Microsoft Tackles Bad Drivers with New Quality Initiatives
Microsoft has been working on its Driver Quality Initiative (DQI) to improve driver quality across Windows. The initiative focuses on four areas: Architecture, Trust, Lifecycle, and Quality measures. In an update, Microsoft provided details of the progress made so far.
The company implemented the Driver Shiproom Publishing Blocklist, which now enforces quality checks during driver signing. If a submission contains a known problematic file, it can be rejected earlier in the process, giving partners more time to fix issues before the driver moves forward.
Microsoft also introduced Cloud-Initiated Driver Recovery, which allows the company to use Windows Update to roll back affected devices to a previously known-good version. This feature is currently targeted for September 2026.
The company is piloting a new publishing model for display drivers using 2-Part Hardware IDs plus Computer Hardware IDs (CHIDs). The goal is more precise targeting, getting the highest quality driver to the right systems.