188: Driver Updates

Implementation Effort: Medium User Impact: Medium — users may see prompts or required restarts when approved driver or firmware updates are installed.

Overview

Driver and firmware update management in Microsoft Intune lets administrators approve recommended hardware updates through Windows Update for Business deployment service. Zero Trust operations benefit when driver decisions are centralized, risk-based, and paired with reporting so vulnerable or unstable devices can be remediated quickly.

Implementation Guidance

1. Identify hardware vendors and models in scope and decide where Microsoft-managed drivers are acceptable versus where vendor tooling must remain.
2. Create Windows driver update policies in the Microsoft Intune admin center and start with a pilot ring before broad deployment.
3. Choose an approval model: automatic approval for stable device families or manual approval for hardware that requires validation.
4. Test firmware, BIOS, docking, and peripheral impacts with representative devices and track reboot and recovery behavior.
5. Use Intune reporting to monitor applicable updates, failed installs, and devices that remain exposed because they never received the update.

Video Walkthrough

Reference

• Windows Update Management Overview - Microsoft Intune — Explains Intune's Windows update capabilities, including driver update policies.
• Manage Windows Update Ring Policies - Microsoft Intune — Covers update ring configuration and built-in reporting and status views in Intune.