On my home forum Sysnative, a user (wavly) was being assisted with a WU issue, which was going well, aside from the fact that wavly’s WU kept getting disabled randomly. It was figured out eventually after using auditpol.exe and registry security auditing that the program that was responsible for disabling WU was Disable_Windowsupdate.exe, which is part of Samsung’s SW Update software.
SW Update is your typical OEM updating software that will update your Samsung drivers, the bloatware that came on your Samsung machine, etc. The only difference between other OEM updating software is, Samsung’s disables WU.
No matter how much work Microsoft puts into cleaning up Windows, crappy OEMs like Samsung will undo all their work.
How about that line of Surface laptops and desktops, Microsoft?
Osnews should ask Samsung to publicly make a statement explaining why it thought this was a good idea.
No public shaming, means no pain for them, means they’ll keep doing it.
Will answers that it improves consumer’s experience. Samsung is used to ‘enhance’ Android so I bet they are into the same habits to ‘customize’ Windows as well.
They’ll probably use the same line as the rep did in the blog post, that is, enabling Windows Update might stop your computer from working because it installs default drivers. There’s so much wrong with that as it stands, but it’ll probably wash with the majority of non-techy people.
“Because we don’t understand Windows”.
The whole thing is NOT TRUE:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Samsung-deaktiviert-keine-Si… (knowing German helps)
Well, one press article is not proof, as well as saying Samsung does disable Windows Update.
Consumers’ experience and court orders actually have more weight into saying that indeed Samsung acts greedily.
Blog post that actually analyze things technically : http://bsodanalysis.blogspot.fr/2015/06/samsung-deliberately-disabl…
That is the exact same blog(from some dude) as in the OSnews story.
No need to buy expensive Surface devices if you don’t want the pre-installed junk.
Microsoft sells hardware via their store without any vendor crapware, called the “signature” editions.
Ironically, it is Microsoft who makes Samsung pre-install the Office apps on Android devices.
Those are only available in a limited number of countries.
Ok, not available everywhere but quite a lot of people can buy them.
In Europe the signature editions are officially available in France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK.
There’s something inherently wrong with paying a fee to Microsoft to remove crap that shouldn’t have been on my computer in the first place.
On the other hand, when they’ve got a special going, the signature edition prices are pretty good.
I considered buying a Microsoft Signature edition of the XPS13 I picked up recently, but they didn’t have the combination of memory/display I wanted, so I did it the old fashioned way– made a backup image of the SSD via clonezilla, and reinstalled windows 8.1 from scratch, adding only the Dell software I *wanted* on the laptop.
What “fee”? I bought my wife a “signature edition” HP desktop from the Microsoft store and it was cheaper than the crapware-riddled version direct from HP.
As an alternative to the Signature series, just wipe the machine when you get it and install a clean version of your OS of choice. This is, of course, too technical for “most” people, who should definitely buy more stuff from the Signature series.
Just make sure you download all the appropriate OEM drivers from the manufacturer’s website and have them handy on a USB stick or something. 🙂
I did this recently (and because I wanted my OS on a shiny new m.2 SSD) and forgot to include any network drivers, which made getting the other necessary drivers interesting…
Edited 2015-06-24 14:28 UTC
For most people that would mean buying a new Windows license, in addition to the OEM license they bought with their computer. Or “pirating” one. Is not a solution.
I had no trouble finding a suitable Windows 8.1 image on MS’s site, but you’re right, they could make it easier.
My laptop’s got UEFI so the Windows license key is actually stored in the hardware. *shudder*
As many times as I’ve had Windows Update fail to update, resulting in an uninstall and extremely long reboot, maybe they’re doing their customers a favor…
I am joking, mostly, but Microsoft could stand to improve the update process. It seems extremely dangerous,though, for Samsung to completely disable Windows Update. That’s pretty much the only way the operating system gets any security updates. Unless Samsung is vetting all of Microsoft’s updates, it just seems really irresponsible.
Not saying they’re right, but i have a pretty good idea of why they did it.
Windows updates routinely break shit.
That’s just the way it is.
That being said … disabling windows updates because you can’t keep up with development … boo!
I’ve had one Windows update failure since Blaster, and that was the root cert update (KB3004394) from last year.
That’s not a bad record.
The updates themselves tend to work most of the time, but what i’m talking about is the software/applications they break.
When you admin a windows farm, pcs and/or servers, you have to carefully review the updates.
https://www.google.be/search?q=windows+update+regressions&oq=windows…
Good for you. A lot of people aren’t nearly so lucky.
I work with lots of computers from many different brands (and releases time).
I have seen, many times, Windows Update goes haywire but, frankly, knowing that Windows has a bad security track record, disable it entirely ? Insane, totally irresponsible.
Well, at least I don’t remember recommending their computer stuff anyway (besides some of their monitors and ssd). I feel relieved about that now.
Neither me or my boyfriend have had any issues with WUpdate for years and years now on either our desktops or our laptops, but I have always done full clean installs of Windows on all of our machines, wiping out all OEM-stuff and everything, so maybe that’s why?
You won’t have much (if any) problems if you stick to the standard windows + office set of software, but things tend to get shaky fast when you factor in things like ERP, Sharepoint, Corporate web apps, Lync, etc etc.
Careful reviewing of the updates is needed before applying them in a corporate environment. There tend to be a lot of regressions.
That’s kind of absurd. 99.999999999999999% of the time, its not windows fault when windows update or even a windows upgrade ( like 7=> 8 ) breaks an application. Most of the time the application was doing something brain dumb.
Having said that, if the brain dead app is mission critical, you have to do what you have to do to prevent it from crapping out.
I’d agree if it wasn’t for the fact that updates will break things like Exchange (a LOT), MS SQL server, sharepoint, Lync, etc.
Sure, they can’t account for other applications, but it would seem they can’t account for their own either.
I’ve had to fix exchange DAG sync problems a number of times, Hyper-V clusters de-clustering, outlook breaking on clients, etc.
I don’t do windows environments that often, but i get help requests from customers on a regular basis.
It happens more than you would think, which is why things like the old WSUS, or the current evil SCCM allows you to screen updates. In fact, it is the default policy.
Corporations will generally wait a while before implementing an update, and apply it on a test and acceptance environment first.
This is not coincidental, and certainly not for fun.
True, they’ve screwed themselves over a number of times as well. Exchange & outlook especially. I know a number of people love the features those two provide and are familiar with their workings, but I hate them with a passion. I think my love affair with MS took a nose dive when I first started working with those two apps.
And they seem to think it’s a great idea to prevent deferring updates in win10… <sigh>
I didn’t have any problems with Windows Update until Windows 8. I’ve had a lot of problems since then. If I were to guess why, I think it has something to do with having to disable Secure Boot and enabling Legacy when I first upgraded from Windows 7 to 8. At first I had to do that to dual boot with Linux, but after Linux began supporting Secure Boot I have to keep it that way because my video card isn’t signed and so UEFI doesn’t allow the card to function.
That’s my theory anyway. In addition to my desktop, I have a laptop that came with Windows 8, and while I don’t have a ton of software installed on it, it seems to handle the updates fine.
Edited to add: And by upgrade, I mean clean install. I’ve always done clean installs as well.
Edited 2015-06-24 14:48 UTC
If we should end up in another XP style extended support cycle, will Samsung guarantee they keep up with that burden even on the (by then) old devices?
LOL, they don’t even update Android on devices they’re still selling, good luck getting them to support any other system you’ve already paid them for.
And this is why when ever I get a new pre-built Windows device I’ll typically format the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Manufacturers are keen on filling new devices with bloatware and bullshit policies, however the OEM version of Windows that comes on the system disks is usually a clean version of Windows without the bloatware. The bloatware will usually come on the “System Software” disk which is unnecessary.
What system disk? Most new machines are coming with no disks at all, but a recovery partition with the bloatware baked into the recovery image. Besides, do you think most home users would even know how to do this if they did get a disk?
I think we often lose our perspective when we talk about these issues. It’s not the techs, like most who visit this and other tech websites, that have to deal with this crap. It’s the home user that doesn’t know, or care, whether it’s Windows or their OEM at fault and wouldn’t know how to rectify the situation even if they did know. We have ways around this crap. They are the ones getting screwed, and I think that’s something Microsoft had betconsider very, very carefully.
While my faith in Microsoft has waned of late, they’re still way ahead of Samsung, whose software development culture is equal parts arrogant, dishonest, and incompetent.
In fact, here’s a relevant OSNews story: http://www.osnews.com/story/28553/_Enlightened_
I’ve never purchased a Samsung PC, but so far my Note 3 has had fraudulently boosted benchmarks (DVFSHelper.java), an OS update which disabled call recording (had to root to fix), an S-Note update which deleted all my S-Notes (and also attempted to connect through wifi after I told it not to), and some other update less than two weeks ago which reset my ringtone and made the ones I had stored on device memory inaccessible. All in all, my phone has fewer features now than when I bought it.
And I did take Samsung to court over this. They offered me $800 to replace my device, but couldn’t give me a way to block updates or guarantee that future updates wouldn’t cause the same problems. They also said I couldn’t pursue the fraud charges afterwards, so I told them if they signed a document stating that Samsung did not modify the clockspeed specific benchmarks were run under that I’d forgo the money entirely and consider the issue settled.
Guess what they didn’t do. I believe their response was something like “I don’t think you have the evidence to prove that”. And every time I have engaged Samsung over this, they’ve all but called the likes of Ars Technica, Anandtech, Antutu, and Futuremark liars. Now they’re preventing security updates from coming through Windows Update, and once again claiming it’s for the good of the user. Samsung doesn’t give a $#@% about user security unless it threatens their bottom line, and they’re nowhere near as willing or able to address that issue as Microsoft.
Samsung is easily the most noxious tech company I’ve come across, and we need to start holding them accountable. I urge everyone affected by this issue to file a small claim for the amount paid for the device, and then get something else. And since this isn’t a warranty issue, Samsung can’t force you to use arbitration or hear the case in the venue of their choice.
P.S. This is all assuming you’re in the U.S. I regrettably have no idea what the laws are or your rights might be in different countries.
Warranty issue it is exactly what Samsung can use to get out of doing anything or refunding anything.
Most people have not read the fine print on new HP, Toshiba, Dell and so on. Basically Windows is provided as is. For tech support by the Warranty contracts you have no right to upgrade and expect support. All Samsung has done here is by software attempted to force users to obey the Warranty terms.
Funny how when the terms changed that OEM would be providing no support at the release of Windows 7 people said nothing.
I missed a link
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/804618-dell-support-recommends-us…
The cases of Windows machines from OEM coming out with Windows Update disabled started with Windows Vista.
Samsung is not the first to-do this every has just ignored all the prior cases. Samsung method is just a little bit more nasty than the other OEM vendors have used. People just want an excuse to hate Samsung. The reality is Samsung in this case as not really done any different to what their competition did 5+ years ago that go absolutely no major media coverage.
Everyone with the Warranty and Disabling of Windows update have been asleep at the wheel ignoring what the OEMs have been doing.
Just install clear Windows after PC purchase. Immediately!
I had a lot of problems with my ATIV TAB 7.
Buggy bluetooth driver which was causing my BT-mouse randomly freezes for couple of second and RIDICULOUSLY STUPID 128GB SSD partitioning – 30GB was “reserved”.
All problems magically disappear after clean Windows install.
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