Being the most widespread desktop operating system, a lot of security vulnerabilities are discovered in Windows every so often, and Microsoft patches these exploits by offering updates that get automatically downloaded and installed on computers. Microsoft also offers things like driver updates through Windows Update, and it seems that part of the service is something Samsung isn’t comfortable with, as the Korean manufacturer has been disabling automatic Windows updates on some of its users’ computers.
The culprit is Samsung’s SW Update software that comes preloaded on these computers, downloads a file named “Disable_Windowsupdate.exe” and executes it without the user’s permission. The reason? Well, Samsung says that since Windows can download older drivers and replace newer ones via Windows Update, it believes disabling automatic updates is the best solution to make sure users are always on the latest drivers for their hardware.
Samsung provided the following statement to Microsoft MVP Patrick Barker, who discovered the issue and documented it on its blog:
When you enable Windows updates, it will install the Default Drivers for all the hardware no laptop which may or may not work. For example if there is USB 3.0 on laptop, the ports may not work with the installation of updates. So to prevent this, SW Update tool will prevent the Windows updates.
That’s all well and good, but for the average consumer, older drivers might not be as big an issue as a computer that doesn’t keep them protected. Furthermore, the average joe doesn’t exactly know that you can manually download updates, making Samsung’s move a dangerous one for many. The company hasn’t said if it intends to change how its laptops work, and at this point it seems there is no solution for removing the problematic executable from loading when Windows starts up.
If you have a Samsung laptop, don’t forget to open Windows Update in the Control Panel and check if your updates have been disabled. If they are, make sure to do a manual update right then, and do it every few days until Samsung can offer a solution that doesn’t disable the automatic updates.
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