System Version Driver

Windows 10 2004 is offering optional updates for Intel drivers that are a confusing mess for users who attempt to install them.

Update the device driver In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager. Select a category to see names of devices, then right-click (or press and hold) the one you’d like to update. Select Search automatically for updated driver software. AMD Rolls Out Its First 2021 Graphics Driver - Get Radeon 21.1.1 Intel Adds Support for Iris Xe Max Graphics (DG1) - Get Version 27.20.100.9168 The New RTX 461.09 Graphics Driver Adds Support for NVIDIA’s A40 GPU. In Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet Options. On the Security tab, click the Trusted Sites icon. Click Sites and then add these website addresses one at a time to the list: You can only add one address at a time and you must click Add after each one.

During the Windows 10 2004 July 2020 updates, Microsoft enabled the optional updates experience, allowing users to select the optional drivers they wish to install.

This week, Microsoft began pushing out a confusing mess of Intel drivers that make it difficult to understand what should be installed.

1. The free version of Driver Boost will download and install drivers happily, but you avoid adverts and can pay for some additional features with Driver Boost Pro for $22.95. And, that license.
2. Most users choose to upgrade to the new system from Windows Vista/XP/7/8. However, many Windows update problems happen. One of the reasons is that your machine is not compatible with Windows 10. The software, apps, and drivers on your device don’t work for the system. In particular, a bad driver can wreak havoc your system.

After reading about this on WindowsLatest, I looked at my Optional Updates section and saw four different driver updates for supposedly the same 'Intel - System' device.

It is even more confusing because three drivers have dates specifying they were created in 1968, 17 years before Windows 1.0 was first released.

In a 2017 blog post, Microsoft explains that using older dates is intentional as it enables Windows to pick the latest driver when multiple drivers are found for the same hardware device.

Sentinel System Driver Version 5.39.2

'When the system looks for a driver to use for a particular piece of hardware, it ranks them according to various criteria. If a driver provides a perfect match to the hardware ID, then it becomes a top candidate. And if more than one driver provides a perfect match, then the one with the most recent timestamp is chosen. If there is still a tie, then the one with the highest file version number is chosen'

'Suppose that the timestamp on the driver matched the build release date. And suppose you had a custom driver provided by the manufacturer. When you installed a new build, the driver provided by Windows will have a newer timestamp than the one provided by the manufacturer. Result: When you install a new build, all your manufacturer-provided drivers get replaced by the Windows drivers. Oops.'

'Intentionally backdating the drivers avoids this problem. It means that if you have a custom manufacturer-provided driver, it will retain priority over the Windows-provided driver. On the other hand, if your existing driver was the Windows-provided driver from an earlier build, then the third-level selection rule will choose the one with the higher version number, which is the one from the more recent build,' Microsoft explains in a developer blog post.

Intel has also stated in the past that they use the 7/18/1968 date for older drivers that should not be selected by Windows 10 when offering driver updates. This date is Intel's foundation day.

'Intel Chipset Device Software uses an unusual date for the devices it is targeting. This is to make sure it does not overwrite any other drivers. The date 07/18/1968 has symbolic significance – Intel’s foundation day,' Intel explained in a tweet.

Even with an explanation, it is still confusing

Even with the explanation of how Windows 10 picks the most suitable driver for your computer, in my particular situation illustrated above, it still does not make sense.

According to research done by BleepingComputer, the drivers showing 7/18/1968 are Intel Chipset Drivers, while the driver with version 1910.13.0.1060 is for the Intel Management Engine.

Why are they all being offered as 'Intel - System,' when they are clearly for different components?

To make matters worse, Microsoft is offering two different drivers that display the same 10.1.16.6 version.

Microsoft has to do a better job of displaying what each offered driver is for and only offering the best choice for a particular device.

To offer three different Intel Chipset Driver, with two being the same version, is confusing as to what should be installed.

According to a source familiar with the Windows optional drivers, the date shown in Windows Update is taken from the INF file for the driver package. Unless intentionally changed to an earlier date, this date reflects when the driver was created.

For each driver with the same name, they represent the best driver for a specific device in your system. In our example, this means that there are three different devices in our system that have a driver confusingly labeled the same.

BleepingComputer was told that Microsoft is aware of the confusion this is causing and are thinking about UI improvements in future versions of Windows 10.

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