Fact remains that nothing in won 10 logs every key nor records voices secretly nor sends key logs to anywhere outside. Cortana does not send such information to Microsoft or any third party.
WINDOWS 10
- Thread starter BSAM
- Start date
All of the below are merely my opinions. Sorry for the long post, I could have written 5 times more on what I have found out recently by playing. I have better things to do and testing takes a long long time to be certain.
Synopsis:
I will be leaving Microsoft products and moving to Mac on my way to a more permanent solution to the "forced advertising" problem.
Reasoning:
Snowden revealed that all major tech companies were eventually forced into the PRISM spy program and that MSFT was one of the early adopters as I recall. The net result (among others) is that PC sales (and all technology sale eventually) are dropping worldwide as the allegations become known. The windows 10 installation has been heavy-handed even by past FUD standards so I have lost trust in Microsoft OS technical capabilities. While there is nothing of use from me for government spys to use, I have been concerned about the repeated failures to upgrade window OS versions. Why now are they risking their whole non-commercial customer base to push an untested OS out yet again? Is it desperation?
IMO, most large tech companies work for the government directly or indirectly anyways and thus when the world demand slows they naturally seek more work from government or large corporations. That is why IMO, tech rallies show world demand weaknesses in 1998 and 2015. (IMO the cause is the same BTW.) I am therefore pretty cautious in my trading these days as world demand and GDP falls.
Yesterday I got my opportunity to figure out a mystery to me - what is injecting these fake ads into my browsing peace. How can they grab modal in any browser I have. With testing, I narrowed this issue down to some kind of Windows 7 or 10 OS (I think we have already been "converted" no matter how we voted) change. Nothing happened on my Macs for the same test scenario - zerohedge on chrome on the Win 7 OS. These ads were "legitimate" from big corporation and not hacker now. In the future all web pages will be the same way I predict and they will say you need to be careful which pages you go to IMO.
The fake injection ads are a small problem and I eventually nailed it, (it was a very strange ad with a big clue), traced its source, and killed the add-on that injected it. I have had only legitimate ads since then. So why do I still get lots of ads shoved in my face on zerohedge now and lots of "national enquirer type" ads shoved in my face as I work? (for example: "FBI arrests alien terrorist cell - pictures inside" LOL.)
On the MAC while testing the Win 7 adware injections I got a different kind of modal injection problem on safari. That seems to come from doubleclick and adsense (which I think I read has been hacked before). Turning off cookies will deal with those two so the only tracking id must be from the OS company or any external software suppliers. In short, there are at least 3 methods I have found and probably many more as companies are working together to set ads IMO.
This is my brand new working hypothesis. Has Microsoft given up on their operating system completely in the future with revelations of government computers hacked and even the head of the CIA getting a phone call from some kid hacking his desktop computer? Are government machines (and his in particular) a Mac or a Windows OS machine? If your computer company can't protect the computer of the head of the secret services or the white house reliably, then your country (and your computer) is truly F...ed. I think I read that the government didn't even know that they were supplying government employee information overseas until they were getting a demo of a new security product from a salesrep. Then its too late! Not sure if that is so since I wasn't there but I know how government IT workers compare to IT corporate workers - money drives value. That is part of the reason IMO so many military contractors exist.
So I have read that Microsoft is moving to azure and the cloud. Will they copy the Mac model? Give us all your files and we'll protect them. Right. Any trader or security expert would tell you don't do this since you are not diversified. While security is tighter, risk is also much much higher. (Has Mac cloud been compromised? Yes - remember the naked LA model pictures incident?) You want your files with technical powerhouses, not marketing companies IMO.
So the files are to be scanned IMO to send targeted ads to everyone (corporations and individuals) and the links are designed to find out your particular tastes. Large amounts of information exist on everyone and it appears information is being shared between companies for advertising purposes.
One defense is to click willy nilly on anything you have no interest at all in - snowshoes, clothing etc. while completely ignoring any links with something you are interested in. That will defeat the targeted ads easily as I have already proven on adsense and Chrome in 2014. It was quite funny for a while and I saw some lovely dresses and handbag ads as well LOL. If you don't like your ads, change them using counter-intelligence. Never ever reward a smart ad by buying it unless you happy seeing ads everywhere for it.
Google search for routers, or penguins, or maple syrup and watch the ads fly. Our world GDP is very low. Companies have cut to the bone, and are still losing money. Newspapers, cable companies, telephone companies and media outlets say the advertising model of new content is failing horribly (have you noticed the quality of sitcoms lately?). The new internet companies need to target ads and pump those sales up, but unlike TV sets, users can close the window, ignore them, shut the sound off, buy ad deleting programs etc. So an OS needs to bypass all those using modal commands. So is the new money-making strategy to scan cloud files, target ads, and let programs force you to watch ads before receiving content a user actually wants? A kind of internet TV? Let's make the OS free and get you to sign that they can use your personal information in any way they want to prevent future lawsuits?
What is really troubling is Why use this model at all? Is the only successful model now for any technology to make money by selling ads rather than products or sell information rather than services? Is the dirty secret that technology is only a temporary market edge with little brand power subject to disruption constantly? Any fool with an internet connection and ability to copy can violate your technology edge given time. So first hardware became free as the edge died, then software, then OS, then TV, then radio etc. etc.
Even the spy business is changing for the worse as more people spy more on the agencies than vice versa! Is microsoft essentially admiting that longer term they can't earn preditable revenue providing value selling OS to consumers anymore but only by providing value to governments or corporations? Is the operating system now just a glorified twitter or facebook or google or ibm or sun or csco that has yet to fully mature and begin to roll over? Who knows.
My past prediction, that the poor education systems of the west will eventually fall to the east where education is highly valued and properly taught? Did DARPA actually bring about the downfall of the entire welfare-warfare state? I don't know.
So, if I am right about the cause, then the solution becomes obvious:
Convert all my applications to MAC using a few limited microsoft applications on MAC for a few years. Longer term I aim to have no software applications dependant on any one platform (my own learning here) and to harden my MACs which are based on a unix type system (TERM program). If necessary abandon any technology not providing value to my life. Eventually most countries will use eastern technologies anyways as they begin to dominate the world. Very sad but that what I see in this upgrade given twenty years. Simply count graduating engineers in various countries.
If someone wants some suggestions for concrete suggested steps to take, then PM me or search the internet for hardening computers. Already I am getting ready to dump Chrome because they don't seem to able to combat successfully what has been happening to my machine via OS upgrade. A solid ad strategy must bypass any available OS. To compete, the virus protectors and browser protections will have to be defeated by the advertisers. I also have locked out the automatic windows update feature and upgrade by hand as I am ready now.
If the situation improves and Microsoft can demonstrate a 3 year reliable window in OS 10 and someone wants to stay with them, then I would recommend buying a brand new machine instead. Right now, it is not clear who is really in control of the machine, browser and software I paid for. For sure it's not me! I have no idea what corporations will have to do but I hear that there is another OS upgrade stream for corporations. Corporations have a big problem because unlike the government, they can be successfully sued by clients and shareholders. I am really glad that I no longer have to make those complex calls for multi-platform enterprise-wide environments.
Good luck comrades!
Synopsis:
I will be leaving Microsoft products and moving to Mac on my way to a more permanent solution to the "forced advertising" problem.
Reasoning:
Snowden revealed that all major tech companies were eventually forced into the PRISM spy program and that MSFT was one of the early adopters as I recall. The net result (among others) is that PC sales (and all technology sale eventually) are dropping worldwide as the allegations become known. The windows 10 installation has been heavy-handed even by past FUD standards so I have lost trust in Microsoft OS technical capabilities. While there is nothing of use from me for government spys to use, I have been concerned about the repeated failures to upgrade window OS versions. Why now are they risking their whole non-commercial customer base to push an untested OS out yet again? Is it desperation?
IMO, most large tech companies work for the government directly or indirectly anyways and thus when the world demand slows they naturally seek more work from government or large corporations. That is why IMO, tech rallies show world demand weaknesses in 1998 and 2015. (IMO the cause is the same BTW.) I am therefore pretty cautious in my trading these days as world demand and GDP falls.
Yesterday I got my opportunity to figure out a mystery to me - what is injecting these fake ads into my browsing peace. How can they grab modal in any browser I have. With testing, I narrowed this issue down to some kind of Windows 7 or 10 OS (I think we have already been "converted" no matter how we voted) change. Nothing happened on my Macs for the same test scenario - zerohedge on chrome on the Win 7 OS. These ads were "legitimate" from big corporation and not hacker now. In the future all web pages will be the same way I predict and they will say you need to be careful which pages you go to IMO.
The fake injection ads are a small problem and I eventually nailed it, (it was a very strange ad with a big clue), traced its source, and killed the add-on that injected it. I have had only legitimate ads since then. So why do I still get lots of ads shoved in my face on zerohedge now and lots of "national enquirer type" ads shoved in my face as I work? (for example: "FBI arrests alien terrorist cell - pictures inside" LOL.)
On the MAC while testing the Win 7 adware injections I got a different kind of modal injection problem on safari. That seems to come from doubleclick and adsense (which I think I read has been hacked before). Turning off cookies will deal with those two so the only tracking id must be from the OS company or any external software suppliers. In short, there are at least 3 methods I have found and probably many more as companies are working together to set ads IMO.
This is my brand new working hypothesis. Has Microsoft given up on their operating system completely in the future with revelations of government computers hacked and even the head of the CIA getting a phone call from some kid hacking his desktop computer? Are government machines (and his in particular) a Mac or a Windows OS machine? If your computer company can't protect the computer of the head of the secret services or the white house reliably, then your country (and your computer) is truly F...ed. I think I read that the government didn't even know that they were supplying government employee information overseas until they were getting a demo of a new security product from a salesrep. Then its too late! Not sure if that is so since I wasn't there but I know how government IT workers compare to IT corporate workers - money drives value. That is part of the reason IMO so many military contractors exist.
So I have read that Microsoft is moving to azure and the cloud. Will they copy the Mac model? Give us all your files and we'll protect them. Right. Any trader or security expert would tell you don't do this since you are not diversified. While security is tighter, risk is also much much higher. (Has Mac cloud been compromised? Yes - remember the naked LA model pictures incident?) You want your files with technical powerhouses, not marketing companies IMO.
So the files are to be scanned IMO to send targeted ads to everyone (corporations and individuals) and the links are designed to find out your particular tastes. Large amounts of information exist on everyone and it appears information is being shared between companies for advertising purposes.
One defense is to click willy nilly on anything you have no interest at all in - snowshoes, clothing etc. while completely ignoring any links with something you are interested in. That will defeat the targeted ads easily as I have already proven on adsense and Chrome in 2014. It was quite funny for a while and I saw some lovely dresses and handbag ads as well LOL. If you don't like your ads, change them using counter-intelligence. Never ever reward a smart ad by buying it unless you happy seeing ads everywhere for it.
Google search for routers, or penguins, or maple syrup and watch the ads fly. Our world GDP is very low. Companies have cut to the bone, and are still losing money. Newspapers, cable companies, telephone companies and media outlets say the advertising model of new content is failing horribly (have you noticed the quality of sitcoms lately?). The new internet companies need to target ads and pump those sales up, but unlike TV sets, users can close the window, ignore them, shut the sound off, buy ad deleting programs etc. So an OS needs to bypass all those using modal commands. So is the new money-making strategy to scan cloud files, target ads, and let programs force you to watch ads before receiving content a user actually wants? A kind of internet TV? Let's make the OS free and get you to sign that they can use your personal information in any way they want to prevent future lawsuits?
What is really troubling is Why use this model at all? Is the only successful model now for any technology to make money by selling ads rather than products or sell information rather than services? Is the dirty secret that technology is only a temporary market edge with little brand power subject to disruption constantly? Any fool with an internet connection and ability to copy can violate your technology edge given time. So first hardware became free as the edge died, then software, then OS, then TV, then radio etc. etc.
Even the spy business is changing for the worse as more people spy more on the agencies than vice versa! Is microsoft essentially admiting that longer term they can't earn preditable revenue providing value selling OS to consumers anymore but only by providing value to governments or corporations? Is the operating system now just a glorified twitter or facebook or google or ibm or sun or csco that has yet to fully mature and begin to roll over? Who knows.
My past prediction, that the poor education systems of the west will eventually fall to the east where education is highly valued and properly taught? Did DARPA actually bring about the downfall of the entire welfare-warfare state? I don't know.
So, if I am right about the cause, then the solution becomes obvious:
Convert all my applications to MAC using a few limited microsoft applications on MAC for a few years. Longer term I aim to have no software applications dependant on any one platform (my own learning here) and to harden my MACs which are based on a unix type system (TERM program). If necessary abandon any technology not providing value to my life. Eventually most countries will use eastern technologies anyways as they begin to dominate the world. Very sad but that what I see in this upgrade given twenty years. Simply count graduating engineers in various countries.
If someone wants some suggestions for concrete suggested steps to take, then PM me or search the internet for hardening computers. Already I am getting ready to dump Chrome because they don't seem to able to combat successfully what has been happening to my machine via OS upgrade. A solid ad strategy must bypass any available OS. To compete, the virus protectors and browser protections will have to be defeated by the advertisers. I also have locked out the automatic windows update feature and upgrade by hand as I am ready now.
If the situation improves and Microsoft can demonstrate a 3 year reliable window in OS 10 and someone wants to stay with them, then I would recommend buying a brand new machine instead. Right now, it is not clear who is really in control of the machine, browser and software I paid for. For sure it's not me! I have no idea what corporations will have to do but I hear that there is another OS upgrade stream for corporations. Corporations have a big problem because unlike the government, they can be successfully sued by clients and shareholders. I am really glad that I no longer have to make those complex calls for multi-platform enterprise-wide environments.
Good luck comrades!
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Will you please stfu. Have you not announced your will to part with MS uncountable times? I am sure Apple will welcome you with open arms. It's tiring to having to listen to your ever repeating identical stories.
Windows 10 has been working great for me so far. 1 week in. I feel like my computer boots up significantly faster and in general is running much quicker. I did do a full drive wipe though, so I'm sure that's part of it. But so far so good!
Since you are big on sources:
http://nypost.com/2015/10/27/cia-director-outraged-with-teenager-who-hacked-him/
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/09/07/1845214/windows-telemetry-rolls-out
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2986...osoft-and-google-sell-you-to-advertisers.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07/windows_10_data_collection/
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/windows-10...erything-you-type-you-can-turn-it-off-1519677
Enjoy.
An add to Vicirek's post.
According to Belfiore, the information is "helpful to the ecosystem, and so not an issue of personal privacy."
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-vp-joe-belfiore-on-windows-10-privacy-2015-11
Perhaps the maker of the mattress he sleeps on can place cameras in his bedroom so they can get proper feedback on improving future designs.
According to Belfiore, the information is "helpful to the ecosystem, and so not an issue of personal privacy."
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-vp-joe-belfiore-on-windows-10-privacy-2015-11
Perhaps the maker of the mattress he sleeps on can place cameras in his bedroom so they can get proper feedback on improving future designs.
I've just spent three wasted days "upgrading" to Windows 10, and then "downgrading" back again to Windows 7. As a result of my experience, I'll be sticking with Windows 7 until 2020 when the security updates end. Thanks to others for explaining how to uninstall and hide the Windows 10 updates and prevent further annoying update notifications.
My experience:
- On my desktop, the graphics card (Nvidia Quadro NVS 440) I use for multiple monitors is incompatible with Windows 10. So I need to spend a $500+ on a new graphics card such as NVS 510 to get my multiple monitor setup working? A relatively minor issue for a trader you might think, but it hardly makes the "upgrade" to Windows 10 free any more. The NVS 440 works fine on Windows 7, why change it?
- On my notebook, I trialed Windows 10 for a few days. The first thing you need to do is to change a LOT of the default privacy settings, turn off location tracking, advertising, etc. After undertaking this long and painstaking task (with the assistance of howto guides from three recently purchased computer magazines), the machine appeared to be relatively "smooth" for a couple of days. "What's all the fuss about?", I thought...
But then I updated my version of CCleaner, ran the cleaner, and all hell broke loose, with the machine going into spinning top mode for 30 minutes until I pulled the plug. Reboot. Pull plug. Reboot. Pull plug. Reboot....still unable to kill the spinning top, Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work, mouse and keys unresponsive. This has never happened before over several years of running CCleaner on a Windows 7 system.
Eventually managed to uninstall CCleaner (in safe mode, I think)...and got the machine working again, but the next day the discs were whizzing like crazy at startup. Why?!! And this is even before I've opened a browser, with hardly any programs loaded. Before anyone asks, this is a high spec machine with SSD, and I take security very seriously so it's not a virus because there are no problems running Windows 7. Windows Update says there are no updates required. So what's going on in the background?! I could go into more detail here but you get the picture.
Some have commented that returning to Windows 7 was straightforward, just a couple of mouse clicks. It was only a couple of clicks, that's true. But it was also problematic. First there was an issue with the task scheduler and 80+ pop ups appearing. If anyone has this problem after downgrading from Windows 10 to 7 (and it's pretty common), following the instructions on this site does fix the issue:-
https://repairtasks.codeplex.com
But there were other problems... Executing sfc /scannow in cmd window revealed corrupted files that could not be repaired. And I could no longer make a system image of my (now corrupted) C drive. Tried many repairs, many hours wasted, before I finally came to my senses and ended up doing a repair (upgrade) install of the operating system using the original Windows 7 disc. Now the machine is working like a dream, quiet as a mouse, just like it was before. It should really be libelous for Microsoft to use the term "Personal Computer" when it comes to the Windows 10 operating system. I've put the "P" back into my PC
My experience:
- On my desktop, the graphics card (Nvidia Quadro NVS 440) I use for multiple monitors is incompatible with Windows 10. So I need to spend a $500+ on a new graphics card such as NVS 510 to get my multiple monitor setup working? A relatively minor issue for a trader you might think, but it hardly makes the "upgrade" to Windows 10 free any more. The NVS 440 works fine on Windows 7, why change it?
- On my notebook, I trialed Windows 10 for a few days. The first thing you need to do is to change a LOT of the default privacy settings, turn off location tracking, advertising, etc. After undertaking this long and painstaking task (with the assistance of howto guides from three recently purchased computer magazines), the machine appeared to be relatively "smooth" for a couple of days. "What's all the fuss about?", I thought...
But then I updated my version of CCleaner, ran the cleaner, and all hell broke loose, with the machine going into spinning top mode for 30 minutes until I pulled the plug. Reboot. Pull plug. Reboot. Pull plug. Reboot....still unable to kill the spinning top, Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work, mouse and keys unresponsive. This has never happened before over several years of running CCleaner on a Windows 7 system.
Eventually managed to uninstall CCleaner (in safe mode, I think)...and got the machine working again, but the next day the discs were whizzing like crazy at startup. Why?!! And this is even before I've opened a browser, with hardly any programs loaded. Before anyone asks, this is a high spec machine with SSD, and I take security very seriously so it's not a virus because there are no problems running Windows 7. Windows Update says there are no updates required. So what's going on in the background?! I could go into more detail here but you get the picture.
Some have commented that returning to Windows 7 was straightforward, just a couple of mouse clicks. It was only a couple of clicks, that's true. But it was also problematic. First there was an issue with the task scheduler and 80+ pop ups appearing. If anyone has this problem after downgrading from Windows 10 to 7 (and it's pretty common), following the instructions on this site does fix the issue:-
https://repairtasks.codeplex.com
But there were other problems... Executing sfc /scannow in cmd window revealed corrupted files that could not be repaired. And I could no longer make a system image of my (now corrupted) C drive. Tried many repairs, many hours wasted, before I finally came to my senses and ended up doing a repair (upgrade) install of the operating system using the original Windows 7 disc. Now the machine is working like a dream, quiet as a mouse, just like it was before. It should really be libelous for Microsoft to use the term "Personal Computer" when it comes to the Windows 10 operating system. I've put the "P" back into my PC
My take is that if you have an older (non W10, W8) machine, there is no reason to upgrade. Why mess with what is working? But if you buy a brand new machine, that probably comes with W10 and should be set up for it.
I bought a little travel machine and although I hated W8, after putting Classic Shell on this and following the privacy set up guide from the net (by the way only 5-10 minutes to do so) I have no problem with W 10. It pretty much works like W7, and I am fine and thankful for it.
Anybody who is trying to upgrade from W7 is a black jack player drawing on 17...
I bought a little travel machine and although I hated W8, after putting Classic Shell on this and following the privacy set up guide from the net (by the way only 5-10 minutes to do so) I have no problem with W 10. It pretty much works like W7, and I am fine and thankful for it.
Anybody who is trying to upgrade from W7 is a black jack player drawing on 17...
Here is a list of the updates I have uninstalled and hidden:-
KB2876229 KB2882822 KB2923545 KB2952664 KB2970228 KB2977728 KB2978092 KB2990214 KB2994023 KB3021917 KB3022345 KB3035583 KB3068708 KB3075249 KB3080149
Since hiding these, W7 has been great...you wouldn't know W10 even existed. Whilst these updates don't all relate to W10 notifications, or the unauthorized 3GB W10 download into the hidden $WINDOWS.~BT folder, my understanding is that some of these KB's are essentially malware. It would be useful if this thread was used to inform of updates that we need to avoid in future to keep W10 and Windows malware off our machines, especially once W10 becomes a "recommended" update in 2016. It goes without saying that you need to check that your not installing the recommended updates automatically...some will have a big surprise in 2016...
Maybe you could consider W10 if you were buying a new PC with the Skylake processor (supposedly W10 is optimized for Skylake), but at the moment, I would probably still downgrade to W7. A small performance gain via W10 is pointless as soon as soon as you start experiencing lockups.
Any in any case, for those of you that have made the switch to W10 and have turned off Cortana and disabled the Search bar via Settings, why is the SearchUI.exe process still running when you open up task manager? There is a fix for this, but it's quite messy, and why have to deal with this sort of crap in the first place? A good operating system should stay out of your way, and by default run only the essentials unless you specifically turn a feature on.
I liked XP, Windows 7, and despite the bad press, even Vista worked for me after the major service pack update, but IMHO the direction taken by 8, 8.1 and 10 will prove in the long run to have been a flawed strategy by Microsoft. There will never be a time in my life when I want the entire contents of my desktop running "in the cloud", just like I will never want a microchip inserted into my arm for the greater good or the fight against terrorism.
KB2876229 KB2882822 KB2923545 KB2952664 KB2970228 KB2977728 KB2978092 KB2990214 KB2994023 KB3021917 KB3022345 KB3035583 KB3068708 KB3075249 KB3080149
Since hiding these, W7 has been great...you wouldn't know W10 even existed. Whilst these updates don't all relate to W10 notifications, or the unauthorized 3GB W10 download into the hidden $WINDOWS.~BT folder, my understanding is that some of these KB's are essentially malware. It would be useful if this thread was used to inform of updates that we need to avoid in future to keep W10 and Windows malware off our machines, especially once W10 becomes a "recommended" update in 2016. It goes without saying that you need to check that your not installing the recommended updates automatically...some will have a big surprise in 2016...
Maybe you could consider W10 if you were buying a new PC with the Skylake processor (supposedly W10 is optimized for Skylake), but at the moment, I would probably still downgrade to W7. A small performance gain via W10 is pointless as soon as soon as you start experiencing lockups.
Any in any case, for those of you that have made the switch to W10 and have turned off Cortana and disabled the Search bar via Settings, why is the SearchUI.exe process still running when you open up task manager? There is a fix for this, but it's quite messy, and why have to deal with this sort of crap in the first place? A good operating system should stay out of your way, and by default run only the essentials unless you specifically turn a feature on.
I liked XP, Windows 7, and despite the bad press, even Vista worked for me after the major service pack update, but IMHO the direction taken by 8, 8.1 and 10 will prove in the long run to have been a flawed strategy by Microsoft. There will never be a time in my life when I want the entire contents of my desktop running "in the cloud", just like I will never want a microchip inserted into my arm for the greater good or the fight against terrorism.
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