Windows 11 May Silently Remove Discrete GPU Drivers Due to Eco Mode on Gaming Laptops
Windows 11 has introduced an unexpected behavior that can delete drivers for discrete graphics cards on gaming laptops when the device remains powered off for an extended period in Eco Mode.
The issue was first reported by the owner of an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 equipped with a mobile GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. In this power-saving mode the discrete GPU is physically disconnected from the PCIe bus. After several weeks of operation, Windows concluded that the hardware had disappeared permanently and initiated cleanup.
Analysis of the setupapi.dev.log showed that the system component pnpclean.dll removed the video card after only 15 days of absence and then deleted the now supposedly unnecessary Nvidia driver package. Although the standard timeout is 30 days, certain devices can trigger earlier removal.
Upon returning to Standard Mode the GPU appeared in Device Manager as a Microsoft Basic Display Adapter with error code 10. The Nvidia application reported driver incompatibility, and the only reliable fix proved to be a complete driver reinstallation.
While the problem has been confirmed primarily on Asus ROG laptops, it may affect other models that fully disconnect discrete graphics. One owner of an older G14 with AMD Radeon graphics reported identical behavior. The developer of the G-Helper utility has already added a warning to the application.
The simplest preventive measure is to switch to Standard Mode every couple of weeks to reset the timer. Automatic cleanup can also be disabled with the following PowerShell command run as administrator:
Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Device Driver Packages' -Name Autorun -Value 0
Disabling the feature stops Windows from automatically removing old drivers and unused devices. No official confirmation has been received from Microsoft so far.
Related articles
Telegram Patches RCE Vulnerabilities in HTML Widgets After Researcher Demonstrates Calculator Exploit
Telegram introduced HTML widgets for bots in early November, allowing JavaScript execution inside messages via the QuickJS engine. Security researcher V12 quickly demonstrated remote code execution by launching the system calculator on Android. Pavel Durov responded that no vulnerability existed because the user had to first start the bot, yet server-side fixes were deployed anyway. Multiple use-after-free and use-after-return bugs were identified in QuickJS and QuickJS-ng, some discovered with AI assistance from Claude Fable 5.1 and Mythos 5.2. Telegram isolated the widget engine into a separate process on Android, added syscall filtering, and limited nested graphical effects to prevent crashes. Desktop clients received the fixes across versions 7.4.2 and 7.4.3, while widgets were temporarily restricted server-side. Users are advised to update to Android 13.2.2 or Desktop 7.4.3 and avoid unknown bots.
Telegram Patches Critical QuickJS Sandbox Escape Vulnerability in Android Update 13.2.2
Telegram has released version 13.2.2 for Android to address a high-severity vulnerability in its HTML widgets for bots. The flaw resided in the QuickJS JavaScript engine within Telegram's QuickJS-ng fork and allowed scripts in ordinary messages to break out of the sandbox and execute native code on the device. The root cause was improper handling of the await using construct inside non-async functions, which triggered a use-after-return condition by freeing local variable references while nested functions still accessed the stack. The vulnerable code entered the QuickJS-ng main branch on May 16 as part of explicit resource management support. Security researcher Andreas Rösler discovered the issue during an AI-assisted audit with Anthropic's Claude model that identified 27 findings total. The patch enforces a syntax error on the invalid construct and was merged on November 10, the same day the Android release became available. Although reported against Android 13.2.1, the bug affected every platform using the affected engine fork.
Node.js Patches 16 Vulnerabilities Exposing TLS Private Keys and Cross-Connection Data
The Node.js project has released fixes addressing 16 vulnerabilities, seven of which are rated high severity. The most critical issue, CVE-2026-123864, allows an unauthenticated client to read memory from other HTTPS connections, potentially exposing TLS private keys and requests belonging to other users. Three supported release lines were affected, and exploitation requires a specific application code pattern involving res.flushHeaders() and res.end() calls before the request body is fully received. Additional high-severity flaws include CVE-2026-123863, which crashes HTTP/2 servers, CVE-2026-123866 that leaks server memory chunks to clients, and CVE-2026-123865 that causes permanent memory and file descriptor leaks in HTTP/2 servers. Several other CVEs affect TLS renegotiation, SNI callbacks, and file streaming functions. The project states that end-of-life branches including 20.x and 25.x remain vulnerable with no patches available.
Microsoft Confirms November Windows Updates Break Activation, Licensing and Printing Functions
Microsoft has acknowledged that its November 2024 cumulative updates are causing failures in Windows activation and licensing operations on multiple supported platforms. The Software Licensing Management Tool (SLMGR) returns error 0x80041008 when administrators run commands such as slmgr.vbs /skms-domain or slmgr.vbs /ipk, preventing product activation, KMS server configuration, and product key changes. The issue affects Windows 11 23H2, Windows 10 22H2, Windows 10 21H2, Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 2022, and Windows Server 2019. A separate regression introduced by the same updates prevents printing of documents that contain images with zero height or width, a technique used for watermarks in Microsoft Word and other applications. Microsoft stated that a fix will be released in the coming days and advised enterprise customers needing an immediate workaround to contact business support.