How to Block Windows 10 from Downloading Drivers and “Realistic” Icons

[steven36]

It turns out there's a quick way to do that

If you're a Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 user, you probably know that the operating system automatically downloads and install drivers whenever you plug in a new device into your computer, so you can start using it right away.

This plug-and-play concept is clearly very helpful when you don't want to lose time to download and install driver software, but it's not a secret that, sometimes, Windows doesn't automatically download the best drivers for your device.

And fortunately, in Windows 10, you can turn off this feature with just a few simple steps. And a bonus, Windows 10 also allows you to block the OS from downloading what it calls “realistic” icons for your devices.

How to disable driver downloads
Surprisingly, this option isn't included in the Settings screen but is buried in the advanced system settings screen that can be accessed from your desktop.
So here's the path that you need to follow to reach these settings:

Right-click Start menu > System > Advanced system settings > Hardware > Device Installation Settings > No, let me choose what to do

Once you disable this feature, Windows 10 should no longer install drivers automatically on your PC, which should provide you with better control of the connected devices.

As far as the realistic icons are concerned, you probably know that the icons that Microsoft bundled into Windows 10 caused a really long debate among users, with many people describing the new design as pretty childish and inappropriate for an operating system that's supposed to be modern and fresh.

Soon after this criticism started reaching the web, Redmond decided to revise the icon pack available in Windows 10, so it improved basically every single icon in the operating system, including device icons. So yes, if you keep this option enabled, you should get new device icons when plugging in new items into your PC.
Sadly, if you disable driver downloads, you also prevent these icons from being downloaded.

Source