NoelC

Some other possibilities, inspired by Windows 10: -Noel

I've dropped off the pre-release program (Microsoft clearly doesn't want my feedback; I'm too aware of what they're doing), but it's clear the "TH2" fall release of Win 10 is right around the corner. Some of you have already seen the 10525 build. Having seen (and customized) 10240, I find it harder and harder to be hopeful. I'll be honest... At this point I just feel dread. And the pace is just too quick. I'm not sure a few months is enough time for Microsoft to do anything good, but who knows? Lately they don't even seem to try. And we know that when one of these major builds comes along all our customizations get shot to hell. What are your feelings about TH2? -Noel

Follow-up: I've been running with a local account since posting above, and more recently I've clipped Win 10's online wings short via privacy settings, an aggressive hosts file, and a "deny by default" firewall config, and so far it's been hanging together. Cortana is cut off at the midsection (searchui.exe still runs, but is prohibited from contacting anyone). System and svchost processes are blocked from doing most things online. I can't say I've stopped it's online promiscuity completely... It still tries to contact various Microsoft sites from time to time. It's difficult to separate what's still needed for Windows Update to function and what needs to be blocked to prevent privacy invasion, but I think I'm pretty close. Attempts by System, svchost, taskhostw, Silent Install Helper Client, and others to contact various sites (including Microsoft, Google, and others) are seen blocked all the time.Other data mining operations, such as those by Adobe, are also blocked. I can still check for updates (though there apparently haven't been any new ones for a few days now).I can browse the net via several different browsers.I can make Skype calls and chat.My applications that work online and check for updates online work. This is about as close to workable as I can make Windows 10, and the maintenance of such a configuration requires a fair bit of ongoing networking awareness and effort to keep the configuration up to date. All in all I judge it not worth upgrading my main workstation - yet. And of course now we see the "TH2" update just around the corner. -Noel

In this time of the "free" ad-supported operating system offered as a "free" upgrade, VMware Workstation 12 is released, and the upgrade price is (for me in the US) $149. A few years ago it was just $99 for an upgrade. I've been buying the upgrades to the new versions every year. I presently have version 11. But now, we see the price higher than ever, and I don't know whether to be happy or upset about it. It's upsetting because the price is higher than ever. Yet I'm happy that VMware is not trying to join the "free" ad-supported craze. The VMware Workstation product is generally good - serious, very stable. I've always said I'm happy to pay good money for good software. The new version offers the ability to run virtual machines on a Win 10 host - something I won't need (for a while at least, possibly ever) as I'm not in any hurry to upgrade my host workstation to Win 10. The new version offers features I don't yet need, such as IPv6 bridging. But it also promises potential improvements, such as better multi-monitor support. So the conundrum is this: Upgrade or just stay in a holding pattern? The decision is difficult - maybe that says they priced it right after all. -Noel

The message is righteous. If you change it, make it one of the other representations of "golden poo". The steam is a good touch. -Noel

I guess the effort drops off if one just stops accepting updates. But ooh, but that's scary - what about zero day exploits for heretofore undiscovered bugs? You know, those bugs that Microsoft left in? -Noel

-Noel

It gets to be almost like work to keep a thread like this up to date with a complete list. Philosophically, a blanket... review every update BEFORE installing and hide any that purports to make Windows 7 / 8 more like 10 ...guideline needs to be invoked. I have chosen to hide both KB3075249 and KB3080149 on my Win 7 and 8.1 systems myself, as these appear to fall under the above guideline. I suggest others do the same. -Noel

That was a 2012 article. Doom has been proven. Not to mention that even if one conceived the most innovative, best App idea in the world that no one ever thought of, it would have to run on a 3 x 5 inch screen, where nothing serious is possible. -Noel

Hit the view links on this page to see some PNG files rendered from several fonts supporting Unicode glyph 1F4A9. http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/1F4A9/fontsupport.htm Or you could enter your own Unicode 1F4A9 symbol using Segoe UI Emoji and a large point size in, say, Word, then screen grab, crop, save as PNG, upload to your profile... Good luck! -Noel

Sorry my data couldn't be more helpful, but we really shouldn't have to be working so hard to prevent the OS we choose to use from doing nefarious things we don't want. It's been my decision as well to hold off upgrading my systems that matter. I only run Win 10 on a VM for testing. Looking at StatCounter, I see that Win 7 usage has flattened out in the past two weeks. You're not alone. -Noel

Wow, really? Someone's figured out how to do that? The way technology marches on is amazing. Next thing you know someone will figure out how to play music and videos while you work on other things! And it potentially will only cost a few bucks!!! -Noel

I know exactly what you mean, lowkeyidaho. For folks who either pay extra when they download a lot or get throttled back when they download more than a (fairly small) quota - such as what happens with satellite Internet connections - it's just silly to have an OS that's constantly communicating BIG TIME online, without the ability to dial it back. I'm showing having used 17.5 GB this month on a test system that's blocked from downloading updates except when I say so in every way I know how, including the use of firewall settings to "deny by default". I still catch it doing stuff when no one is around. Microsoft clearly doesn't care about "fringe" users who have limited internet access. They're turning this into an "if you're not with us [cloud integrated hipsters] you're against us" game. Apparently polarizing users has been determined to be a good thing by Microsoft Marketing. So far, I've seen only the barest hint that the steamroller can be deterred even the littlest bit. I think there are some people in Microsoft's service organization who have their heads screwed on straight, and every time Engineering releases boneheaded designs they scream, "are you out of your Vulcan mind?" Thus we get things like the "update hiding tool". But it's not enough. What's designed-in is simply over the top. -Noel

You didn't see troubles with, for example, hovering over icons in the Taskbar showing corrupted thumbnails, that sort of thing? -Noel

Can't tell you. I have only legacy boot capabilities here. -Noel

Equal button widths can grow on you. -Noel

An implicit assumption may be that there can be a single, easy to manage set of rules that will block unwanted communications but allow those essential for ongoing use - such as Windows Update, using tools that do online update checks, and even buying/using things from the Windows Store. I'm not sure there can be such a set. And even if possible it would be a TREMENDOUS amount of work to keep up with all the changes Microsoft will now be making all the time. More and more Windows 10 feels like... -Noel

I gave up on reconfiguring the Windows Firewall through the Windows interface. It was possible, but just turned out to be too much work in an ongoing way to deal with the Windows interface and read the logs. After evaluating it, I purchased the software xpclient recommended - Sphinx Windows 10 Firewall Control (Plus edition). About $25. You can get quite far with their free edition, though it doesn't have the flexibility to create custom zones. What it HAS is a number of predefined zones that probably are good enough for most things. It's worth noting that it doesn't replace the Windows Firewall, but rather augments it with an additional set of rules. Essentially you don't need the interface provided by Windows any more when using this one. If you want to get Windows Update working on your system using the Windows firewall only, here's how I did it (using the freeware - and not very good - Windows Firewall Control program)... 1. Use the update hiding tool to see that you can see a pending Windows update (e.g., for Windows Defender). 2. Block everything other than your LAN. 3. Re-run the update hiding tool. 4. Note that the update hiding tool no longer shows any pending update. If it shows updates, you're done with this phase. 5. See what addresses are logged as blocked. 6. If you determine them to be legitimate Windows Update sites that are being logged as a direct result of trying to have the update hiding tool attempt to check for updates, allow them, specifically. 7. Repeat at step 3 until you succeed in step 4, then go on to the next phase below. Once you've done the above, you'll have accumulated a more or less minimum set of rules that will allow a Windows Update check to complete. Next phase: Getting the actual Windows Update to work. 8. Try to do a Windows Update through Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates. 9. See whether it successfully completes the update. If so, you're good, move on to step 12 below. 10. Note in the log what addresses were blocked as a direct result of trying to do the Windows Update, and allow them, specifically. 11. Repeat at step 8 until you succeed in step 9. It's tedious, but it can be done. Then comes the maintenance phase. 12. Watch for things being blocked as you use your system. 13. Research the address, and decide whether to allow the operations in the future, either by application or by address, or by some combination of the two. 14. Repeat this whenever something doesn't work or you spot something being blocked and you don't know why. Note that as Microsoft makes changes the lists of addresses will almost certainly change. And you'll probably have to guess sometimes at whether to allow a certain access. After a while you get a feel for what's talking to whom, and you'll be able to spot patterns. Choosing a "deny first" firewall strategy implies a lot of ongoing work. And it's essentially personal to you - embodying your specific system setup and your needs. In hindsight, something came to me well after starting this thread: It's not something that can easily be set up for others. It's not surprising my rule set didn't work for you, though you might be able to start with it and turn it into something that works for you using the steps I outlined above. Only you can determine the proper balance between effort expended and value added by keeping your private data private. I judged using the freely available tools to be a bit too much work - hence my switching to Sphinx, which helps with managing the rules / zones / lists. Since putting it in, every day I've reviewed the lists of addresses allowed and blocked, and have been refining the rules/zones some. Its built-in rules are not quite as restrictive as I'd like, but they can be modified. -Noel

Assuming you have matching win8rp.png and win8rp.png.layout files, what you show above can happen if you have an extra space past the end of the filename in the Aero Glass Configuration dialog. I guess BigMuscle isn't trimming spaces from that field before constructing the layout file name from the png file name. -Noel

For what it's worth - and I realize it doesn't solve the problem, but hides it - the "Winaero tweaker" has an option to disable the animation. It just makes it black. -Noel

I don't see any at the moment for less, save for maybe a few refurbed drives on Newegg.com. Like I said, occasionally look for sales. I think I got one of the drives I have for around $70 a year ago. Even at $100 they're a decent deal for the peace of mind a good backup brings. -Noel

See this post for an idea of what 100% opacity can look like... http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/173379-windows-10-development/page-28#entry1100461 -Noel

I understand. Still, last I looked you could get one with a couple of terabytes capacity for a little under $100. Watch for occasional sales e.g., at Newegg. I have three of them, connected to two systems. Nightly system Image backup and file backup every few hours on my main system. -Noel

I tried that during the technical preview. A. It broke system protection (SFC failed). B. A Windows Update set the protections back and installed SearchUI.exe afresh. We're already hearing about a whole new build for this fall. -Noel

I *strongly* suggest you buy a MyBook USB drive for backups. -Noel