- Microsoft has contacted LG regarding a McAfee pop-up served via the display manufacturer’s app (which in turn is installed by Windows Update)
- As an ‘immediate next step’, LG has disabled this pop-up
- However, there are still issues to be resolved around the automatic installation of the LG monitor app and the way Windows Update itself works with third-party software
Microsoft has fixed a controversial situation where Windows 11 users with LG monitors were hit by a pop-up for McAfee antivirus, and that ad has now been banished from the operating system – but there’s still more Microsoft needs to do here.
Windows Recently noted that Pavan Davuluri, who is the head of Windows at Microsoft, disclosed what has happened on X.
In response to a push from Epic’s Tim Sweeney on the matter, Davuluri said: “We have reached out to the team at LG and as an immediate next step they have agreed to disable the McAfee pop-up from their app. We appreciate LG working with us towards a common goal of a better experience for our mutual customers. We will continue to improve here with our partners.”
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In case you missed this story from earlier this week, Windows 11 users with an LG monitor will reportedly have an LG Monitor app (from the Microsoft Store) automatically installed on their PCs via Windows Update just after connecting the monitor.
The real kicker was that after this, the said McAfee pop-up (pushing an antivirus trial) repeatedly bothered these users, with the ad delivered via the LG monitor app. So what Microsoft is telling us here is that as an immediate first step, the McAfee pop-up is no longer part of LG’s Windows app, and will no longer darken the desktops of any LG monitor owners.
The (pop-up-less) screen app is presumably still being pushed through by Windows Update, and hopefully the next step for Microsoft will be to fix this.
Analysis: software giants in glass houses?
Windows Update really shouldn’t install any third-party software without the user’s permission, that much is clear (or first-party for that matter). It’s fine to mark available updates regardless of where they come from or what hardware they may be for, but highlighting them is one thing and going ahead with an automatic install is another.
Okay, so LG has agreed to disable this pop-up, and it’s good that it happened quickly, because it was obviously a huge annoyance. It’s actually very worrying that this could even happen (and in case you missed it, LG’s TVs have also come under fire this week).
LG had already addressed this controversy with a rather lengthy statement that read: “LG Electronics reiterates that McAfee is not installed automatically and is never installed without the user’s express consent. The LG Monitor App Installer is distributed through Microsoft’s official Windows distribution process, which included McAfee as an option.
“McAfee will only be installed if a user actively chooses to proceed with the installation and provides consent. Under no circumstances will McAfee be installed automatically or without user permission. LG Monitor App Installer does not access, collect or transmit any customer personal data.”
What this seems to say is that McAfee’s actual antivirus app is not installed without consent. It does not deny that the McAfee pop-up appeared without consent or that the LG Monitor app is installed in the background in Windows without the user’s knowledge. It only notes that the LG Monitor app is “distributed through Microsoft’s official Windows distribution process,” as if that makes everything okay or somehow not LG’s fault.
Of course, it’s also Microsoft’s fault – both parties need to take responsibility and fix not only the McAfee pop-up that appears, but the LG Monitor app that automatically installs just when a monitor is connected to a Windows 11 PC. (Which is reportedly the case, I should add – I haven’t experienced this myself as I don’t have an LG monitor, but there’s a whole heap of feedback that suggests that’s exactly what’s happening).
In short, the immediate disabling of the McAfee pop-up is a start, but we need a quick follow-up that addresses the LG app itself and how it’s handled in Windows 11. And more generally, how third-party apps interact with Windows Update in general, because as already mentioned, this situation should never have been allowed to happen in the first place (regardless of the hardware LG makes or any other partner).
Also, there’s no shortage of people on Reddit who note that Microsoft has been eager enough to act here, but not so keen on curbing its own advertising-related excesses in Windows 11.
As one Redditor says of Microsoft: “Now they just need to crack down on their own bloatware…”
Although, to be fair to Microsoft, it does act to rein in some of the hype and promotional noise that Windows 11 has become associated with. However, more work needs to be done on this front.
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