Samsung will stop blocking Windows updates ‘within a few days’

Samsung PC owners will soon receive automatic software updates from Microsoft again, after the company said it will end its practice of blocking automatic Windows Updates on its computers.

In conversation with Venture Beat, a Samsung spokesperson said, “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 remains committed to providing a trustworthy user experience and we encourage customers with product questions or concerns to contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG.”

According to the report, Samsung’s SW Update software was disabling Windows Update on at least some computers. It points out that the update tool was grabbing and running a file named ‘Disable_Windowsupdate.exe,’ which was preventing Windows Update from automatically downloading and installing updates.

Microsoft uses the Windows Update tool to deliver new versions of Windows, updates to drivers along with security patches to the system that protect users from malicious attacks. A report by The Verge stated that Samsung implied that the reasoning for blocking the automatic install of the updates was to prioritize its own driver updates over Microsoft’s, which may not work with Samsung’s hardware.

Users who have not uninstalled the SW Update will have their Windows Update settings reverted to apply updates automatically when the company patches its service, just as Microsoft recommends.