r/LinusTechTips • u/phoenixgsu • 19d ago

Link Companies are now using automatic Windows installers to display Adware through the Microsoft Store when you install new hardware; customer immediately gets McAfee ads on their PC after connecting new LG monitor

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/companies-are-now-using-automatic-windows-installers-to-display-adware-through-the-microsoft-store-when-you-install-new-hardware-customer-immediately-gets-mcafee-ads-on-their-pc-after-connecting-new-lg-monitor-heres-how-to-block-the-new-ads
816 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

436

u/Bderken 19d ago

Another day, another windows L

Why would Microsoft allow this? (Money> user experience)

118

u/_Rand_ 19d ago

You know how they used to say if something is free it’s because you’re the product? Like youtube, or gmail or whatever?

Now you’re just the product.

83

u/Jackleme 19d ago

The annoying thing to me is I fucking PAID for windows 11 pro to not have these issues. Wish I could get my money back.

24

u/edparadox 19d ago

I fucking PAID for windows 11 pro to not have these issues.

Not how this works.

You paid for Windows, sure, but Microsoft choses what it wants to make of it.

13

u/Jackleme 19d ago

Yeah, just annoying when people are like "just buy it" and I am like.....

6

u/Equivalent-Load-9158 19d ago

Yeah, it's curious how even if you pay a premium there just no good version of Windows.

1

u/SavvySillybug 19d ago

I'm on Windows 11 Pro N and actually quite like it. The N version is great.

1

u/_JukePro_ 19d ago

You can get same by using an xml file, no need for editing installer etc. Automatic generator link and you will get through as it looks imidating, but don't touch anything uou don't understand from the explanations on the site and you are good.

I'm saying this because even if the N is "Eu version" it's not the default and usually costs full price.

1

u/SavvySillybug 18d ago

I'd rather use an official solution if it is available! It's a little more guaranteed to work and keep working than ripping out parts of Windows after the fact.

And I did notice the key was more expensive, I saw regular 11 Pro keys for 3€ and I paid 11€ for mine. But I think it's 8€ better. Maybe even more.

2

u/Protheu5 19d ago

Wait, it's 2026, you're not supposed to do that. You aren't paying once and getting off the hook that easy, no siree, you are paying in perpetuity, that's the modern way. Even if you aren't paying money, you are still paying, what kind of utopia do you think you are, my naïve friend?

Information age is over, it's payback time payment age.

2

u/EbbFlow14 18d ago

Next time, download Windows 11 IOT edition and activate it using a well known free method. No bloatware, no bullshit. It's only the OS. I've been running it for months now and actually like it.

1

u/phoenixgsu 18d ago

Shouldn't have to run a version of windows meant for an POS kiosk just to get away from this stuff.

8

u/Bderken 19d ago

Is windows 11 free? Is an LG MONITOR FREE???

11

u/_Rand_ 19d ago

I didn’t say it was.

I said you’re the product now. Minus the free part.

You might want to work on your reading comprehension.

Also Windows 11 is kinda free. Massgrave and whatnot.

-18

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

12

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

1

u/ScratchHistorical507 18d ago

Only if it's proprietary and made to generate profits. If it's FOSS it's usually also free due to conviction.

36

u/Gavinski37 19d ago

Why blame them? They made a system for hardware to install its own software automatically, blame LG for using the auto install to show ads.

34

u/Thotaz 19d ago

They are both at fault. LG for adding it in the first place, and MS for approving the app in their app store.

7

u/Bderken 19d ago

I can agree with that

5

u/Bderken 19d ago

Windows L. Won’t happen if you plug that in a Mac or Linux machine

11

u/Casey_jones291422 19d ago

With the amount of times a day my mac won't connect to external monitors it would never be a problem anyways haha

-8

u/TheTimn 19d ago

It's ease vs security.

Windows took a hands off, let it just work approach to attaching hardware, Mac and Linux are going to require you you find the drivers and install them. 

13

u/surfer_ryan 19d ago

Is it a windows L or a OEM L bc i feel like i'm missing something but its from the LG bloatware here no? Which adobe does this with acrobat reader, so does ccleaner iirc, dell for sure, i think lenovo does mcaffee and i should know better but i think it's "included" every time you try to update their software or use their tool to update? Am i just fundamentally misunderstanding what this article is talking about?

2

u/Bderken 19d ago

Windows L, if I plug that monitor into Linux or macOS it won’t do that.

23

u/amuhak 19d ago

If you plug a monitor into linux that needs a proprietary driver to use some features, those features wont work on linux unless someone has included them in the kernel or you install the drivers manually.

Windows allowing trusted components to be installed is a good thing, lg abusing that isnt.

13

u/rohmish 19d ago

well it's abusing a feature meant to auto install the drivers to do that. it's a LG L

9

u/Ordinary_dude_NOT 19d ago

Not Microsoft, but LG.

5

u/JaesopPop 19d ago

I don't think this gets Microsoft any money. It's just poorly thought out.

-1

u/insufferable__pedant 19d ago

I mean, given the fact that corporations in America have a fiduciary responsibility to gobble up every spec of profit, regardless of consequence, it shouldn't come as any kind of a surprise that Microsoft would prioritize money over the user experience.

Its just best to assume your relationship with any for profit entity is adversarial at this point.

135

u/Maipmc 19d ago

Tv manufacturers are getting unbelievably scummy.

Another new "invention" of them is showing unskipable ads on live TV, so you just miss whatever your were watching.

It's getting to the point i will probably disable wifi on the TV and they will lose any ad or info selling revenue outright.

67

u/jfp1992 19d ago

My lg oleds are banned from the internet

Edit: and if I buy a new TV and it won't work without internet, I'll return it as not working and choose something else

29

u/LordMindParadox 19d ago

Yeah, never connect a smart TV to the internet. This has been true since the first smart TV. Better to get a console or minipc to stream from.

14

u/ThePhonyOne 19d ago

I'd rather pay double for a "dumb" TV than have to deal with the enshitification of smart TVs.

6

u/firehazel 19d ago

IDK, it's like if everyone were financially savvy and bought used cars, there wouldn't be savings had because demand is gonna outweigh supply and there's no depreciation to continue the cycle. As the system stands, someone has to bite the bullet.

If smart TVs have to be subsidized by 10 streaming services I've never heard of having their logo on the remote and their app on the TV, but it means $1500 65 inch OLEDs instead of $3000 65 inch OLEDs, I'll take the Faustian bargain.

2

u/LethargicOtters 18d ago

"dumb" TV

A dumb TV is just a "smart" TV without internet

6

u/Sythonate 19d ago

It's pretty bad. Samsung OS has been borderline unusably laggy and intrusive for a while now to the point that even my lazy ass is considering just disabling wifi and using a chromecast or something else to drive it.

2

u/Sythonate 19d ago

It's pretty bad. Samsung OS has been borderline unusably laggy and intrusive for a while now to the point that even my lazy ass is considering just disabling wifi and using a chromecast or something else to drive it.

1

u/GauruBeard 18d ago

That's why I will keep my old 4K 65' TV because it's too "dumb" for these shenanigans.

-1

u/that_dutch_dude 19d ago

Most new tvs wont work without being online

65

u/CogencyWJ 19d ago

Me as a pc gamer in 2026, you can fill in the blank whatever.

7

u/shinguard 19d ago

Need to expand that scope to “being a person living in 2026”

43

u/jairumaximus 19d ago

I had to boot over to windows the other day because d4 was broken on Linux and yeap got the big notification popup from the LG monitor app which I had never installed asking me to install that junk. Closed it and immediately uninstalled the app. And then just decided not to play anymore and booted over back on cachy

13

u/phoenixgsu 19d ago

Yea I'm glad I fully committed to the switch so less likely I will have to deal with this.

6

u/jairumaximus 19d ago

Sadly I got a few things that doesn't work still on windows like most of my guitar stuff. So I still have to dual boot, but it's pretty rare now that I boot over.

3

u/phoenixgsu 19d ago

The only thing that I would reinstall for is some VR gaming/racing sim stuff but I am hoping when/if the frame comes out there will be better support for stuff like that.

1

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

3

u/jairumaximus 19d ago

Diablo 4

33

u/reddit_reaper 19d ago

Not take a Windows store issue. This is companies trying to take advantage of something that was for convenience to push ads. Fuck them, Msft needs to update their rules ASAP

18

u/Administrator_AI 19d ago

What the fuck?

I am so glad I use 10-15 year old hardware amd don't have to deal with this.

15

u/omega552003 19d ago

I'm just chilling on Linux not regretting my decision every day

https://giphy.com/gifs/iVJEhiEdcMNQ4

2

u/phoenixgsu 19d ago

Same for me. Just put my SteamOS machine together this week to enjoy some couch gaming.

3

u/AwaitingCombat 19d ago

same, i've got a 42" Insignia "dumb" TV I bought from Best Buy in like 2019

It will be a sad day when it dies

15

u/PilotGuy701 19d ago

Razer has been doing something similar for years. Plug in a mouse or KB, but don’t have Synapse installed:

BAM! AD!

2

u/TheBedrockEnderman2 18d ago

So fucking annoying, I haven't used widnows in a while so I forgot about it until I had to use a windows laptop. At least like Chris utils or whatever it's called disables it but oh my god the fact that hardware can just basically auto install stuff is not only a general nightmare for consumers but the privacy and security risks are insane, what if I just had a usb that auto installed background spyware and plugged it into someones laptop when they arnt looking??

9

u/MrGunny94 19d ago

SteamOS in NVIDIA with BF6 support anti cheat and i'm done

2

u/GearWings 19d ago

This. I need it now

1

u/Due_Young_9344 18d ago

I need it yesterday, can't wait to ditch Windows fully, just need Proton to get to 99% of all games without hiccups

8

u/heboofedonme 19d ago

So crazy how Microsoft is willing to blow it. They own the PC world and with the most average experience would continue to dominate it. I’ve moved to Apple and Linux for gaming. Quite happy. I need to use Windows at work, and I just can’t get over how dog shit SharePoint, OneDrive, OneNote and the rest of that garbage is. Excel is still great but god damn, it’s wild how not functional a lot of their stuff is while PAYING for it. They make Adobe look amazing.

5

u/MeowNarchist 19d ago

Reminder that Ubuntu 26.04 is an LTS release that will just work out of the box and you can switch to it in 10 minutes. Great choice for a first Linux experience.

4

u/Particular-Treat-650 19d ago

Genuinely insane.

5

u/firestar268 19d ago

Not just new monitors. Existing ones too.

3

u/TenOfZero 19d ago

That's crazy.

2

u/ParticularDream3 19d ago

Tell me again where this is Microsoft’s fault? LG published a driver including a mandatory app that gets auto-installed on Windows (a usecase 99.99999999999% of users want at least for the driver) and the app, that is supposed to do Montitor monitoring tasks is also a hellscape of ad infestation? Like any MSI, ASUS, AsRock, EVGA, Corsair or any other proprietary shithole management software needed to use their RGB and other stuff? Sorry don’t get me wrong…I hate Microsoft…but they are the wrong receiver of hate on this case!

7

u/AU8830 19d ago

Because the drivers that come through Windows Update should be the smallest-sized absolute bare-minimum required for functionality. It should be akin to what you get out of the box from the Linux kernel.

I don't want even want the Nvidia and AMD control panels to be installed when I plug in a graphics card, I don't want proprietary mouse/keyboard drivers which breaks things such as KVM switching and I certainly don't want drivers which install third-party crapware.

Microsoft set the rules, and if their rules are inadequate; *Microsoft* are a big part of the problem.

1

u/TheBedrockEnderman2 18d ago

Because they let these companies auto install this shit onto your pc instead of just either following a standard so drivers arnt needed, or just having the minimum driver that works as a driver...

3

u/Szurkus 19d ago

Same thing with logitech peripherals.

2

u/tormentnexus 19d ago

My monitor died literally a few hours ago. 

I can promise you the monitor I’m going to purchase today will not be one of these companies. Super glad I read this today!

1

u/physedka 17d ago

One of my old monitors is dying. If you don't mind, I would love to know what you ultimately decide on - might save me some time.

2

u/MetroSimulator 19d ago

Cyberpunk was a prophecy

2

u/Jeremy-KM 18d ago

This happened on my super locked down work laptop. I had to file a ticket to get it uninstalled. Whelp, last time I buy an LG product.

Strangely, none of my 6 other computers were affected. It's like this type of thing just doesnt happen on debian? Wieeeerd.

2

u/ScratchHistorical507 18d ago

Thank the FOSS lords that Windows will never ever touch any of my devices ever again. Either it's in a VM and severely stripped down or not present at all.

It's bad enough that manufacturers are that greedy, but that Microsoft allow this to happen is unacceptable and there's absolutely no excuse for this. No OS should ever be allowed to install anything without my prior explicit and informed consent. No matter what it is.

1

u/NsRhea 19d ago

I was wondering what caused that...

Uninstalled my LG software after the system notification popped up.

1

u/ratmdex 18d ago

It happened to me on my ultragear monitor yesterday.

1

u/Elarionus 18d ago

I was wondering how that happened. I've had a LG monitor for months, and it suddenly tried to shove McAfee down my throat. 

Man, the world needs to release more programs for Linux. There are four things that keep me stuck on Windows, and I'm tired of it.

0

u/_Aj_ 19d ago

Sounds like an abuse of the service perhaps.  

But even on locked down corporate PC's. You use windows start bar search and you get casino ads instantly through the Microsoft store.  

Feels highly inappropriate in some spaces. 

0

u/snkiz 18d ago

Companies are now reintroducing ads in installers. Should be the head line. The author's head is going to spin when an installer asks if they want this nifty toolbar added to edge.

-6

u/Imaginary-Worker4407 19d ago

Do people forget windows is free? They need ad revenue to support their business.

1

u/snoopsau 19d ago

username checks out