Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Printers Description
This policy setting allows you to manage where client computers search for Point and Printer drivers. If you enable this policy setting, the client computer will continue to search for compatible Point and Print drivers from Windows Update after it fails to find the compatible driver from the local driver store and the server driver cache. If you disable this policy setting, the client computer will only search the local driver store and server driver cache for compatible Point and Print drivers. If it is unable to find a compatible driver, then the Point and Print connection will fail. This policy setting is not configured by default, and the behavior depends on the version of Windows that you are using. By default, Windows Ultimate, Professional and Home SKUs will continue to search for compatible Point and Print drivers from Windows Update, if needed. However, you must explicitly enable this policy setting for other versions of Windows (for example Windows Enterprise, and all versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 and later) to have the same behavior.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers Value name: DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate
Enabled: DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate = 0
Disabled: DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate = 1
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Printing/DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers]
"DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Printing/DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Extend Point and Print connection to search Windows Update
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DoNotInstallCompatibleDriverFromWindowsUpdate' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.