Somewhere between connecting a new LG UltraGear monitor and opening a game, Windows apparently decided the customer also needed a McAfee advertisement. A Reddit user posting as Mags_Smash on r/pcmasterrace documented this earlier this week: after connecting three LG UltraGear displays, a background process silently installed “LGElectronics.LGMonitorApp” through the Microsoft Store. No notification, no consent prompt. The app’s first visible action was offering a free 30-day McAfee Scam Detector trial.
The mechanism is Windows Device Setup Manager. When hardware is connected, Windows matches the device metadata to a companion app listing in the Microsoft Store and automatically downloads it, designed as a convenience feature for driver and utility delivery. The behavior is not unique to LG: Alienware Command Center auto-installs via the same mechanism when Alienware monitors are detected, and reinstalls itself after removal because the monitor keeps re-triggering the match. Asus Armoury Crate operates the same way.
What separates LG’s implementation from a routine OEM utility is the payload. Motherboard software installing its own control panel is at least nominally relevant to the hardware. An app installed by a DisplayPort cable that leads with a paid antivirus trial has no functional relationship to display output. The McAfee prompt is simply an ad, distributed through Windows infrastructure, delivered by a device the customer already paid for.
The workaround is a Group Policy edit that most users will not independently discover. Opening gpedit.msc and enabling the “Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata” policy blocks the delivery channel. Disabling the Microsoft Store entirely via Group Policy is the more aggressive option. Neither fix should be necessary on a freshly connected monitor.
Microsoft’s own Tech Community forums contain user complaints about the LG Monitor App dating to November 2024, covering multiple Windows builds, with no corrective action from Microsoft or LG. Every display from a major OEM is a potential future vector for the same pattern: a hardware connection triggering a software install, with the vendor choosing what to put inside it.
If you own LG UltraGear or Alienware monitors on a Windows 10 or 11 machine, the gpedit.msc path above is your best available fix today, unless you prefer the instructions provided by the late John McAfee.
Discussion (1 reply)
Join Discussion →Funny. This crap is installing the exact crap it's supposed to block. Go figure.