Windows 11 bug deletes laptop GPU drivers during Eco Mode use

A bug in Windows 11 has been identified where the operating system automatically deletes dedicated GPU drivers after a laptop remains in Eco Mode for a prolonged period. The issue occurs because Windows’ Plug and Play cleanup mechanism treats the inactive hardware as a disconnected device. Once the system determines the device has been absent for a certain threshold, it removes the associated driver from the Driver Store.

Reports indicate that on certain hardware, such as the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with Nvidia GPUs, this deletion can occur after as little as 15 days of inactivity. When users attempt to switch from Eco Mode back to high-performance or hybrid modes, they may encounter errors such as Code 10 or Code 28, requiring a manual driver reinstallation.

Until an official patch is released by Microsoft, users can prevent driver removal by modifying the Windows Registry. By navigating to ‘HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Device Driver Packages’ and setting the ‘Autorun’ DWORD value to 0, the automatic cleanup task can be disabled.