Windows 7 auto update overwriting Realtek audio drivers on startup in Windows 7

Hi jfire1014,

What steps did you follow to stop automatic driver downloads?

I would suggest you to follow the steps as below and check if it helps.

Step 1:

1. ClickStart and type gpedit.msc in the Start Search and pressEnter.

2. OnceLocal Group Policy Editor is open navigate to:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Driver Installation

3. On the right pane, double click on“Turn Off Windows Update Device Driver Search Prompt” and selectEnabled and click OK.

4. Restart the computer and check if the issue persists.

Note: This will not disable the Windows Update; it will only stop prompting you to update the device driver using Windows Update. You will still be able to update the driver by manually going to Windows Update.

Step 2:

Uninstall audio drivers completely and then install the driver that is working.

1. Click Start,type Device Manager in the Start Search box, and then pressENTER.

2. In the Device Manager dialog box, expandSound, video, and game controllers.

3. Locate the audio device that was included with the computer.

3. Right-click the device, and then clickProperties.

4. Click theDriver tab, and then click Uninstall.

5. Place a check mark next to"Delete the Driver Software for this device" check box, and then click OK.

6. Install the driver that is working.

7. Restart the computer and check if the issue persists.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thanks and Regards,
Santosh Y – Microsoft Support
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I tried both these solutions.  The issue persists.  I have to uninstall the drivers, then reinstall them on every bootup.  Upon startup I get a message that windows is installing drivers.  Please help!

Try this:

1. ClickStart and type gpedit.msc in the Start Search and pressEnter.

2. OnceLocal Group Policy Editor is open navigate to:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > DEVICE Installation > Device installation Restrictions

3. On the right pane, double click on“Prevent Installation of Devices not described by other policy” and selectEnabled and click OK.

4. Then uninstall and DELETE the drivers. Restart the computer and check if the issue persists.

You might be bothered at every startup by the "failure to install" message though. Maybe disabling the "Found new hardware" balloon?

Cleeves,

Thanks for trying, but it didn't work.  First, two things that may be of note:  I have installed readydriverplus, a program which supposedly stops driver signature enforcement.  Next, when booting each time after installing the drivers, I did get  note windows was installing not only drivers but a "pci to pci bridge".  After making the fix as you instructed, I did not get any driver message, but after installing the correct realtek drivers, I still had no sound.  I had to roll back your fix and continue to uninstall and reinstall on startup to get sound.  So frustrating... I have taken to never shutting down my machine just so I can keep the sound working.  Anyone else have any answers?  Thank you both for trying.

Hi jfire1014,

We need some additional information from you please.  Please let us know the drivers that are installed on your machine for both when the sound IS working and when the sound ISN'T working.  To get this information, please do the following:

>>Click Start
>>type Device Manager in the search field and double click on Device Manager in the list above
>>go to your sound card information, then right click on it and choose properties
>>under properties, go to the Driver tab and click Driver Details

While in Device Manager check to see if you have any "bangs" i.e. yellow exclamation points or red X's.

Also, when you do reboot, if you could please give us step by step, what the screen shows when it tries to automatically update.

Finally, please be sure to go to ASUS's Website to make sure your motherboard has the latest drivers/updates as the pci error is more than likely related to your motherboard:

http://support.asus.com/

Please let us know, thanks!

---

Debra
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
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Are people thick?  gpedit.msc is not available in W7 Home yet i see this ____ in every answer forum.  

Hi, I had same problem, I solved in this way:

1) Install the driver Realtek

2) Erase C:\Windows\inf\hdaudio.inf

3) Restart pc 3 times

 

Now for me it's working, I had to restart 3 times now Windows is using the right drivers, without overwriting. (The steps was only this, I didn't do anything in gpedit.msc, I tried but I had the same problems you had, and so I had to step back!)

all the solutions below have not worked for me. followed them to the T. the only thing i can think of now is to reinstall windows. seems like an arduous process but after all i have gone through following the steps below I don't think I have a choice - or do I? I am still hoping someone tells me something that works...:(

hey Acer bus ..im having the same issue..on my AMD 3200+ ,Asus A8VVMSE board ,Realtek alc660..i have done each and everything to stop the driver being overwriting......anyway to stop it from registry ???...really fed up..planning to swich back to XP :(