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'Get Windows 10' Turns Itself On and Nags Win 7 and 8.1 Users Twice a Day (infoworld.com)

LichtSpektren writes: As you may recall, Microsoft has delivered KB3035583 as a 'recommended update' to users of Windows 7 and 8.1. What this update does is install GWX ("Get Windows 10"), a program which diagnoses the system to see if it is eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10, and if so, asks the user if they would like to upgrade (though recently, the option to decline has been removed). Some users have gotten around this by editing Windows Registry values for "AllowOSUpgrade", "DisableOSUpgrade", "DisableGWX", and "ReservationsAllowed" in order to disable the prompt altogether. This advice was endorsed by Microsoft on their support forums.

According to a report by Woody Leonhard at InfoWorld, the newest version of the KB3035583 update includes a background process which scans the system's Windows Registry twice a day to see if the values for the four aforementioned registry inputs were manually edited to disable the upgrade prompt. If they were, the process will alter the values, silently re-download the Windows 10 installation files (about 6 GB in total), and prompt the user to upgrade.

440 of 720 comments (clear)

  1. ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is so damn annoying. I tried Windows 10 and reverted within a day or so. On two different machines.

    1. Re:ARGH by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Informative

      So you're OK with the fact that Microsoft will bypass your settings and download 6 GB without prompting you?

    2. Re:ARGH by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As someone who likes Windows 10 and thinks more people should upgrade and give it a chance... no, I'm not cool with overwriting the options you knowingly set.

      --
      All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
    3. Re:ARGH by LichtSpektren · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My office paid good money for several copies of Windows 7, because that's the only OS that our software is certified to run on. Microsoft has guaranteed four more years of security updates for Win7. So why exactly should we drop several hundred grand to update? Because you think we're geezers? Well, if you'd like to pay for the update yourself, by all means.

    4. Re:ARGH by mjm1231 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I had a family member who had a (smallish SSD) C: drive, with most data and applications on their D: drive. The C: drive had just enough free space to download the Windows 10 update, and then fail and crash attempting to install it. The update process is smart enough to check for and unset registry keys, but apparently not smart enough to check if there is actually enough disk space.

      --
      Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
    5. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would say that let the upgrade happen, and while it's happening, adjust the onion on your belt and go outside and yell at some clouds.

      And I would say you're a moron.

    6. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 2

      First off, the download was 3GB last I checked. Second, I really don't think the bandwidth consumption is the biggest issue here. Invasion of the user interface is far more aggravating to most users. If it was only for the bandwidth I'd say no big deal. Anybody running on less than 5% disk space has bigger issues than this.

      And don't take me wrong. I'm not saying it's not wrong but the average /. user most probably runs torrents, Netflix or some other form of high bandwidth software. Those 3GB of download are a drop in the bucket.

      Being a big user of MS products this news is very disappointing to me.

    7. Re:ARGH by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches, so they are going the Apple route. They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.

      I like Windows 10, using it on my surface 4 right now. Edge isn't awful, but I still use FF and Chrome.

      I would say that let the upgrade happen, and while it's happening, adjust the onion on your belt and go outside and yell at some clouds.

      So I'm just curious, what would Microsoft have to do for you to say "That crossed the line, that's too much"? Because routing around your manual settings to avoid being forced an update and then attempting to force a 6 GB update on you apparently isn't it.

    8. Re:ARGH by arth1 · · Score: 2

      (Also note that the "STD" and "DST" strings are not unique - they cannot uniquely identify time zones. CST, for example can be either Central Standard Time (USA), Central Standard Time (Australia) or China Standard Time.)

      Reverting is broken (unless it's been fixed very recently). Any events in the task scheduler gets converted to Windows 10 format when going to Windows 10, but if you revert, they do not get converted back again. So depending on your system's complexity, you're left with dozens or more tasks that won't run, and even worse, if opening the task scheduler and browsing to Windows, you get focus stealing popups complaining that the entries cannot be read, and have to dismiss them one by one, after which another pops up, and another, and another.
      Observed on two very different machines.

    9. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apple does not force updates like this, in fact it possible to turn them completely off.

    10. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You mean, Microsoft is tired of supporting THEIR OWN old ass insecure software. True. And it is their fault, for writing woefully insecure software in the first place.

    11. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... just submit and deal with it.

      2016 Year of the rapist UX design.
      No more "No" or "Cancel" buttons to clutter up designs.

    12. Re:ARGH by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Oops - sorry for the misquote.

      The quote should of course have been about reverting from Windows 10, not timezone stuff. Too many windows on too many blogs open!

    13. Re:ARGH by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      I installed Win 10 on my Surface 3. After the 'upgrade', every time i pressed the power button, it locked the screen requiring a password to unlock, NO MATTER WHAT I SET POWER SETTINGS TO.. Kind of kills its usefulness as a tablet with that function broken. Windows 10 made my device LESS useful, but please dont let me interfere with your trolling......

      --
      Good-bye
    14. Re:ARGH by magarity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches

      I can completely sympathize with this frustration. My problem is not the annoyware pestering people to update their old ass insecure version but in the pushing of the entire update. Plenty of people have to use their phone in hot-spot mode or whatever kind of metered link to get some work done and the background download is killing it. Next time you're on a flight paying $$$ for the wifi that's already dead dog slow over satellite, tell me you don't mind someone a few rows over getting a giant update pushed at them.

    15. Re:ARGH by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 4, Informative

      I created what I call an "unfuck script" that does this and a number of other things (such as moving the documents folder into a cloud sync floating profile folder, where I have a bunch of portable apps sitting so that I don't need to run a bunch of installers) that way installing a fresh copy of Windows on any of my machines and fully configuring it afterwards takes me about 5 minutes, and because it's all scripted I don't forget important things (such as using my upstream bandwidth for other people to get windows updates.)

      http://pastebin.com/MmKimr3H

    16. Re:ARGH by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unless your IT department didn't bother doing their job you're not being cajoled into anything right now. Computers registered on a domain are not subject to the same update policies as standalone, personal PCs. As for the ${x}00K cost to upgrade your legacy software, you're going to have to eat it some time within the next four years...

      So, should we surrender the four years that we paid for to be hip and with the times? Or should we save our money and then spend the next four years migrating to an OS that doesn't forcefully seize control of our computers?

    17. Re:ARGH by johanw · · Score: 1

      We use it at work. I now know for sure I don't want it at home, it looks even uglyer as Google's material design.

    18. Re:ARGH by Ranbot · · Score: 2

      I don't see a problem with adapting at all.

      That's an unfair blanket statement to say about anyone who does not want Windows 10 right at this very moment like Microsoft is pushing. There are many non-luddite reasons one might want to hold off upgrading an operating system. Also what about people who try Windows 10, but it doesn't work for them? I tried the Windows 10 upgrade, which gave me much slower loading times, display issues that did not go away after updating video drivers, and moments the whole system would lock up for a few minutes because I dared touch the bottom left master "window" menu button. Windows 10 was unusable for me, so I switched back to Windows 7. My PC is showing it's age these days, but it runs Windows 7 and my other programs very well. I do play games on my PC, so I expect in the next 1-2 years a game will come out that will prompt me to upgrade my computer and I'll go Win10 then, but in meantime I'd appreciate if Microsoft stopped bugging me to upgrade. I'm usually a Microsoft supporter, but this latest Windows 10 roll out is particularly annoying.

    19. Re:ARGH by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software.

      I read that and expected the "appers apping apps" guy.

      Frankly, I wish it had been - he's funnier and more intelligent.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    20. Re: ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Or you know maybe i need to use my Cisco vpn. Win 10 just up and uninstalls it with no notice.

    21. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      People are tired if supporting old ass software companies. They can't rely on companies that will ignore they needs so they are going the Linux route. They know what they need, just submit and let them choose.

      I like Linux Mint 17, using it all my laptops. Firefox isn't the best, but I can still use Chromium (not that malvertising crap Chrome).

      I would say let the Linux Revolution happen, and while it's happening, adjust the collar around your neck and let some oxygen get to your brain.

    22. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches, so they are going the Apple route. They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.

      I like Windows 10, using it on my surface 4 right now. Edge isn't awful, but I still use FF and Chrome.

      I would say that let the upgrade happen, and while it's happening, adjust the onion on your belt and go outside and yell at some clouds.

      No, Microsoft is tired of people using perfectly serviceable old software that is no longer a revenue source for them. Forget that it's a "free" upgrade...they make money on each and every installation by selling off YOUR data to third parties. It's NOT out of the goodness of their hearts that they want everyone to upgrade here.

    23. Re:ARGH by xeoron · · Score: 1

      Very useful. Thanks.

    24. Re:ARGH by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Informative

      So you're OK with the fact that Microsoft will bypass your settings and download 6 GB without prompting you?

      This - especially this! For the majority of rural Internet users, 6GB represents roughly 50-60% of their monthly bandwidth allotment - and it ain't cheap ( a typical 12GB monthly plan runs around $50-60 or so.)

      I wonder if anyone has tried to sue Microsoft yet over being shorted on bandwidth? On my part (yeah, I live in the sticks), I have only Linux and OSX at home, and given Microsoft's recent intrusions, I've become rather happy with my OS choices...

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    25. Re:ARGH by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches, so they are going the Apple route.

      1) it's not Microsoft's decision to make on behalf of the public

      2) OSX allows you to turn that behavior off and choose for yourself when to check for updates. I have a small AppleScript that checks for updates and downloads them on my behalf at 3am, when satellite Internet won't count it against bandwidth.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    26. Re:ARGH by xeoron · · Score: 1

      I loved how MS claimed one of my systems was fully supported, only to discover the video card driver was discontinued and super buggy with display glitches over areas that have font in the system related things or in MS Edge (so far other apps are fine). Intel refuses to release a fix. Makes the system unusable for using the start menu, system search or any metro App (including system settings). Lucky it is a parents old system and I merely use it to access old files.... sometime soon I will just upgrade it to Linux to make it more usable.

    27. Re:ARGH by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.

      You must be a fun date.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    28. Re:ARGH by LichtSpektren · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So, should we surrender the four years that we paid for to be hip and with the times?

      What's fair and what's reality are two entirely separate things. The short answer is -yes- get with the times; IT is a moving target of progress. There are cheaper options however; you can virtualize old Windows 95 boxes if you require legacy 16bit code to run over a mapped RS232 port as an example. It's ugly, but VM-ing an obsolete OS that's bound to custom legacy applications is doable.

      Are you fucking kidding me? We should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars migrating to an OS that provides literally nothing useful to us, seizes control from our hands, and spies on us--for no reason whatsoever other than because it would be "with the times"?

    29. Re:ARGH by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      Save your money and time by not purchasing software which is so delicate it breaks when a version number increments.

      Had I been with my current company a decade ago, I assure you, I would've strenuously advised this.

    30. Re:ARGH by danbert8 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It doesn't help when Windows 10 has some significant removal of features. I run Windows Media Center on my Windows 7 HTPC. I'm not going to update to Windows 10 just to hack WMC back into it...

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    31. Re:ARGH by Shaman · · Score: 1

      Clearly, whoever that is you're chatting with has never run a business or worked a serious job in IT.

      --
      ...Steve
    32. Re: ARGH by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      That's what it's really about the user is the ware. For that reason I have trust issues now when it comes to M$ and I have disabled the automatic updates. It may be a risk, but I see that as a lower risk than allowing Microsoft to fuck up my computer.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    33. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      You are correct. I cannot argue that but I was just stating that to me it wasn't a hard transition. Some of the issues you started I encountered but they have since been fixed for my system.

    34. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      significant removal of features

      WMC to me was a waste of time considering all the great Linux based solutions out there.

      Many of the other features MS removed I though were just common sense like Floppy Drive Support.

    35. Re:ARGH by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software.

      No, Microsoft is tired of not being able to spy on its users the way Google can.

      Also, the fact that Microsoft's software is insecure is it's own damn fault.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    36. Re:ARGH by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      No floppy drive support - that's definitely going to be a killer for any upgrade since I have some devices still using floppies as the only common way of exchanging data.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    37. Re:ARGH by Tarlus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's just it, though. Windows 7 isn't obsolete.

      --
      /* No Comment */
    38. Re:ARGH by jriding · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Because they overwrote the options you knowingly set, wouldn't this be in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Could someone not take them to court as well as file a federal charge against them?
      This is being done with out proper permission.

      Thoughts?

      --
      love the taste, hate the texture
    39. Re:ARGH by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      > I don't see a problem with adapting at all.
      Getting keylogged is not adaptation.

    40. Re:ARGH by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I'll take a look at that, thank you for doing the work and sharing it.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    41. Re:ARGH by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Actually, Apple users DON'T tolerate it. You can trivially and easily turn off automatic updates on Apple, and they don't push patches with godawful numbers to dick around in the godawful registry to unset the godawful hex values you painstakingly set.

      On Apple you tell it not to update and it doesn't.

      Also even if Apple DID suck in this way, it's not a reason for Microsoft to suck in this way.

    42. Re:ARGH by Tarlus · · Score: 1

      First of all, read the article. Yes, Windows forces updates. Especially Windows 10.

      Second of all, no, Apple does not force updates. Accidentally updating a Mac is not the same as being forced by Apple to do so. And if you are responsible and maintain backups of your system (i.e. Time Machine), it is very easy to roll back.

      --
      /* No Comment */
    43. Re:ARGH by Tarlus · · Score: 1

      Apple has never forced an OS update into people's computers.

      --
      /* No Comment */
    44. Re:ARGH by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 2

      You mean, Microsoft is tired of supporting THEIR OWN old ass insecure software. True. And it is their fault, for writing woefully insecure software in the first place.

      They want to replace their old ass insecure software with new ass insecure software.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    45. Re:ARGH by Coren22 · · Score: 2

      So why exactly should we drop several hundred grand to update?

      Several hundred grand for what? If Software Assurance was bought with those Windows 7 licenses, or they were bought through enterprise agreements, it should cost you nothing to update. Where are you getting this several hundred grand from?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    46. Re:ARGH by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      "I use Windows 10 on a professional and personal level. I don't see a problem with adapting at all."

      All conspiracy theorizing aside, I see it as an attempt to finally get at least most Windows users on one version again, which has not been the case since XP.

    47. Re:ARGH by thoromyr · · Score: 1

      Apple certainly disabled Java and will currently disable flash. They only do so when it is being exploited *and* a patched version is available. Personally, I think they shouldn't bother waiting for a patched version, but, hey.

      Google has a deal with Adobe (part of their "FU" to Apple, amusingly enough) so that Chrome is always up-to-date with Flash. Doesn't stop it from being exploited before an update is available, though.

      But, sure, go ahead and conflate OS major version upgrades with security fixes. I mean, its all the same thing, right?

    48. Re:ARGH by Drethon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      One of our friends had a five year old Acer netbook with Win 7 starter (a bit of a WTF in itself). They thought they had to upgrade to Win 10 so they said OK to the nag window. End result, the computer no longer starts. I tried pulling the HD and looking at it with another computer and the computer doesn't even know what to do with the drive.

    49. Re:ARGH by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.

      Myopic much?

      Translation: Bend over, lube up, and take it up ass, because we have no balls to be anything other then Microsoft's bitch.

      There is only one appropriate response: Fuck You, Microsoft. I don't need nor want your shitty spy-trojan-laced GUI. I already have working computers with Windows 7, and Windows XP, OSX 10.9, and Linux 12.04 TLS. There is nothing I need in Windows 10. In contradistinction, there are lots of things I don't WANT with Windows 10.

      --
      Microsoft Windows 8 and 10, noun: A 64-bit compilation of 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor written by a 2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition with 0 bit of understanding good UI.

    50. Re:ARGH by penix1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Computers registered on a domain are not subject to the same update policies as standalone, personal PCs.

      That's horseshit! I work in State government and our machines are nagging the shit out of us and we are on Enterprise version on a domain. Of course, that simply means that the Governor's Office of Technology are incompetent boobs and let this update through but still, it proves your statement false.

      --
      This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
    51. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Citizen, you have been enrolled for re-education Thank you, and please have a pleasant life.

    52. Re:ARGH by localman · · Score: 2

      The problem is that not everyone is on an unlimited broadband. I don't expect Microsoft to cater primarily to the millions upon millions of people who still have slow and/or metered connections, but it would be nice if they didn't go out of their way to make our life hell.

    53. Re:ARGH by Painted · · Score: 1

      My $5000 HP plotter has Windows 7 drivers only. MS upgrading me to 10 renders that hardware useless. MS either owes me working drivers (it IS a postscript printer, it should work) or a new printer.

      --
      http://marsandmore.com - Posters of space, spacecraft, and astronomy.
    54. Re: ARGH by Izuzan · · Score: 1

      Microsoft isnt going to pay to have some other companies software work properly on a brand new OS. The company this guy works for would have to pay to upgrade the software they are running.

    55. Re:ARGH by HiThere · · Score: 2

      When I decided to check the options for "get with the times" back around 1998, I started reading EULAs. Amazingly I soon switched to Linux (with a stopover at Apple) despite Linux not having a decent word processor. It was still the correct decision. Since around 2000 I haven't regretted it once.

      It took a bit longer to convince my wife, since she wouldn't read the EULAs, and also needed music score editing software (which still stinks on Linux unless you're a programmer). There were also problems when she was trying to sync sounds with cel animation. It was easier on the Apple. Apple fixed that, though, by updating their system in a way that broke the usability of the software we had bought. (Don't misunderstand. She was talking about animations for use by or with grade school children with the animation being adapted for the particular child. So it wasn't anything fancy. Sometimes html sound and gif animation was good enough.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    56. Re:ARGH by HiThere · · Score: 3, Informative

      I think he's talking about the cost to replace packages bought from 3rd parties.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    57. Re: ARGH by Izuzan · · Score: 1

      No. Now its called a feature that it spy's on you and sends info to microsoft.

    58. Re:ARGH by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      In some cases you don't have a choice - you may have a software that was developed a long time ago that do exactly what you want and is horribly expensive to replace - and it's tied to a specific OS version. Not unusual at all in some industrial solutions.

      There are also software with copy protection schemes that will no longer work if you upgrade, some even gets messed up if you do a defragmentation of your hard disk.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    59. Re:ARGH by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Apple may not force updates, but they've follows MS' lead before, but they have in the past mislabeled breaking functional updates as security updates. I don't know if they've done it in the last decade, as I've stopped using Apple devices that connect to the net.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    60. Re:ARGH by HiThere · · Score: 1

      You can't yet prove that the new software is insecure. I'll admit that that's the way I'd bet, but be less certain. What you can prove is that the new software is extremely invasive and assumes lack of privacy (in certain new ways).

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    61. Re:ARGH by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure thats not happening ;).

    62. Re:ARGH by Drethon · · Score: 2

      5 years old, I think the HD was ready to go. Still, I blame Windows 10!

    63. Re:ARGH by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      other than because it would be "with the times"?

      That depends on how important the times are. Do your times support current hardware when your old one breaks? Do the times support the old software you run? Are you exposed to any security risks as a result of not being with the times?

      There are many reasons IT needs to "stay with the times" and very few of them have to do with just being old or upgrading for upgrade's sake.

    64. Re:ARGH by omnichad · · Score: 1

      That EULA wasn't just for the software - it was for the hardware too. You think you own the hardware?

    65. Re:ARGH by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Windows 10 defaults to a GPT partition table on the HDD. I think this is the default choice if you chose to wipe and start afresh though I'm not entirely sure. If that's the case pulling it and inserting it into a computer with an older OS or older BIOS it won't be recognised properly.

      I think. Not entirely sure about that but it's a line of inquiry worth exploring if you're going to try and get something like this working in the future.

    66. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      NOT TRUE!

      We have several hundred domain win 7 clients all running under open license and they have all tried to update. I have had to remove the appropriate updates to stop this behavior!

      The answer I got was "Oops, sorry. It was not suppose to do that!"

    67. Re:ARGH by Snard · · Score: 1

      significant removal of features

      WMC to me was a waste of time considering all the great Linux based solutions out there.

      How many of those "great Linux based solutions" support CableCard? I have TWC, and I want to be able to view and record programs. None of the Linux based solutions I looked at will support a CableCard-enabled tuner such as HDHomeRun Prime.

      --
      - Mike
    68. Re:ARGH by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Can't you use Windows 7 drivers on Windows 10? If not, that sounds more like HP creating a bad driver.

    69. Re:ARGH by peragrin · · Score: 1

      At work we have the opposite problem. Windows 10 downloaded to all the desktops but the crashes when it tries to start. Every single time.

      So we have a hunch of Windows 7 machines that can't accept the upgrade. Not the end of the world as your software is all on the server Which Everyone remote desktops into. Easy to manage and even easier to replace desktop when needed.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    70. Re:ARGH by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      bypassing manually set registry settings sounds like bypassing a computer security system. Downloading a massive file sounds like measurable financial harm inflicted. If this was a north korean company you'd be looking at criminal charges.

    71. Re: ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Since it supports PS, you could most likely hook that plotter up to a $50 Debian box, share the printer to your other systems, and all work be well. I've done this with multiple expensive plotters in engineering offices. -PCP

    72. Re:ARGH by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      For those of us who live in Outback, Nowhere, with crappy DSL (some people still on dialup!) that bandwidth consumption is a pretty big deal. Worse, people who pay for X amount of bandwidth on a monthly basis, and get charged for overages. (not me - my download speed sucks but there's no limit on it)

      Unauthorized appropriatoin of resources - sounds like theft to me!

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    73. Re:ARGH by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Observation 1 - ten years is ten years away. 2 - many shops don't need or want the latest AutoCAD - or any other software for that matter. 3 - many shops have no use for Quickbooks

      Our machine shop has all of the software they want installed on each and every machine they operate, and they will NOT want anyone tampering with them, in any way. Period.

      Maintenance shop, ditto.

      Those production machines that use Microsoft OS's are still NT4 - and they aren't connected to the internet anyway - so we can ignore those.

      Office machines are a whole 'nother story. The so-called IT department doesn't do squat with them anyway, they are all outsourced, and operate up there in "The Cloud". I don't really care what they screw up on those things, I have no responsibility for them. I hope they all crash and burn.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    74. Re:ARGH by Tharkkun · · Score: 2

      Unless your IT department didn't bother doing their job you're not being cajoled into anything right now. Computers registered on a domain are not subject to the same update policies as standalone, personal PCs. As for the ${x}00K cost to upgrade your legacy software, you're going to have to eat it some time within the next four years...

      So, should we surrender the four years that we paid for to be hip and with the times? Or should we save our money and then spend the next four years migrating to an OS that doesn't forcefully seize control of our computers?

      No. Your IT department should've done their job and disabled the update. We have 120k users, close to 200k machines and it took one 1 update behind the scenes to stop this upgrade across our company.

    75. Re:ARGH by Tharkkun · · Score: 1

      Unless your IT department didn't bother doing their job you're not being cajoled into anything right now. Computers registered on a domain are not subject to the same update policies as standalone, personal PCs. As for the ${x}00K cost to upgrade your legacy software, you're going to have to eat it some time within the next four years...

      That's incorrect also.

    76. Re:ARGH by Tharkkun · · Score: 1

      Actually, Apple users DON'T tolerate it. You can trivially and easily turn off automatic updates on Apple, and they don't push patches with godawful numbers to dick around in the godawful registry to unset the godawful hex values you painstakingly set.

      On Apple you tell it not to update and it doesn't.

      Also even if Apple DID suck in this way, it's not a reason for Microsoft to suck in this way.

      Instead Apple's IOS updates brick your machine, disable your 4g wireless calls until reverted, replace your google maps with one that drives you into a canyon, and turns on shit like "receive calls only from favorites" when you have no favorites selected.

    77. Re:ARGH by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Does Apple really have more bugs than Microsoft? And google maps is still available, it's just not the pack-in.

      Fixing Apple drama is really easy. Fixing Microsoft drama is literally impossible.

    78. Re:ARGH by Grishnakh · · Score: 2

      That's what you get for buying Microsoft products. Maybe next time you'll think twice about buying anything from them.

    79. Re:ARGH by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      You should surrender it because you made a stupid choice in vendor and product selection. If you don't like the way your vendor is treating you, maybe you could sue them. But the easier thing to do is simply avoid this vendor in the future.

    80. Re:ARGH by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Actually, it is. If consumers are so dumb they'll continue to buy from vendors no matter how much the vendors abuse them, then why shouldn't the vendors take advantage of them for greater profit? What are the consumers going to do, switch to Linux? Apparently not. So MS might as well do this stuff if it makes them more money. It seems that no amount of abuse will drive their customers away.

    81. Re:ARGH by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Hahaha. I use Mint myself, but I'm sorry, I don't see anyone converting to Linux over all these Microsoft shenanigans. They just sit around and bitch endlessly about it, but they refuse to dump the vendor that abuses them.

    82. Re:ARGH by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      "There are also software with copy protection schemes that will no longer work if you upgrade, some even gets messed up if you do a defragmentation of your hard disk."

      Are you exaggerating? Can you give a citation? I've never witnessed anything like a program stop working after defragging.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    83. Re:ARGH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you need hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade 'several copies of windows 7' you have bigger problems than anything MS is doing to you.

    84. Re: ARGH by slazzy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As an apple share holder I just wanted to say thank you microsoft, you're making my retirement dreams come early.

      --
      Website Just Down For Me? Find out
    85. Re:ARGH by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

      SE was okay. Except for the TCP/IP stack.

      --
      Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    86. Re:ARGH by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

      The fuck?

      --
      Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    87. Re:ARGH by Cramer · · Score: 1

      Disable what? 38 KBs and their brothers, and any newer one's the mothership demands you install? GWX is one update (that they've re-released a few times), but there are MANY others bringing parts of WinX into your system.

      (I suppose if that "behind the scenes" thing was "block all of Microsoft", then that would, indeed, work.)

    88. Re:ARGH by Cramer · · Score: 1

      That might work for the far simpler XP -- for which "activation" can be legitimately permanently disabled. Windows 7 (and beyond) have no such mode, and are far more aware of hardware changes. If the virtual hardware doesn't almost precisely match the physical hardware, re-activation will be required. OEM VLK's are a serious pain to use in a VM -- and you have to make damn sure the physical "fingerprint" follows that VM everywhere. Even a retail key will need re-activation if the hardware changes too much or too often.

      (I run into this all the time. XP: trivial to fix, Win7: fixable with a few tricks, Win10: those tricks don't work anymore)

    89. Re:ARGH by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      To my knowledge this update shouldn't be touching machines on a domain? It's not even about the IT group being bad, it simply isn't (supposed) to target domain attached machines.

      I just checked a couple of the machines on a small domain I manage, no sign of the files on the workstations.

    90. Re:ARGH by Cramer · · Score: 1

      Yes, YES MICROSOFT IS forcing people to "upgrade". They are hiding the "get windows 10" bullshit as a "recommended update" (and briefly tagged it "required"), and it's downloading (and by some reports INSTALLING) Windows 10 without even asking. And it's no longer giving users the option to say no.

      Yes, Apple will nag that there's an update, but they don't download it without your permission, and they don't pre-install it so you can reboot into the new version instantly.

    91. Re: ARGH by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Well hopefully there's a huge number of people out there just like you, and all the whiners saying they *must* have application X and will never leave Windows because of it are in the minority. But I'm not hopeful on that.

    92. Re:ARGH by dcollins117 · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software.

      You mean the bug-ridden insecure software that they wrote, and then sold to you? And now you want to but the newest bug-ridden insecure software form the same company while everyone, including Microsoft laughs their asses off on how gullible people can be.

      My sides are splitting. As long as there are astoundingly stupid people like you in the world, there's no reason to improve software quality. It's much more profitable and fun just to sell you more bugs.

    93. Re:ARGH by magarity · · Score: 1

      Actually, no, the worst first world problem I have to deal with is self righteous condescending anon cowards who can't spell beyond a first grade level.

    94. Re:ARGH by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      You sound like a very unhappy, angry sort of person. Have you considered counseling? Might help you with your apparent perspective issues. Might even help you make a friend or two.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    95. Re:ARGH by lgw · · Score: 1

      I installed Win 10 on my Surface 3. After the 'upgrade', every time i pressed the power button, it locked the screen requiring a password to unlock, NO MATTER WHAT I SET POWER SETTINGS TO.. Kind of kills its usefulness as a tablet with that function broken. Windows 10 made my device LESS useful, but please dont let me interfere with your trolling......

      If anyone knows a fix for this, please post! I have no use for a tablet where I ever have to type in my password to use it.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    96. Re:ARGH by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I use Windows 10 on a professional and personal level. I don't see a problem with adapting at all. If anything moving to 10 was something I hesitated to do and once I did all computers HAD to be moved over. I have yet to complain about anything but Edge.

      I agree w/ this, but I do think that Windows 10 should not be forced on people who are happy w/ either Windows 7 or 8.x.

      Enough of that, and you'll see more people either buying Macs, or switching to other things, like ChromeBook, Android, et al. Those who don't know about installing Linux or BSD

    97. Re:ARGH by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I like Defender - I've avoided buying separate anti-virus packages as a result.

      I used to think Classic Shell was just useful for Windows 8. It didn't do much for me there - did nothing about hot corners, but it's certainly a lot better for Windows 10. I've managed to make the laptop version of it as identical to Windows 7, Aero look and all. With the pulldown menu, and losing those icons.

    98. Re:ARGH by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I really wonder how it works on a computer that just has 16GB of SSD/Flash drive? Like a Winbook TW700. Windows 10 requires at least 14GB of storage, so there is no way that that thing will support it.

      They had utilities that could scan a computer and determine whether it was Vista ready. Can't they run this first before deciding to force the update nag button on the laptop?

    99. Re:ARGH by unixisc · · Score: 1

      My Winbook - I just got Microsoft to reset the installation, since the Location was locked at disabled - like I couldn't use Maps in conjunction w/ my location. They did that, and now the Windows button at the bottom of the screen no longer works. I tried googling, but couldn't find what would be a driver for that. Microcenter gave me a list of updates that WON'T work w/ this tablet.

    100. Re:ARGH by thebigmacd · · Score: 1

      Virtualizing old versions of Windows is probably a breach of contract, as the OS is only allowed to be installed on the original computer. According to MS, only the original receipt is proof of license as well. Volume licensing could be different, but I imagine a valid volume license for Windows 95 doesn't exist today.

    101. Re:ARGH by Razed+By+TV · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Do your times support current hardware when your old one breaks?

      Seriously? You have to ask this?
      Using the magic of the internet, I can buy hardware going back 10+ years.
      Using the magic of my operating system, I can install hardware that is 10+ years old.
      The only real issues are DX10 and 11, and ram limits, if you can really consider those to be major issues.

      Do the times support the old software you run?

      Yes, because if I paid someone to make me custom niche software I likely need that software to keep doing what it's doing. Why pay someone to make it again when it isn't necessary?

      Are you exposed to any security risks as a result of not being with the times?

      You know, I probably am. However, Microsoft is now proving themselves to be another one of the security threats. So I can bend over and take it from Microsoft, or I can roll the dice. I think I'll take my chances.

    102. Re:ARGH by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I think people are confusing OSX with iOS, desktop versus phone. But that's understandable, because Microsoft is also confused by the difference between a desktop and a smartphone.

    103. Re:ARGH by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I hate the registry. It causes places like Microsoft to overuse that concept to an extreme. On the other hand, I like the registry, because it makes it easy to overrule Microsoft's ridiculous decisions.

      If they wanted to force something on us AND if they had a clue, they wouldn't use the registry for this. But they're so married to the idea of using the registry to do everything that they've never considered the option of not using it.

    104. Re:ARGH by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Well, I've got 8.1. I don't mind it. But what's the point of going from there to Windows 10, other than the tried and true Microsoft marketing mantra of "you'll have to upgrade someday so you may as well get it done while it's still free"?

    105. Re:ARGH by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

      I use Windows 10 on a professional and personal level. I don't see a problem with adapting at all. If anything moving to 10 was something I hesitated to do and once I did all computers HAD to be moved over. I have yet to complain about anything but Edge.

      OMG ! You must be Donald Knuth. Nice to meet you sir.

    106. Re:ARGH by cc1984_ · · Score: 1

      If you need hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade 'several copies of windows 7' you have bigger problems than anything MS is doing to you.

      It's probably the cost of upgrading the other software to be certified on Windows 10 rather than the OS itself.

    107. Re:ARGH by pereric · · Score: 1

      As for the ${x}00K cost to upgrade your legacy software, you're going to have to eat it some time within the next four years...

      Not certainly. In four years (which is quite a time), a legacy system might have been replaced with a web-based or portable system, so that your workstations could be simple chromeboxes or at least switching to free operative systems. Or the legacy system may be of less use and, run virtualized. Or the company switching to do something completely different.

    108. Re:ARGH by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      Uhhh... Windows 10 is WAY more insecure than previous versions, because of all the "connected" crap.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    109. Re:ARGH by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      The desktop personalization on Windows 10 is also broken

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    110. Re:ARGH by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      It was not unusual in the early age of copy protection (Primarily under DOS) that the software stored key data for the copy protection in a hidden sector on the disk or past end of file in one of the data files for an application using an unused sector in an cluster but some defrag software only looked at used sectors and ignored the rest.

      And in some cases the copy protection was in sector or track metadata outside the physical sector. Sometimes found in copy-protected floppies.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    111. Re:ARGH by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Using the magic of the internet, I can buy hardware going back 10+ years.

      Oh god. You're not one of those people are you? The assumption that you can buy old hardware as a sensible solution to the problem of obsolescence is absurd at best and dangerous at worst. You not only have diminishing supply, but you face a rising cost, and increasingly less reliability.

      Yes, because if I paid someone to make me custom niche software I likely need that software to keep doing what it's doing. Why pay someone to make it again when it isn't necessary?

      Where did you get this idea from? One of the options discussed is virtualisation. As to why pay someone when it isn't necessary, well as I said necessary depends on your business case. I wish you good luck with buying 10+ year old hardware off the internet, but if it's important enough to keep running then it is usually important enough to keep up to date.

      However, Microsoft is now proving themselves to be another one of the security threats.

      Only if you're using a home OS. You do realise none of the Windows 10 problems we have discussed so far have applied to enterprise versions of windows or professional versions tied to a domain right? Something that is trivial to do.

    112. Re:ARGH by craigtp · · Score: 1

      The first thing to install after installing Windows 10 is this very useful tool: Shut Up 10
      which will turn off most (if not all) of the spying within Windows 10. The utility gets fairly regular updates, too.

      Made by a well respected German company (who are a Microsoft Gold Partner no less - no figure).

    113. Re:ARGH by doccus · · Score: 1

      First off, the download was 3GB last I checked. Second, I really don't think the bandwidth consumption is the biggest issue here. Invasion of the user interface is far more aggravating to most users. If it was only for the bandwidth I'd say no big deal. Anybody running on less than 5% disk space has bigger issues than this.

      And don't take me wrong. I'm not saying it's not wrong but the average /. user most probably runs torrents, Netflix or some other form of high bandwidth software. Those 3GB of download are a drop in the bucket.

      Being a big user of MS products this news is very disappointing to me.

      I actually made the same argument as you.. and I was quickly corrected. It's a BANDWITH issue.. And I can see how that woiuld be a problem...

    114. Re:ARGH by vandamme · · Score: 1

      See if all your software will run on Linux under Wine. That would solve two big problems.

    115. Re:ARGH by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Was the hardware not recognized, or was it the partition that was not recognized? I see no way in which even Micro$oft could fuck up the hard drive without flashing the firmware of the drive, which is highly unlikely. Take it to a nerd, preferably one who uses Linux on a regular basis, and do not, under any circumstances, take it to "geek squad" or anything comparable.

    116. Re:ARGH by Tarlus · · Score: 1

      Apple hasn't forced iOS updates either. Granted, they have their own tactics and the yearly update model has become a way of life in the Apple universe. But even with their artificially shortened OS lifespans, you never wake up in the morning to find your iToy suddenly rebooting to install an update you didn't want or approve.

      --
      /* No Comment */
    117. Re:ARGH by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches, so they are going the Apple route. They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.

      What do you mean "Going the Apple route?"

      Just like everyone else, Apple defaults their Updates to automatically download and install, but not only do they do a much better job of telling you what they are doing; but they also make it extremely easy to not have automatic updates.

      Quit assigning the name "Apple" to just any-old-thing you don't think is right.

    118. Re:ARGH by iamhassi · · Score: 1

      Really? Because I had Windows 10 crash on a clean install less than a week after installing, with no software installed except for chrome and firefox, while sitting next to a Windows 7 computer that's been running 200+ days straight. Windows 10 is garbage. Necessary garbage, but still garbage.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    119. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      I agree w/ this, but I do think that Windows 10 should not be forced on people who are happy w/ either Windows 7 or 8.x.

      I agree. I wasn't trying to say that the spamming was acceptable by any means. I just came upon a Windows 7 machine a work that is having this issue.

      Enough of that, and you'll see more people either buying Macs, or switching to other things, like ChromeBook, Android, et al.

      I'm only willing to believe this to a degree. MAC has no real entry level pricing and I can't tell you how often people come to me with a budget under $700 CAD which is nothing if you looking at Apple products. As for the rest well it depends what they want to do. Humans in nature pick the safe options and MS is a safe options because everyone and your uncle can support or at least assist. Corporate and enterprise is very different as their options are even further limited if they work with existing MS software or need compatibility with other companies that operate in MS. There's still a huge number productivity applications not available in Linux

    120. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      I totally get that. MS only downloads if the machine is idle. My personal experience confirms this for me. Most people also have automatic updates setup so they are already obtaining a number of updates automatically (multiple gigs worth after every big office update). So where's the line? At what point can a company start assuming something?

      Why do we treat software different than home appliances? After all it's how users want their computers to work. Did the new appliance you just install ask you before consuming electricity to remain in standby mode? Did the application ask you before performing self maintenance?

      MS Should not spam any users and that's an obvious F*** Up. I hope they put their thinking helmet on and fix that ASAP.

    121. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      But we don't live in a barbaric system. Your money is the only real voice and leverage you have.

    122. Re:ARGH by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Start MENU works. What I'm talking about is a button at the bottom of my Winbook tablet, that looks like the Windows logo. When one touches it, it behaves identically to the Start icon at the south west corner of the screen. At least it did, under both Windows 8 and Windows 10, but the most recent update Microsoft did resulted in it no longer working. Microcenter was unable to fix it for me, and they have this particular model being compatible w/ some revisions of Windows update, but not others.

    123. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      There are benefits to that as long as MS plays fair.

    124. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Well sir, you have managed to be the black sheep. You and the 12 others remaining should have a meet and greet. :)))

      I haven't see a modern board with floppy support in at least 5 years. USB floppy drives are impossible to find in retail stores.

      But honestly, if you need a floppy drive I would think just any other hardware other than the one you actually use day to day will do the job. We too have really old hardware that requires floppies in time of troubleshooting (once in a blue moon).

      So MS did good by removing old support which was needed by less than 0.001% of it's user base.

    125. Re:ARGH by hucker75 · · Score: 1

      How strange. Windows 10 is far superior to previous versions. And they haven't done any major changes to the interface that would put you off either. Why are you insistent on using outdated crap?

    126. Re:ARGH by macs4all · · Score: 1

      So, should we surrender the four years that we paid for to be hip and with the times?

      What's fair and what's reality are two entirely separate things. The short answer is -yes- get with the times; IT is a moving target of progress. There are cheaper options however; you can virtualize old Windows 95 boxes if you require legacy 16bit code to run over a mapped RS232 port as an example. It's ugly, but VM-ing an obsolete OS that's bound to custom legacy applications is doable.

      Another way is to run the old OS in another Partition (or another HD) and then use a bootloader. I assume that will work for Windows. That's how we do it in the OS X world when we have legacy software that is incompatible with a new OS X version, or just want to try out a new version of the OS.

      Of course, OS X makes that really easy, with its built-in bootloader, and the ability to resize partitions nondestructively. But, IIRC, NTFS will allow nondestructive repartitioning, too.

    127. Re:ARGH by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      I personally decided not to fully turn off telemetry. The reason why is because I want Microsoft to see that I don't give a shit about the app store, cortana, Bing searches, or edge, and that I just want an ordinary desktop OS, not an Apple iOS wannabe.

    128. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Windows 7 computer that's been running 200+ days straight.

      That's the problem right there. No drivers or OS updates and you went straight to 10... come on dude. (I'm being playful in case you didn't get it).

      Not all installs went perfect and MS was available at no charge to assist via chat and forums. For those still having access to their free call they could call in and get support until the incident was resolved. People make it sound much worst than it really is because they overreact to inconvenience or to what they don't understand.

    129. Re:ARGH by Puppet+Master · · Score: 1

      Same here. Windows 10 wouldn't see my NIC. I had no network access at all. Couldn't find the drivers online (checked from my Linux workstation) and ended up reverting after a day of trying to get it to work. Won't be trying that again!

      --
      The day Microsoft creates a product that doesn't suck, it will be known as the Microsoft Vaccuum Cleaner!
    130. Re:ARGH by mannd · · Score: 1

      Not only that, living in a rural area with only 3Mbps DSL internet available, the background automatic download takes hours and during it all other internet access is slowed down even more than baseline (and it sucks baseline). I knew I should have stuck with Vista (joke).

      --
      Sig expected Real Soon Now.
    131. Re:ARGH by Druegan · · Score: 1

      I'm just wondering what kind of "support" Microsoft has had to offer to "old ass insecure software". I ran XP for years, and once I went into services.msc and turned off all of MS's fucking useless "features", 95% of my security problems disappeared. I didn't even run realtime antivirus or a firewall. Just a once a month series of scans and clean routines with a couple free programs. Very rarely did I wind up catching anything.

      Windows 7, same deal. Gut all the bullshit "features", Run noscript and adblock+ on a non-microsoft browser, Disable windows update, and in the year I've been running it, Zero infections on any of the same once-monthly scans.

      Seems to me, the biggest *disservice" Microsoft does to end users is "supporting old ass insecure software".. Their products work just fine when you strip all the crap out of them...

    132. Re:ARGH by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Yeah I never got this. Releasing a "new and improved" operating system that lacks even the features of the old one... If they really want people to upgrade so badly, they should try addressing the missing WMC issue. That said I find I use WMC less and less simply because the supported codecs are so terrible. While I use VLC more and more, it is leaps and bound better as a player, it lacks a lot of the content management features. A few years ago I tried one of the skins/plugins to enable this sort of functionality to VLC, but it was pretty terrible. Since Windows 10 has come up, I've googled up some alternatives, and though I haven't tried them, many (at least on paper) seem to fit the bill. However I also have a WMC remote which I use, which would probably have to be hacked to use it with anything else or buy something new which I don't really want to have to bother to do... Most of which seem to be bluetooth, which I have had mixed results with (some devices it seems have a such a short range to effectively make them useless, even though they all say they support the 10m standard).

    133. Re:ARGH by Revarg · · Score: 1

      "if you are not the consumer, you are the product"

    134. Re:ARGH by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      Ah thanks for the TLS -> LTS fix. I swear I'm not dyslexic. :-)

      And yes, It is Ubuntu, but I don't think most people care which distro. others use.

    135. Re:ARGH by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      So what you are saying is, it is OK for M$ to steal people's bandwidth because 'er' 'um' they are stealing from everyone with windows installed and they are 'er' 'um' not stealing that much on a individual basis but in total they are stealing millions of dollars of bandwidth. Mind you they are not stealing once but hugely invading your privacy with the install and stealing all your personal data, monitoring everything you do, key logger, network connections, files, emails, skype, invasively and pervertedly prying into every inch of your private life. As far as they are concerned no choice, bend over, drop your pants and pucker up the windows probe is ready to be inserted, want it or not. There is not defence for this abuse and they should be criminally punished for it.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    136. Re:ARGH by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      So what you are saying is, it is OK for M$ to steal people's bandwidth because 'er' 'um' they are stealing from everyone with windows installed

      I didn't say that. I said is wasn't as much a concern as say the invasion of the interface. 3GB for the average household is a drop in the bucket these days.

      Mind you they are not stealing once but hugely invading your privacy with the install and stealing all your personal data, monitoring everything you do, key logger, network connections, files, emails, skype, invasively and pervertedly prying into every inch of your private life. As far as they are concerned no choice, bend over, drop your pants and pucker up the windows probe is ready to be inserted, want it or not. There is not defence for this abuse and they should be criminally punished for it.

      I wasn't tackling that issue but regardless they have OPT OUT options. One could argue they should be off by default but it's not so...

      If you take 1 minute and portray MS as a good guy for once. Check this blog post that explains why they did this, how it's benefited the OS and how MS understands trust is required and needs to be earned...
      https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

      What most forget to include as part of their rant on MS is that no "sensitive" data is collected on purpose. It's the same as crash logs in Windows 7. A crash log report can be sent to MS and there's a chance sensitive data is included. That's reality but isn't the objective of the exercise. I think people reveal far more private information on social media than Windows 10 ever will.

  2. Fine by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This would be fine, if it actually worked. The Win 10 upgrade doesn't work on my system, for no other reason other than I converted from Spinning drive to SSD drive. The Win 10 Upgrade borks about half way through the install.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    1. Re: Fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > "my system" :chuckle:

    2. Re:Fine by phishybongwaters · · Score: 1

      Strange, it handled my upgrade just fine, though I had been running win7 on the SSD for awhile by that point, I did run a fresh win7 install when i installed the SSD, and even migrated that to a newer SSD just before the win10 upgrade. For the amount of time I spend at my desktop i haven't had any issues with 10 yet, all my apps worked, punkbuster was the 1 exception, the exe was in the wrong spot. It works fine, updates fine. I will admit that I'm getting tired to having to reset my privacy settings after updates, but whatever, it functions perfectly and in some instances, faster than win7 on the same box. That said, if I didn't want it, and it kept downloading 6 gigs over and over, I'd be opening a class action lawsuit against MS on behalf of anyone with metered internet, you could use up your data cap just pulling the update you don't want.

    3. Re:Fine by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      So you're fine with the fact that Microsoft sent down an update, with no description appended to it, which bypasses your settings and downloads 6 GB of crap without telling you?

    4. Re:Fine by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'm not fine with it. I accept it as part of being in the Microsoft ecosystem. Kind of like Android People are okay with Google Spying on them, and Apple's Walled garden.

      Life is full of compromises. If you don't want the compromise, run your own build of Linux you compiled yourself. Its the ONLY way to be sure (if you can be sure of anything)

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    5. Re:Fine by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People bought Google and Apple products knowing that there was telemetry and a walled garden. Nobody bought Windows 7 believing that Microsoft would forcefully seize control of their computers and disable their manually-changed settings.

    6. Re:Fine by dejitaru · · Score: 1

      i'm having that issue just trying to upgrade my windows 10 to the november update... going from 8.1 to 10 was fine -_-

    7. Re:Fine by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      You trusted Microsoft?

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    8. Re:Fine by tlhIngan · · Score: 2

      This would be fine, if it actually worked. The Win 10 upgrade doesn't work on my system, for no other reason other than I converted from Spinning drive to SSD drive. The Win 10 Upgrade borks about half way through the install.

      Hah, I get this annoying notification on one of my systems. And then it says "Unfortunately this PC is unable to run Windows 10". Basically the graphics driver is out of date and there's no hope for it.

      So now I get bothered and the thing doesn't even give me the option to have it stop. Why nag me when the thing says Windows 10 won't even work?!

    9. Re:Fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think this is what you meant to say.

    10. Re:Fine by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      Nobody bought Windows 7 believing that Microsoft would forcefully seize control of their computers and disable their manually-changed settings.

      Well, it was just sort of assumed, wasn't it?

    11. Re:Fine by Kevin108 · · Score: 1

      I'm running a Samsung SSD. I had no issues upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or downgrading back to Windows 7 because Windows 10 is hideous to look at and massively violates your privacy.

      --

      It's a perfect time for being wasted.
      A perfect time to watch the stars.
      - Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
    12. Re:Fine by Agent0013 · · Score: 2

      People bought Google and Apple products knowing that there was telemetry and a walled garden. Nobody bought Windows 7

      First of all, I never buy Windows. Pirating their OS is the only option as far as I am concerned. If they didn't manipulate the market to get themselves into a monopoly position I would have a different opinion. But I want to play the games that require powerful graphics cards and those work better on Windows. I do like that Steam is making it less of a requirement though.

      believing that Microsoft would forcefully seize control of their computers and disable their manually-changed settings.

      I fully believe that Microsoft will screw up my system. This is why I disable all updates. I have never trusted them and don't find that my system gets compromised from not being up to date on their updates. Safe computing goes a long way!

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
    13. Re:Fine by lurker412 · · Score: 2

      Well, not exactly. MSFT's "ecosystem" used to give end users more choices than Apple's walled garden. In my personal experience, it appears that MSFT has decided to limit the choices and start imposing their corporate will. I'm on Win7 Pro. I have now uninstalled KB3035583 three or four times. I had my Windows update preferences set to download but let me decide, but several months ago, it stopped letting me decide and just installed what it wanted at boot time. Now I have changed my preferences to let me know when there are updates and let me download and install when I want. Somehow, I doubt that it's going to do what I want. I have no opinion about Win10, but in the past I have always migrated to new operating systems at the same time as I bought a new machine. Win7 works just fine for me at the moment, so why should I run the risk that some of my older applications are going to break by installing a new OS? More than that--the last two times I bought a new machine, I went out of my way to install an older, more stable OS: XP when Vista was about a year old, and Win7 when Win8 was already predominant in new sales. I spared myself lots of grief that way. I may decide I want Win10 someday, but if Msft chooses to shove it down my throat, I will (reluctantly, as long time Windows user) tell them where they can shove it.

    14. Re:Fine by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      LOL ... perfect!

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    15. Re:Fine by meadow · · Score: 1

      I completely disagree with your line of thinking. As a consumer and a citizen you have rights and in civilized society we agree on certain sets of rules regarding what is acceptable and what is not. Even if you individually chose to waive your civil or consumer rights, it would not be considered valid nor acceptable from a legal standpoint.

      The European Union is much further along at recognizing and enforcing rights in the area of information technology. But just because you as a consumer are happy to accept violations of your rights does not vindicate the violation of those rights.

    16. Re:Fine by Tharkkun · · Score: 1

      So you're fine with the fact that Microsoft sent down an update, with no description appended to it, which bypasses your settings and downloads 6 GB of crap without telling you?

      It only does this if you didn't configure your machine correctly.

    17. Re:Fine by ErstO · · Score: 1

      The part I cant figure out is why? whats so important that we all must upgrade to what is basically a free upgrade. I’m running Win 7 in VMware on my Mac and the commercial accounting program we use is not yet patched for Win 10 so I cant upgrade. Why is Microsoft insisting everyone must upgrade?

    18. Re: Fine by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      Seminal work on chess by Nimzowitsch?

    19. Re:Fine by thunderclap · · Score: 1

      Then those people are the same that would willingly buy a lemon car and ocean front property in Arizona. The reason why Google can get away with spying is Microsoft did it first.

    20. Re:Fine by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

      running an unpatched version of the most-targeted platform for malware in the world means that it's not a question if if you'll get compromised, it's when, no matter how safe you think you're being.

      8 years and counting for me, last time I had an issue was when a friend with an infected flashdrive came over to use my computer.

      My secret? I don't download sketchy shit from GETDRIVERSNOW.COM or click on FREE GAMES AND MOUSE CURSORS ads.

      The one time in years I decided to use my legit copy of windows was a week ago. It immediately downloaded 300 something updates, started applying them on shutdown and hung for hours on update 279. A hard reset later and it's impossible to boot and inserting the disc and attempting to repair ended in failure. All this even though I had updates disabled.

      Thanks, I'll stick with my pirated copy. The legit copy can continue gathering dust on my shelf.

    21. Re:Fine by Ikemeister · · Score: 1

      Have you tried adding an account yet? I installed and couldn't add accounts. Ended up buggering it and had to reinstall Windows 8 and upgrade to 8.8 -- not that I'm thrilled about the Windows 8.1 GUI though certainly way better than Windows 8. There's a long thread about the problem in the Microsoft Community forums http://answers.microsoft.com/t...

    22. Re:Fine by dakohli · · Score: 1

      I have two HP Stream Minis. One upgraded fine to Windows 10, the other did not. The one that did, is now running a couple of services on my home network, and the other is now running linux and is a media machine. To be fair, the Streams came with a 32G SSD with a recovery partition, so only had about 24G of drive space, which windows 7 took up a big chunk, and once the downloads started, they choked up pretty fast. In retrospect, I'm surprised that one of them did upgrade properly.

  3. Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, people, why would anyone tolerate this bullshit? It's being made amply clear that Microsoft doesn't give a good goddamn what you, the end user, actually wants to do, doesn't respect the fact that your computer is your property and not theirs, and is just pushing their way through to do whatever the hell they want. How is this even legal? Why is there not a massive lawsuit against Microsoft at this point? How is it that they think they have the right to shove Windows 10 down everyone's throat?

    1. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      In no OS I have ever used, except Windows 7 and 8.1, can the user manually tune their system settings to avoid getting updates, but then updates being rammed down your throat anyway--in such a way, no less, that specifically routes around the advice that the company gave you to avoid those very updates.

    2. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      In the UK, this would appear to be an offence under the "misuse of computers act" or whatever its called. This is a criminal act.

      Failing that, we now have class actions here, so how about it guys?

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    3. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1

      What are you gonna do?

      Stop playing PC games?

    4. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Probably because use of the software implies agreement to their terms. This imaginary butthurt is the stuff I can't tolerate. 99% of this coming from people who don't even run windows. It's the same way Apple has basically full ownership of you, your itunes content, and your dirty socks. You agreed to it by not reading the agreement. That said..... I think we do have a class action case here, but only for those people on metered internet.

      I guess I am the 1%. I am the admin in an office that needs Windows 7 -- our legacy software *will not run* on Windows 10. And I live in constant terror that no matter what settings I alter or updates I decline, that I'm going to walk in some Monday morning and find that Windows 10 rammed itself onto every computer.

    5. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      And you're just okay with these bad agreements? What about the users who want to refuse but can't because they need to be able to run J Random Software?

      Also, "99% of you aren't on Windows here" is bullshit.

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    6. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Forcing upgrade to Windows 10 is preparation for micropayments.

      Microsoft's next step after they get everyone onto Windows 10 is to start charging a little it for everything.

      Want to use a third party browser? $5.

      Want to save files that are open? 10 cents per file.

      Want to change your theme color? 99 cents.

      Want Windows updates? Those will be $2 each, and if you don't install them your operating system will cease to function.

      Pretty soon after that Microsoft will start force installing updates and debiting your bank account without permission, and you'll allow it because Microsoft spends more on lawyers in a year than your government spends on health care.

    7. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by ZipK · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ut if you do run an older version of Windows - one that's going to stop being updated - it's going to remind you regularly to upgrade to the current version.

      End of extended support for Win7 is January 2020; Win8 in 2023. No one needs to be nagged for five years.

    8. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by stooo · · Score: 1

      >> web site popup advertising, malware, spyware
      Nah. That does not exist any more.
      At least if you install the two necessary extensions in your browser.

      --
      aaaaaaa
    9. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Probably because use of the software implies agreement to their terms. This imaginary butthurt is the stuff I can't tolerate. 99% of this coming from people who don't even run windows. It's the same way Apple has basically full ownership of you, your itunes content, and your dirty socks. You agreed to it by not reading the agreement. That said..... I think we do have a class action case here, but only for those people on metered internet.

      So I'm just curious, what would Microsoft have to do for you to say "That crossed the line, that's too much"? Because routing around your manual settings to avoid being forced an update and then attempting to force a 6 GB update on you apparently isn't it.

    10. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by rochrist · · Score: 1

      It has at least four years to go before they stop updating it, and in any case, that doesn't justify them fucking around with my system behind my back.

    11. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by sbjornda · · Score: 1
      I'm guessing we'll only be nagged during the one year period when the upgrade is "free".

      --
      .nosig

    12. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      Join the computer to a domain and you won't get Windows 10 rammed down your throat.

      I would be willing to bet that you could even join your Win10 to a Samba domain and achieve the same result.

      Even as it is right now, you can decline the installation part.

      I agree that if you are on a metered connection, it is a problem to download 6GB worth of stuff without notifying the user.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    13. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Embrace, extend, extort.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    14. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

      End of extended support for Win7 is January 2020; Win8 in 2023. No one needs to be nagged for five years.

      Except that MS wants to start gathering all your data *now* and Windows 10 does that.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    15. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Kevin108 · · Score: 1

      Linux game support has gotten pretty big anymore...

      --

      It's a perfect time for being wasted.
      A perfect time to watch the stars.
      - Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
    16. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by firewrought · · Score: 4, Funny

      You're not forced to use [[Ford]] at all. Run whatever you want on [[the road]]. But if you do run an older [[Ford]]--one that's going to stop being updated--it's going to remind you regularly to upgrade to the current version.

      Umm... nope, doesn't pass the car analogy test. Microsoft is engaging in user-hostile behavior.

      --
      -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
    17. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Not all advertising, malware and spyware is stopped by these addons. In addition I'm a bit of a purist (That's just me). If someone is willing to cripple their website or web service with that garbage, then I don't have time for it and will find a better one. More people just take that approach instead of this PATCH that is the ad blockers.

    18. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by tepples · · Score: 1

      Failing that, we now have class actions here [in Great Britain]

      Do you also have "class actions are forbidden; use individual arbitration instead" clauses in End User Licence Agreements?

    19. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by tepples · · Score: 1

      What's the price for "Want to wipe it and put on Debian"?

    20. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Z00L00K · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You haven't used many systems then, in most Linux systems it's up to you to decide when you do the updates and you can also exclude updates if you want in configuration files.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    21. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      I don't trust that joining a computer to a domain will prevent it from getting updated in the future because M$ has decided that "it's safe".

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    22. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      And no version of a Microsoft OS has stopped malware.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    23. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      That EULA writing may actually not be legal outside the US.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    24. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      The EULA writing allowing them to do whatever they like may not be worth the weight of an A4 paper outside the United States.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    25. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by kheldan · · Score: 1

      Want to use a third party browser? $5.

      Go ahead and let them try that shit, it'll trigger the anti-trust lawsuit to end all lawsuits.

      --
      Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    26. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      You forget that you are the product. The Win10 downgrade being free made that amply clear.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    27. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      Except as the install base size increases, the probability that said functionality will be implemented by *someone* approaches 1.

      (probably for free but with questionable support)

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    28. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by TangoMargarine · · Score: 2

      Why do you think they want to lock down bootloaders?

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    29. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      I do. You can piss on retail and OEMs all you want and they'll thank you for it. You screw over large enterprise customers and that could result in the end of your business. For all of the negatives we've heard about MS on various OSes over the last 2 years one thing has been consistent: they've not only allowed enterprise users to opt out of the shit they are hitting us with, but defaulted them to do so.

    30. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      Hearing these conspiracies is like listening to right wing nuts go on about how everybody is eventually going to be driven into a FEMA camp.

      And as to $0.99 to change your theme color? Well, I guess that's not paranoid since that happened in 1996 with "Windows 95 Plus!" which mostly just added theme colors for a few bucks. So nothing new there. But "Want to install a third party browser?" 1. They would get sued out of existence. 2. only if the third party browser charged a price in the store which none do on any other platform. You don't see chrome on charging money so no it won't cost anything.

    31. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by tepples · · Score: 1

      The Supreme Court of the United States upheld binding arbitration clauses in CompuCredit v. Greenwood and DirecTV v. Imburgia.

    32. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by unixisc · · Score: 1

      You're not forced to use Windows at all. Run whatever you want on your hardware. ...but if you do run an older version of Windows - one that's going to stop being updated - it's going to remind you regularly to upgrade to the current version.

      But that's not what it's doing. It's trying to force only people who use 7 or 8. Not even Vista.

      If it did what you said, it would be nagging XP, NT, 98 & other users. But they can't, since they require at least 1GB of RAM to run, whereas XP, for instance, required 256MB. So they can't have Windows 10 replace older versions of Windows

    33. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I agree. I installed Classic Shell on my other laptop that has Windows 10, and made it look like Windows 7.

    34. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by tepples · · Score: 1

      not where you buy something and then when you get home, you find a piece of paper that says you didn't buy it anyway.

      The U.S. Supreme Court also upheld EULAs.

    35. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by golgotha007 · · Score: 1

      No, this isn't why MS is wanting everyone to upgrade to Windows 10, even four years before Windows 7 expires support.

      They're getting into the same game as free mobile apps: collecting and selling your personal information. Windows 10 is not free; read the fine print in the agreement. You pay by giving them information on everything you do on your computer, which they sell to third parties.

      Open a file? Microsoft collects and sells.
      Visit a website? Microsoft collects and sells.
      Play a game or launch an application? Microsoft collects and sells.

      Everything you do on Windows 10 is collected and sold to third parties to boost MS revenue stream. If you need proof, start dumping network packets going to MS servers as you click around your desktop.

    36. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      People would need a decent alternative to say "that's too much". For much of what people do on computers, neither Mac OSX (which is also not available on low-end computers) nor Linux will do. Lots of people are stuck on Windows, because it's what runs the software they have. Perhaps they could run it under Parallels or WINE, but that's not likely to be a supported configuration.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    37. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      However, some versions include malware, like this stupid popup that appears fairly frequently now and forces me to deal with it. It seems to have something to do with Windows 10.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    38. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      And no version of a Microsoft OS has stopped malware

      What does that even mean? MS has thousands of security patches to avoid holes from being exploited for Trojan, malware and adware purposes. Same goes for iOS and Linux.

      BTW, malware can be obtained outside of ads in case you didn't know.

    39. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      It's not malware. Go read up on the definition of malware. You're are miss using the word. I would probably accept adware but malware is a completely different creature. It's ok for you to hate some company or a product but you should at bare minimum remain objective and use facts instead of whatever BS comes to mind.

    40. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by DedTV · · Score: 1

      Wooosh!!

    41. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Supposedly Microsoft's free upgrade offer is only good for a year anyway. So sometime this year, it should stop nagging you.

    42. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      It interrupts what I'm doing and covers a lot of the screen until I tell it to go away. Adware is something that puts ads into my workflow without greatly disrupting it. Malware is my computer causing me problems. It includes trying to trick me into clicking somewhere to install software against my will. In what way does it fail the malware definition?

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    43. Re:Why would anyone tolerate this bullshit!? by allo · · Score: 1

      They would install it without your consent, if they didn't know about the amount of lawsuits when it breaks anything. So they annoy you and hope you break the things yourself, if anything breaks.

  4. Re:uninstall! by sasparillascott · · Score: 1

    Exactly...works for me and keeps the nagging away. And while you're at it uninstall the updates that backported the data monitoring from Windows 10 as well.

  5. Media Center by sanosuke001 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have a Home Theater with a CableCARD and NEED Windows Media Center for it to work. They removed Media Center from Windows 10. If they add it back in I'd be glad to upgrade. Otherwise, they give me no other option and they can go cry in the corner.

    --
    -SaNo
    1. Re:Media Center by mythosaz · · Score: 1

      Loved my Media Center. Ran it for the entire life of the product.

      I surrendered this last year, moved to Plex and Sonarr, mostly spurred by the XB1 not being a MCE.

      Let me know if you want to double down and buy my cable card tuner :)

    2. Re:Media Center by stevel · · Score: 4, Informative

      Users have found a way to install Windows Media Center on Win10. I have done this (on my mom's PC) and it works. See http://forums.mydigitallife.in...

      I'd love to upgrade to Win10 on my home's primary Win7 PC, but the upgrade keeps failing and never tells me why. I tried to get help from the MS support forums, but just kept getting fed a form response with a scattershot list of things to "try". I have Win10 on several other PCs and I like it.

    3. Re:Media Center by Amouth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't have a Cable Card, but we utilize Media Center 100% for TV watching. I'm annoyed that they Netflix plug-in was depreciated, but we live with that in the browser now (and their horrid interface).

      Media Center in a wonderful program, and the TV recording in it is better than anything else I've ever had (it's simple enough that my wife can use it, that says a lot).

      With it being removed completely, upgrading on that computer is not an option. Very annoying for this pop-up to keep coming up.

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    4. Re:Media Center by sanosuke001 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, Plex doesn't support encryped SDV cable channels or I'd have switched long ago (aka. when I got my CableCARD and already had XBMC installed I would have not installed Windows when it didn't work)

      --
      -SaNo
    5. Re:Media Center by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Why do you need Windows Media Center for the CableCard? Who would make a piece of hardware with no support for any other media software?

    6. Re:Media Center by chipschap · · Score: 1

      Users have found a way to install Windows Media Center on Win10.

      It's great that this can be done, and all well and good. But people who criticize Linux for making you figure out how to get things to work should take note. Windows is not necessarily "it just works."

    7. Re:Media Center by stevel · · Score: 1

      It's great that this can be done, and all well and good. But people who criticize Linux for making you figure out how to get things to work should take note. Windows is not necessarily "it just works."

      Microsoft removed the whole feature from the product. Enterprising users figured out how to add it back in, and without the need to go pull sources from github and build it yourself.

    8. Re:Media Center by mythosaz · · Score: 2

      I get that.

      I moved to Sonarr to grab my TV. Then I moved back to a plain old cable box to watch live sports.

      The peace and sanity in my house of not being screwed every so often on a Sunday night by some PlayReady Can't Install fuckup has made me much, much, less likely to punch babies in the face in anger. ...not that Sonarr doesn't have problems, but they're less angering than drying to reset my DRM and lose shows when PlayReady completely shits the bed -- once or twice a year.

    9. Re:Media Center by captjc · · Score: 1

      Hauppage. They have one of only a few cablecard tuners that actually allow the recording of encrypted channels, because apparently Media Center is the only software that has encryption allowed by the media cartels.

      If you want to record HBO, Starz, etc. Media Center is the only game in town.

      --
      Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
    10. Re:Media Center by mythosaz · · Score: 1

      CableCARD is encrypted, and nobody else supports it.

      Mostly nobody, at least as I understand.

    11. Re:Media Center by PRMan · · Score: 1

      Because certification of the path (so that content couldn't be copied) was really expensive and only Microsoft did it. So there are only Microsoft drivers that work.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    12. Re:Media Center by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes. It will never be Year Of The Linux Desktop until they learn that people don't want to use package managers to get software they want; people want to download files hidden behind registration walls on shady pirate websites. It's 2016, Linux.

    13. Re:Media Center by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, Plex doesn't support encryped SDV cable channels or I'd have switched long ago (aka. when I got my CableCARD and already had XBMC installed I would have not installed Windows when it didn't work)

      Yep. Same situation here. I'm experimenting with some other stuff, mainly the HDHomeRun DVR software. Unfortunately, most of their clients are not able to play anything but the "copy-freely" content. I've dumped most of the cable channels, but there are a few (NatGeo, which the wife watches a lot, comes to mind) that are still transmitted as DRM'd. For EVERY show. Supposedly the HDHomeRun Android client will play the DRM stuff, but the Kodi client still can't, and the Windows "View" client can't view the DVR recordings at all. So that stuff isn't ready to replace WMC yet.

      I'm hopeful that there will be some Android TV devices coming out soon that will work. So far, there are none running Marshmallow (Android 6), which is the first version that can do hardware-based MPEG2 decoding. Without that, there is no way to watch live TV or anything recorded in WMC or HDHomeRun DVR.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    14. Re:Media Center by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Why do you need Windows Media Center for the CableCard? Who would make a piece of hardware with no support for any other media software?

      It *works* with other software ... unless the cable company (or content providers) are transmitting channels / shows marked as either "copy once" or "copy none". These flags mean that the channel and any recording of them will ONLY play in a DRM "protected path". Microsoft's Windows "Play Ready" is the only descrambling method that will allow you to play those channels / shows or any recordings. There are some cable companies that have started adding DRM to almost ALL their channels. All the premium movie channels are protected. All the Nat Geo channels are protected. There are many more.

      I would say complain to the FCC, but in spite of their initial move to require all TV Cable providers to support CableCard everywhere, they have now even allowed that requirement to expire, and have no interest in having the TV providers play nice with their customers (like NOT requiring $25-$50 in additional "cable box rental fees" to actually be able to WATCH the TV).

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    15. Re:Media Center by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      Microsoft removed the whole feature from the product. Enterprising users figured out how to add it back in, and without the need to go pull sources from github and build it yourself.

      Funny thing is, from what i've read so far, that would actually be simpler.

    16. Re:Media Center by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      This.

      Unfortunately it also proved to be quite the niche which is why they dropped support for it. The license fee was not just expensive it was borderline criminal. No software company considers it good business and Microsoft would unlikely have even broken even given their market share in the media centre market.

    17. Re:Media Center by zachdms · · Score: 1

      My loose understanding is that this won't work for HBO via CableCARD, which means I for one am still dead in the water / stuck on Windows 7. I'd be happy to hear that that's solved, but until that point MS asking me to upgrade is pointless/annoying. :\

    18. Re:Media Center by thunderclap · · Score: 1

      It keeps failing because a critical driver you use is not on the win 10 list because its operates in a win 10 prohibits.

    19. Re:Media Center by indi0144 · · Score: 2

      I don't think any mildly competent user has ever said that "Windows just works", more like, "the software I need works on Windows"

    20. Re:Media Center by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

      >Who would make a piece of hardware with no support for any other media software?
      The cable industry. They only produced CableCard under the direct order of the FCC, and even then deliberately made a product so bad that it was nearly unusable.

      The foot-dragging and sabotage by the cable industry is so bad, that even Wikipedia acknowledges it.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

       

    21. Re:Media Center by omnichad · · Score: 1

      If you don't have CableCARD, MythTV can be configured to be simple enough for wife approval. We use a Roku for Netflix and it's so much better than a browser interface. And even though the new ones come with bluetooth remotes, it accepts infrared if you have a universal you can program.

      Right now, our MythTV is set up with an antenna and an HDHomerun box. All of our DVD and Blu-Ray rips are accessible with artwork/metadata. It's easy to set up a recording schedule from either a program guide or from a list of show names. And I have ours set up with games (that we own) from Atari to NES thru PS1 and DOS/Windows, all launched and exited from a universal remote on a cohesive menu system.

      I'll admit I have put a lot of time into setup, but I really like the end result. And not having Netflix on the same device is a complete non-issue.

    22. Re:Media Center by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      You can get a Visual C++ compiler for free from Microsoft. It has a lot of limitations, but it will compile stuff.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    23. Re:Media Center by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      I moved to Sonarr to grab my TV.

      LOL! You really had me going there for a minute. Actually, several hours ... as despite the fact that I found a lot about Sonarr, there was nothing that actually introduced it with "What problem is Sonarr designed to solve?" It turns out, not much. Looks like a UI for a bunch of files you've managed to acquire through other means (usenet or bittorrent), with other interfaces on top of those, clients to interface between Sonarr and the client on top of your source, and then some "indexers", whatever options there may be for that, which I never even got to looking into.

      So ... seems to be nothing more than a pretty face on top of whatever files you've manage to store somewhere that were yanked from 3 or 4 other pieces of software and loaded into a directory. RTorrrent client? Oh, yea, it supports that! Now just add another interface on top (because Sonarr will only talk to a web-based interface on top of rtorrent), figure out how to get those communicating, and then ... I'm not really sure. Find a bunch of torrent sources for the show you want, throw them in there, and eventually, if it's populated, I guess Sonarr's "Add a series" feature will actually be able to find whatever files it want in whatever format it needs to add it to the list.

      Yea, totally perfect replacement for WMC. _

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
  6. Re:uninstall! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You can uninstall it and hide the update like I've done multiple times, but if you have Windows Update set to automatically install it will un-hide itself and install itself again.
    I think I read somewhere that Microsoft releases an "update" to that update, which un-hides it.

  7. Re:uninstall! by Sleuth · · Score: 1

    So wrong...

  8. Re:uninstall! by LichtSpektren · · Score: 2

    So, just uninstall that update?

    One would think. Unfortunately, even if one opts to decline and "hide" KB3035583, Windows 7 and 8.1 will try to reinstall it if the system's setting is "Install updates automatically". So basically, the only way to avoid the bastard is to turn off automatic updating, and manually opt to "hide" KB3035583 every time Windows wants to reinstall it. (I imagine that the reason it keeps popping back up in the update ledger is because Microsoft is changing it, i.e. "updating the update". I also am assuming that Microsoft is avoiding issuing it a version number to intentionally keep this whole matter obscure, but I can't say for certain.)

  9. Re:uninstall! by JDAustin · · Score: 1

    What about setting permission on the registry folder to read-only?

  10. Really Perverse by bromoseltzer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the single worst thing Microsoft has ever done in my book. Basically, they are trying to gain control over every Windows PC out there. And it's not going to be optional if they have their way. Forcing you to download 5 GB of undesired files is just the beginning. Once you're locked in to Win10, all your data is theirs. They are transforming the desktop PC into a locked-down glorified cell phone.

    --
    Fiat Lux.
    1. Re:Really Perverse by rcase5 · · Score: 1

      This is the single worst thing Microsoft has ever done in my book.

      Yeah, although the release of Windows Me would be a close second, if not the worst. That piece of crap was pretty bad! Followed closely by Windows 8. The bottom line is they release these things because they can. Some people have no choice but to run Windows. There are a fair number of software packages that won't run on anything else. Factor in the large number of corporate customers who "live the Windows lifestyle" (Windows Server, etc.), and that means Microsoft can do pretty much whatever they want. And remember, while the computer belongs to you, the Windows Operating System belongs to Microsoft, and use of their IP means you agree to whatever they want to do.

    2. Re:Really Perverse by Threni · · Score: 1

      Everyone who's got windows updates enabled is burning through 5gigs in about half a year or so; this is not big deal. People are going to complain about every last thing that every last company does. When you get a computer and connect it to the internet there needs to be an expectation that it's going to have to keep updating itself - forever - and that this is going to use data, so if you're one of these people who've opted for a metered connection you need to take the initiative and manage it carefully. Everyone else is going to silently and conveniently get their their machine patched. As a linux user I want windows boxed patched, thanks, and if you have to pay then that's fine with me. Windows zombie botnets are getting old.

    3. Re:Really Perverse by chipschap · · Score: 1

      This is the single worst thing Microsoft has ever done in my book.

      And remember, while the computer belongs to you

      Does anyone remember the early IBM days, when the computer didn't belong to you, when IBM would only lease and not sell?

      (I better not speak to loud, Microsoft will get ideas .... )

    4. Re:Really Perverse by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      >Does anyone remember the early IBM days, when the computer didn't belong to you, when IBM would only lease and not sell?

      They'd actually sell you an IBM, if you paid five years of lease up front. It was generally a much better idea to lease, though.

    5. Re:Really Perverse by rcase5 · · Score: 1

      Interestingly enough, it's not uncommon for corporations to lease their computers today. Basically everyone gets a new computer every couple of years. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you get the latest Operating System. For a while my largest client gave me a company laptop in order to log into their network. I received a number of computers over the years, and even though a computer was "certified" for the latest version of Windows, it actually contained the previous version. Corporations are very anal-retentive about the version of Operating System their personnel use.

    6. Re:Really Perverse by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Oh come on, Windows ME? Windows ME didn't spy on you. About the worst you can say is that it crashed a lot on most systems, and maybe that it was a bit dumbed down compared to Windows 98. However, it was a dead end, everyone knew it, so people just stuck with Windows 98 and waited for XP to come out. Windows 10? Well, that's the future of Windows. Don't like it? Well, you can stick with Windows 7 for now, but unless Microsoft does an about face on it, at some point you'll either have to accept it an upgrade or move off of Windows.

  11. The Art of Seduction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sometimes what turns one person on, turns others off...

    Dear Microsoft: I think we should break up.

  12. Also unblocks the update by pavon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I uninstalled update KB3035583 and blocked it when MS first sent it out several months ago. Then when I installed the last batch of patches in December it installed KB3035583 anyway. Before Windows 10 was released I was looking forward to it as Windows 8 done right. I was a little concerned about the rolling release approach, but was cautiously optimistic. But given their heavy handed approach on forcing windows 10 on people, and all the spyware included in it, they have destroyed any goodwill and trust they built up in recent years. Trust they need if they expect people to buy into their new software-as-a-service approach. My wife's next laptop will be running Linux or Mac OS X, which is not a big deal as she has used both in the past.

    1. Re:Also unblocks the update by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      My wife's next laptop will be running Linux or Mac OS X, which is not a big deal as she has used both in the past.

      I was playing with Linux (and KDE) last night on my laptop. I'm currently looking through the various desktops to see which one fits my needs.

    2. Re:Also unblocks the update by Mitreya · · Score: 1

      they have destroyed any goodwill and trust they built up in recent years.

      What "goodwill" and "trust" have they built up in recent years? Somehow a newly bought (about a year ago) laptop crashes hard during installation off Win7 disk. This has to be at least semi-intentional.

      if they expect people to buy into their new software-as-a-service approach

      Hopefully that will severely damage Office (one can dream). This idea of having cloud-based office documents and paying an annual subscription fee for the honor is not so great for the users. And they are pushing that hard too.

    3. Re:Also unblocks the update by Drethon · · Score: 1

      Got my wife a cheap refurbished Chromebook. She much prefers it over having to deal with MS bs all the time.

    4. Re:Also unblocks the update by bored · · Score: 1

      Before Windows 10 was released I was looking forward to it as Windows 8 done right

      Me to, its definitely a step in the right direction for desktop users, but its worse on tablets. I think MS totally has the right idea with the "tablet mode" setting in the charms bar. Its implementation though is 1/2 baked.

      The problem is that a whole host of things now suck for tablets. Take the replacement of IE with edge. Edge may be a great web browser for speed/standards etc, but it sucks to use because it lacks an ad blocker. The desktop version of IE had been stupefied so it doesn't understand running as a modern app anymore.

      Then there is the fact that modern and desktop apps get mixed, and a desktop app running maximized (a great idea) fails to pull up the keyboard for entry most of the time. So your forced to disable tablet mode to access the manual keyboard icon.

      I could write a 10k word article about all the good ideas with shitty implementations in windows, but whats the point.

      Frankly, I'm not sure what the advantage 8/10 have over 7 for desktop users, nor the advantage 10 has over 8 for tablet users. 10 is a bunch of half baked crap, maybe 11 will be better.

  13. Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by kosmosik · · Score: 5, Informative

    Try GWX Control Panel to disable GWX and OS updates entirely:
    http://ultimateoutsider.com/do...

    Also Spybot Anti-Beacon which disables telemetry:
    https://www.safer-networking.o...

    It works perfectly for me on Windows 7. And yes I know that all of what it does can be done manualy but these tools do their job and work well so why bother...

    1. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Gwx]
      "DisableGwx"=dword:00000001

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]
      "ReservationsAllowed"=dword:0000000

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
      "DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001

      Want a job done right? Do it yourself saving those as .reg files and you're done as long as you don't reinstall KB3035583 patch noted in this article's summary which does literally erase those registry entries above which nullify that patch.

    2. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by evolutionary · · Score: 1

      Nice find! Although I may also suggest moving to MacOS or Linux

      --
      "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    3. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by PRMan · · Score: 3, Informative

      They turn these back on now.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    4. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Shiiiitt, so the running joke is true; Windows IS spyware!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    5. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by matbury · · Score: 3, Informative

      I previously tried changing registry settings and removing all traces of GWX entries and files manually. It worked but Microsoft changed them back and reinstalled GWX a few days later :(

      The latest version of GWX Control Panel can startup on boot and run in the background (appears in the system tray) and detects whenever GWX changes settings on your machine. It's been working for me on Win7 for a few weeks now but I hardly ever boot into the Windows partition any more (got dual boot). :)

      It's a short-term solution. Longer-term, I've gotta switch over completely to Linux but still need to run a few legacy Windows compatible only apps.

    6. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes I know KB3035583 puts them back in. It's why they'ren my last post: To remerge them in manually yourself minus kosmosiks automated tool I referred to. Also refer to my post on GWX folders the uninstall of KB3035583 leaves behind even AFTER UNINSTALL and what you must do to remove them http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... (In user rights and impersonation in ACL upgraded to the deleting user - one time only as the folder will be gone and so will 50 mb of diskspace uninstalling the offending KB the article refers to). I went thru all of this and tested it myself in fact, days ago. All of the above, works, which is why I suggested to kosmosik check if his automatic tool he suggested does the GWX folder removal. You can't impersonate Trusted installer typically in shortcuts afaik but you can admin and it's not considered good practice to do programmatic impersonation but rather to let a user set a shortcut for it checking off run as admin at most. Shortcut to such tools can be used but that only has "run as admin", not trusted installer to impersonate (admin's not good enough, trust me or try it yourself, and see what I mean).

    7. Re:Try GWX Control Panel & Spybot Anti-Beacon by vux984 · · Score: 1

      Why are they using dropbox links??
      (which are disabled due to bandwidth usage)

      Anyone have any other download links one could try? (spybot publishes hashes so I can check them.)

  14. Switched to fully-mannual updates last time around by JoeyRox · · Score: 1

    With the way Microsoft was progressing it seemed only a matter of time before they started actually forcing users to upgrade. Looks like we're very close to that point.

  15. Re:uninstall! by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

    It's not wrong. I have set KB3035583 to "Hidden" and it pops up in my update ledger again and again.

  16. Come on by jwymanm · · Score: 1

    Ok, no matter what this is just frigging insane. I know for progress and what not proprietary has some better video card support and yadda yadda and I am running Windows 10 because of that.. but what the fuck. Been with Linux for 17 years and run it at work on every server I touch, as well as in vmware on my main desktop workstation, but this is making me want to inch ever so closer to full desktop Linux only. There is not a care in the world with companies about consumer opinion anymore and that means we are going to be SOL in the future if we keep choosing this path.

    1. Re:Come on by Average · · Score: 2

      Right with you there. Look, I've been a Linux user, one way or the other, for even a little longer than that (Slashdot ID checks out). I've been whatever-coexisting with Windows for the last decade or so. The period where sound and wifi were sucking on Linux (and IE ruled the web) coincided with me having enough income to buy new-out-of-box laptops. So, grew to live in a Windows desktop, Linux server peace. Actually didn't hate Win8/8.1 for my own needs (though I agree it was a UI disaster for non-power-users).

      Between the Win10 spycrap and the nag screens, though, I finally said 'fark it'. I'm back to 100% desktop Linux, 100% of the time, for the first time in over a decade. It's really, really refreshing.

    2. Re:Come on by chipschap · · Score: 1

      What I don't understand is this. While there's the predictable (and justifiable) outrage on Slashdot, where's the outrage among the general public? Do they not care that Microsoft has taken over their computer? Do they not care about being spied upon?

      Or, maybe I do understand it, which would be sad ... the general public doesn't care as long as they can watch Lady Goo Goo and other so called entertainment ... sell their private data? their private lives? their souls? Who cares, the football game is on and I've got a couple of six packs!

  17. Re:uninstall! by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1

    They've done that dozens of times with Silverlight.

  18. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by sanosuke001 · · Score: 1

    Did you forget the sarcasm tag? (If not, no media center, background data bullshit, ads in my start menu by default, etc)

    --
    -SaNo
  19. Win10 is great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You can totally disclaim any responsibility for anything done with your computer because you do not have command and control of it. Everything is obviously Microsoft's doing

  20. GWX Control panel by hackertourist · · Score: 2

    After the first round of this nonsense, I found the GWX Control panel, which claims to disable the nagware. It also monitors Windows Update and alerts you when its settings are changed to 'install automatically'.
    I normally install updates once a week, so we'll see what happens in a few days.

  21. C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by ScooterComputer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't have a problem with Windows 10. Overall I like it, much better than 8, and clearly more "futuristic" than 7. Free is a great price.

    I am also very impressed with the "new" Microsoft under Satya Nadella. The company has done things I'd NEVER imagined they'd do, GOOD things...SMART things. Windows 10 being FREE was one of those things. There have been a few rocky issues, some high-profile like the Live One Drive storage space snafu. But overall, I've been impressed. The open source initiatives are just mind-blowing coming from Microsoft.

    But this thing RIGHT HERE... THIS has been a fucking mess. Abject "What the fuck??" failure. First of all, people have stuff to get done, and small businesses often work on cycles. This thing is happening RIGHT IN THE SMACK MIDDLE of Tax Season in the US. Any idea how rickety the software that runs tax prep is? Trust me, this stuff isn't Win7 material. There are A LOT of small, independent tax preparers in the US. A LOT. And they all use Windows. And they're all getting nagged like crazy right now. I know, I'm getting the calls. They're not the only ones. QuickBooks Pro users, CRM users, and the list goes on. They can't afford this, not now, and they're not on Windows Home...they PAID for a Pro product to support OTHER "pro" software which is more important to their income stream.

    It is bigger than that, even. Because Microsoft is nagging people running Win7 with hardware that just maybe SHOULD NOT be on Win 10. Core Duo CPUs, Intel Chipsets without driver support. And there is no opt out. No way to even say, "Hey, thanks for the offer Microsoft, but I'm just going to let this hardware which is running just fine on Win7 die with Win7." There is NO WARNING that Win10 will be incompatible with networking and wireless drivers, so that users' laptops will disconnect from the network after sleeping EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. There are NO WARNINGS that touchpads won't have similar levels of driver support, so people used to touch-tapping and driver-cobbled 2-finger dragging lose that. Nope. Nothing. And no way to simply say "This equipment just isn't ready and probably never will be...thanks, but please stop nagging me." And those aren't from little know vendors, mind you, that's from Intel! Synaptics! Broadcom!

    And worst: Microsoft is pushing this upgrade onto sometimes ancient hardware, the gross majority of which on the backs of 5-year-old 5400rpm spinning platters from the sub-terabyte generation, WHICH HAS NEVER, EVER--NOT ONCE--been backed up. Suuuure, you get that 30-day restore Window. Yeeeeeaaaaaah. Good luck with that. More spinning and intensive read/writing to sectors never tested or touched.

    So, WHAT THE FUCK, Mr. Nadella? Why? Just let users, especially Windows Pro users on older hardware, have a reprieve. Make it a year. Make it two. I don't care. But YOUR CUSTOMERS need the option to permanently stop the incessant nagging. You owe them THAT MUCH RESPECT for their business.

    --
    Scott
    "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
    1. Re:C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      Isn't that a little of an overreaction? Twice a day is not that much.

      We both know that if they put in a check box to turn it off, so many people would just click "never" because they do not want to be bothered with it, but absolutely would benefit from an upgrade. In the general case they should nag about upgrading to windows 10 for the same reason that they nag about general [security] upgrades. Because their are far more idiots that will just click "never" without even reading it, than their are intelligent, informed people who would benefit from the chose.

      Please read the article. People tech savvy enough to edit the Windows Registry to avoid being nagged about an update are probably the "intelligent, informed people who would benefit from the chose [sic]". Yet Microsoft is bypassing their settings and attempting to force the upgrade on them.

    2. Re:C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      Isn't that a little of an overreaction? Twice a day is not that much.

      Maybe not...but the only other category of software that nags this much is malware, so...

      We both know that if they put in a check box to turn it off, so many people would just click "never" because they do not want to be bothered with it

      As is their right, on their hardware, to decide what software does and does not run on it. If they click 'never', it's not like the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool will cease to function. It's not like Microsoft couldn't do this in the form of a pinned start menu icon, and it's not like "Windows 10" isn't being discussed from time to time on Forbes and CNN.

      but absolutely would benefit from an upgrade.

      Maybe they would...but whether or not a given end user would benefit from an upgrade isn't for Microsoft to decide. Moreover, the GPP was referring to a number of hardware or software related cases where users *wouldn't* benefit from an upgrade, yet Microsoft doesn't treat them any different.

      In the general case they should nag about upgrading to windows 10 for the same reason that they nag about general [security] upgrades.

      The reason they nag about general security upgrades is because unpatched machines that contract malware end up infecting other machines or destroying data. Since those are not the core reasons for the Windows 10 upgrade, or the major benefits of running Windows 10, then no, it's not nearly the same thing.

      Because their are far more idiots that will just click "never" without even reading it, than their are intelligent, informed people who would benefit from the chose.

      Perhaps...but again, those same idiots will be screaming bloody murder because the start menu is different. Those same idiots will be upset because their software doesn't work (maybe not Word and IE, but there are a LOT of very important, corner-case software titles). Those same idiots will tell people like you and me to "get it back to the way it was". Those same idiots probably *shouldn't* be upgrading their OS by themselves to begin with. Having to Google "how do I upgrade to windows 10" or calling their technically inclined nephew is probably a GOOD THING for those idiots...and if not, then it's not like humanity is worse off because the technologically disinclined stick with their existing version of Windows.

    3. Re:C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Just let users, especially Windows Pro users on older hardware, have a reprieve. Make it a year. Make it two. I don't care. But YOUR CUSTOMERS need the option to permanently stop the incessant nagging. You owe them THAT MUCH RESPECT for their business.

      It says a lot about how far Microsoft's relentless and utterly shameless attempts to pressurise and browbeat Windows users into upgrading has distorted the debate when it seems like the reasonable thing to do on their part would be to "give" legitimate, paid Windows 7 users a "reprieve". From an update they explicitly don't want (and which might damage their computers' performance) and as if MS were the ones who had the right to force that onto people but can choose- out of the goodness of their hearts- to give these Windows 7 users a *temporary* reprieve of a year or two before they're once again forced onto Windows 10 on *their own* computers- which might not then support their hardware or programs.

      Or they might simply not *want* to use Windows 10. *That* in itself is perfectly reasonable, even if expecting MS to support it forever wouldn't be.

      Not intending this as an attack on the OP so much as on how MS's behaviour- and the increasingly ludicrous means required to get round MS's brazen attempts to spy on users and bully them into upgrading on *their own damn machines*- has become normalised in a way that would have been unacceptable even five years ago.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    4. Re:C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      The guys who understand business is retiring, and in their place are taking the idiots who make "social apps" with zero experience and even less good sense.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    5. Re:C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by indytx · · Score: 1

      This right here. Not only is it tax season, but a currently supported version of QuickBooks Pro (which you have to upgrade every 3 years to keep using their payroll service) has a pop-up notification saying it WON'T WORK WITH WINDOWS 10. If you're a small business owner, your accounting software is not a small expense, and the "free" update to Windows 10 will end up costing you all kinds of money. I'm running Windows 10 on one of my laptops, and it's installed on a receptionist's computer. It's fine, but it's just an operating system. There haven't been too many hiccups, but it hasn't changed anyone's life. It would be nice if business owners could still update for "free" when they're sure that all of the mission critical software will still work.

      --
      Make love, not reality television.
    6. Re:C'mon Microsoft! WTF? by Ann+O'Nymous-Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly! It's my as, and I don't want terisk it.

  22. disable windows updates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    All this does is make more folks switch off their automatic windows updates.

  23. MS, innovating new ways to piss off our customers by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I used to be a big fan of the Xbox. But then MS spent several years making one amazingly awful choice after another. They continued for years to insist that users have Xbox Gold to even watch Netflix (long after every other platform allowed it for free). They debuted the Xbox One with the promise that it wouldn't be about gaming but would instead be focused instead on a really kludgy TV overlay that no one gave a flying fuck about. They tried to force everyone buy a kinect with its creepy always-on mic. They tried to kill off used games sales. It's like they wanted to do everything they possibly could to turn every hardcore Xbox fanboy into a PS4 owner.

    Sometimes I think the leadership at MS just sits around all day thinking of new ways to fuck themselves. And not "fuck themselves" in a "Maybe I can wrap a belt around my neck and choke myself when I cum!" good kind of way. It's more of a "How can we personally insult and spit on every single customer we have?" kind of way.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  24. Eligible for upgrade? by MMC+Monster · · Score: 2

    Is there a way to set Windows 7 so that it's not eligible for upgrade?

    Or possibly to make it think that the hardware is incompatible with Windows 10?

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
    1. Re:Eligible for upgrade? by WhiteKnight07 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apply an activation crack or join it to a domain. Either one will do the trick just fine.

      --


      We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
    2. Re:Eligible for upgrade? by Alain+Williams · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What happens if you say 'yes' and then decline to accept the new license agreement. Does it give up with the new install, or does that leave you with a bricked PC ?

    3. Re:Eligible for upgrade? by indi0144 · · Score: 1

      Love the irony of applying a crack to a legit software to prevent the forced upgrade to a free OS.

    4. Re:Eligible for upgrade? by volmtech · · Score: 1

      I gave in and allowed my Win 7 system to install Win 10. After downloading some files it reported something about some incompatibility and it hasn't bugged my since. Lucky me.

  25. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

    Because it spies on all your shit.

    Although admittedly they're doing their best to retroactively add that feature to the older versions people are staying on for this exact reason.

    Maybe I could find somebody who would surgically remove my lungs FOR FREE!!! but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

    --
    Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
  26. Responses to this article are disturbing by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

    Some people are outraged, but there's also a lot of comments to the effect of "so what" and "stop being a geezer and just update already". Thoroughly disturbing. Imagine if you told your dentist that you didn't really want your cavity fixed right now, and in response he said "Sure, no problem", proceeded to anesthetize you, do the surgery, leave you the bill, and threaten to detonate a grenade in your mouth if you disputed the bill.

    1. Re:Responses to this article are disturbing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Stop being a sissy and get that cavity fixed!

  27. Re:uninstall! by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Windows 7 and 8.1 will try to reinstall it if the system's setting is "Install updates automatically

    Well, that is fundamentally the problem.

    You simply cannot trust Microsoft here. If you allow them to alter your system as they see fit, they're going to .... and in the process they'll eventually take away your ability to stop them.

    They've also started lying about/concealing what updates do. They just say "this addresses issues with Windows", when what it's really doing it adding telemetry and other shit designed to benefit only themselves.

    With Windows 10, Microsoft have become malware, and the will keep trying to shove this up your ass until they succeed or you forcibly stop them. All they'll do it re-issue it with a different number and keep trying.

    I wonder if Microsoft understands (or cares) the extent to which they are pissing people off, and forcing people to start rejecting updates on the assumption they can't be trusted.

    It just seems like they have decided it is their computer, and you don't get a vote. This seems to me like it's a violation of the computer fraud and abuse act or whatever it is .. but apparently assholes with EULAs can do anything they want to.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  28. Re:uninstall! by LichtSpektren · · Score: 2

    Unfortunately, the default install of Windows 7 and 8.1 will have "Install updates automatically" on by default. And if you turn it off, the "action center" will warn you that it's a terrible decision and you should turn them back on. That will scare >90% of people into keeping them on.

  29. Re:uninstall! by avandesande · · Score: 1

    I uninstalled it and sure enough it appeared the next day somehow. I have Windows Update set to automatic download but I always actually do the update. I ended up installing GWX Control Panel and it seems to work somehow....also disabled automatic download.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  30. Re:Luckily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "I use Enterprise, which doesn't do any of this crap yet."
    TFIFY

  31. What has happened to Microsoft's "Customer Focus" by QuietLagoon · · Score: 3, Insightful
    How many times does a Microsoft customer have to tell Microsoft that the Windows 10 "upgrade" is not wanted?

    .
    How many times does a Microsoft customer have to actively stop Microsoft from hijacking the PC for its own nefarious purposes?

    At this point, I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft is no longer just asking if its customers want Windows 10. I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft is trying to trick its customers into installing Windows 10 via a never ending string of pop-up questions and misleading dialog boxes.

    I've also come to the conclusion that I no longer want to do business with a company that treats its customs in this manner.

  32. Even-Numbered Windows Version by Tokolosh · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows that all even-numbered Windows versions are rubbish. I was toying with the idea of installing Windows 10, on the basis that it is in reality Windows 9. But now I understand clearly the reason Microsoft skipped 9 and went straight to 10. I shall now resist the install to the utmost.

    --
    Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
    1. Re:Even-Numbered Windows Version by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      Actually, if they kept the numbering, wouldn't Windows 10 actually be Windows 6.4?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      So, then Windows 10 would be rubbish.

      Of course, the last good version of Windows, by your definition, would have been Windows 2000 - XP. And before that, Windows 3.0 - 3.51

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    2. Re:Even-Numbered Windows Version by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 2

      A lot of old software would differentiate if it was running on a Windows 95 or Windows 98 system by checking if the OS Name string began with "Windows 9". Microsoft jumped from Windows 8 to Windows 10 to avoid creating problems if someone tried to run one of these apps on a Windows 9 system.

    3. Re:Even-Numbered Windows Version by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      No, the version string has "NT" for a reason.

      Windows 95 was obviously Windows 4, Windows 98 was Windows 5, and Windows ME was Windows 6.
      Windows NT was NT 4, then Windows 2000 was NT 5.

      At this point, we had Windows ME, the latest and worst version of the old DOS -> Windows lineage, and we had Windows 2000 as NT 5, the last and final version of the server-only NT stuff.

      Microsoft then essentially merged the two lines in 2001. This was Windows XP, and it's 5.1 internally- basically they added support for the old Windows->DOS line. This got everyone on an NT version finally.

      Windows Vista was Windows 6, Windows 7 was Windows 7 (the NT version falls out of sync here), Windows 8 was Windows 8, and Windows 10 is Windows 9.

      The "avoid even windows versions" generally remains good. The old path, 3.X (good), 95 (shady), 98 (good), ME (terrible) had it as a nice rule of thumb, and the new stuff starting with XP (good), Vista (crappy), 7 (the best Windows to date), 8 (awful)...

      So we were all expecting 10 to be good. And if it wasn't some botnet keylogger bullshit, maybe it would be. But it's good they gave it an even number so we know to duck.

    4. Re:Even-Numbered Windows Version by omnichad · · Score: 1

      But Windows 8.1 comes between Windows 8 and Windows 10. On the other hand Windows 8.1 Update came between those. They're trying to confuse even/odd to the ends of the earth.

      There's nothing wrong with Windows 10 at all other than the forced update. And that alone is what's going to keep IT/intelligent people recommending against it. It's approach to a start menu is much better for desktop than what 8 or 8.1 had, but you can still switch to tablet mode if you like it.

      OK - it also still has a split legacy/modern control panel that I thought they'd have solved by now.

    5. Re:Even-Numbered Windows Version by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Since when? The only even-numbered versions I can think of are:
      Windows 2.0
      Windows 98
      Windows NT 4
      Windows 2000
      Windows 8
      Windows 10

      Yeah, Windows 2.0 and 8 are kind of rubbish, but 98 and NT 4 are pretty well regarded and Windows 2000 would be one of Microsoft's greatest hits.

    6. Re:Even-Numbered Windows Version by xlsior · · Score: 1

      A lot of old software would differentiate if it was running on a Windows 95 or Windows 98 system by checking if the OS Name string began with "Windows 9". Microsoft jumped from Windows 8 to Windows 10 to avoid creating problems if someone tried to run one of these apps on a Windows 9 system.

      Plus they could probably forsee the never-ending deluge of "Windows NEIN!" plastered all over the internet.

  33. Vandalize by ravenswood1000 · · Score: 1

    So now Microsoft is stooping to vandalizing consumer electronics?

    1. Re:Vandalize by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Oh, really good point. Has someone notified the authorities?

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  34. Re:uninstall! by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

    So basically, the only way to avoid the bastard is to turn off automatic updating,

    When the unknown notification started showing up in my task bar, the first thing I did was see what the executable behind it was and ... delete it and the entire directory that contained it. Pretty easy, except for the two-stage permission change so I could nuke it.

    Never came back. gwx.exe.

  35. Mixed feelings by lazarus2004 · · Score: 1

    After using Windows 10 on my work computer for a few months I was pretty happy with it - it seemed like the worst parts of 8 had been fixed and many UI improvements were made - multiple desktops, a taskbar that is duplicated on additional monitors etc. I was planning on updating my home computer with 10, but held off, so it's still running 8.1 which I finally have mostly gotten used to. Strangely, I haven't been bothered at all to upgrade to 10 on my home computer, though both of my wife's computers are telling her to upgrade from 7. If MS is forcing a 6GB download in the background, that might explain the odd slow speeds I have seen occasionally, and it's definitely a bad move by MS, but I'd say that the alternative is Linux, or live with the nags. Still better than apple!

    1. Re:Mixed feelings by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      After using Windows 10 on my work computer for a few months I was pretty happy with it - it seemed like the worst parts of 8 had been fixed and many UI improvements were made - multiple desktops, a taskbar that is duplicated on additional monitors etc. I was planning on updating my home computer with 10, but held off, so it's still running 8.1 which I finally have mostly gotten used to. Strangely, I haven't been bothered at all to upgrade to 10 on my home computer, though both of my wife's computers are telling her to upgrade from 7. If MS is forcing a 6GB download in the background, that might explain the odd slow speeds I have seen occasionally, and it's definitely a bad move by MS, but I'd say that the alternative is Linux, or live with the nags. Still better than apple!

      So I'm just curious, what would Microsoft have to do for you to say "That crossed the line, that's too much"? Because routing around your manual settings to avoid being forced an update and then attempting to force a 6 GB update on you apparently isn't it.

    2. Re:Mixed feelings by lazarus2004 · · Score: 1

      Honestly? I don't know. I'd be pretty pissed about the 6GB forced download if I knew about it and could see it happening, but I don't think it is on my PC. I have changed no registry settings, and my computer does run automatic updates. It does piss me off when it reboots without my permission occasionally to install updates, but not enough to get me to try to live with a Linux desktop. I am fluent in Linux. I can do just about anything on Linux that I can on Windows. But my home computer is a gaming rig, and for gaming, Linux just isn't there yet. I'm not too worried about any data Microsoft can harvest from my PC, as all it will let them know is that I buy humble bundles and haven't even played something like 75% of the titles I have purchased. I'll see if I can spot the download on my or my wife's PC when I get home, but like I said, I haven't been nagged or even suggested on my home PC to update to 10, and I think that is pretty interesting in and of itself.

    3. Re:Mixed feelings by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      In other words, "I don't care if I'm being spied on, I have nothing to hide." And also, "I don't care if the computer I paid for is forcefully seized from my control."

    4. Re:Mixed feelings by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      My guess is that it will use BITS to download in the background.

      You can find this out using the BITSAdmin tool

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    5. Re:Mixed feelings by lazarus2004 · · Score: 1

      In other words, "I don't care if I'm being spied on, I have nothing to hide." And also, "I don't care if the computer I paid for is forcefully seized from my control."

      I could easily install Linux and remove those problems, at the cost of lesser enjoyment of the programs I want - if Nvidia and AMD would make decent drivers for Linux, and game developers would support Linux (across the board!), then it would make me switch. Conversely, if MS decides to pull something like Apple's app store (I know, I know it's already there!) so that you cannot even install software not received through the store, THAT would be a final straw. The way I see it, I have a choice - an informed choice. I can use Windows and know that my personal data is being mined to target me for ads or who knows what else, the same way Google, Facebook etc. etc. do, and as a result, not have to worry about whether or not the new game I want to play will work, or I can be free of MS's data collection, take steps to prevent Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. etc. from getting any data about me, and pray that the available graphics card drivers will be good enough and Wine or whatever you have to work with now will work. I choose the former, and as a result I can spend that much more time enjoying my PC, instead of searching for workarounds and fixes. MS is evil for data mining? Sure, but by the exact same token, so are Google, Facebook and all the other companies who target advertising. I know Safeway is able to track what I buy when I use my club card, but the discount is worth it to me. I recently was browsing for certification training and now I get ads on just about every site pointing me to the trainer for the cert I was looking to pick up. Same deal with Windows, the "discount" of having less administrative work involved in performing the tasks I want to do is worth the nagging updates and data mining. The real point I was interested in, however is that I have done none of the above-mentioned registry edits to remove the nagging. I have, in fact, seen no nagging on my home PC to update to Windows 10 at all - so as you can see that makes it pretty hard for me to voice an opinion that they are hijacking my computer for their nefarious purposes. I have been debating whether or not to update it based on the fact that there are one or two games which I have been told do not work on Windows 10 and the headache of checking that all the settings of applications I use aren't going to be wiped out.

    6. Re:Mixed feelings by indi0144 · · Score: 1

      Funny how in every post about MS theres always that guy pushing you to Linux without even knowing the work you do, the software or the reliability you need in the system. Like we don't know any better and we need their condescending illumination.

      Thats, if anything, is the thing that crossed the line and stopped me from trying Linux on the desktop, I don't care about the philosophical values of the rock, I need it to smash shit. I use Linux it where it works, in the server.

      And no I'm not on or planning to upgrade to 10, I have 7 and I'm writing this on a Macbook. I wish I could be a fan of any IT company, all suck equally IMO.

  36. I'm OK by jez9999 · · Score: 1

    Disabled auto-updates and uninstalled the Win10 ones months ago. My system isn't nagging me about Windows 10.

  37. Updates are and have been OFF by Gim+Tom · · Score: 2

    And people wonder why I turned off updates earlier last year. When (or if) I decide to check I will research each one before applying. Windows 7 is my last Microsoft OS and I will just give up anything I use that does not have a native Linux version or runs under WINE. My response in summary is not only NO, but HELL NO.

  38. Re:uninstall! by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    So: your computer is acting against your instructions; a deliberate act by Microsoft. Time for a class action to recover those toll charges ?

  39. Re:uninstall! by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

    Because a lot of people know fuck all about security and will never update anything on their own. The alternative to turning on automatic updates is them running an unpatched system that they'll have someone reformat and reinstall in a few months after they've managed to pick up a dozen different types of malware.

  40. I Will Call Microsoft Technical Support About It by DWDuck · · Score: 1

    I need help turning off the update and won't settle for anything else. They will help me or hang up on me. Who's with me?

  41. Possible actions to take re "possessed" OS by evolutionary · · Score: 1

    Folks, in my experience with M$ Window$ they have become aggressive to collecting data without our permissions to unacceptable levels. For those are hard core gamers and are not preprepared make MS feels their error by no longer using their "possessed" OS do the following: 1. Disable the "Windows Update" Service in services. This is the ONLY way stop MS windows from pushing their stuff on your computer without your permissions. If you need to install updates on Windows 7 research them before you install them. Otherwise you are better off installing a 3rd party firewall and an updated antivirus/maleware software. yes, there have been vunlerabilities found in antivirus/maleware products, and some spyware is whitelisted but it's better than an OS installing what is basically spyware or worse, updating components to the point you cannot remove the spyware. 2. Install a 3rd Party firewall. (not rely on Ms Windows firewall: if you can't trust the updates, how you can you trust their firewall). PrivacyFirewall has done well for me. You can uninstall the updates. I read that Windows 10 won't even describe what their updates do any more except to say "new features & enhancements"; creepy!. Haven't we all had enough? Of course the best thing to do is to use either Linux (Linux Mint is the most user friendly so far, but I also like Debian or Scientific Linux). Unless you are a gamer, or doing insanely complex spreadsheet tables, there is nothing on MS Windows you cannot do in Linux. Professional quality Word Processor: Free, LibreOffice 5.0 works very well. Email client: Most of use use Thunderbird anyway. Browsers: We all tend to use Chrome or Firefox anyway (I highly recommend the new Vivaldi browser, FAST!!). Multimedia for DVD/CD: Free VLC. AND....not region encoding enforcement and you can make backup copies (own the media, please I'm not endorsing piracy). So you can play your disks from the UK with nothing in your way. And...so spyware trying to install itself. I have noticed the CentOS update model is a little vague at time but you can check it or disable it. The need for Linux Antivirus is less (like mac) but there are viruses out there. F-Secure, ESet and Codomo has antivirus products for Linux. Oh, Itunes...humph.... RhythmBox does the job better in my opinion. Oh, there are WAY more games (including AAA games) for linux now, just not as many, but if more people switch that too will change. Yes you can also go to Apple. (although I suspect they will play their own games with collecting user data eventually) Anyway, point is, the only way MS is going to stop this is if we stop using them. The WGA was a test to see if we'd "take it up the butt" and most people did, so they want "full throttle". I'm kind of allergic of an OS that hijacks itself.So...vote with your minds, your hearts and your dollars. Otherwise things will get worse in this are, not better. I've had young kids from my classes use Linux Minx and they didn't even blink. One kid told me she was way happier with it because it was stable and faster. So usability is no longer holding people back from Linux (x-windows+ manager installed anyway). We have options, let's use them!

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    1. Re:Possible actions to take re "possessed" OS by evolutionary · · Score: 1

      Oh, a few typos, sorry. (Was in a rush..dumb..Linux does not install spyware unlike MS windows. ("so" instead of "no" and "went full throttle" not "want full throttle"..opps). Anyway, you get the idea. Hope it helps some of you out there wondering what to do who may think MS rules cyberspace.

      --
      "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
  42. Antitrust? Class action? by phorm · · Score: 1

    So where the F*** is the anti-trust or class-action class on this. I personally know at least three people whom a Windows 10 installation has boned the computer of. At least one of those was an I'm-going-to-install-without-asking-you upgrade, and they all fail in their own unique and not-so-fun ways
    * Broken hardware drivers/support, USB won't work, etc
    * Corrupted software repository (can't uninstall, needed fresh install of Win7)
    * Ate the bootloader, blowing up both Windows AND the Linux install on another partition
    * Didn't complete install, wouldn't roll back.

  43. This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not a Microsoft fan, far from it. But I am a Windows user, for the simple reason that the software I need to use runs on Windows. (Or in some cases, runs best on Windows). There are probably alternatives I could use (open source packages that do similar things, or Windows apps on WINE) but frankly, it's too much trouble. I'm not a zealot. I just want to get my work done.

    But after a disastrous stab at Windows 8 (fought with it for three weeks, ended up reloading 7) I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft has lost the ability to write an operating system. I have no intention to ever go to 10.

    I thought I had a few years before 7 expires, giving Microsoft time to maybe come to their senses, but now I'm getting plagued with these "upgrade to 10! It's fun!) popups and have heard rumors of some machines just upgrading themselves without a decision made by the user.

    And I'm done.

    I brought up Mint on a laptop I take into the field (I'm a photographer and make extensive use of the Adobe suite) and after fixing the inevitable wifi and other sundry problems that Linux never seems to be able to get right out of the box, had a machine that ran surprisingly fast, and was surprisingly capable. (It was my first experience with Mint. It was over the 2014 holidays, so probably 17.2. I see that 17.3 has just been released.) And then -- the acid test -- I actually got Adobe Lightroom running on Mint under Wine. Ok, I said once, in this very forum I think, that if Lightroom ever ran reasonably well on Linux, I'd drop Windows and never look back. Time to make good on that. My only remaining problem is that although the base version 5 installs and runs, the update (5.7.1) installs but does not run. I'm now experimenting with open source alternatives like lightzone (installs, but doesn't run correctly) and Darktable (no problems so far, but it's early).

    So anyway, the takeaways from all of this:

    1) Windows 8 has soured me to any new Windows OS for the immediate future.

    2) I *was* content with 7, but:

    3) Microsoft's os-so-clever nagware to upgrade to Windows 10 is getting on my nerves. And so:

    4) As a result, I finally made time to try Mint.

    5) I like Mint.

    6) I don't have a clear alternative to the apps I use regularly on Windows, but I'm a *lot* (repeat LOT) closer than I've ever been.

    7) Screw Microsoft. No, really. What the hell were they thinking.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      I should mention that, Mint boots significantly faster, is a lot snappier on the same hardware, and appears to have a much smaller memory footprint. (Test by: Install mint on existing hard drive on old laptop. Wow, that's fast. Ok, lessee.... what else can we do... swap in a solid state drive, reinstall Mint. OH MY GOD.) This was a laptop I used to take into the field, and now I think I will be using it again for that purpose.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    2. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      For work: OSX for system administration, Windows 7 for business apps running as a VM under Fusion.

      For home: Windows 10 and beyond will be my official gaming platform. I could give two-shits about any of the rest of the crap. In fact, just fork it and make it an "XBox PC OS"; all I need is core functionality for gaming.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    3. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > For home: Windows 10 and beyond will be my official gaming platform. I could give two-shits about any of the rest of the crap.

      Good point. I'm not a gamer, but I can see the logic. You use Windows for a single purpose. Your use of Windows reflects that.

      > In fact, just fork it and make it an "XBox PC OS"; all I need is core functionality for gaming.

      I thought I read somewhere that Microsoft is doing exactly that -- porting a stripped down Windows 10 to the XBOX, as part of their "windows 10 everywhere" project.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    4. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Thanks very much. Will look into that.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    5. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      I'm ok with Xbox users running Windows 10 stuff; no skin off my back. I love console gaming, but i'd prefer an open gaming platform (PC) in which I can drop in my own hardware. In fact, I'm open to the idea of going purely SteamOS. So MS either has me, or lost me, but I will not chase them.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    6. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      If you need professional grade photography and color calibration why don't you consider a Mac? Yes, they are expensive but it supports colors that only Windows and MacOSX due and full Adobe support

    7. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      If you need professional grade photography and color calibration why don't you consider a Mac? Yes, they are expensive but it supports colors that only Windows and MacOSX due and full Adobe support

      I was on a G4 at one time. I switched to Windows partly because I felt Macs were overpriced, and partly because Apple and Adobe were at the time engaged in a pissing contest about, among other things, how a touchpad should operate. (In my opinion, it's not a good business plan to piss off the vendor of your signature application, but maybe Apple thought Aperture and iPhoto would take over the world? How did that work out?)

      But also, I gave up on Apple partly because I became increasingly uncomfortable with the unreasoning fanaticism of the Apple fan base. Let's face it, it got creepy. And I became less and less happy with being associated with it.

      So I built a Windows box, for a fraction of the cost of an Apple box, and have been using it ever since. There are things I don't like about it, but it's not necessary to like everything about a product.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    8. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      I looked at Aftershot Pro 2 for Linux, and it seems to meet my needs. Thanks very much. I'm planning to order a copy tonight.

      I also ran across "Gimpshop", which uses the Gimp engine with a more Photoshop-compliant GUI. It's apparently so close to Photoshop in controls and terminology that most Photoshop tutorials will work with it. (Where has this been all my life??)

      Sorry, Adobe. I and others have been pleading for years for a Linux port, and we keep being told that there just isn't enough of a user base to warrant it. You had your chance.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    9. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      >But after a disastrous stab at Windows 8 (fought with it for three weeks, ended up reloading 7) I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft has lost the ability to write an operating system. I have no intention to ever go to 10.

      Oddly enough, some of the most exciting developments in operating systems I've read about recently have come from Microsoft Labs. The Midori project was interesting, with some really good ideas coming out of it:
      http://joeduffyblog.com/2015/1...

      Really smart guys working on it, and they managed to pull off some really impressive feats with it.

      Microsoft killed Midori, though, so there you go.

    10. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      >But after a disastrous stab at Windows 8 (fought with it for three weeks, ended up reloading 7) I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft has lost the ability to write an operating system. I have no intention to ever go to 10.

      Oddly enough, some of the most exciting developments in operating systems I've read about recently have come from Microsoft Labs. The Midori project was interesting, with some really good ideas coming out of it:
      http://joeduffyblog.com/2015/1...

      Really smart guys working on it, and they managed to pull off some really impressive feats with it.

      Microsoft killed Midori, though, so there you go.

      Fair enough. Please allow me to rephrase. I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft has lost the ability to deliver an operating system.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    11. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      If you need professional grade photography and color calibration why don't you consider a Mac? Yes, they are expensive but it supports colors that only Windows and MacOSX due and full Adobe support

      I was on a G4 at one time. I switched to Windows partly because I felt Macs were overpriced, and partly because Apple and Adobe were at the time engaged in a pissing contest about, among other things, how a touchpad should operate. (In my opinion, it's not a good business plan to piss off the vendor of your signature application, but maybe Apple thought Aperture and iPhoto would take over the world? How did that work out?)

      But also, I gave up on Apple partly because I became increasingly uncomfortable with the unreasoning fanaticism of the Apple fan base. Let's face it, it got creepy. And I became less and less happy with being associated with it.

      So I built a Windows box, for a fraction of the cost of an Apple box, and have been using it ever since. There are things I don't like about it, but it's not necessary to like everything about a product.

      ... have you seen the Linux ones on slashdot :-). Even Windows has them on Neowin.net. Go check the news article about this there for some WTH moments:-)

        Shrugs shoulders. I never owned a mac so I can't talk but I am picky on color and buy premium hardware for Windows pcs like my MS Surface tablet. If I were a photographer it would be an investment. Not a status symbol.

    12. Re:This is driving me away from Windows by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > Shrugs shoulders. I never owned a mac so I can't talk but I am picky on color and buy premium hardware for Windows pcs like my MS Surface tablet. If I were a photographer it would be an investment. Not a status symbol.

      Enh. This is a definition of "premium" which I personally don't understand. The Surface Pro (any model or generation) has modest cpu and memory for the price. Using a PC for content creation (processing photos in my case) vs content consumption, takes a more careful selection of components. Number of cores becomes important, as does the amount of supported memory and the number/speed of drive ports. Having a magnetic detachable keyboard and snazzy appearance is way WAY down on the list. As is trendy brushed aluminum and a fruit logo. A pox on both of them. I'm just trying to get work done.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  44. EU by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2

    I'd never expect any FedGov entity to stick up for US consumers about this abuse, but I'm surprised not to have read anything about the EU even looking into this (yet), but perhaps I've missed it.

  45. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by jones_supa · · Score: 1

    Because it spies on all your shit.

    Just chuck these settings off during setup and you're good.

  46. Re:uninstall! by arth1 · · Score: 1

    You can uninstall it and hide the update like I've done multiple times, but if you have Windows Update set to automatically install it will un-hide itself and install itself again.

    Indeed. It's known as the Hotel California patch.

    It's also annoying that you get it on machines that cannot run Windows 10 due to lack of drivers.

  47. Re:uninstall! by johanw · · Score: 3, Informative

    I use this script to clean people's Windows 7 computers up:

    wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /quiet /norestart

    and the same for

    kb:2952664
    kb:3022345
    kb:3068708
    kb:3075249
    kb:3080149
    kb:3021917
    kb:3083324
    kb:2977759
    kb:3112343

    (sorry, I can't post a cut and paste script herre, get an error about a compression filter).

    Then I hide those updates in windows update, and uncheck automatic updates because MS keeps switching them on and I'm not sure they will eventually push windows 10 as a security update.

  48. Re:uninstall! by johanw · · Score: 1

    Installing an adblocker, virusscanner and click to play flash will solve most of that too.

  49. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

    False. Even with all the settings turned off, Windows 10 sends your personal information to over 100 domains. They have to be blocked from the router (Win10 bypasses its firewall and hosts file, so those don't work): https://github.com/WindowsLies...

  50. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by Lord+Crc · · Score: 1

    It's superior to 7, 8, and 8.1 in every way that I can think of. Why do people not want a FREE upgrade?

    I've tried upgrading 3 times after Windows 10 was launched, and I reverted within a day each time.

    For one it BSODs every 20 minutes, even when just sitting there. For comparison, I've only had 2-3 BSODs with Windows 8.1 since I installed it shortly after launch, all game related.

    Secondly "apps" are a PITA because they do not follow my forced display language.

    A clean install should fix the BSOD issue, but until they sort out the apps I won't be touching Windows 10.

  51. It's not that hard to stop by P1h3r1e3d13 · · Score: 1

    Just uninstall the update and hide it.

    Of course, it will be unhidden in a month or so, but just check your updates before installing them and hide it again.

    Okay, that is actually pretty tedious, and MS are jerks for putting us through it. But it is doable.

    1. Re:It's not that hard to stop by omnichad · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure that no longer works. MS is even reverting manual registry edits intended to block GWX.

    2. Re:It's not that hard to stop by P1h3r1e3d13 · · Score: 1

      It's still working for me. Would you like a screenshot of my Win7 tray with no Win10 nagger?

      That's why I commented. I don't know why people are bothering with the registry to disable a program they can just not opt to install.

    3. Re:It's not that hard to stop by omnichad · · Score: 1

      You addressed the "no longer works" in your original post. They unhide it. I just replied without realizing you specifically mentioned it. So it's really no permanent fix. Especially if you want to hide/block all of the evil that is Windows 10:

      KB3035583 – pitches the free Windows 10 upgrade
      KB2952664 – is the Windows 7 nagware patch that touts the Windows 10 upgrade.
      KB2990214 – update that supports you to upgrade to a later version of Windows Win7
      KB2977759 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10, installs telemetry
      KB3021917 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10 in Windows 7 Service Pack 1
      KB3022345 – installs diagnostic/usage tracking service,
      KB3068708 – installs telemetry service, prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10
      KB3015249 – Telemetry, reports UAC prompt choices when making changes to the system
      KB3075249 – Telemetry, reports UAC prompts to Microsoft
      KB3080149 – Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry, CEIP

      Source: http://answers.microsoft.com/e...

    4. Re:It's not that hard to stop by P1h3r1e3d13 · · Score: 1

      Yep. They're jerks and this is stupid. Though hiding KB3035583 is (for now) enough to stop the nag.

  52. Really. by kamapuaa · · Score: 1

    I'm a little confused. Windows 8 users didn't upgrade at the first opportunity?

    --
    Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    1. Re:Really. by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Windows 8 is a poor UI, but a decent OS. It doesn't have the keylogger in the EULA, so they really want to get you on the version with that.

  53. This is why I don't run Windows by Dasher42 · · Score: 1

    I've been running Linux for nearly all of the last four years, and a majority of my computing hours since 1998, and this stuff's why. I won't let it touch baremetal anymore. Microsoft will download 6GB behind my back? I run on a connection with a 20GB monthly cap! That is completely unacceptable. I wonder when customers are going to cease handing control of their systems to something that's going to do MS marketing's bidding behind their back.

    1. Re:This is why I don't run Windows by nnull · · Score: 1

      That's great for you. But the majority of us have to rely on Microsoft Windows because the software we use only works on Windows. If all I did was web browsing or simple software programming, I'd be sitting on a linux desktop all day, but unfortunately that's not the case and some people need to get work done instead of spending a whole week trying to figure out why my wifi doesn't work. Autocad, Solidworks, Photoshop, PLC software, whatever pretty much run exclusively on Microsoft Windows. VMware is usually not a good answer to some of this software because of how piss poor the GPU drivers are in linux. The alternatives are even in a poorer state without commercial support.

      The linux/opensource community pretty much failed to grab the eyes of the professional software community, hardware developers and failed to even grab the consumer on it. And it's failing again to take advantage of the Windows 10 fiasco with a "I told you so". As much as I'd like to use a linux desktop exclusively, the reality is that, to do my work, I need Microsoft.

  54. Re:uninstall! by Merk42 · · Score: 1

    Updating Windows is too hard for some people (when they could just check 'install recommended updates'), so the suggestion is to have them download and install and update three separate things?

  55. Talky Toaster by VAXcat · · Score: 2

    My PC's constant recommendations that I should install Windows 10 is starting to remind me of the Talky Toaster on Red Dwarf.

    --
    There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
  56. Re:Switched to fully-mannual updates last time aro by PRMan · · Score: 2

    At this point I'm expecting Microsoft Security to come to people's houses with guns...

    --
    Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
  57. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by taustin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Because the computer is ours, and not Microsofts? And that is really the only reason we need. But if you want more details:

    Because there are no hardware drivers for our cash register receipt printers for Windows 8 or 10, and no receipt printers supported by our vendor that do have drivers. It would cost us seven figures to change to a different POS system, and no other POS system is properly supported by our franchise.

    Ergo, if Windows 10 installs, we are literally out of business, with no viable options.

    We bought Windows 7 with an explicit, published promise from Microsoft that it would be supported until 2020. Now they are trying to take away nearly four years of usable life. That's fraud, plain and simple. Isn't fraud a predicate offense for RICO lawsuits? (Which, BTW, would treat any license provisions that prohibit class actions lawsuits as evidence of fraudulent intent, I suspect.)

  58. Re:uninstall! by andymadigan · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I found it that update had managed to re-install itself as well, I think I've re-installed it twice. Back in December Microsoft said they were going to start auto-downloading Windows 10 so I disabled automatic updates all together. It's kind of annoying to have to manually install the updates for Windows Defender, but it's worth it.

    I'm not upgrading to Windows 10 because I have a software RAID and I have no faith in the upgrade process (and I don't have enough storage to completely back up the RAID). It's my last Windows PC anyway, once Apple comes out with a Thunderbolt 3 iMac I'll move to that plus an external RAID, until then I'm fine with Windows 8.1 Pro. I do wish that they would be a bit more respectful of their users, but I can't very well expect good treatment for someone who's leaving their platform anyway.

    I also handle IT purchasing for my company, Windows 10 takes about 3x longer to set up than Windows 8.1 machines did, so I'm hoping given the cost of my time I'll be able to convince management it's finally time to stop buying Windows machines. 90% of the users prefer Macs anyway, and you don't have to pay extra for HD encryption or fight with the printer driver to convince it the printer isn't "offline".

    One thing Microsoft really screwed up with on 10: I should be able to disable notifications for an app BEFORE it starts generating them. Right now every time I re-setup a Windows 10 PC I have to get the touchpad notification to trigger so I can disable it.

    --
    The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
  59. Re:The answer is simple. by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

    The number of people who will upgrade, in response to the nagging, is greater than the number of people who will abandon Microsoft in response to the nagging.

    Either way it is a win/win for MS. They either get the user upgraded to a system that they want people to be on, or the user moves to a different OS.

    MS doesn't want to be on a desktop where it is not wanted.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  60. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by captjc · · Score: 1

    In the case of my Grandma, her crappy windows 7 system uses a low end onboard video card that will never be ported to Windows 10. There is no PCIe slot to install a new card, either. The updater service knows this and alerts that Win 10 can't be installed because of it. However, it doesn't stop it from flashing the notification every few hours to upgrade.

    In my case, I have a CableCard tuner that requires Media Center in order to record premium channels such as HBO. So until they bring WMC to Windows 10, no upgrade for me, either.

    --
    Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
  61. Re:I Will Call Microsoft Technical Support About I by PRMan · · Score: 1

    They'll gladly charge you $29.95 to give you advice that doesn't work and will be routed around in less than 12 hours.

    --
    Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
  62. Who Thinks This is a GOOD IDEA? by WheezyJoe · · Score: 1

    So people at Microsoft are sitting around, thinking about users everywhere and what they may be doing to keep themselves on Win 7 or 8 or 8.1, brain-storming how to get around whatever those pesky users have done to protect themselves (e.g., GWX_control_panel), and then ordering a team OS-level programmers to get it done. Perhaps this division of the corporate structure have a code name? Team Borg, perhaps? Do you get a pay hike if you're part of the spacial operation to assimilate users into the Windows 10 collective? Is this where you go to be a Big Swinging Dick at Microsoft?

    These managers and minions feel entitled to spend company time and resources thinking this kind of stuff up Reminds me of those guys at Comcast who say "they're our pipes" when they want to justify poor service, data caps, price hikes, or net non-neutrality. These people are not trolls in Mama's basement with nothing better to do... these are career suits who could be spending effort making Windows suck less. Instead, They're all Vladimir Harkonnen, scheming to fuck customers to... what? please the almighty god of Windows 10 penetration statistics?

    Power hungry fucks. Windows 10 sucks less than it did, but I, for one, do not want my PC penetrated.

    --
    Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
  63. Presumably, it will eventually stop.... by mark-t · · Score: 4, Interesting

    MS originally said that the free upgrade to Windows 10 would be in place only for one year, and after that you'd have to pay.

    Therefore one of three things is definitely going to happen after the end of July of this year: Either 1) MS will start trying to collect money for these forced updates (After the update starts, it will not complete until you pay for it, effectively placing the "update" on par with ransomware), an option which I expect may have very unfortunate legal ramifications for Microsoft; or 2) Windows 10 will be available for free indefinitely, meaning that the so-called 'free upgrade' period that they were talking about last July was just a scam to encourage those who would fall for it to get Windows 10 for free while they could; or else 3) these messages will finally stop after the first year is up.

    1. Re:Presumably, it will eventually stop.... by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      You missed the one where it will try to update you to a "subversion" of Windows 10, which will have a few arbitrary features disabled until you pay to upgrade. Then they can continue to do the same thing, but taking you to an even worse version of Windows.

      At this point, you can expect every version of Windows to be worse than before, so this goes along with that trend too.

    2. Re:Presumably, it will eventually stop.... by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it would be more correct to say then that at least ONE of those three things that I mentioned would happen.... What you suggest is actually a combination of both 1 and 2.

    3. Re:Presumably, it will eventually stop.... by moogaloonie · · Score: 1

      Maybe it'll be like the McRib sandwich... "You liked free Windows so much that we're bringing it back for a limited time only!"

  64. Old news by istartedi · · Score: 1

    Hid GWX kb numbers, went to manual updates. Haven't had problems with it.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  65. Re:ok we get it, you're the captain now. by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

    You know... you could simply not assign a gateway IP on the embedded (critical) systems or block them from reaching the Internet... like a sane person would do.

    I know of many CNC machines that still run on Windows 3.0/DOS... but you don't connect those to the Internet.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  66. Windows update needs to have the time control come by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Windows update needs to have the time control comeback. Yes there is a kind of way that is hidden in the reg / gpo's

  67. Why should anyone trust Microsoft? by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

    Is this a joke? Microsoft intentionally writing code to reset parameters people set to keep from being nagged into doing something they unambiguously indicated they want no part of?

    Seems clear Microsoft neither wants nor deserve my business.

  68. Re:Malware 10 by Microsoft by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    and in TX you can shoot trespassers

  69. The "file blocks directory creation" trick by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Does the "delete the file and create a directory in its place, or vice-versa" trick work to prevent the Windows 10 Update package from successfully downloading?

    I haven't tried it myself. Yet.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  70. Recognize and don't accept abuse. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 2

    People on Slashdot don't react appropriately negatively when they are abused. That amazes me.

  71. Windows 10 takes about 3x longer to set up than Wi by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Any more info on that?

    And you are in IT and use windows software raid?

  72. What about incompatible "dummy" hardware? by BUL2294 · · Score: 2

    Stupid question, but one that should be explored... Since GWX analyzes your system to make sure you're compatible with Windows 10, does it refuse to install (or better yet, not download 5-6GB), if it finds an incompatible system? So, is there some sort of dummy driver that could be installed (that appears in Device Manager) that would cause GWX to determine that the system is incompatible? Someone with some Windows driver programming skills should be able to make that... Throw in some extra code that, if uploaded to Microsoft for analysis, would refuse to run on anything higher than Windows 8.1...

    --
    Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
  73. Windows Vista by Sigma+7 · · Score: 1

    If they're going to be that aggressive with updating, then they should provide the same type of upgrades for those running older operating systems. Especially those that shelled out a premium for WIndows Vista Ultimate and turned out to get surprisingly little.

  74. There's a name for this... by dark.nebulae · · Score: 1

    It's MALWARE:

    Malware, short for malicious software, is any software used to disrupt computer operations, gather sensitive information, gain access to private computer systems, or display unwanted advertising. Malware is defined by its malicious intent, acting against the requirements of the computer user, and does not include software that causes unintentional harm due to some deficiency. - Wikipedia.

    That's what this whole windows 10 upgrade thing is.

  75. not a free upgrade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The "free" Windows 10 upgrade turns you Windows 7/8 Retail licenses into a license that is locked to the computer, so basically an OEM license.

    1. Re:not a free upgrade by thejynxed · · Score: 1

      This isn't true at all. BTW, all licenses of Windows 10 come in OEM (such as you'd find from Dell, Lenovo, etc), OEM System Builder (what used to be Retail and plain OEM you'd buy to put on computers you're selling or using), and Enterprise with sub-designations for Home, Pro, and Enterprise (OEM & System Builder OEM). Your former Retail key got converted into OEM System Builder, and has 1000 resets/activations, and can be phone activated if you decide to replace hardware or replace the machine entirely.

      --
      @Mindless Drivel: 100% of Twitter posts ever Tweeted.
  76. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Can use an AGP or PCI slot for a video card or even an pci-e X1 slot

  77. Meh. by truck_soccer · · Score: 1

    I wish cortana would go away. Even after disabling it, it still shows up in the task manager whenever i press a key or move/click the mouse.

  78. Disable all updates by cfalcon · · Score: 1

    DISABLE ALL UPDATES

    The only solution is to disable all updates in Windows 7 and 8. Then, at your leisure, you can reference which kb numbers are safe to bring over, and manually choose them (a giant pain).

    But whatever, Microsoft is clearly willing to wrestle you very hard on this. It's obviously not in your best interest. People compare this to Apple, but if you tell your phone not to get an update, it fucking WON'T.

    This is overtly hostile.

  79. Only twice? by truck_soccer · · Score: 1

    I've had a handful of machines that would open that friggen nag window mere minutes after closing it, or after opening internet explorer, or running windows updates...

  80. So how would I build my own Linux laptop? by tepples · · Score: 1

    If you don't want the compromise, run your own build of Linux you compiled yourself.

    In theory, I agree with you. In practice, not all computer hardware that one already owns is compatible with Linux, X11, CUPS, SANE, or other hardware-facing parts of the GNU/Linux system. One can build a desktop computer compatible with GNU/Linux by choosing all components carefully. But a lot of people need to use a laptop computer for some reason, such as making productive use of time as a transit passenger commuting to and from one's day job. As I understand it, it's impractical to build a laptop yourself if you're unsatisfied with the limited selection sold by System76.

    1. Re:So how would I build my own Linux laptop? by dakohli · · Score: 1

      Unless you have a bleeding edge laptop, then Linux will most likely work fine for you. I have an HP Elitebook which ran Windows 7 Pro, I dual booted it with Mint 17.1, It successfully upgraded the Windows to 10 without destroying the dual boot. I was impressed actually, although once I started looking at Windows 10 more closely, the less I liked it. So, when I upgraded to a SSD, Windows got dropped. Everything works out of the box.

  81. Re:What has happened to Microsoft's "Customer Focu by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    Refusing to do business with Microsoft is pretty hard, as it turns out.

    So far, in the past few years, I've reduced the number of Windows licenses I use by 4. I've found FreeBSD to be quite useful for a lot of the server-type of things I used to do with Windows.

    .
    I migrated away from Microsoft Office eight years ago.

    Let's see, what other Microsoft software do I use? Nothing except for the the OS on the remaining Windows PCs.

    Not buying anything else from Microsoft is looking to be easy....

  82. It's high time..... by flightmaker · · Score: 1

    ....free thinking citizens of the world pulled together to put an end to this nonsense.

    Microsoft is nothing more than a money gathering machine, so the best way to attack it would be to cut off the money supply. The only legal way I can think of to attempt this is to spread knowledge of free solutions as widely as possible.

    My suggestion would be to approach some media production company, preferably one that depends upon open source because they might do it for free, and persuade them to work with a well known personality, perhaps somebody like Steven Fry (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?... ) who might also do it for free. Produce a short public information type film demonstrating how to use Windows to download a good Linux desktop OS and burn the ISO file to a DVD, then use that DVD to install Linux onto a computer.

    It might take a kick-starter campaign to raise funds to put it onto TV.

    Could it work?

  83. Steam for Linux, Steam for OS X, or consoles by tepples · · Score: 1

    Switch to GNU/Linux, and you can still play games in Steam for Linux. Buy a Mac, and you can still play games in Steam for OS X. Not all games for Windows are available for GNU/Linux or OS X, but games that aren't are also likely to be ported to PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4.

    1. Re:Steam for Linux, Steam for OS X, or consoles by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      I did this very thing back in 2010.. I had just retired from using/supporting MS products since Windows 3.11, and I decided at that time, I didn't care to use MS products any longer, and since I'd started using Linux around 1995 (Slackware), I decided ALL of my systems would be on Linux. In reality, the change was only to my Dell Precision workstation and laptop, both of which came with Windows 7 Pro from Dell, whereas my home server had been running Linux since I set it up back in 2005. Since I'm the defacto neighborhood tech-support, I still get pestered to clean up after neighbors Windows systems. I've been able to convert quite a few friends/relatives over to Linux, and have a couple more on the calendar to do, since the appearance of Windows 10 and its spyware ways. Over the holidays, I had two neighbors who bought new Intel i7 systems from CostCo come to me and ask about Linux, as they had heard what a privacy nightmare Windows 10 was. I gave them each a KUbuntu LiveCD and had them try it out. After several days both neighbors came and asked me to upgrade them... TL;DR... FUCK MS AND THEIR WINDOWS 10....

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
  84. Re:What has happened to Microsoft's "Customer Focu by Kjella · · Score: 1

    I've also come to the conclusion that I no longer want to do business with a company that treats its customs in this manner.

    Neither do I. But I would like to get four more years of extended support that I paid for without constant harassment. I figure that by then I'll finally go back to Linux (yes, I left again) and maybe a Wintendo if AAA games are still absent.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  85. CableLabs' DRM requirements by tepples · · Score: 1

    Who would make a piece of hardware with no support for any other media software?

    CableLabs, a consortium of the cable TV industry, controls which software is approved to decrypt subscription television signals. In theory, any program can be used so long as it passes a certification process that it meets CableLabs' requirements for digital restrictions management compliance and robustness. But among television recording applications for PC, the only certified application I know of is Windows Media Center.

  86. Re:uninstall! by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

    Except that I found out the hard way that the /quiet option means that any problems uninstalling will also be hidden. For some reason the script I made didn't uninstall any of the patches until I removed the /quiet option.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  87. Apple doesn't do this by dfm3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apple users tolerate it.

    No, we don't. Because Apple to the best of my knowledge has never overridden user-configured settings when it comes to downloading or installing automatic updates. For years now I have disabled all of the relevant "automatic update" checkboxes in System Preferences, and Apple has never reenabled them and has never downloaded system updates without my permission. I have several old iPhones with various versions of iOS 6-8 on them and apple has never applied an OS update without my permission. Okay, I do remember being asked once or twice during major OS upgrades if I wanted to enable some of the automatic update settings, and once (*once!*) got a notification popup on my Mac asking me if I wanted to download Safari, but there's a clear difference between displaying a one-time popup and downloading 6GB of data to my machine *when I specifically asked you not to*, or installing Safari anyway, or even changing settings that you *know* I set manually!

    1. Re:Apple doesn't do this by parkinglot777 · · Score: 1

      Even though Apple never (or so far) force me to upgrade/update my device, sadly the iOS 9.2 seems to be a new annoyance to me. In the past, a pop up asking me to update/upgrade iOS version would go away if I denied it. Now, it will pop up EVERYDAY. First a pop up asks me to 1) 'Install Now' or 'Install Later'. If I select 'Install Later', it will have 3 more options asking me when I should be reminded. The longest time I can select is 'Tonight'. Everyday, the pop up will come back again, and this never happened before in previous versions!

      Speaking of changing user configuration, only certain configurations will be reset to their default set up when a device is upgraded/updated iOS. One configuration is Bluetooth. The setting will ALWAYS be turned back on after an update/upgrade. I always keep my bluetooth turned off and I have to do that every time I update/upgrade iOS...

    2. Re:Apple doesn't do this by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Really? Currrently, I've had a badge with a number on the Settings icon for a long time. It wants me to upgrade to 9.2, apparently, but I had one popup and a note on Settings.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  88. Re:uninstall! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    Same with that darn Silverlight feature that unhides itself all the time.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  89. Failed installer by freak0fnature · · Score: 1

    I tried to upgrade to W10 on my media center, an it failed miserably. Even the Install from disk just sends me back to Windows 7 to do the failed upgrade. Needless to say, I switched to kodibuntu.

  90. Re:The answer is simple. by thoromyr · · Score: 1

    Microsoft doesn't care in the slightest if every customer hates them with a passion. They only care about whether or not they can make money. Making money off teeming masses of enraged users is perfectly fine with them...because they are making money.

    This. So much this.

  91. Re:Windows 10 takes about 3x longer to set up than by andymadigan · · Score: 1

    My home PC is not something I spend a ton of time maintaining (or I'd be using Linux). Yes, I'm using software for the mirrored RAID, mostly because I was more comfortable I'd be able to swap in a new drive with the software RAID than the hardware RAID, and the hardware RAID configuration was pretty painful. I *was* using the hardware RAID until there was an actual problem and it made it as difficult as possible to diagnose.

    The extra time from setting up Windows 10 mostly comes from disabling things. Setting the default browser takes a little longer, there are more pre-installed apps (like "Get Office" and "Get Skype") that have to be uninstalled - which requires finding them in the start menu, you can't search for them if you want to uninstall them. Even if OneDrive isn't configured it still decides to start with Windows and generate notifications, so I turn that off too (usually that gets delayed because it updates while I'm trying to disable it). Plus the trackpad notification. I also clear most of the junk out of the start menu, like Mail, Sports, Finance, and Candy Crush.

    I had Windows 8.1 down to about 30 minutes of interactive setup, Windows 10 is about 90 minutes. It would be much longer if we were buying direct from the manufacturer (more shovelware), but all of the PCs I assign out now are Microsoft Signature PCs. Of course Microsoft Signature doesn't exempt you from Microsoft's own shovelware (I really hate the 'Get Skype' app).

    --
    The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
  92. Re:Testing with Virtual Machines by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    See above for which KBs to uninstall, you need to run it in an Administrator Powershell window, and don't use the "/quiet" option since I have discovered that it may cause the uninstall to silently fail.

    Also create an empty file named "$WINDOWS.~BT" in the root of your drives. It will prevent download of Windows 10 if the update still decides to go through.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  93. I don't understand why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...people are having repeated problems with this.

    Ever since MS started trying to force Windows 10 on unwilling users, I simply unchecked the Windows Update option that says something like "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive critical updates", and also set it to only notify me of updates and not to download or install them. KB3035583 then just sits there in the list of Recommended Updates where it is just ignored by me.

    I've never had to hide the update, so I've not had it mysteriously unhide itself, and I've never seen it move into the critical updates list and inadvertently get installed along with those.

    For me, steering clear of Windows 10 has been easy to do so far.

  94. class action by Knut+K. · · Score: 1

    Do you suppose Satya Nadella would dig a class action suit?

  95. Re:uninstall! by meadow · · Score: 1

    What the heck is Silverlight? I never checked that update for so long, then finally one time I was just sick of constantly seeing it and so checked it. I still don't know what it is and never saw anything about it.

  96. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Because you are not very smart and have overlooked a couple of important drawbacks of Win10?

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  97. Legal situation? by WoOS · · Score: 1

    I also wonder about the legal situation of manipulating registry entries to circumvent user decisions. There are a few laws in Germany which as if they could fit (but IANAL):
    303a Data Manipulation
    (1) Anyone who illegally deletes, supresses, renders unusable oder changes data shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 2 years or a monetary penalty

    303b Computer Sabotage
    (1) Anyone who significantly disturbs a data processing [process], which is of significant importance to someone else, by
    * an act according to 303a
    * injecting, entering or submitting data with the intention to create a disadvantage to someone else, or
    * destroying, damaging, rendering unsuable or changing a data processing system or data storage medium
    shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 3 years or a monetary penalty
    (2) In case the data processing [process] is of significant importance for a (different) business, company, or a civil administration the punishment shall be imprisonment of up to 5 years or a monetary penalty.
    (4) In especially serious cases of section (2) the punishment shall be imprisonment of no less than 6 month to 10 years. As a rule a specially serious case is if the culprit
    1)...
    2) acted businesslike or as member of a gang which formed for continuous perpetration of computer sabotage.

    And according to 202c distributing computer software which is intended to commits such crimes is punishable, too.
    [all my translation; definitely not authorative]

    So now the questions are:
    * Was the manipulation of the registry values illegal?
    * Was a company or civil authority hit? (Note that the law does not say "Void if they should have set up a Domain")
    * Is Microsoft's approach "businesslike"?
    Because if all is answered yes, then anyone involved in programming and distributing GWX.exe should better avoid Germany for some time to come (I don't know the statue of limitation on this).

  98. Re:uninstall! by sgage · · Score: 1

    That's what I've done, and I haven't had a trace of GWX stuff since. I have Update set to ask me before downloading and installing updates, so I can vet them. Is it really that hard? No. Should I have to do this? No. Is it a pain in the ass? Yes. But my Windows 7 is uncontaminated...

  99. Re:uninstall! by burtosis · · Score: 1

    With Windows 10, Microsoft have become malware, and the will keep trying to shove this up your ass until they succeed or you forcibly stop them.

    No means no. They really need to be brought up on computer molestation charges.

  100. It's All About The Pentiums - Weird Al by Chas · · Score: 1

    It's all about the Pentiums, baby
    Uhh, uh-huh, yeah
    Uhh, uh-huh, yeah
    It's all about the Pentiums, baby
    It's all about the Pentiums, baby
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    Yeah

    What y'all wanna do?
    Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? 9 to 5, chillin' at Hewlett Packard? Workin' at a desk with a dumb little placard?
    Yeah, payin' the bills with my mad programming skills. Defraggin' my hard drive for thrills.
    I got me a hundred gigabytes of RAM. I never feed trolls and I don't read spam.
    Installed a T1 line in my house. Always at my PC, double-clickin' on my mizouse.
    Upgrade my system at least twice a day. I'm strictly plug-and-play, I ain't afraid of Y2K.
    I'm down with Bill Gates, I call him "Money" for short. I phone him up at home and I make him do my tech support.
    It's all about the Pentiums, what?
    You've gotta be the dumbest newbie I've ever seen. You've got white-out all over your screen.
    You think your Commodore 64 is really neato? What kinda chip you got in there, a Dorito?
    You're usin' a 286? Don't make me laugh. Your Windows boots up in what, a day and a half?
    You could back up your whole hard drive on a floppy diskette. You're the biggest joke on the Internet.
    Your database is a disaster. You're waxin' your modem, tryin' to make it go faster.
    Hey fella, I bet you're still livin' in your parents' cellar. Downloadin' pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar. And postin' "Me too!" like some brain-dead AOL-er. I should do the world a favor and cap you like Old Yeller. You're just about as useless as jpegs to Hellen Keller

    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)

    Now, what y'all wanna do?
    Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers
    Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers?
    9 to 5, chillin' at Hewlett Packard?

    Uh, uh, loggin' in now
    Wanna run wit my crew, hah? Rule cyberspace and crunch numbers like I do?
    They call me the king of the spreadsheets. Got 'em printed out on my bedsheets.
    My new computer's got the clocks, it rocks. But it was obsolete before I opened the box.
    You say you've had your desktop for over a week? Throw that junk away, man, it's an antique.
    Your laptop is a month old? Well that's great. If you could use a nice, heavy paperweight.
    My digital media is write-protected. Every file inspected, no viruses detected.
    I beta tested every operation system. Gave props to some, and others? I dissed 'em.
    While your computer's crashin', mine's multitaskin'. It does all my work without me even askin'.
    Got a flat-screen monitor forty inches wide wide. I believe that your says "Etch-A-Sketch" on the side.
    In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, "alt.total-loser".
    Your motherboard melts when you try to send a fax. Where'd you get your CPU, in a box of Cracker Jacks?
    Play me online? Well, you know that I'll beat you. If I ever meet you I'll control-alt-delete you.
    What? What? What? What? What?

    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    It's all about the Pentiums! (It's all about the Pentiums, baby)
    Now, what y'all wanna do?
    Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers
    Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers?
    9 to 5, chillin' at Hewlett Packard?
    What??

    I basically look at this as Microsoft's major problem. Instead of building a stable ecosystem of products, they're constantly (and consistently) in "churn and burn" mode. As such, as a Good Little Consumer, you should buy the sam

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  101. Startup folder + batch file + taskkill by Howitzer86 · · Score: 1

    ... which fools MS into thinking it's still nagging you as designed. It's in the startup directory (yes, Windows 8.1 still has one). I opted for this instead of uninstalling the update or changing registry values since it was the option no one else was doing. I'm not at home right now, but it's easy enough to figure out on your own.

  102. Antivirus vendors to the rescue? by Chas · · Score: 1

    Honestly. I think that the BEST option would be for AV vendors to classify GWX is malware.
    It basically IS malware. It sets up on a system more or less without user request. It performs a lot of unauthorized tasks under the hood. It's misappropriating system resources to do this. And it actively fights user-mandated removal from your system.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  103. Re:uninstall! by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

    With Windows 10, Microsoft have become malware, and the will keep trying to shove this up your ass until they succeed or you forcibly stop them. All they'll do it re-issue it with a different number and keep trying.

    And here is the kicker - what will they do next? If you had posted a prediction of what the Window$ 10 roll-out would entail a year ago, and described all the deceptive, self-serving behaviors that Micro$oft has served up M$ apologists would have laughed at and mocked you for your paranoia. With M$, anyone who is not paranoiac is not a realist.

    --
    Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
  104. Re:uninstall! by sexconker · · Score: 1

    "Hiding" the update does absolutely nothing.
    For another example, make sure you don't have Silverlight installed then scan for updates. Hide the "DERP PLZ INSTALL SILVERLIGHT" update, then scan for updates again.

  105. Re:uninstall! by sexconker · · Score: 1

    Silverlight simply unhides itself every time you scan for updates.

  106. I went back to Mythbuntu, never happier by mfearby · · Score: 1

    I don't know why I got rid of Mythbuntu the last time a few years ago (installing Win 7). Windows became such a dog lately that it was easier to put ol' faithful back on the box instead. Mythbuntu is so snappy and responsive; no CPU spikes slowing down playback, and it does what you want at the time you press a button (there's a novel concept, Microsoft!). I can see why Microsoft ditched Windows Media Centre in 10 because they've proven that it's just too hard for them to get it right. My household is now completely Microsoft-free (with my main computer being a Macbook Pro :-)

    1. Re:I went back to Mythbuntu, never happier by nnull · · Score: 1

      Playback is great with mythtv, but the UI is still God damn awful. Setup is also still awful. The only reason I still stick with MythTV because it plays everything you throw at it because it uses mplayer, vlc, whatever you want. All the others have playback issues.

    2. Re:I went back to Mythbuntu, never happier by mfearby · · Score: 1

      Agreed. The setup was most definitely not a walk in the park (had to change various permissions on things and couldn't even adjust the volume by default), but after the initial day's tinkering, it's rock solid, and won't suffer the gradual rot that Windows gets.

      I had to install some Shark codecs or whatever they're called just to play MKV files on Windows and it was very buggy. If you've got the time initially, the long-term investment well and truly pays off. There are various themes but I still find the default Mythbuntu theme the best (once you go and disable fanart backgrounds, which are just distracting).

  107. Re:What has happened to Microsoft's "Customer Focu by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

    How many times does a Microsoft customer have to tell Microsoft that the Windows 10 "upgrade" is not wanted?

    .

    How many times does a Microsoft customer have to actively stop Microsoft from hijacking the PC for its own nefarious purposes?

    At this point, I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft is no longer just asking if its customers want Windows 10. I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft is trying to trick its customers into installing Windows 10 via a never ending string of pop-up questions and misleading dialog boxes.

    I've also come to the conclusion that I no longer want to do business with a company that treats its customs in this manner.

    Look!! 200,000,000 installs in just 4 months?! Customers MUST LOVE IT SEE OMG

    Marketing can brainwash alot of executives

  108. This will STOP WIN10 infection by Announcer · · Score: 1

    There is an excellent 3'rd party utility that SO FAR, has successfully prevented MotherShip from forcing it's malice upon several Internet-facing WIN7 machines that are under my care. This utility is basically a watchdog to keep MS's fingers out of your Registry.

    Here is where you can find it:

    http://blog.ultimateoutsider.c...
    (I hope his server won't melt! Too bad the CORAL mirroring system is no more.)

    You're welcome. ;)

    --
    Willie...
  109. Here, protect your computers with this... by Announcer · · Score: 1

    I posted about this elsewhere in this topic, but wanted to make sure you saw it. It's a 3'rd party utility that has, so far, (knock on silicon) prevented MS from forcing their malware onto any of my Internet-facing WIN7 machines.

    http://blog.ultimateoutsider.c...

    --
    Willie...
  110. My machine(s) "ready to go, tested ok!" not so by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

    I'm getting nagged on my HP Microservers (N36, N40, N54L) and I know for a fact if you don't have the latest BIOS update on them, the network card doesn't work. I know someone who's done it and I've seen the "why doesn't server 2012 work on my HP Microserver" articles.

    I sure as shit hope these things don't auto install this thing.

  111. RMS was right by tarlek1234 · · Score: 1

    "If the users don't control the program, the program controls the users. With proprietary software, there is always some entity, the "owner" of the program, that controls the program—and through it, exercises power over its users. A nonfree program is a yoke, an instrument of unjust power." https://www.gnu.org/philosophy...

  112. In the meantime... by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    I have had nothing but great success getting Windows software to work with Wine under Linux. I just installed Photoshop today. Granted, some apps, especially Java based (getting an app to work with JDK without replacing OpenJDK system wide), require some finagling , but it can be done. I realize we are largely talking about the corporate sector, but for those at home who are running Linux primarily and have a backup Windows machine for those apps that are Windows only...

    Hard to say if this will get modded up or down. This late in the game, probably nowhere.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  113. Install Fresh Instead! by WheezyJoe · · Score: 1

    That's the tragedy of all this nagware... upgrading is not guaranteed to work and can lead to a hosed system.

    Best thing to do is mothball your old drive, get a new SSD, and install fresh. All you need is here to create a legit installable DVD or USB stick, and a license key from any of Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10, and you don't really even need the key because unlicensed Windows 10 doesn't do much to bitch at you except put up a water-mark on the desktop and present an alert from time to time about how great it is to have a fully legal copy. Unlicensed Windows 10 does none of that auto logout or shutdown nonesense (at least, not for now).

    If you think you have too much installed cruft on your machine to start fresh, well, all that cruft is more likely to fuck up the magic upgrade process. Catch-22. Back up your shit, find your old install media, check out ninite for installing free software and Steam or Gog for installing games. Besides, new SSDs these days are way good and affordable. Better than taking a chance at some hit-or-miss upgrade routine. Even Linux distros haven't perfected major in-place upgrades. Always safer to start over fresh, and your rig will thank you for it.

    --
    Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
  114. Followed directions here: seems to work by mschuyler · · Score: 1

    After reading the first hundred or so messages in this thread I decided it was time to tackle this issue once and for all. I did this on three different machines all running Win 7. YMMV but this appears to work.

    1. Turn off auto updates
    2. Uninstall KB3035583
    3. Restart
    4. Uninstall KB3035583 again (2nd time)
    5. Restart
    6. Uninstall KB3035583 again (3rd time)
    7. Restart
    8. Check for Updates. It will show KB3035583
    9. Hide KB3035583

    I know it's a little strange, but that damned update needed to be uninstalled three times before I could get it to gone. The first time I thought I might have mis-remembered exactly what I did, but by the third machine it was a definite pattern.

    FYI

    --
    How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
    1. Re:Followed directions here: seems to work by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      I think that running processes prevents the uninstall so you need to kill them first.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  115. Yar har fiddle dee dee! by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

    Being a pirate is all right with me!

    no

    more

    windows

    UPDATES!

  116. Re:What has happened to Microsoft's "Customer Focu by nnull · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately a lot of business and even mission critical software now runs Microsoft products. Your choice is pretty much Apple OSX with their problems or linux with half assed desktops, office suites and their issues. And if you're using professional products that only work on Windows (Solidworks, Autocad, the vast majority of PLC programming software), your best bet is to use vmware on top of either OSX or your favorite linux distribution.

    It's very hard to get away from Microsoft, believe me I'm trying and I get very disappointed at the alternative options. And you think that's bad, Microsoft is getting into the industrial safety world and Industrial PLC's (Beckhoff's all run Windows 7 embedded and crash all the time, bricked at least 10 of them doing firmware upgrades). Imagine your safety being relied upon Microsoft. Also doesn't help that the mass influx of Chinese products is using Microsoft or some messed up Android version.

  117. Re:Well you basically have no choice by nnull · · Score: 1

    I actually wonder how many people did switch to Apple products because of Windows 10.

  118. Open Secure Boot by tepples · · Score: 1

    Ostensibly to prevent malware from installing itself into the boot process as a hypervisor. Such bootkits date back to the days of booting from floppy disks, when they were called "boot sector viruses". The original idea was that you'd add the public key for whatever operating system you plan to run to a PC's UEFI settings.

    UEFI Secure Boot can be deployed in two ways: open, where the owner of a machine can add new public keys or turn off Secure Boot entirely, or closed, where the owner of a machine can do neither of these things. Manufacturers of PCs and motherboards certified for Windows 8 (x86) or Windows 8 (x86-64) were required to include open Secure Boot, relegating closed Secure Boot to Windows RT. True, as of Windows 10, Microsoft began to allow PCs to ship with either open or closed Secure Boot. But in practice, what fraction of PCs are sold with closed Secure Boot?

  119. Re:uninstall! by indi0144 · · Score: 1

    True, just installed 7 and that update keeps coming again, If only someone could provide an app to block the download and monitor urls in DNS. So far the host file is still respected in win7, right?

  120. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

    Yup... A supposedly fully "castrated" copy of Windows 10, (local account only, all of the spyware switches turned off, several other settings in gpedit.msc disabled) STILL constantly blabs away to many of the listed domains. Just to show a couple of neighbors who doubted the fact that Windows 10 was such a privacy nightmare, I used a previously unused Windows 7 productkey to install the latest build (November update) on a spare laptop drive. I turned off all the bullshit, used a local account, cruised thru gpedit.msc and turned more shit off.. Then loaded rpcapd on my router and pointed a copy of wireshark at it... Oh my god... I saved the packet capture for use to show other neighbors/friends WHY friends DON'T LET FRIENDS use Windows 10...... After 19+ years supporting/using MS products, I quit in 2010, and after seeing what a nightmare Windows 10 is, I couldn't be happier.... KUbuntu FTW!!!!!

    --
    THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
  121. wow that is crap by CTU · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the warning. I hid that update and not going to get it.

  122. This is great! by DraKKon · · Score: 1

    I'm so glad that my wife's labtop, which cannot handle Windows 8.1, let alone, Windows 10, will get nagged 2x daily to install an OS that WILL NOT WORK on the laptop. I've tried. Netowrk drivers, touch screen and touch pad all fail and the lap top maker says it will not support windows 8.1 or Windows 10. This is total BS form M$FT.

    --
    "It's not like your minds are as open as the source you love..." - Me to the majority of Slashdot.
  123. KB3035583 shows as optional on my Win 7 system by khelms · · Score: 1

    Windows update categorizes patches as either important or optional. The KB3035583 one is in the optional list. I've got updates set to "let me know, but I'll decide when to download them".

    Am I safe to download the important updates and ignore the optional ones, or are there trojan horses among the important updates also?

    1. Re:KB3035583 shows as optional on my Win 7 system by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      There's a number of updates that you shall worry about, not only the Win10 nagger.

      My list so far:
      wusa /uninstall /kb:xxxxxxx /norestart

      replace /kb:xxxxxxx with the following one at a time: /kb:3083325
      /kb:3083324
      /kb:2976978
      /kb:3075853
      /kb:3065987
      /kb:3050265
      /kb:3050267
      /kb:3075851
      /kb:2902907
      /kb:3068708
      /kb:3022345
      /kb:2952664
      /kb:2990214
      /kb:3035583
      /kb:3021917
      /kb:3044374
      /kb:3046480
      /kb:3075249
      /kb:3080149

      optionally also the following, but it's a hit&miss if it's a good idea to uninstall:
      /kb:971033

      Don't run the /quiet option because then you don't know if it's successful or not.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  124. Uninstall KB3035583 and disable RECOMMEND UPDATES by ahowlett · · Score: 1

    AFAIK, the correct way to get rid of the windows 10 nag is:

    1. De-select recommended updates in Windows update
    2. Uninstall KB3035583
    3. Re-boot
    4. Uninstall KB3035583 again (yes, it is still there! have to uninstall twice)
    5. Re-boot
    6. Check Installed Updates, KB3035583 should be gone

    De-selecting recommended updates is important because selecting that basically says "Microsoft can install whatever updates they want"

    Uninstalling KB3035583 twice is important, because it is usually still there if you only uninstall once.

  125. Secret plan? by simpz · · Score: 1

    And maybe not even MS's. Use the telemetry to report use of non-authorized versions of movies, TV shows, music to MPAA etc. They can send you the bill...

    Or just blocking 'piracy' software that they consider unacceptable...EAC etc

    Not this year, not next, but 5 years time?

    Once MS has this data and everyone is over to these Malwared versions. Even if MS don't want I can see them being sued to enable this.

  126. Ok, we know it was spyware... by Rainwulf · · Score: 1

    Its now also officially malware, modifying the registry to force you to download something. This is the realm of drive by downloaders and malware authors.

    Why is it ok that microsoft does this?

  127. Re:uninstall! by tijgertje · · Score: 1

    I'm just trying to get the windows pc's out of the business here. First trying the pc's downstairs (no MS-office) later the pc's in the office :) Die Microsoft, die.

  128. 3 GB is only 1 percent of Comcast's 300 GB cap by tepples · · Score: 1

    And don't take me wrong. I'm not saying it's not wrong but the average /. user most probably runs torrents, Netflix or some other form of high bandwidth software. Those 3GB of download are a drop in the bucket.

    3GB, over a metered connection?

    I think Ravaldy is trying to claim that the average Slashdot user is on a connection that is not metered so tightly that 3 GB would make a significant difference. It's only 1 percent of Comcast's monthly data allowance, for example. Cellular and satellite are metered far more tightly, but the consensus on Slashdot[1] appears to be that if the only Internet options are available to you are cellular and satellite, you ought to move within the service area of a less harshly metered option.

    [1] See comments by sglewis100, AC, AC, AC, Zero__Kelvin, allquixotic, AC, Bengie, Bengie again, and FlyHelicopters.

  129. The VM will still do this by tepples · · Score: 1

    Even if you do manage to buy a PC whose hardware Linux fully supports, the copy of Windows 7 that you buy to run work-necessary, Wine-incompatible applications in a virtual machine will still pull this shit and try to upgrade itself to Windows 10.

  130. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by tepples · · Score: 1

    Secondly "apps" are a PITA because they do not follow my forced display language.

    Would you prefer that an app be made entirely unavailable for download if its (often small) developer has not yet translated the app to your "forced display language"?

  131. simple: Linux by Mr_Nitro · · Score: 1

    I am already at my 4th computer Os conversion to linux (mint/ubuntu). I must use window for work purposes but anything else (and family/older relatives) are being converted to linux. Watch out M$..

  132. msft missing an opportunity by feldmark · · Score: 1

    In case Microsoftee's read slashdot, they are missing an opportunity. I love my Windows 7 machine but am VERY uncomfortable with the idea of upgrading to Windows 10. But... I still run a copy of XP and Vista on Windows 10 compatible hardware which I would gladly upgrade to test it out. (When Vista goes unsupported I currently plan to migrate both to Linux.) But give me a free upgrade on XP and Vista (which you dont want around any more either) and maybe someday I'll say yes to the upgrade nagware on 7.

  133. Re:Luckily by Ann+O'Nymous-Coward · · Score: 1

    Nah. Unlike Joe Average User, there are several large enterprises out there with deep enough pockets and large enough fleets of lawyers to make M$ back off.

  134. It still amazes me... by Virtucon · · Score: 1

    After years and years of complaining about Microsoft doing this to your system or changing policies or putting a new "feature" it's still humorous to see the outrage.

    1) Microsoft is a company. A company in this case which is a profit making entity. They will bundle "features" tying you to their system and will do "noncompetitive" things to retain and enhance market share. When you install your O/S there's T's and C's that you agree to or were agreed to on your behalf.
    2) Yeah, forcing downloads of multiple GB multiple times is unscrupulous behavior but refer to #1 above. Nagging you all the time is a firing squad offense in my book.
    3) There's alternatives, use them instead of MSFT products. If you don't like the MSFT bullshit, don't use it or keep your system and disable all automatic updates and get Autopatcher. Autopatcher can keep you up to date without all the phantom re-installs of disabled patches.
    4) If you're an end-user who doesn't know what's going on, carry on get the upgrade or pay Geeksquad to upgrade you. If you're so inclined just buy a new machine with it already installed and transfer your files. This commonly known as the "if you like your Microsoft, you can keep your Microsoft" strategy.
    5) MSFT will only start changing its cultural/instrusionware policy if enough customers walk away or they get hit by a Class Action lawsuit. Again refer to #1 above.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
  135. Re:I Will Call Microsoft Technical Support About I by Virtucon · · Score: 1

    You may as well watch Clippy dance on your screen, it's about as effective as calling MSFT tech support.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
  136. YES by Gallomimia · · Score: 1

    I am so happy :'D

    --
    Sadly, a Libertarian cannot force his views on another, and freedom cannot spread as does the cancer known as religion.
  137. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by captjc · · Score: 1

    You don't say? This is a bargain basement PC with no expansion slots. There is no reason for her to upgrade when Windows 7 works fine for what it is used for: recipes, pictures, Facebook, and browser games.

    --
    Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
  138. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by Lord+Crc · · Score: 1

    Would you prefer that an app be made entirely unavailable for download if its (often small) developer has not yet translated the app to your "forced display language"?

    My forced display language is English. And why is using my keyboard layout language somehow a better choice than the display language I've explicitly told it I want?

  139. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by tepples · · Score: 1

    My forced display language is English.

    Thank you. I was trying to infer what you meant; the best I could come up with at the time was "I speak Lithuanian; why aren't all the apps available in Lithuanian?" Now the best scenario I can come up with is that you might get apps intended for use in a particular locale outside Five Eyes that are available only in the official or majority language of that locale.

    And why is using my keyboard layout language somehow a better choice than the display language I've explicitly told it I want?

    If an app ignores the display language in favor of the language for which your keyboard layout was intended, then that's either a bug or DRM. Have you reported it to the developer of each affected app? Or does it affect all apps system-wide?

  140. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by Lord+Crc · · Score: 1

    Now the best scenario I can come up with is that you might get apps intended for use in a particular locale outside Five Eyes that are available only in the official or majority language of that locale.

    No idea what the Five Eyes are, but my situation is this: I live in Norway, I cannot stand having anything but english as the display language in my OS, but I want to be able to type my name, emails, documents etc using norwegian keyboard layout as the norwegian alphabet contains æÃÃ¥.

    Have you reported it to the developer of each affected app? Or does it affect all apps system-wide?

    It affects all the _apps_ that are installed by default, so I'll say it's Microsoft. Note that the desktop, and all desktop-related programs, correctly respects my language choice.

    And I'm not alone, social.microsoft.com has several posts on the issue from other people.

  141. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by Lord+Crc · · Score: 1

    Ãf¦ÃfÃfÂ¥

    Gah forgot slashdot is in the technological stoneage... The norwegian alphabet contains three letters not found in the english alphabet.

  142. Re:Why would you not want to upgrade to Windows 10 by tepples · · Score: 1

    No idea what the Five Eyes are

    The Five Eyes are the major Anglophone countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States), which also happen to be part of a signals intelligence cooperation treaty.

    [Use of keyboard language rather than display language for display] affects all the [UWP] _apps_ that are installed by default, so I'll say it's Microsoft. Note that the desktop, and all desktop-related programs, correctly respects my language choice.

    Then you've found a genuine defect in the UWP subsystem, and yes, it should be reported to both Microsoft and the public.

    And I'm not alone, social.microsoft.com has several posts on the issue from other people.

    Do you have a blog, a social media account, or other means through which you can raise awareness of this defect in order to encourage other users to put pressure on Microsoft to fix it?