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posted by janrinok on Thursday June 25 2015, @09:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the "because-the-updates-might-not-work" dept.

Security researcher Patrick Barker has caught Samsung deliberately disabling Windows Update on Samsung PCs in favor of its own bloatware service:

The problem was spotted by independent security researcher Patrick Barker after a Windows user complained that the Windows Update function, which automatically downloads patches and security fixes from Microsoft, was being randomly disabled.

The culprit turned out to be a piece of code called SWUpdate, which Samsung bundles on its machines to handle driver updates for its hardware. SWUpdate, in turn, runs an executable called Disable_Windowsupdate.exe as part of its standard operations. Guess what that does.

At first, the researchers were concerned that the software might be malware, although it did appear to be signed by Samsung itself. A call to Samsung technical support yielded the following response:

When you enable Windows updates, it will install the Default Drivers for all the hardware [on the] 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.

Samsung has not replied to The Reg's request for comment but a Microsoft spokesperson emailed us the following statement:

Windows Update remains a critical component of our security commitment to our customers. We do not recommend disabling or modifying Windows Update in any way as this could expose a customer to increased security risks. We are in contact with Samsung to address this issue.


Original Submission and Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday June 26 2015, @03:50PM

    by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Friday June 26 2015, @03:50PM (#201547) Homepage Journal

    Windows Update, has, and continues, to be a source of a great fuckery.

    Indeed, I've had MS updates break drivers in the past (IIRC the last one was when I upgraded to XP. The next day I couldn't get on the internet because MS replaced the perfectly functional driver with one that didn't work at all). But even when they don't break your machine it's a pain in the ass; this 5 year old W7 notebook runs fine except when Windows Update rears its ugly head, and it's completely unusable until its forced reboot.

    The worst in a long time was this week. I decided to submit a couple of stories to magazines, all of whom require a Word document, and I can't get Open Office to write a file that Word doesn't refuse to open, so I installed the version of Word that came with the computer. Two reboots later Windows informs me that the Acer updater is incompatible with Windows, despite the fact that it hasn't whispered a word about it in the five years I've had this thing.

    Now every time I reboot that notice comes up. There's a checkbox for "don't show this message again" but like most of Microsoft's barely functional software, the checkbox has no effect.

    Microsoft simply writes shoddy software. Period.

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  • (Score: 1) by SDRefugee on Friday June 26 2015, @04:41PM

    by SDRefugee (4477) on Friday June 26 2015, @04:41PM (#201580)

    Windows Update, has, and continues, to be a source of a great fuckery.

    Boy aint THAT the truth.. A Windows 8.1 fresh install on a Dell Precision M4400 with Nvidia Quadro video, machine works just fine until the flood of updates that WU decides the system needs.. After they're all applied, and a reboot, the machine now immediately bluescreens right after login, with a TDR_VIDEO_FAILURE in part of the Nvidia driver that WU decided the system needed.. The fix was to get the system into safemode, uninstall the crap WU Nvidia driver, and put the latest/greatest on from the Nvidia website.. Seriously stupid... And a nice middle finger to the asshole/assholes at MS who screwed up the old "F8 for Safemode" on Win8.1.. Tried both F8 and Shift-F8, neither got me into safemode on this system... Thank God for ClassicShell to make this steaming turd usable...

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