LG Disables McAfee Pop-Up in Windows 11 Monitor App After 3 Days of Backlash

Q: Beyond LG, which other companies are using Windows Update to secretly install software on your PC?

Beyond LG, the clearest other named example is Razer. The supporting material says Razer has used Windows Update to deliver camera drivers that act as bootstrappers for Synapse, its companion software, rather than just installing a plain hardware driver. Beyond that, the evidence is much thinner. The material repeatedly points to a broader OEM pattern and says similar silent installations have been noted with Dell, but it does not provide the same level of documentation for Dell as it does for LG and Razer. In other words, LG is the confirmed case in this news cycle, Razer is the other explicitly identified company, and other manufacturers are discussed more as part of a wider concern than as fully substantiated examples. What makes the LG case notable is the mechanism: Microsoft’s device metadata pipeline through Windows Update can let hardware makers trigger companion-app installs when a device is connected. That is different from ordinary preloaded OEM software or Microsoft’s own promoted apps in Windows, which are separate bloatware issues. So if the question is who else is known to be doing this, the best-supported answer from the available reporting is Razer, with Dell and possibly other OEMs mentioned but not firmly established in the provided evidence.

3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Jul 23

Microsoft said LG has agreed to turn off the McAfee trial pop-up in its Monitor App Installer, an immediate step after complaints that the app arrived via Windows Update and showed ads on connected PCs.
285,000 Reddit views and a July 19 escalation by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney pushed the issue to Windows chief Pavan Davuluri, who said Microsoft contacted LG and secured the change within three days.
LG defended itself by saying McAfee is never installed without explicit user consent and that the installer was distributed through Microsoft’s Windows process, even as users reported seeing the ad without choosing an install.
The dispute widened scrutiny of Windows’ device-metadata pipeline, which lets hardware vendors silently deliver companion apps; complaints about LG’s app date back to July 2025, and its rating fell to one star.