Microsoft admits faulty drivers were killing Windows 11 battery life for years
Microsoft has acknowledged that faulty third-party drivers have been draining battery life and affecting performance in Windows 11 for years. The company is implementing stricter evaluation processes for drivers to prevent these issues in the future. This overhaul aims to ensure that drivers are assessed not only for crashes but also for their impact on user experience.
- ▪Faulty drivers prevented laptops from entering low-power hibernation mode, leading to unexpected battery depletion.
- ▪Microsoft will now evaluate drivers based on their power consumption, heat generation, and overall performance impact.
- ▪An automatic rollback feature will be introduced to block problematic drivers from affecting users.
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News Microsoft admits faulty drivers were killing Windows 11 battery life for years Microsoft is changing how Windows evaluates third-party drivers as bad ones were silently draining batteries and tanking performance for years. By Laura Pippig Staff Writer, PC-WELT May 18, 2026 8:22 am PDT Image: Panos Sakalakis / Unsplash Summary created by Smart Answers AIIn summary:Microsoft has acknowledged that faulty third-party drivers have been causing significant battery drain and performance issues in Windows 11 and older versions for years.PCWorld reports that problematic drivers prevented laptops from entering low-power hibernation mode, leading to unexpected battery depletion during standby.Microsoft is implementing stricter driver evaluation processes that will assess power consumption, heat…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PCWorld.
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