Radish

I had precious little faith in Microsoft anyway but since this Win 10 nonsense I have absolutely ziltch. Of course the "upgrade" will be back and even if it doesn't they'll still try and dump so called "telemetry" spyware junk onto Win 7 and 8 systems via so called updates. Only safe thing to do in this regard is a fresh install install of Win 7 or 8 and never update it for anything. Dancing with the devil to do otherwise.

xpclient - this won't solve all your problems but it will help you find out some of the information that is connected to your broadband usage. Download NetWorx. You can get it as a portable if you don't want to install anything to the system to try it out. (If you use it as a portable, I do all the time, you won't have access to a couple of its functions but other than that I find it very good.) They also have a pretty good Online NetWorx User Manual for it to help get started. Totally different topic but the company also has a very good for free SoftPerfect Ramdisk available. Some companies are charging big bucks for ramdisk software.

Might not be sophisticated enough for your office but for daily home use LibreOffice is pretty good. I had it installed for a while and rarely used it then I started to use it everyday. In the end I converted all my docs to LibreOffice .odt format and now only ever use Word if I have to communicate with folks that totally insist on a Word .doc format file. And, of course, LibreOffice is free (though people should try an make a donation).

I had a look at the "Properties" for this service and notice that the "Description" for this says: Does that mean that if a user uses this way of disabling Windows Update that updating for other programs might also get broken? Or is it just updates for Microsoft programs that gets 'broken'? What "other programs" are being referred to?

Oh... Well I'll just try that out. Fiddly! But it works! Thanks very much, Jaclaz! Personally, I would have thought this rule, if it needs to exist at all, should have been the other way around. Enter = new line. Shift+Enter = new paragraph. But if it was setup that way (properly) why wouldn't the user just use Enter x2 to get a new paragraph. Seems the most logical and frustration free way of doing things - ah, the good old days. Step by step users lose a bit at a time when guys get round to "upgrading/updating" things.

I was facing the same difficulty. In the end I did fresh install of Win7 but making sure that the machine was totally disconnected from the internet before I started the install. Once the install was done I made the following settings as far as the Control Panel (CP) was concerned (this is from my own notes on what I did): Set Windows Update Settings at the CP Via CP > Action Center set Windows Update to following settings (must do this in Group Policy later to get nailed down). (1) Important Updates: "Never check for updates (not recommended). (2) Recommended Updates: Untick "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates." (3) Who Can Install Updates: Untick "Allow all users to install updates on this computer." Once that was done I ran gpedit.msc and made the following adjustments to Group Policy settings regarding Windows Updates: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update: Configure Automatic Updates - Disabled (default - Not configured) Turn on recommended updates via Automatic Updates - Disabled (default - Not configured) User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System: Windows Automatic Updates - Enabled (default - Not configured). Watch this one the wording is different from that in "Computer Configuration" and could be said to mean the exact opposite of what is there. It also says the setting is supported on Windows XP Pro. only (go figure). User Configuration\Administrative Templates\ Windows Components\Windows Update: Remove access to use all Windows Update features - Enabled (default - Not configured) Also chose "1 - Show restart required notifications". My reasoning was that if update does anything at all at least I will notified that a restart is required - hence, I am altered to the update having been done, even though I definitely don't want updates. Not sure if that was a correct choice. Time will tell. Once I made those Group Policy settings I rebooted the machine, connected it to the internet, and tried to manually launch a Windows Update session by using the "Windows Update" link the Start Menu. What I got was a Window saying, "Some settings are managed by your system administrator. More information. So I clicked on the More information link and got the following: In short, it wouldn't let the system update - and to change that you need go to into Group Policy and revert it all back to default settings. This I think is a more secure way of dealing with this than just turning off a service which can easily, in quite a casual manner, be turned back on again. To reverse the settings above requires multiple actions and some expertise that a casual user of the system likely wouldn't have. Also, as an additional layer of protection, you could install TinyWall (firewall). It has a setting that allows the blocking of Windows Update, how effective it is I don't know as I've bolted the system down as far as Windows Update is concerned. (Note: I tried TinyWall v2.1.8 but with that installed my adapter couldn't connect to the internet at all, so that version might be bugged as far a Windows 7 goes. TinyWall v2.1.7 works fine though.) P.S. Sorry about the formatting of this post. The way this forum seems to be (now) setup so that a blank line is automatically inserted every time the user press the Enter key is appalling. Give the users back control over blank lines between paragraphs!

I don't think people need a kick in the head - isn't that what Microsoft are doing? For the rest of your response to this it strikes me as short-sighted if done in isolation to other acts. By all means complain to political representatives and then they will, in league with Microsoft, re-arrange the deck-chairs a little to make people happier while still retaining the capability to screw people over (I'm sure you know how this works). The other way to react is for people to take control of themselves and of their computers and just abandon Microsoft for Linux. If huge numbers of people did this it would a much more effective way of sending a message to Microsoft and other software vendors that people will not take this lying down. So instead of letting Microsoft kick you in the head why don't you kick Microsoft in the head - it's the only thing they will understand.

Or, c) come to your senses, abandon Microsoft and head for Linux. There is a steady stream of people on Linux forums reporting that this is exactly what they doing.

Look to the upper right of the webpage - there might be a "Continue to Site >" button that you need to click.

Bakuchris, you might not be all that safe in switching back to Win7 unless you do a fresh install and never allow it to update ever. Try this for size, Windows 7 Backports from Windows 10 The writing is on the wall with respect to Microsoft, they've started this and they ain't gonna stop for no one. They'll slip in privacy bursting updates as they please and you the user will end up being like a dog chasing it's own tail trying to avoid it all. It's not the tail that's the problem it's Microsoft. Personally I've switched to Linux Mint. Once you get used to its quirks (it only looks like that cause you're coming from Windows) it's actually a very useable and capable system. As time passes I'm more and more getting to like it. Computing has become fun again. Forget about Microsoft guys, they're only going to screw you (and deep down you probably know that anyway - so why persist in inviting your own abuse).

Well I've just had enough of Microsoft, period. I have been running Win7 and allowing no updates at all. But the more I read about what is going on the sicker I was getting with them. As mentioned before I've been testing out Linux Mint for the past few weeks and the more I work with it the more I get to liking it. The desktop environment does lack some of the polish of WinXP and Win7, but it is actually very useable once you get used to its quirks. I've had the option over the last couple of weeks to boot into Win7 or into Linux Mint. Guess what, I now boot into Mint - contrary to my expectations it has become my OS of choice. All my peripherals worked with it out of the box with the exception of the scanner. Getting that working took a good six hours of research and tinkering and experiment, but now it's working just fine. I even made a suggestion to the developers for a small change to part of the DE. The suggestion is going to be actioned and the next version of Mint will contain that small improvement. The Mint community actually listen to what people would like to see. Try that with Microsoft. I'm now at the point where I've setup a Virtualbox with an install of good ol' WinXP. I'll install MS Office into that for the, nowadays, rare times when I absolutely must use MS Office Word. (LibreOffice will easily handle most straightforward Word docs, but if they are complex, with complex tables for example, then the import turns out garbled.) Other than that I am now fixing within the next two weeks to just wipe Microsoft Windows completely off the hard drive - I've just had enough of them! I won't lend even tacit support to what they are doing by constantly running a Windows system. Interesting thing is that I'm finding the experience of running an OS that isn't tied up with MS type licencing actually feels good. It's quite liberating. And definitely no worries about what is happening when I update the system. I remember NoelC saying at one time that he thought the Golden Age of computing was over. I thought that it would come back again - once MS crashes. What I'm finding now is that it does actually still exist, it's just hiding in the Linux world. There are a lot of very smart people on this forum that know a lot more about computing than I do. Thing is that I don't understand why, given what is going on, the penny doesn't drop and they don't just switch to Linux. If you don't do that then the future is one of constant abuse from Microsoft. Whereas, if you took your expertise into the Linux world you would be made very welcome and would have a lot contribute. Make the switch guys. As far as I can see it's the only decision that makes any sense.

Okay, Noel. I'll follow that up. Thanks.

Got an email from Microsoft today notifying they are in the process of altering how Outlook 2003 will interact with the email-servers at Hotmail/Outlook accounts. Email reads as follows: According to this webpage (linked to in the email) once the changes are made Outlook 2003 won't be able to send out emails from Outlook 2003 to Microsoft mail-servers. Looks like a push to end Outlook 2003. It makes the sentence near the end of the email, "Thank you for your understanding and continued use," seem like Microsoft twisting the knife for Outlook 2003 users. I've tried searching the web for more detail on this but can't find anything. Anyone here know what is going on? Will a work-around be possible?

Hi Moon1, I took the coward's way out, or, it could be said, the intelligent way out - did a fresh install of Win7 set all updates to 'off' and will never update the system (it runs fine anyway) until (should that be 'if') all this messing around by Microsoft is over. It could be said that leaves my system open to attack. But I figure the chances of my machine being targeted by malcontents other than Microsoft are not much better than zero. Just keep my browser up-to-date, and take care over my downloading, at all times and that takes care of the main vectors of potential attack (should be fine). Do anything other than this and you'll be turned into a "Microsoft Updates Anxiety Wh0r3". They have the advantage in this and they will have you trying to opt-out and failing to do so at every turn as they so please. Good luck if you try to do otherwise - I guess you'll need it! In the end, life is too short for all this f***ing around. (Just now I'm experimenting with Linux Mint - seems quite good but a bit of a struggle coming from Windows. I know exactly where I'm going when my install of Win7 finally claps-out. Really, really, really don't like the direction Microsoft is heading in.)

Mmm... I downloaded and tried going to the forum and loading pages in TOR Browser. Worked fine, no stuck spinner. So it would seem the case is that there is some addon (or maybe setting) is causing the problem in my normal browser (I don't have JAVA on the system at all). Ah, well.

This isn't anything critical but maybe something that the webmaster might like to sort out (the issue is a longstanding one). I use Firefox to browse the forum. Whenever I get to any forum webpage the 'icon' shown on the Firefox tab is a rotating circle (i.e. meaning the webpage is loading). Problem is it remains 'stuck' at that - the icon never changes to the blue icon 'M' - meaning the page is fully loaded. The only way to get the icon to change is to click on the 'cross mark' at the right-hand side of the address-bar (i.e. tell Firefox to stop loading the page). Then the icon changes to the 'M' icon. Like I said nothing critical, but could do with attention if there's a perfectionist around.

What you are trying to do is perfectly legal. I did this myself on my own Win7 system - replaced an OEM install of Win7 (which was a horrorshow) with my own install of Win7 (much better by a long margin) using the 'Product ID' and the 'Cert' pulled from the OEM install. All perfectly legal - I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Try this forum, they specialise in this kind of thing. You can get tools to help you in what you want to do. However, by my reading of your post you sound as though you may be dual booting different versions of Windows. But I only think that is what you're saying. If you post elsewhere you need to be very clear and logical in explaining the setup of your machine and what exactly it is you're trying to do.

Which is the kind of point I've been trying to make. Really, over updates, you are playing with a Microsoft that has turned itself into a mythological Hydra. Cut off one head and two more appear in its place. It's a loser's game, Microsoft are sitting with all the cards. I just keep wondering if they persist in this if a tipping point will be reached and people just say, "Sod that" and off they go to Linux. I doubt if Microsoft has ever had our interests at heart. The bank balance yes - but the user's no.

I don't know how relevant to this thread this is but Noel's comment on "... a LOT more servers and content delivery networks." made me think of this article that I just read in which it states that once MS have Win10 installed on your(?) system they automatically sign you up to be a peer-to-peer seed for MS updates - it's called "Windows Update Delivery Optimization" (WUDO). Maybe this, in part, is what is responsible for the 'confusion' people are reporting over what in hell their(?) computer is doing connecting to addresses that seem to have nothing to do with MS. We are the Borg! http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_are_and_how_to_plug_them.html? (The WUDO stuff is on page two of the article under the heading "Don’t Let Microsoft Steal Your Bandwidth".) Personally, I'm happy with my decision to clean install Win7 and never update it - it's running fine. I pity others whose livelihood's might rely on them having the latest spyware installed from MS. Now there are rumours going around that MS is starting to try and 'backport' some of the new 'features' in Win10 over to Win7 and Win8.x machines. Good God! http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/01/microsoft_backports_data_slurp_to_windows_78_via_patches/ I wonder if the prospect of moving to Linux is looking a bit more attractive to more and more people. I mean, how much will people take before they say enough it enough?

I can't comment on the veracity of it but there is a tale of woe here that might be of interest. It seems to suggest that some Wndows 7 user has fallen foul of having installed Windows 10, noticed some problems he didn't want, then rolled back to Windows 7 only to find out that he was no longer legal and Microsoft advising that he needs to purchase a new licence for a previously legal install of Windows 7. I wonder if it is true or not?

Excellent guide pdt163 (not that I'm thinking of going Windows 10). There's a lot of it I don't understand but two things jump out at me: What does that mean? A local account as against a "non-local account" - what is that? Could someone please explain. Where do you get he option to use a local account? Why would it be advisable for the user to change the name of PC? What is doing so going to do/affect?

Cripes, brilliant! Just when Noel's comments had brought me to the brink of seriously considering getting and installing a (I suppose I'd now have say) NAND SSD they start talking about this 3D XPoint SSD. If it's as fast and as durable as they say it is then it will sell like wildfire and the price will tumble too with the volume of sales. Guess I'll hold onto my HDD for now and wait.

Try USB Disk Ejector.

Just read an interesting thread on another forum started by someone that wants Windows 10 but was bewailing the fact that he isn't getting the GWX tray icon showing up. Seems he installed all the updates that would get him Windows 10 but still no GWX tray icon. Seems that he was in line for the 'upgrade' but had to look in the following location to confirm for himself: The information might be of use to some who don't want the 'upgrade' but are wondering if they are still in line for it even though the GWX thingy isn't showing in the tray.

Thanks Jaclaz. Nothing is simple with this is it. For now I've rolled back my system to a clean install of Windows 7 (with no updates of any kind applied) and I'll be keeping it that way (it runs fine anyway) until real light is shed on this situation. Microsoft and their new 'OS' chock full of monitoring spyware and a vehicle for advertising 'apps' - *$&@!