Microsoft releases yet another botched driver (WPD)

Reports are starting to come in that Microsoft released -- yet another -- mysterious driver for the Windows operating system.

The driver, Microsoft – WPD – 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM – 5.2.5326.4762, has been released for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

At least some users are reporting issues with the drivers, from failed installations to mobile devices no longer being recognized by the Windows machine the update was installed on.

We don't know much about the update; the update is released without a Knowledgebase ID. If you see it when you check for updates on Windows, it is simply listed as Microsoft – WPD – 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM – 5.2.5326.4762.

Not much to go by right?

Virtually the only indicator the update gives is that it is a WPD driver. WPD is an abbreviation, and means Windows Portable Devices.

These drivers enable a computer running Windows to communicate with attached media and storage devices. It allows your computer to communicate with mobile phones, music players, storage devices, and many other device types that get connected to the computer in one way or another.

Several drivers and protocols are provided, including Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), and Mass Storage Class (MSC).

While that is helpful to know, it does not really explain why the update is pushed out via Windows Update to Windows devices. While it may look like an update for the driver to you, no information is available on why the update was released.

Does it fix issues in the driver, update features, or make other changes?Since there is no KnowledgeBase article, we don't know any of that.

Considering that at least some users are reporting that the driver installation does more harm than good on their systems, it is recommended not to install it right now.

If you have installed it already, try to use System Restore or another form of restoration to restore a previous version of the system (prior to installation of the driver). While you may consider keeping it around if you did not notice any issues, users who ran into device recognition issues after installation may need to do so to regain connectivity.

Another option that is work exploring is to try and run a manual driver update check:

1. Tap on the Windows-key, type devmgmg.msc, and hit the Enter-key on the keyboard. This opens the Windows Device Manager.
2. Locate your phone in the Device Manager, right-click on it, and select Update Driver Software.
3. Select "Browse my computer for driver software" when the wizard opens.
4. Select "let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer".
5. Check the "show compatible hardware" box.
6. Select MTP USB Device and click on next.

You may also want to try rebooting the PC to see whether this is sufficient to regain device accessibility.

Günther Born managed to get his hands on the driver, and took it through a thorough analysis. You can check out his English blog post on the driver here. While you are at it, check out Woody's post over on Infoworld as well.

He discovered that it is an Android driver for MediaTek Android devices by Shenzhen Diadem Technology Co, Ltd.

My recommendation is to avoid this driver update for now, especially if you have no issues connecting devices to your Windows machine, or don't require this functionality at all.

You may want to check how to disable driver updates in Windows, how to remove installed Windows updates and block them, and how to uninstall Windows Updates for additional information.

Now You: Do you install drivers through Windows Update?