A Windows update installed a newer driver, and the blue screens started. You do not need to remove the whole update - put the old driver back. This is the fastest, most reversible fix in the entire post-update toolkit.
Windows keeps the previous driver package when it installs a new one, precisely so you can undo the swap. The Roll Back Driver button in Device Manager performs that undo cleanly: old driver restored, new one set aside, one restart. It is the right first move whenever your evidence points at a driver - a driver date that matches the update, or a dump naming that driver's file. This page covers which devices to check, how to roll back, and the two situations where the button cannot help you.
Do not wander the whole Device Manager tree. For IRQL crashes after an update, the replaced driver is almost always one of these, in this order:
On each, open Properties and read the Driver tab: provider, date, version. You are hunting for one whose date is the update's date.
After rolling back, open the Driver tab again and confirm the date and version actually changed - trust, but verify.
A greyed button means Windows kept no previous package - common when the driver arrived with a feature update, or the store was cleaned. The button being unavailable does not end the matter:
Avoid third-party driver-updater tools for this. They are a common source of exactly the wrong-driver problem you are trying to escape.
A rollback has one weakness: Windows Update still believes the newer driver is an improvement and may serve it again. Watch for it. If the same driver returns and crashes resume, the durable answers are to install the manufacturer's current driver (which Windows then leaves alone, because the maker package wins the ranking) or, in managed environments, a policy that excludes drivers from Windows Update. Home users should also know the old Show or Hide Updates troubleshooter that many guides recommend for this has been retired by Microsoft - do not chase downloads of it from third-party sites.
Be honest with the result. If crashes continue at the same rate with the old driver restored, the driver was not the cause - re-check your evidence. The next suspects are the update's core changes, answered by uninstalling the update itself, or a non-update cause entirely. A rollback that fails is still valuable: it removes one suspect from the list permanently, and it cost you ten minutes. That is how this diagnosis is supposed to go - one suspect at a time, each verdict written down.
The video covers driver troubleshooting on the actual crashing machine - watch how the suspect driver is found before you start clicking.
Watch Full VideoNo. The newer package remains known to Windows and can be reinstalled by Windows Update or manually. A rollback is a return to the previous version, not a ban. That reversibility is exactly why it is the safest first fix.
Install the manufacturer's driver manually for the device your evidence points to - display and network first. A manual install from the maker's support page replaces the generic driver even when no rollback copy exists.
Use the dates. Any driver whose Driver Date equals the day the crashes began is a suspect; start with graphics, then network, then storage. If no dates match at all, the problem is probably not a replaced driver - move to uninstalling the update itself.