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Farewell to Windows 2000? *sob*


Dave-H

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All versions of Windows after Win2k contain spyware, so why not try Linux, it has come a long way the last 10 years.

Really? :unsure: Spyware? :w00t:

jaclaz

yep, Windows calls home every time you boot... and win7 (a.k.a Vista lite) has the most advanced spyware ever made.

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Phoning home, yes. Advanced, not very ;). I don't really see this as a problem, per se, but if you do, you are free to your tinfoil hat. There are a plethora of OS options for those folks who want to run an OS that doesn't check to verify periodically if you're legally using your software, but most of those choices aren't Microsoft Windows, and none of them are versions of the OS that the vendor supports.

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Yes, XP through 7 phone home and unfortunately Win2K does too, with the latest 'critical updates'! Back in 2008, I downloaded the latest critical updates for 2K and suddenly upon reboot, Win2K wanted to phone home! Turns out one of the MS updates now wanted to contact 'stats.microsoft.com' upon every boot! Never happened before until that update. Fortunately with 2K I was able to block it in my Hosts file.

No stats for you, BG!

However, with XP SP2 and newer, you cannot block any MS domains using the hosts file.

Edited by the xt guy
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But so what?

It's not like anyone (at least not on this board, I would assume) uses his/her computer connected directly to the web.

You cannot block stats.microsoft.com in your Hosts? Gee, what a big deal... just do it in your router. Even most modern DSL/cable modems have this capability.

This kind of arguments remind me of the funny (stupid actually) arguments that Win2K is "less secure" than Win98 because Task Sched opens a port LOL sure it might be a potential (but highly unlikely) problem to get rooted for a Joe Llama, but not for any slightly-advanced comp/Windoze user.

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Phoning home, yes. Advanced, not very ;). I don't really see this as a problem, per se, but if you do, you are free to your tinfoil hat. There are a plethora of OS options for those folks who want to run an OS that doesn't check to verify periodically if you're legally using your software, but most of those choices aren't Microsoft Windows, and none of them are versions of the OS that the vendor supports.

It phones home with usage data without the user’s knowledge or consent, that’s spyware and very close to the definition of malware. If you prevent it calling home it will continue to nag until you allow activation -- Nagware. If you disallow it calling home, it will disable itself after 30 days -- Crippleware. And we’re not even discussing the various prohibitions on hardware changes, like mobo, etc.

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It phones home with usage data without the user's knowledge or consent, that's spyware and very close to the definition of malware. If you prevent it calling home it will continue to nag until you allow activation -- Nagware. If you disallow it calling home, it will disable itself after 30 days -- Crippleware. And we're not even discussing the various prohibitions on hardware changes, like mobo, etc.
Then don't use it, use another OS like OS X or Linux - problem solved. At least the data sent back doesn't personally identify you or your PC, unlike certain other software vendors in the news this week.
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Sorry, but could someone please clarify, please...

If having activated Windows, or using a Volume License(VL) version(RANT: and no, it's not called a VLK version!), and not having WGA Notifications installed, not having auto-updating enabled, and not using IE(alexa?)then does e.g. WinXP phone home still?

If true, then i apologice for my ignorance, but i've just never heard that before(with the above in mind!).

Thanks in advance.

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Sorry, but could someone please clarify, please...

If having activated Windows, or using a Volume License(VL) version(RANT: and no, it's not called a VLK version!), and not having WGA Notifications installed, not having auto-updating enabled, and not using IE(alexa?)then does e.g. WinXP phone home still?

If true, then i apologice for my ignorance, but i've just never heard that before(with the above in mind!).

Thanks in advance.

I second that motion and extend my gratitude for explaining.

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There is a thread in the winlogon process (since the WGA updates in early 2005) that checks the license status of the currently installed license on every boot, and you may see connections to microsoft.com periodically due to this. I'm guessing it's downloading a list of blacklisted product IDs and checking that your key doesn't match one, as the data passed is really quite small - also note it doesn't seem to do this on every boot, just some. However, we know that the WGA notifications portion of WGA does seem to check approximately once every 24 hours with Microsoft servers, but I'm not sure how it handles being offline for extended periods of time (doesn't seem to cause any issues, so I'm not sure exactly what it is doing or trying to do - it's probably doing the same as the thread in winlogon, and the traffic looks very similar, but given it's all encrypted I suppose only the folks who maintain this at MS know for sure).

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There is a thread in the winlogon process (since the WGA updates in early 2005)[...]

Thanks for your reply, mate!

I am unsure what the above exactly means though...

"There's a thread in the winlogon process"; gotcha! but when you then say "since the WGA updates...", then is that thread in winlogon also doing the phone home'ing without WGA-N installed?

Sorry for being dence :)

Thanks in advance!

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