Frequently Asked Questions about Windows* DCHU Compatible Drivers for Intel® Ethernet Products

Documentation

Install & Setup

000031825

08/11/2023

Note Before performing a major OS upgrade, Intel recommends that you uninstall the Intel® PROSet feature, perform the OS upgrade, and then reinstall with the latest version of Intel® PROSet. These actions ensure that all features are available and avoid potential issues.

This information applies to Windows® 10 version 1809 and up.

Click or the question for details:

Where can I obtain Windows* DCHUcompliant drivers for Intel® Ethernet Adapters? With SW Release 23.5, DCHU drivers are included in the driver download packages available on Download Center for Microsoft Windows® 10 version 1809.
Do I need to do anything differently when downloading and installing DCHU compatible drivers for Intel® Ethernet Adapters? No, the installation of any DCHU compatible drivers is based on the version of your operating system. Windows® 10 version 1809 and later only install DCHU compatible drivers for Ethernet. Therefore, if your installed operating system is Windows® 10 version 1809 or later, the DCHU compatible drivers automatically install when you execute the downloaded driver package. Older versions of Windows automatically install the legacy drivers.
Can I upgrade the Ethernet legacy driver to the DCHU compatible drivers or will this require uninstall of legacy drivers and new install of DCHU compatible drivers? Yes, you can upgrade from Ethernet legacy drivers to DCHU drivers.
Can I install Ethernet Legacy drivers on Windows® 10 version 1809? If you use the downloaded driver package, drivers are installed based on the version of Windows you're running. For example, Windows® 10 version 1809 will only install DCHU compatible drivers.
Note If you install Ethernet legacy drivers manually on a Windows® 10 version 1809 system, the adapter may not function properly and you'll have created an unsupported environment.
Is the installation and usage of PROSet software impacted by the release of Windows® 10 Version 1809 and DCHU compatible driver requirement? Yes, Intel® PROSet for Windows* Device Manager isn't supported on Windows® 10 Version 1809 (and later). Use Intel® PROSet Adapter Configuration Utility instead. The installer will determine which utility to use based on the operating system version you're running.
Is it possible to downgrade from a DCHU compatible driver to a Legacy driver? Downgrading requires a complete uninstall of the DCHU compatible driver, after which you can install a Legacy Driver.
Note If you're running Windows® 10 version 1809 or later, all Ethernet drivers installed on this version of Windows are DCHU compliant drivers. Legacy drivers aren't available or supported on Windows® 10 version 1809 (or later).
Can there be a mix of DCHU compatible drivers and Legacy drivers on a system and does this impact Ethernet Adapters? Yes, this mix could happen under these circumstances:
  • You may encounter this mix if DCHU compatible drivers aren't yet available on Windows Update for all components in the system when upgrading Windows from an older Windows OS to either Windows® 10 version 1809 (and later).
  • Other devices using legacy drivers shouldn't impact Ethernet Adapters. For Ethernet Adapters, only DHCU compatible drivers are supported on Windows® 10 version 1809.
How are drivers made available on Windows Update? The Intel Ethernet team is responsible for validating and submitting new driver packages to Microsoft for inclusion on Windows Update.
 
Where can I get technical details about Windows* DCHU compatible drivers?You can get the technical details directly from the Microsoft site.