Over the past few days, reports of Windows updates being disabled on Samsung devices made rounds on tech websites. On Friday last week, a spokesperson of the mobile company told Venturebeat, "We will be issuing a patch through the Samsung Software Update notification process to revert back to the recommended automatic Windows Update settings within a few days."
Samsung expressed that it values its partnership with the software company, prompting the re-enabling of the updates.
Last week, Microsoft marketing vice president Patrick Barker reported the disabling of Windows updates on Samsung. He came across a program named Disable_Windows.exe. Barker said to have discovered that the said program is preloaded on some of Samsung's devices.
Samsung has reportedly stopped Windows updates on its devices to use the SW Update tool, which came with the disable program. It is Samsung's own system update feature.
According to reports, the Windows settings overwrite the default Samsung settings and definitely, the tech company does not want that. "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 said.
Online communities called the move "sneaky". Windows supporters complained that any attempt to re-enable the updates over the last few days was useless.
Regarding Windows Update, Microsoft stated on Venturebeat that, "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. It claims to be talking to Samsung regarding the issue.
WinBeta, Windows-run and owned site, announced the re-enabling on Saturday, calling Samsung's stated decision as "a step towards the right direction."
