Windows 10: What You Need to Know

[Rockin Robbins]

Yes, as with Windows 8 and 8.1 the majority of the computer press is acting as Microsoft cheerleaders. You must analyze their writing critically to expose their bias and it's fun to speculate on their motives. I think lots of US Government portraits of dead presidents on special cotton-based paper are involved.

Anyway, just spend a little time with . He LIKES Microsoft--used to work for them. He's not angry, he's heartbroken that a company which served mankind for so long has changed gears to preying on mankind. He lays out the case very clearly, without rancor and tells you what you can do about it. I'd only add one thing to his technique. I'd use my router's blacklist to shut off those Microsoft servers from your network. No Windows hack (and that's what updates have become) can defeat that.

Anyway, the purpose of this post: I installed all the updates from last month's Black Tuesday updates, except for KB3112343, which joins the dirty 11 to make the dirty dozen, because it is only about updating to Windows 10 and I'm not doing that.

So what's the score? Remember, this is the before snapshot by GWX Control Panel:


At that point I had defanged all Windows 10 upgrades and the GWX Control panel found that Windows had already polluted 5.4 GB of my hard drive with a complete installation copy of Windows 10, at my expense, without my knowledge or consent. Imagine if I was a Comcast customer with a 1 GB quota and they caused me to exceed my quota by over 5 TIMES! Well that happened to many thousands, who had to pay dearly for Microsoft's invasion of personal property and theft of personal freedom to decide. Of course that is all reasonable and above board. Atta boy Microsoft!

I deleted the 5.4 GB payload. Then yesterday I installed all of the November updates except the one mentioned above. And just now I ran GWX Control Panel. Let's see what changed without notice, against my will and without my consent.


Look! After I turned Windows operating system upgrades off, Microsoft turned them BACK ON! After I eliminated GWX and removed its (hidden--doesn't that show how honorable Microsoft is?) directory, it's been reinstalled. It's a terrorist sleeper cell on my computer! Not for long.

So Microsoft disregards the choices of its customers and installs hidden sleeper programs to take part in the planned (and announced--see my post above) re-download and automatic at least partial installation of Windows 10 some time in the first quarter of 2015.

Folks, when you know your product is not in the best interest of your customers, when you know that very few will willingly use your product, when you know that no knowing, thinking person with self-respect, who believes in the innate right of privacy would purchase or even take your product for free, the only option left is to force its use. That is Microsoft's course, to steamroller the wishes, preferences, rights and privileges of its victims and force them to do something which will hurt them. Anybody have any plausible explanation that paints Microsoft as the great white horsed knight full of virtue and honor? Please be careful, because there is a fine line between apologetics and comedy.

So: go ahead and install all the updates except for KB3112336 and KB3112343. One of them appears for Win 7 and the other for 8 and 8.1. After the updates, run GWX control panel to turn off Windows operating system updates (again). Then you can look in your Windows directory, possibly Windows\system 32 for the hidden GWX directory. Delete it and all contents.

Finally, if you believe, as I do, that Microsoft is actively probing your machine to see if you have made changes to retain ownership and to block Microsoft (that's why they change 'em back), then you'll like that Spybot Anti-Beacon has been updated to provide similar protection that it already provided to Windows 10, to immunize Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 also against data snooping added by "updates" which violate Microsoft's past definition of what an update is. I just did that. Anti-Beacon lets you choose exactly what to block: it isn't just an on-off button for everything. It is the nuanced customer approval tool that Microsoft should have included in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 after its snooping policy began. At all times the customer should be in charge of data mining of his life.

Question for Microsoft apologists: Did Spybot change their program because Microsoft has nothing to block and is acting to protect its customers from harm? Or did Spybot update Anti-Beacon because Microsoft introduced unacceptable changes through the back door into Windows 7, 8 and 8.1?

Remember the days when after a system crash, Windows XP (and 7) used to say "Do you want to send data to Microsoft that will be analyzed to help prevent similar crashes in the future? No personally identifiable information will be sent." And do you remember the button on such quaint dialog boxes that said "Show me what information will be sent to Microsoft?" Well, those days of respect for customers is gone. Its a party now and you are the cake and ice cream. Enjoy!

I consider my desktop computer a fundamentally different environment from my cell phone. I operate it from a different set of tolerances, a different set of rules. But with Google on the cell phone I can shut off the data mining with clearly provided controls. There is no subterfuge or obfuscation as there is with Microsoft. But I have no expectation of privacy on my cell phone while I demand it on my desktop. I will have it too, with or without Microsoft's help.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Yes, as with Windows 8 and 8.1 the majority of the computer press is acting as Microsoft cheerleaders. You must analyze their writing critically to expose their bias and it's fun to speculate on their motives. I think lots of US Government portraits of dead presidents on special cotton-based paper are involved.

Anyway, just spend a little time with . He LIKES Microsoft--used to work for them. He's not angry, he's heartbroken that a company which served mankind for so long has changed gears to preying on mankind. He lays out the case very clearly, without rancor and tells you what you can do about it.

How can one "Exposing their bias" when you having fun speculating? Either you have information on the media bias(not sure what the media will gain to be a cheerleader to MS) or it is nothing but speculation.

I'm sure Barnacles absolutely loves MS after he was sent packing. He is only heartbroken over the missing auto-deposit into his checking account that MS completed weekly for Mr. Barnacles. But I'm only speculating on his bias. However, I can assure you that the two companies that downsized me out the front door are anything but on my likable list.

As far as this,

that a company which served mankind for so long has changed gears to preying on mankind.

, I think this is a bit melodramatic. And definitely Twilight Zone as you(or someone) mentioned in a earlier post. If one does not want to be the raptors claws use another OS.