LG Monitor App Installer silent installation

Connecting an LG UltraGear monitor to a Windows PC triggered the silent, unprompted installation of an app called the LG Monitor App Installer from the Microsoft Store, & on at least one user's machine its first action was to display an advertisement for McAfee antivirus.^[1][2] The app could not be uninstalled through the Microsoft Store.^[1] The behavior was reported in early July 2026 by TechSpot and Tom's Hardware after users traced unexpected McAfee pop-ups back to a newly connected monitor; McAfee is a bundled app inside LG's own Microsoft Store listing for the installer, offered with a free 30-day trial.^[3][2]

The LG Monitor App Installer is a Universal Windows Platform application published on the Microsoft Store by LG Electronics Inc. The listing was originally released June 16, 2023 & last updated July 2, 2026, with the package itself updated June 29, 2026.^[3] The listing describes the installer as a launcher for LG's own monitor utilities, naming five supported apps: OnScreen Control, LG Switch, Dual Controller, LG Calibration Studio, & McAfee.^[3]

Windows reaches out for this software through its device-metadata pipeline. The Device Metadata Retrieval Client is the operating-system component that matches connected devices to metadata packages; when a device is newly installed, it queries Microsoft's Windows Metadata and Internet Services servers, & if a package is available it downloads & caches the device's metadata components.^[4] A Universal Windows Platform device app associated with that metadata can then install automatically the first time the peripheral is connected.^[5][6]

By Microsoft's own account, this installation is invisible to the person using the computer. Its documentation for automatic installation of device apps states:

The automatic installation feature does not provide a notification to the user when the app is installed. Some users may find this experience confusing and frustrating, and give your app a bad rating.

^[6]

The same documentation describes the install as "performed silently in the background, without interruption to the user" & notes that a device app, once placed on the system, "must be manually uninstalled by the user."^[6] Microsoft records that the underlying device-metadata mechanism is on its way out: "Device metadata is deprecated and will be removed in a future release of Windows."^[4]

After connecting one LG UltraGear 27GP83B monitor & two 27GN800 panels, a user found that at least one of them had installed the LG Monitor App Installer through the Microsoft Store & Windows Update. The application appeared under the name "9PM9N6F47JB8-LGElectronics.LGMonitorApp" in Reliability Monitor, & Event Viewer logged its successful installation.^[1] The user had complained about McAfee pop-up ads on a PC that never had the antivirus suite installed, then traced the ads to the app the new monitor had added without their knowledge.^[1]

A separate report described a user plugging in a new LG monitor for the first time and seeing a pop-up appear in the corner right away. Checking Task Manager confirmed that the LG Monitor App Installer had been added to the PC's startup apps automatically, and the first thing the app showed was an ad for McAfee rather than anything related to the monitor.^[2]

LG's own Microsoft Store listing markets McAfee as an "Additional App" alongside its monitor utilities:

Live confidently online with all-in-one protection. Protect your privacy, identity, and devices with automatic scam detection, QR code scans, and real-time threat protection. Start your free 30-day trial.

^[3]

• 
  Tom's Hardware described a user who connected a new LG monitor and saw the LG Monitor App Installer show "an ad for McAfee" as the first thing, before anything related to the monitor.^[2]
• 
  TechSpot reported the installed app appears under the name "9PM9N6F47JB8-LGElectronics.LGMonitorApp" in Reliability Monitor after a user traced McAfee pop-ups to a newly connected LG monitor.^[1]
• 
  LG's Microsoft Store listing for the installer names McAfee as an "Additional App" offered with a free 30-day trial.^[3]

The LG Monitor App cannot be uninstalled through the Microsoft Store. The only fix that avoids advanced system settings is to stop it from launching at boot, by unchecking it under Settings > Apps > Startup.^[1] One report noted that once the companion app is manually uninstalled, Windows does not automatically reinstall it.^[7]

Two Group Policy changes block the behavior more permanently. The first, in gpedit.msc under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation, enables the setting that prevents Windows from automatically downloading applications associated with device metadata.^[1][7] Microsoft's documentation gives that setting the friendly name "Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata" & the registry value "PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork"; when enabled, Windows does not download applications associated with device metadata for installed devices.^[8] The second, more drastic option is to disable the Microsoft Store entirely, through gpedit.msc under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Store.^[1]

The auto-install channel is not unique to LG. Users confirmed the same behavior on Dell & Alienware monitors, comparing it to the way Asus motherboards automatically install the company's Armory Crate software.^[1] Because the companion software covers broad product lines, the ad behavior reaches monitor models across the LG, Dell, & Alienware brands.^[7] Separately, users reported Samsung monitors performing similar unrequested installs; the delivery is a standard Windows auto-download of related monitor software, & what the resulting app displays is left to the manufacturer.^[2]