LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

This is so much worse that the title makes it out to be:

  1. Your OS installs malware (technically manufacturers software) from a 3rd party vendor in background, zero user interaction
  2. Happens as soon as you or anyone with physical access plug in a device into the HDMI port
  3. That malware has internet and full system access, no sandboxing
  4. It starts with every system boot
  5. This software gets installed when you plug in a new LG monitor
  6. OR ALREADY HAD AN OLDER LG MONITOR PLUGGED IN, BECAUSE LG APPARENTLY ROLLED THIS OUT FOR MANY OLDER MODELS TOO!!
  7. And yes, if you think that's horrendous, as mentioned in the video below, that also applies to 'Professional' LG monitors!

GamersNexus has a video diving deeper into what LG did here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM

Workaround:

  gpedit.msc
  Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation
  Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata
  Set to enabled
  OK

  sysdm.cpl
  Hardware tab
  Click Device Installation Settings
  Under 'Do you want to automatically download manufacturers' apps for your devices?', select 'No'
  Save Changes

Assuming they don't get a revenue cut, pushing back on Microsoft can in principle be effective here.

Microsoft decides what happens here, and presumably today they just take it on trust that hardware makers know what software to install. New driver? Sure. McSpam installer? OK. Maybe they have a guideline saying "Don't ship unrelated garbage" but today it's not enforced because why would you do that?

If the Microsoft customers (particularly larger corporate customers) tell Microsoft they hate this that policy will get tightened or if there isn't a policy one is introduced, and outfits like LG get told if you do this again we're taking away your update privileges, 'cos our customers hated this. Because (as I said assuming MS don't get a taste) this is all downside for Microsoft.

Pushing back on LG will be less likely to work because you already bought their product, so at most you can insist you'll forgo LG next iteration and they know such pledges evaporate in practice usually. Whereas Microsoft has contract negotiations every day, somewhere a $$$ contract is being renegotiated next week and if "Yeah, these LG popups suck" comes up - even if it's not a corporate system but the VP's niece's video editing suite for her vlog that's strictly unrelated - that Microsoft sales droid reports this was an impediment and it's on the list of things that don't benefit Microsoft.

Windows urgently needs to revamp their driver consent model.

You can't block a just one driver. E.g. for my touch screen on the Lenovo website there is version X. When I install it the next day Windows installs X-1.

On Lenovo's website the latest version is 7.7.2.66 (https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netb...).

Windows reverts that to 7.7.2.44.

I tried blocking that update with the Powershell command-thingy, but even that doesn't work:

    Administrator in ~
    get-windowsupdate -isHidden | ft Status,KB,Size,Title

    Status  KB Size Title
    ------  -- ---- -----
    ----H--    92KB Wacom Technology - HIDClass - 7.7.2.44

A monitor cannot install software on your computer by the way. It's Windows installing this software automatically (for some reason), so the blame should be on Microsoft.

Autorun of malware when you plugged in a USB drive was also a Windows issue, I'd classify this as the same security problem.

Gamers Nexus have a video about this. Definitely worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM

I dunno why so many people across different platforms insist that anyone concerned about this is overdramatic.

This is one of those things where if I found the person responsible I would likely spit in their face; if not worse. It's quite literally spyware installed as you plug it in much like those old DVD DRMs from sony that would install spyware.

It's garbage.

They used to call this spyware/malware. Now it's a regular practice by eng. teams and managers inside these big corp. Well played guys :) Congrats with new type of tricks

I am tired of this. LG is now on my blacklist alongside EA and Blizzard Entertainment for their anti consumer practices. I can't change them, I can't change policies about it. I can choose to not buy.

Your OS silently installs malware. Doesn't get much worse than this.

Similarly after getting annoyed at my TV for showing ads and other privacy issues, I have started working on a smart TV version of the casting device my startup makes.

I have been using it for both personal use and other work use-cases, here is a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jObZzI2_pv0

Just like youtube, I can log in to my netflix, amazon prime and then use the touch screen to choose the movie to watch and it gets played on the external screen. I am building it how I would use it as a power user.

McAfee should be classified as a virus

Seriously, why use Windows in 2026? Such a hideous OS and ecosystem with endless malware, backdoors, and dark patterns.

LG is not a computer OS developer. Microsoft is. Microsoft has steered from developing software to developing malware for years now. This is simple: LG and McAfee paid MS to DP this, and they did.

It still blows my mind that most people still put up with this kind of behavior. I get that some people can't get away from Windows due to genuinely needing to use software that will only run on it, but that has to be around 0.1% or less of current windows users. There is no justification for the other 99.9% to choose to stay in such a toxic relationship.

it's worth noting that the price of these monitors got cut in half due to this news -- great for the linux users out there

Fun fact, Gigabyte motherboards do the same thing. Thankfully they give you an option to disable it in BIOS.

Why do people even install 'drivers' for things like monitors. (Or usb devices running 'standard' protocols). The OS handles these just fine by itself.

They were doing this over a year ago [1]

[1] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/callam-d-b38b05105_windows-is...

Can confirm. This happened to me yesterday on my Windows 11 machine. Uninstallation was only listed in the Microsoft Store -> Library.

Installing drivers and software for connected hardware is just something Windows has done through Windows update for a long time.

Is this a good practice? I don’t really know. We used to get drivers on CDs, but barely anyone has a drive on their computer anymore. You could download them from the vendor website but these are usually a mess and very difficult to navigate to find the right thing — impossible for your grandma.

Could do like Linux and just build trusted software right into the kernel - but then people will complain about bloat.

So we are where we are. I guess.

the instructions to enable "Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata" don't work for me w/ W11, any ideas? thanks

Last time a company abused platform driver delivery to install adware, Microsoft threatened to pull their drivers altogether.

But those were different times...

I also discovered that these days motherboards come with a payload in their chipset, which gets installed automatically in background unless you figure out to turn it off from BIOS before installing Windows. In my case it was bunch of ASUS useless stuff, not just drivers, some "Armoury Crate" etc. Which just keeps running in background. I've switched to KDE, that kind of solved itself.

Microsoft can remove device driver crapware from being distributed via windows update if you can get their attention on this.

They also come with terms of service which assert that you will inform everyone in the vicinity of your TV that their voices are being recorded by your TV.

This is an excellent use of agentic AI, btw. Fire Claude up and say, "Remove LG malware and mcafee from this computer. Make regex changes so it can't be installed again."

My current windows 10 install is cleaner than any other windows machine I've ever owned due to using Claude to deep dive and rip stuff out.

Trust is a valuable commodity that once lost is very hard to regain. LG's big brother installs has me questions buying anything LG to bring in my home.

If someone is in EU and is affected by this they could potentially utilize GDPR to make both Microsoft and LG take responsibility for this.

It's hard to say directly from the article if there is any GDPR breach. If everything was part of the installer and it doesn't actually submit anything (including downloading the ad) to LG then it's harder to argue that there is GDPR violation, but knowing the SOP of these kinds of software that is unlikely.

If the software did indeed send personal data to LG then there are at least following question: How was Article 13 notice delivered to user? Article says that this was installed quietly. Did Microsoft deliver Article 13 compliant notice to user at some point? They probably did deliver their own notice (though it's open question if it's compliant), but not LG's. However since Microsoft is the one that installed the software and they exercise control over the standards which must be met, it's possible that they would end up being joint controller at least for some processing.

I should add that Article 13 requires that the notice is given "at the time when personal data are obtained". The only exception is when "data subject already has the information" and possible Article 23 restrictions, but those are unlikely to apply.

If someone wants to make a complaint they should first make Article 15 request to LG. Copy of personal data is useful, but 15(1) information is the primary goal. Additionally ask for information on how and when did LG provide you the Article 13 notice if they did indeed process your personal data.

After that if they cannot show that they provided Article 13 notice when they received your personal data submit a complaint to your local DPA. You can additionally flag other violations as well if they are applicable (e.g. not naming recipients as part of Article 15 response, not giving actual retention time or meaningful information how that is determined, invalid legal basis etc.). You should also flag in the complaint that Microsoft is likely joint controller for some of the processing given that they are the ones who approved the automatic install of the software which violated GDPR.

Why are hardware manufacturers so shit at software?

Whether it’s router safety or NVIDIA software hammering DNS servers hundreds of thousands of times or this. Across the board they seem below average competent when it comes to software. I get that they’re specializing on hardware but why so very bad?

Edit. This isn’t even the only thread today. See TPlink fucking up on leaking your GPS coordinates also on front page

Not surprised.

My wife CONVINCED me to buy an LG tv instead of my typical dumb monitor.

Now I get constant ads and a constant nagging of updates available, that will install more ads and spying features...

A malware OS installing other malware seems fitting.

the paranoid part of me thinks this is a war of attrition, where if every company imaginable has to be taken to task for intrusive behavior that we'll eventually grow numb to it, or that with a large enough onslaught we'll never be able to outpace it. It's not like there is profit to be made from preventing this behavior, and incredible incentives to, at minimum, turn a blind eye.

windows update is a well known malware vector, how does this warrant any news? if you absolutely have to use windows, you either go through the effort of stripping the particular version you chose from all the spyware and malware it comes packaged with and gut the malware loader paths out of it, or you accept that you're running a botnet node you have little to no control over.

Not great, but also not at all surprising.

Not sure about other solutions, but one suggested workaround here would be to silently uninstall Windows without consent.

I am using an LG ultra wide monitor and have not had any popups or ads.

At this point, such shenanigans are to be expected when using Windows.

I guess my next machine will have a VGA port ;-)

And no Windows.

Shame on Microsoft for allowing this

It's shit like this that caused me to start refusing to help my mom and her friends with their windows computers. I'm not going to support their shady activities anymore. If you want my help the first thing we're doing is installing Linux.

Windows is malware

Alienware does the same thing, and as far as I could figure out, there is no way to stop it. The enshitification of Windows at this point is incredible.

? isn't this normal windows behaviour?

All gaming brands try to install software with every driver update. AMD, Nvidia, Razer, Corsair, etc. The difference is LG made it silent, which is a big no-no. Pushback should be on LG, a respected consumer brand that should know better.

I have an LG monitor and I think I managed to avoid this by using Linux.

Good to know. LG is now on my blacklist.

I think this is how they are going to make us pay rent for what we bought. They will make everything unusable unless you pay more and make some cuckoo TOS saying that you agree to be held in contempt if you circumvent their measurements.

Honestly, if we don't push it back hard, it will only get worse and worse. Why we were cancelling people if they used wrong pronouns and suddenly we got tired of doing the same with stuff that we all should agree on that is terrible.

Last 2 were LG, been looking at a new one but I guess I'll go with another brand that has their panels.

And Razer, Logitech, nvidia and everyone else who has it's driver package accepted into WU.

No, you can't have a "(o) just the driver" checkbox because... honestly there are a lot of reasons and the device manufacturers are the guys who demand that in the first place.

So I own 5 LG monitors. But now I can't buy LG. I also refuse to support Samsung.

Are there any high quality panel manufacturers left that aren't run huge pieces of shit? Or at least try to respect the people buying their hardware?

Oh, come on! LG force fed people with ads on TVs. And now everybody acts surprised?

Do. Not. Buy. LG.

There are a lot of decent alternatives. Stop buying from the sick heads.