defective drivers put in via Home windows Replace can solely be handled presently by its companions or the tip person, which is clearly not excellent. “With [CIDR], Microsoft can now set off a restoration motion immediately from the {Hardware} Dev Middle (HDC), rolling again a problematic driver to the beforehand known-good model through the Home windows Replace pipeline,” the corporate mentioned. “Companions usually are not required to take any motion. Microsoft handles the restoration end-to-end.”
Driver updates for sure {hardware} like GPUs have induced points with Home windows Updates for years, with the NVIDIA “Nvlddmkm.sys” driver error being one of the crucial well-known examples. Microsoft’s CIDR system ought to assist with that to a sure extent, and may begin steadily rolling out in September. Microsoft can also be giving customers extra management over updates, letting you pause and skip updates and shutdown or restart your PC with no need to put in them.
On the identical time, Microsoft is attempting to verify such driver issues do not occur within the first place with its new Driver Quality Initiative (DQI). At it is Home windows {Hardware} Engineering Convention (WinHEC 2026), the corporate mentioned it is “closely investing” in hardening kernel mode drivers for increased safety, reliability and resiliency. It is also introducing stronger accomplice verification for trusted drivers, bettering lifecycle administration and increasing high quality measures.
