I think it’s a bit wild that if you plug in an LG monitor to your Windows PC it’ll download a driver. It’s just a monitor. Why would the default user need a driver for a monitor? I was thinking of getting a new 4K monitor this year and now I’m probably not gonna be compelled to get something from LG. But thankfully I like to think I would be on top of uninstalling it anyway. But if it kept getting added back via Windows Update I would lose my F-ing mind.
I can’t believe Windows 10 is over 11 years old now. Time flies.
I’m excited to see Paul & Steve Gibson together!
I’ve had good experiences with the Apple trade in while doing it in the store. I dropped my phone last year in Vancouver and I found the damage so bad I decided to buy a new phone. I was shocked Apple gave me full trade in value for my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Their scanning software didn’t notice / complain about the dings. It was mostly a pristine phone though. I take good care of my stuff
Realistically you don’t BUT you probably do want what they used to call an INI file that lists the capabilities (mostly supported resolutions) of the monitor.
Microsoft’s/Window’s mistake is doing it silently and not giving the user agency.
In theory this feature can be used to address issues like where a monitor is incompatible some way in the future, and it could download a firmware updater.
The driver provides things like colour profiles and resolutions and refresh rates (although modern monitors on USB-C/DP/HDMI should be able to negotiate them), for example. Windows has offered to automatically update official drivers for hardware since Windows XP or Windows Vista.
There are also things like software controlled brightness settings, so you can change the brightness using the keyboard or mouse, not with the remote control or the fiddly, usually not labelled buttons underneath the monitor, because labelling them would ruin the design of the monitor! And, as Paul says, firmware updates etc.
@PHolder in Windows Update I have an option to download drivers and additional updates automatically, I generally disable that on my PCs and they are disabled by policy (and we don’t download them with WSUS, so they aren’t available anyway) at work.
Hmmm. Well it’s not that I want the feature disabled so much as I want it to be a little less “automagical” and keep me in the loop. A simple prompt of “There are driver files available for your LG xyz123 monitor, do you want them automatically installed? [YES] [No]” would suffice. For me, I sometimes connect a monitor momentarily to diagnose a problem, that is not its permanent home, and I don’t want driver crap installed on the PC because it happened to catch a whiff of a strange monitor once for 2 minutes.
Patch Tuesday updates and the Windows 11 Copilot key remapping debate
Major earnings reports, including Google’s first-ever negative cash flow and Intel’s continued losses
Microsoft’s shift to its own MAI AI models and new AI industry alliances with NVIDIA
Xbox gaming news, including the Halo: Campaign Evolved remake and recent outages
Practical PowerToys tips and Paul’s completion of his 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide