Windows 10

[Danilo]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/11/24/windows-10-automatic-spying-begins-again/

Watch a global Player destroy themselves. Crazy.

[Dude]

Watch a global Player destroy themselves. Crazy.

Yep. It's heading that way.

So what is Microsoft thinking here? I’ve reached out to the company but, despite recognising my enquiry, it has yet to issue a statement.

The problem in that quote is the tiny word "it". Corporations hide behind such anonymity so debacles like this can't get changed. The head of design (or whoever) that approved this should be publically named and their career put on the block, to deter stupid corporate decisions like this from prevailing in future.

[DontTalkToMe]

This is a thread on Reddit discussing some of the programs accidentally lost or willingly removed (I don't know which) and the settings overwritten by the November update (Threshold 2)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comm ... _software/

I imagine the real list is much longer, after all this is a small sample.

[heartbone]

This is a thread on Reddit discussing some of the programs accidentally lost or willingly removed (I don't know which) and the settings overwritten by the November update (Threshold 2)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comm ... _software/

I imagine the real list is much longer, after all this is a small sample.

DontTalkToMe, thanks for the link to that page of user experiences.
It is quite enlightening.
However, the link actually belongs in this thread and I'll eventually have to make the addition, if no one else does.

I guess M$ thinks that they can get away with the underhandedness without consequences as it's a "free" install for some.
But for this to be pushed out as an upgrade from a non-malicious personal computing OS such as 7, is questionable at best.
I'm thinking there's some basis for damage awards to the victims.

[DontTalkToMe]

Windows 10 Pro (home users have not access to policies)

To manually check for updates:

1) Start menu
2) Search "gpedit.msc"
3) Navigate to "Computer Configuration" -> "Administrative Templates" -> "All Settings" -> "Configure Automatic Updates"
4) Select "Disabled"
"If the status for this policy is set to Disabled, any updates that are available on Windows Update must be downloaded and installed manually. To do this, search for Windows Update using Start."
5) Reboot
6) Now from Apps -> Settings -> Update & Security click on "Windows Update"
Now you should see a new red line of text saying "Some settings are managed by your organization".
If you click on "Check for updates" and updates are present, they will be installed.
You still can't select what to install and what not, but at least the updates should not be installed until you decide it's a good moment do to so.

To defer upgrades and updates:

1) Start menu
2) Search "gpedit.msc"
3) Navigate to "Computer Configuration" -> "Administrative Templates" -> "All Settings" -> "Defer Upgrades and Updates"
4) Select "Enabled"
"Enable this policy in order to defer upgrades for up to eight months.
You can also choose to delay updates for up to one month. If you do not delay updates, your PC will remain up to date with security updates as they become available."
5) Select the number of months you want to defer upgrades (up to eight), and the number of weeks you want to defer updates (up to four)

To never check for updates:

1) Start menu
2) Search "gpedit.msc"
3) Navigate to "Computer Configuration" -> "Administrative Templates" -> "All Settings" -> "Turn off access to all Windows Update features"
4) Select "Enabled"
"This policy setting allows you to remove access to Windows Update.
If you enable this policy setting, all Windows Update features are removed. This includes blocking access to the Windows Update website at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com, from the Windows Update hyperlink on the Start menu, and also on the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. Windows automatic updating is also disabled; you will neither be notified about nor will you receive critical updates from Windows Update. This policy setting also prevents Device Manager from automatically installing driver updates from the Windows Update website.
If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, users can access the Windows Update website and enable automatic updating to receive notifications and critical updates from Windows Update."

There are other interesting settings in the policies, just browse around.

This is so pathetic compared to selecting what you want to install, and when you want to install it, but unavoidable until MS is rewarded by people enthusiastically embracing the new OS.

[IdeasVacuum]

That's a lot of effort you have put in there DontTalkToMe, thank you. However, the most recent problems are two-fold.

1) People still need to install the latest updates that fix OS bugs and close security holes.
2) MS is disguising the Win10 upgrade either as an "important update" or "Optional Update" but always without a proper description of what it really is.

It is ridiculous that we have to research for info about each update (KB). The reason we have to is that MS clearly do not want to tell us the truth. Why is the US government so lack lustre? Surely they don't think it's OK for a major US company to behave in this way?

[DontTalkToMe]

With Win10 pro or higher you can at best delay the updates but not stop them.
...
I find this intolerable, I want a centralized place (not 10 different tools) where I can see the proposed updates, select what I want, and hide what I don't want. Like in Win7.

People requested this even while Windows 10 was still in preview.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insi ... 289?auth=1

In future builds, this capability will be added to Settings/Update and Recover.

Now we know how this really ended.

[marc_256]

hello,

is there someone who used this before ?

https://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=58

I like to install this, but I'm not a PC windows guru so,

thanks,
marc

[heartbone]

hello,

is there someone who used this before ?

https://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=58

I like to install this, but I'm not a PC windows guru so,

thanks,
marc

I've used it on Win7Pro thinking that I could use it to detect if any M$ spyware was present.
After the spyware infections are removed, the early December version of Spybot Anti-Beacon utility stopped functioning correctly, and it went into an infinite loop whenever run.
Therefore, my plan to incorporate its use as a diagnostic tool after future Windows® Updates will have to wait until the software matures.

These people make good software.
I'm still using Spybot 1.6 on my WinXP as I type.
It'll probably work as designed in Vista 10, as long as you don't try to manually remove the spyware updates.

[marc_256]

Hi heartbone,

I used there Spybot 1.x on my WinXP x32,
and it worked very well for years.

thanks for your answer,
marc

[Psychophanta]

Win 10 is a complete Trojan Horse.

[infratec]

Since I didn't found it on the pages before:

For english speakers:
http://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

For german speakers:
http://www.oo-software.com/de/shutup10

It is updated regularly to follow MS 'updates'

It was one of the first things which I run on my one and only win10 installation.

Bernd

[heartbone]

Read the comments posted today, 12/31/15, on this BPEarthWatch YouTube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHOmL0VeB9w
My intuitive analysis tells me that the NSA can and does insert malicious updates onto personal computers through Windows® Updates.
It is very easy to deliver a nasty payload if you are a trusted source, which makes a lot of sense to me.

Take aways:
1) Never set Windows® Updates to automatic. (made difficult in Vista 10)
2) Always make a full system backup before accepting any Windows® Updates.

Just think of it as yet another advantage of running Windows® XP or Linux.
However, if you are running Vista 10, then running that O&O Shutup 10 utility just posted by Bernd
might give you some measure of control over the otherwise uncontrolled forced updates.

[tj1010]

The only solid valid reason for using 8.1 or 10 is gaming. All the binaries are put through newer more optimized build tools and there are usually DX and multi-threading improvements and updates integrated..

I'm not as annoyed by the UI or UX either. I'm usually in a browser, 3rd party program, game, or IDE when in Windows. They usually look the same across NT systems with the exception of the window frame in some cases.

The only reason I haven't went to 10 is because all the spying services and the uninstalling it can do. I'm still on 7 SP1 full-update. I have 8.1 on a gaming laptop for the software optimization.

[Psychophanta]

http://www.intowindows.com/