That’s precisely what it does.

Monitors can transmit their IDs over HDMI/DP, so then Windows update checks against its database and sees there’s a driver for this device.

To reiterate, it doesn’t actually do anything to the monitor though. Just your Windows install. I think the driver is ostensibly there to install a generic color calibration profile, but as you can see that’s just a pretense.

By default? Maybe.

But there are both global and granular Windows policies to tweak this. I disabled the device driver specifically, as I do like plug-and-play for other devices.

No, I just mean windows update will pull an LG “driver” and install it to your system automatically when it detects the display.

Yes, it installs to Windows.

Nah it didn’t change the monitor or do anything to it. Windows Update just installs the adware when it sees the monitor’s ID.

This has been going on forever with other components, like “gaming” motherboards, laptops and mice. But this is interesting because they retroactively did it to my plain-looking 2020 monitor. And Microsoft is in an awkward position here, as the manufacturer can claim these blobs are absolutely necessary to run the hardware.

That’s awful, but also, don’t have passwordless WiFi in your home.

If its your landlord or neighbor that does it, though, that sucks. I guess you could find where the antenna is on the TV and tape some foil to the area to block it? Or open it up and snip it.

My dumb LG monitor from 2020 got the adware update.

If you run it on Windows, it has nothing to do with the monitor’s hardware. Windows Update will just install the driver to your system when it recognizes the display.

Samsung one-ups them though. The UI and remote are, somehow, even worse.

This has been going on forever, though. I had an Asus motherboard that literally installed adware, and an even older Sony laptop that topped it.

Same. I noticed earlier this month when I got a popup to install Mcafee, out of nowhere. I was mortified.

That won’t save you. It’ll still install the driver if its hooked to Windows.

Old monitors need it for absolutely nothing, like my 2020 LG. Every feature works out of the box, because it has to over display cables.

I think at most it adds an ICC profile, but it’s not matched to the panel anyway and you can just install that seperately.

I think there’s some confusion in this thread.

This isn’t just about smart TVs.

LG also retroactively hit dumb TVs and dumb monitors, auto-installing a driver through Windows Update to load adware and who-knows-what-else. Dumb TVs are not safe, in this instance.

I know this because it hit me, just this month.

I mean it was a popup to install Mcafee. The LG monitor driver loaded adware; I don’t run Mcafee on Windows.

I traced it, and I know it was the monitor driver that did it. Thankfully. But I feared it was more serious malware masquerading as a Mcafee installer.

This isn’t just about smart TVs. Dumb displays and TVs hooked to Windows got hit by this too.

But:

• There is no alternative OS for a smart TV.

• Pretty much all TVs are smart these days.

The solution is to leave the TV disconnected from the internet, and don’t run Windows. Which is quite doable these days.

That won’t save you if the manufacturer pulls the same shenanigans as LG, unfortunately.

If it’s old though, it’s unlikely they will.

It’s an abuse of the Windows Update “contract.” It’s supposed to be for installing drivers so devices function, but manufacturers have been abusing it to autoload bloatware for years.

I mean, just leave them offline?

And check reviews for every single model. It’s hard to generalize appliances by brand, as they all have lemons and bargains (and common trends, too).

That won’t necessarily save you. My 35WN65C is from 2020, and I got the Mcafee popup.

All a manufacturer needs to do is register an old monitor in Windows Update, I think.

This happened with my LG “dumb” monitor!

2020 35WN65C. Nothing smart about it, yet I got a “install Mcafee” popup out of nowhere, to my utter horror.

Well. I’ll never buy another LG display as long as I live. Great marketing there, LG.

It was a good reminder though. Been too long since I took a chainsaw to my Windows partition.

Look at that. It’s purge o’clock.

There’s a nugget of truth here.

Linux distros require some understanding of underlying subsystems.

Windows… in theory, does not. From AverageUser9000’s perspective, they can hit the Windows key, type “Google Chrome,” and install it, while on linux it’s not immediately obvious why it doesn’t. You’d have to look up documentation on linux repos, 3rd party repos, containerized stores, and… now you’ve just lost the interest of 99% of the population.

I’m not saying AverageUser9000 isn’t a moron, but I kind of sympathize too. We are effectively linux experts, and: