Fix: Windows Update Automatically Replaced AMD Graphics Driver

The error “Windows Update May Have Automatically Replaced Your AMD Graphics Driver ” means that AMD Radeon software cannot communicate with the installed graphics driver as it is not compatible because it has been replaced by Windows update.

This simply means that the Windows update utility has detected an update for your graphics driver from its server, which ended up replacing the compatible AMD graphics driver.

AMD Radeon Software needs to communicate with the compatible driver to do various tasks, such as providing access to the latest features, performance reports, driver updates, and more. 

According to the reports, the screen automatically goes black and starts flickering when users encounter this error message. Thus, it is essential to fix this problem as it is related to the graphics driver.

1. Roll back the graphics driver

The simple and basic solution to this issue is to roll back the AMD graphics driver. It is recommended to start troubleshooting by rolling back the graphics driver. When you update the driver, Windows automatically backs up the old driver, which can be installed later if the user experiences issues with the latest driver.

Since Windows has automatically updated the graphics driver, the Roll Back Driver option will be available. To roll back the AMD graphics driver, follow the steps:

1. Right-click the Start Menu button and select Device Manager to open it.
   
2. Now expand the Display adapters and right-click the graphics driver.
3. Select Properties and go to Driver.
   
4. Here click Roll Back Driver.
   
5. Select any reason why you are rolling back. Then, click Yes to install the previous driver.
   
6. If the Roll Back Driver option is disabled, then click Update driver.
   
7. Select Browse my computer for drivers and select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
   
8. Tick Show compatible hardware and select the old driver.
   
9. Then, click Next to install the driver. If that does not work for you, move on to the following methods.

2. Download the AMD graphics driver

Since the Windows update has replaced the AMD graphics driver with the incompatible one, you can try downloading the compatible AMD driver from the official site, which could fix this error. To do so, follow the steps:

1. Head to the official AMD site.
2. Select the graphic card and click Submit.
3. Then, select the Operating System and click Download.
   
4. Once the installer is downloaded, simply run it to install the graphics driver.
5. Once done, restart your computer and try launching AMD Radeon Software.

3. Use DDU to reinstall the graphics driver

If the error still persists, then you need to reinstall the graphics driver completely from the system. This can be achieved by using the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) application. DDU allows users to remove the drivers with their associated registry files, which ensures a clean uninstallation without any file leftover behind. To use the DDU to reinstall the drivers, follow the steps:

1. Download Display Driver Uninstaller by navigating the website through the link.
2. Once you downloaded it, you will have to extract the folder. For that, you can use WinRar or 7Zip to extract the folder.
   
3. Open the extracted folder, and run the DDU 7Zip file to extract the DDU folder.
   
4. Now navigate to the extracted folder and run the DDU application.
5. Select the Device and the Device type.
6. Then, click Clean and restart.
7. Once done, follow the 2nd method to download the latest driver from the official manufacturer’s suite.

4. Disable Windows MPO

Windows Multiplane Overlay is a part of the display driver, and it is designed to reduce the CPU and GPU load. When this feature was introduced to Radeon Setup Tool, it started causing this error along with several problems, such as flicker or stutter. Therefore, try disabling the MPO feature by following the instructions.

1. Download the Disable MPO registry file through the link.
2. Once it is downloaded, open the registry entry file.
3. Click Run, and click Yes when UAC prompts.
   
4. Click Yes when it says Are you sure you want to continue?
   
5. Once done, restart your computer for the registry changes to take effect.

5. Perform a System Restore

If you are familiar with the System Restore utility, you may have created a restore point that can be used to revert to the previous version of Windows that did not have this issue. System Restore is a utility that saves the system files, drivers, and registry files into a restore point so if anything unusual happens, the user can use the System Restore utility to fix the issues.

To perform a system restore point, follow the steps:

1. Click the Start Menu and type the system restore command rstrui.
   
2. Hit Enter to run the system restore utility.
3. Click Next and select a restore point.
   
4. Again, click Next and click Finish to restore the Windows to a previous state.

That’s it! this will fix your issue. However, if certain settings are not configured correctly you can face this issue again if Windows update replaces the driver. To prevent it from happening again, you have to follow the following method:

Prevent Windows Update from automatically installing the drivers

In this method, we will tell Windows not to update the drivers from it’s database. Follow the steps:

6.1 Disable driver updates through Group Policy Editor

1. Click the Start Menu and type Edit group policy.
   
2. Hit Enter to open the group policy editor.
3. Navigate to the following destination using the left pane.
   Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage updates offered from Windows Update.
4. In the right pane, double-click the Do not include drivers with Windows update.
   
5. Select Enabled, click Apply and click OK.
   
6. Now your Windows will no longer include drivers in Windows updates. You can now install the latest AMD graphics driver to replace the driver downloaded via the Windows update utility to fix this error.
7. In case the error persists, try disabling driver updates using the registry editor.

6.2 Disable driver updates through Registry Editor

1. Open the Start Menu and type regedit.
2. Press Enter and click Yes when UAC prompts appear to open the registry editor.
   
3. Use the left sidebar to navigate to the following destination.

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching

   

4. Double-click the SearchOrderConfig and change its value data to 0 to dsiable the driver updates.
5. Once done, click OK, close the registry editor, and restart your computer.
   
6. Then, try installing the AMD graphics driver and see if the error is resolved.

In case you want to enable the Windows to update drivers from it’s database again, simply follow the steps mentioned above but this time put Value data to ‘1’ instead of ‘0’.