LG kills McAfee pop-up after Windows boss steps in - The Register

What the report says

The Register reported that LG has agreed to disable a McAfee advertising pop-up in its LG Monitor App Installer after intervention from Microsoft’s Windows chief, Pavan Davuluri. The issue involved a pop-up shown through LG’s app, which The Register said could be installed automatically when certain LG monitors are first connected to a Windows device. The article, by Richard Speed, was published on July 24, 2026.

According to the report, Davuluri said on social media that Microsoft had contacted LG and that LG agreed as an immediate step to remove the McAfee pop-up from the app. He said Microsoft and LG were working toward a better experience for shared customers. The Register also noted that, at the time of publication, McAfee references had been removed from the app’s Microsoft Store listing. Davuluri was responding after Epic Games chief Tim Sweeney drew attention to the matter.

The Register’s key point is that the pop-up may be gone, but the Windows mechanism that enabled the app’s silent installation remains in place. The article said Windows allows hardware makers, during external device setup, to install supporting software automatically. Such software may be used for configuration and device controls, but in this case it also became a vehicle for advertising.

The episode matters because it highlights the balance between convenient device setup and user control over software installed on personal computers. The Register stressed that LG was not exploiting a security flaw, but using a documented process. The remaining question raised by the report is whether Microsoft’s app review and device-installation procedures should be tightened to prevent similar customer complaints in future.