Some of Samsung’s laptops quite deliberately break the option to have Windows automatically update itself.
Microsoft MVP Patrick Barker first identified the issue, which relates to an executable installed on some Samsung laptops called, rather unsubtly, Disable_Windowsupdate.exe.
It doesn’t entirely disable actual updates, but it does stop Windows Update from running updates automatically in the background, instead relying on user intervention in every case to approve updates. It’s part of Samsung’s own update software package for its laptops, and as per Samsung’ support staff, the idea is that it stops Windows from automatically applying generic software drivers over Samsung’s own laptop-specific drivers.
Problematically, as Barker discovered, it also doesn’t cleanly uninstall if you choose to use Microsoft’s update service instead. Samsung’s official statement on the matter is that “”It is not true that we are blocking a Windows 8.1 operating system update on our computers. As part of our commitment to consumer satisfaction, we are providing our users with the option to choose if and when they want to update the Windows software on their products. We take product security very seriously and we encourage any Samsung customer with product questions or concerns to contact us directly.”
Which rather neatly doesn’t address the issue that by making updates a user-initiated process, Samsung’s pretty much putting those systems at risk as they potentially miss important security updates.
Samsung deliberately disabling Windows Update [bsodanalysis]
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