Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions

[rn10950]

Win10's privacy intrusions have now spawned even paid privacy-protection software. (Free offer for the next couple of days.)

 

--JorgeA

While interesting, I do have my doubts. Look at how hard of a time we have keeping track of the trackers and all of the different MS IPs, it will be near impossible for a product to do this without daily updates.

[TELVM]

Q3. How can I disable the infection-reporting component of the tool so that the report is not sent back to Microsoft?

A3. An administrator can choose to disable the infection-reporting component of the tool by adding the following registry key value to computers. If this registry key value is set, the tool will not report infection information back to Microsoft.

Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT

Entry name: DontReportInfectionInformation

Type: REG_DWORD

Value data: 1

 

 

For the record this registry touch has been known for a while   : http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/16/prevent-malicious-software-removal-tool-from-phoning-home/

[NoelC]

For the record this registry touch has been known for a while   : http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/16/prevent-malicious-software-removal-tool-from-phoning-home/

 

 

Didn't say it wasn't; the link you posted is one of those I posted above.

 

But it DOES represent a way that Windows 10 intrudes on one's privacy, and it DOES NOT stop by any known method of configuration via the Settings or other panels.  I was surprised to see that it was not already set in my Windows 10 system by way of O&O ShutUp10.  Of course, that software may have been improved since I ran it.

 

And nothing says that mrt.exe is doing the same things it was doing in 2007.

 

-Noel

Edited November 4, 2015 by NoelC

[JorgeA]

 

Win10's privacy intrusions have now spawned even paid privacy-protection software. (Free offer for the next couple of days.)

 

--JorgeA

While interesting, I do have my doubts. Look at how hard of a time we have keeping track of the trackers and all of the different MS IPs, it will be near impossible for a product to do this without daily updates.

 

 

I'm not sure about that particular paid software, but it's looking like keeping up with Windows's privacy problems will be a full-time job, so there's definitely a case for someone making a living out of it.

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

 

 

Huh, I'd never considered the MRT to be a privacy threat. Maybe I should?

 

 

Several things:

 

[...]

 

Thanks, it looks like another visit to the Windows innards is in store for me.

 

Man, oh man -- it's become a never-ending challenge. Maybe that's the idea, to wear down all opposition until we learn to love Big Brother.

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Hate Windows 10? You still have a year to buy a Windows 7 PC

   

The adoption of Windows 10 is slowing, and that trend is set to continue -- largely thanks to Microsoft. In an unusual move, the company has extended the availability of Windows 7 so it will be possible to buy computers with the operating system pre-installed until the end of October next year.

 

What's particularly interesting about this is that it means that Windows 7 will be available to buy for longer than Windows 8. Many would take this as an admission of the widespread dislike for Windows 8, but it also offers a lifeline to anyone who wants a new computer without Windows 10.

 

One little bit of welcome news amid the rolling catastrophe.

 

--JorgeA

 

[Tripredacus]

"Windows 7 will be available to buy for longer than Windows 8"

 

Well really they mean 8.0, if you look at the sheet. Seriously no one pre-installs Windows 8 anymore since 8.1 came out. There would be no point to sell a PC with a fully-patched Windows 8 OS and the first thing the customer got to do would be to update to 8.1 through the Store.

[NoelC]

It just proves that they know Windows 7 is the second "Win" in their "Win-Win" strategy.

 

Their predecessors built a fine OS.  Now they're so insanely wealthy from it that they can do anything they want literally for YEARS and peoples' alternative is just to drop back to something they also built and that they also get licensing money for.

 

Humans will pretty much always screw things up when they get into an enviable position.

 

There needs to be a "tech rehab"..  "Hi, I'm Satya, and I'm a Microsoft employee.  I didn't take my job seriously and the world suffered..."

 

-Noel

[Tripredacus]

Pre-install of the old OS doesn't usually last this long. It would usually go like this:

 

- Windows 7 pre-install EOS date (say 6 months after new version GA)

- Windows 7 pre-install (OEM Facilitated Downgrade) EOS date 1 year after new version GA.

 

From the get-go there was never an EOS date for either type of install, always set to TBD.

Also, there wasn't a spanning downgrade available across 3 versions like there is now. You can get a PC with Windows 7 installed if you buy Windows 10 license. For example, you couldn't get XP installed if you bought Windows 7.

 

Another consideration is the current hardware market. Whoever sets future plans for hardware in the backrooms of the tech industry may well deliver us computers that cannot use Windows 7. We are already seeing that with the Intel 150/170 chipset where the new USB causes Win7 install issues. Although this new thing (look up EHCI handoff) also impacts Linux installs like CentOS. I've already seen 1 motherboard where you cannot disable that setting to install/use those OSes.

[JorgeA]

Another consideration is the current hardware market. Whoever sets future plans for hardware in the backrooms of the tech industry may well deliver us computers that cannot use Windows 7. We are already seeing that with the Intel 150/170 chipset where the new USB causes Win7 install issues. Although this new thing (look up EHCI handoff) also impacts Linux installs like CentOS. I've already seen 1 motherboard where you cannot disable that setting to install/use those OSes.

 

Whoa, if that phenomenon spreads, there'll be a firestorm coming from the Linux camp.

 

Maybe it's time to take NoelC's future-proofing advice and buy the most up-to-date PC possible that will take Windows 7.

 

--JorgeA

 

 

P.S. Linux should be able to be tweaked to work with the new USB version, no?

[JorgeA]

Does the following statement on this web page ring true, or not really?

 

There is a highly concerted effort by M$ to harass websites that link to this. I'm tired of constantly trying to convince website admins it's not spam.

 

--JorgeA

 

[Drugwash]

Why not? Ever since I first mentioned it somewhere back in this topic, many times each day I have to recover MSFN e-mail notifications from my AOL account's spam folder, despite my marking all of them as 'not spam' each and every time. They are all in this.

 

The way I see things, a (personal) computer should be totally unbiased in regard to which operating systems would run on it. The moment they cripple compatibility at someone else's whim, that hardware should not be bought by anyone at all. Let the hardware rot on the shelves in stores and warehouses, let the manufacturers go bankrupt and maybe they'll learn it the hard way.

 

Same goes for software: either they offer what we want/need for the hardware we want/have or we won't buy their garbage and we won't even use cracked or free versions of that software if available.

 

We've been messed with for way too long.

[JorgeA]

What people really think about Microsoft’s “Get Windows 10″ campaign

 

 

I think it is wrong of Microsoft to put this into the computers of people who do not want it. It almost feels to me like an invasion of my privacy. I am a vegetarian and to me it is as if someone opened my front door, and threw in a huge piece of meat etc. with out asking if I wanted it.

 

 

--JorgeA

 

 

 

[JorgeA]

Surfing through Woody Leonhard's site led me to his newest InfoWorld column:

 

Microsoft pulls the plug on OneDrive unlimited storage

 

Last night Microsoft's OneDrive team posted on the OneDrive blog that the unlimited storage space offered to Office 365 subscribers is henceforth off the table. Those of you who subscribed to Office 365 thinking you'd have unlimited OneDrive space forever can go pound sand. Microsoft won't give it to you.

 

Wonder how Microsoft apologists rationalize this one. Meawhile, here are some of Woody's observations:

 

Welcome to the new litany:

 

"We sold you unlimited storage, but our fingers were crossed."

 

"We sold you Windows 7, but golly you're going to like this Windows 10 advertising on your system."

 

"We sold you Windows 8.1, but started that Windows 10 installer by mistake."

 

"We need to increase Windows 7 telemetry to make your system more reliable."

 

"We stuck 6GB of unwanted data on your computer because it's what you're going to want."

 

Somebody tell me, what's next?

 

Score another point (not) in favor of trusting your digital life to the cloud, where your data becomes hostage to the whims and designs of someone other than yourself, and contracts aren't worth the pixels they're displayed on.

 

Tell me again, how did "cloud" and "mobile" get to be so popular? Maybe what we need is a few more cases like this to disabuse the computing public of those bad habits.

 

Bring it on.

 

--JorgeA

Edited November 5, 2015 by JorgeA

[Tripredacus]

Why not? Ever since I first mentioned it somewhere back in this topic, many times each day I have to recover MSFN e-mail notifications from my AOL account's spam folder, despite my marking all of them as 'not spam' each and every time.

 

I have an idea of what causes this, as it happens to me as well with my non-aol email. I think it is because many times I use email to notify me of certain things but do not necessarily read the email. For example, when I get an email from a forum, I then make a note to visit that forum. What I physically do is just delete the email. Delete emails from the same sender without reading them enough times, appears to trigger something that indicates those emails are unwanted and then end up in the spam folder.