Slashdot Mirror


Microsoft Is Spamming Windows 10 File Explorer With Ads For OneDrive Storage (digitaltrends.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Digital Trends: While Microsoft is addressing some other complaints about Windows 10 in the upcoming Creators Update -- such as privacy concerns over the data that's being transmitted and issues regarding how the operating system updates itself -- the company seems intent on retaining Windows 10's advertising functionality. In fact, it has apparently been adding OneDrive commercials to File Explorer, ExtremeTech reports. Basically, you might start seeing a new promotion for OneDrive when you're perusing your file structure in Windows 10. OneDrive is baked into Windows 10 and can't easily be uninstalled, and Microsoft wants to make sure you know that the 5GB of free OneDrive storage can be easily upgraded to significantly more space. Turning off the OneDrive advertising isn't without consequences. You can go to the View menu in File Explorer, then Options, and select "Change folder and search options." In the next window, select the View menu, then scroll down to and uncheck the "Show sync provider notifications" option. Note that while this should disable the OneDrive ads, it will also stop you from seeing potentially important notifications from OneDrive. The report notes that, while these OneDrive ads aren't new, "they seem to be showing up more often for more people."

43 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Facebook of operating systems!

    1. Re:Windows 10 by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Clearly no one else wants to advertise on W10

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Its NOT a operating system, its a operating SERVICE.

    3. Re:Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      "Oh, but it's only 'suggested' apps in the Start Menu", they said.
      "Microsoft will NEVER put ads in the rest of the OS", they said.

      Windows fanboys LIED.

    4. Re:Windows 10 by kimgkimg · · Score: 2

      An OS should not be an Ad platform!!!

    5. Re:Windows 10 by Blig · · Score: 2

      Don't laugh. Soon there will be the equivalent of an MS "Facebook" baked into Windows 10 too.

      Can just imagine it now - you're working on some code, a document, or playing that awesome game when all of a sudden a window pops over your active one and shows you all the food and kid pictures of other Windows 10 users around the world with the request that you "Like" them.

    6. Re:Windows 10 by SeaFox · · Score: 2

      Not seeing a big difference with the Microsoft Account they try and shove down everyone's throats since Windows 8. They already have buddy lists in the form of the Contacts section. A instant messaging/VoIP platform, Profile pages, a news portal with MSN... All they need is a front-end site that is more social-focused and they would be there.

    7. Re:Windows 10 by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 2

      Windows Update already tends to do similar stuff:
      https://betanews.com/2016/05/04/windows-10-ruins-pro-gaming-stream/

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
  2. FreeBSD, Hackingtosh, or Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So my friends, which one of these should i look up, and suggest me Linux distros.
    I'm gonna VM them to try them out and completely purge Windows 10 from my life.

    1. Re:FreeBSD, Hackingtosh, or Linux by theJML · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've been using Ubuntu, Fedora, and OS X for the last 8 years here. Haven't had a windows laptop for any more than the first 2 months I was here when I got the okay to wipe it. about 60 Dev's here, all use OS X with only a few that use Linux.

      It greatly depends on your job. Your seriously not going to miss out on much... and it's Windows, it's not like it's that hard to figure it out if you really need to.

      --
      -=JML=-
    2. Re:FreeBSD, Hackingtosh, or Linux by enrique556 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I downgraded my win7 to 10 just before the cutoff date for free upgrade, so I had the option of 7 or 10 later on. After trying out 10 for a while, I just decided that it was a joke, and that it was becoming more of a joke as time went on, and started dual-booting to linux mint cinnamon. ~6 months later and I don't ever boot into my windows partition even to play games. If you want a windows 7 replacement, Linux Mint Cinnamon is your best bet.

    3. Re:FreeBSD, Hackingtosh, or Linux by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      I downgraded my win7 to 10 just before the cutoff date for free upgrade, so I had the option of 7 or 10 later on. After trying out 10 for a while, I just decided that it was a joke, and that it was becoming more of a joke as time went on, and started dual-booting to linux mint cinnamon. ~6 months later and I don't ever boot into my windows partition even to play games. If you want a windows 7 replacement, Linux Mint Cinnamon is your best bet.

      Cinnamon is great, My wife loves it after refusing to use W8 after a month. Works well with touch screens too. I've been using Ubuntu Mate recently, since I can run it on my regular computers as well as a RP3 I've been playing with. On either one, the regular user can get used to it in minutes. For the OP - many of these Linux Distros use "Live CD's" or Thumb drives, so you can boot off them to see if you like the interface. As well, have a internet connection going on the computer you install on.

      Note 3 - Some distro's like Ubuntu Mate offer the option to do the latest updates while installing.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    4. Re:FreeBSD, Hackingtosh, or Linux by LVSlushdat · · Score: 2

      THAT is the BEST thing you could do for yourself.. Run Virtualbox on your Windows system and try different Linux distros till you find one you like, personally I like Kubuntu, KDE and Ubuntu, but your tastes may vary.. Once you're happy with it and are somewhat familiar with it, yank that Windows bandage off.... back up your data, install that Linux distro to the machine and just blow away Windows.. I did that nearly 7 years ago and now I sit back and laugh my ass off at all of the stories I see on the internet about the latest MS abuse of those who *still* use Windows... Quite entertaining...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
  3. How do I block this stuff? by i_ate_god · · Score: 2

    with win10 home edition, is it even possible to stop this from happening at all? Some obscure registry hack somewhere?

    --
    I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
    1. Re:How do I block this stuff? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Windows 7.

    2. Re:How do I block this stuff? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not (yet) true, but we're getting there. It is almost less hassle by now to get your favorite programs to work in Linux than to get them to work the way they're supposed to in Windows.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:How do I block this stuff? by Gaygirlie · · Score: 2

      Even if you figured out how to get rid of it, do you really think it wouldn't be back the next day in a "critical update"?

      It hasn't been back for me, even though it's been months since I disabled it.

    4. Re:How do I block this stuff? by jordanjay29 · · Score: 2

      Play On Linux can do a respectable number of Windows games, especially those 5+ years old at this point. Newer stuff, yeah, that's a pickle.

  4. Re:Die, fscking adverts, die! by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    its amazing; they charge full price for win10 (now; the free ones were just a gimmick to get their 'adoption numbers' up and to hook people into this one-way trip) and yet, they also send ads to you and you can't really opt-out, either!

    either you make the o/s free and then people MAY be ok with ads; or you charge your normal full price and you KEEP THAT SHIT OFF OUR SYSTEMS.

    every few years, the 'evil one' becomes apple and then MS and then apple and now back to MS again.

    glad I'm a linux user and admin. I have choices that many users refuse to allow themselves.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  5. I fail to see the problem? by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Note that while this should disable the OneDrive ads, it will also stop you from seeing potentially important notifications from OneDrive."

    Who the hell uses OneDrive and why should anyone care about "potentially important notifications" from a spammer?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Re:TANSTAAFL by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ok, ok, I want to pay! Sell me a version of Windows 10 that doesn't suck!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. What is the business model again? by Paradroid888 · · Score: 2

    Is this a free OS where the user is the product, or is it a "Pro" product where users pay nearly £200/$200, yet is exploited for additional revenue. Microsoft don't seem to know. Given the price of the product I don't want any commercial stuff in the core Windows shell. Promoted apps on the launcher, popups telling me Edge is faster than Chrome, and this, are not acceptable. The only place it's acceptable is in the Store.

    1. Re:What is the business model again? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      Given the history of MS, it won't matter if you paid for 10 or not, you're getting ads. Just like it didn't matter if you paid for 10 or not, you can't tell it when to update or not.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  8. Re:Die, fscking adverts, die! by houghi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Do you have cable?

    And I am sure that with newspeak (Uber: We are not a taxi company), we will soon get that these are not ads. They are consumer infomation bulletins or some other crap. That will give them another 2-4 years to change the law in their favour.

    And MS and Apple are not the most evil ones. They are just the biggest ones.

    In the mean time all we see is some people moan about it on some websites. The companies are not interested in you as a customer. So why would they do what you want?

    If you see how much money these companies make, you can harly blame them, because what they do works.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  9. Ads everywhere by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Funny

    Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 21st century?
    Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio, and in magazines, and movies, and at ball games... and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts, and bananas and written on the sky, and in Facebook and Windows 10 File Explorer. But not in dreams, no siree.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  10. Also only wear Nike shoes... by JonnyCalcutta · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here's some more tips to improve your career chances -

      - don't forget to learn all about football so you can fit in round the water cooler.
      - it doesn't hurt if you can at least pretend to like the same cookie cutter women as everyone else so you can join in the wolf whistles
      - on social occasions only drink branded beers. A whisky chaser is OK, but cocktails are definitely out
      - acceptable hobbies are 5 a side football, jogging and perhaps martial arts (but nothing obscure - stick to karate or kick boxing)
      - only wimps do lunch. A sandwich at your desk is ok
      - remember to always put down work colleagues, especially if the boss is around
      - the boss is always right and will respect you telling him so

  11. Re:Apple by geek · · Score: 5, Informative

    Say what you want about Apple, but they would never do shit like this.

    You mean like Apple Music constantly asking me to subscribe when I just want to play a local music file on my phone? Or the constant nagging to enable icloud services?

    When you're given an OS or OS update for free, expect upselling.

  12. The anti-telemetry market. by geekmux · · Score: 2

    "...Note that while this should disable the OneDrive ads, it will also stop you from seeing potentially important notifications from OneDrive.

    Er, important notifications?

    If I don't intend to use OneDrive at all, I'd love to know what the true impact is of disabling yet another advertising "feature".

    With the amount of shit going on with this OS, I can already see a market for a dedicated corporate firewall appliance that updates its anti-telemetry ruleset about as often as an A/V signatures.

  13. Onedrive breaks LOCAL file access by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I had to uninstall one drive for multiple clients yesterday because every time they tried to open a local file they received 'the file is corrupt' due to issues with microsoft's cloud.

    Just exiting wasn't a good enough solution to the problem.

    When the addons break LOCAL functionality when there are issues with the cloud - that's just ridiculous.

  14. Re:Die, fscking adverts, die! by tsqr · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're a public corporation with one goal: maximizing profit. Full stop.

    You don't need more than one period at the end of a sentence.

    Their obligation is to produce a product that extracts as much money as possible from Windows users. Period.

    Really, you don't.

  15. I wish that was it by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

    ...but they've also been spamming the damned taskbar with ads for Edge lately. If you try to fire up Firefox or Chrome, there's a good chance an ad will appear just above the taskbar Edge icon, about the same size and shape as a window preview, claiming that Edge is faster and/or more secure than {Chrome|Firefox}.

    That is seriously pissing me off, as you have to close the ad to get it to go away.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    1. Re:I wish that was it by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      ...but they've also been spamming the damned taskbar with ads for Edge lately.

      A feature that obeys the setting you set to not show ads on the start menu. Seriously just fix your damn settings. There is no spamming to people who don't want to be spammed. No need for a registry hack, some obscure right clickery, just click the window thingy, click the gear thingy, click personalisation, click start, and turn off the setting to show suggestions.

      It really isn't very difficult.

    2. Re:I wish that was it by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Jesus H FUCKING CHRIST on a UNICYCLE, you're saying it's MY FAULT because there's a setting somewhere that I've never heard of, have NO REASON WHATSOEVER to think exists, and have never seen, and apparently has a label that does not in any way imply it's actually the DO NOT SHOW ADS ON THE TASKBAR button, and I've never unset it?

      Here's an idea, if that setting does exist, perhaps it shouldn't be checked by default, given nobody in their right mind wants this feature?

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  16. Re:Die, fscking adverts, die! by kilfarsnar · · Score: 2

    TL;DR: Microsoft is under NO obligation to produce a product that doesn't incorporate advertising, spying or other "evil" things. Their obligation is to produce a product that extracts as much money as possible from Windows users. Period.

    It's funny, it used to be understood that businesses and corporations existed to provide a valuable good or service for people. They traded that good or service for money. Am I now to understand that a company's only obligation is to make as much money as possible, regardless of their utility? Does the largest software company in the world, whose operating system most computer users rely on, really have no responsibility to their customers? That seems upside down to me. Who is serving whom here?

    --
    "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
  17. Re:Apple by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

    But ... it's the same problem. Sure you can hack your way into a relatively clean install of Win 10 (or anything else for that matter) if you hang out on forums, ask questions, poke around and spend the time.

    The point is - you shouldn't have to.

    Oh well,

    Sic Transit Gloria Mundi - Tuesday is usually worse.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  18. Re:Apple by mbourgon · · Score: 2

    For the Apple Music thing, I had the same thing happen - I suspect it was reenabled as part of an iOS update.

    Go into Settings - > Music -> Show Apple Music. That should fix it.

    --
    "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
  19. Android, too by thomn8r · · Score: 2

    I just bought a Samsung tablet, which had Orifice bloatware pre-installed on it - it keeps spamming me about OneDrive as well

  20. Re:TANSTAAFL by iampiti · · Score: 2

    Yep, I also want to pay to get a decent Win 10 version as I paid my Win 7 license a few years ago.
    I do NOT want a free lunch, I want a nice OS and I'm willing to pay for it. Sadly, Microsoft is no longer interested in selling a nice version of Windows to people. Also, while they may tweak a few things now and then it's pretty clear what I want from Windows (basically an updated version of 7, with an UI adapted to mouse usage, no ads, no forced Microsoft services and no spying) is fundamentally opposed to want Ms seem to wan from 10 so a "nice" version of 10 will never happen.

  21. Re:Sorry state of computing today by Joshs922 · · Score: 2

    They seem to think a $4000 computer is a disposable appliance like a toaster, and if you don't like it... well......

    This is true, and well said.

    Use Linux, and have complete control of the OS, but the level of maintenance and knowledge required (even today in 2017), is still several levels beyond any other OS, with no guarantees that even basic functionality that you take for granted in other systems will work. While improving, general driver support is still dubious, and you may as well forget about using the latest shiny if it uses a new chipset. Desktop software ubiquitous in other OSes flat out don't exist, and the OSS equivalents are... lets be honest here... crap. Even 'flagship' software like Evolution is inexplicably lacking so much polish, that you start to wonder why you bothered to install Linux in the first place.

    So yeah... having seen computer history unfold over the last few decades, it honestly seems like things are getting worse, without any sign of that trend changing.

    This is not true. I have been running Linux for years now (mostly Debian and derivatives) and there is virtually no maintenance involved. Knowledge? I have one of my co-workers running an Ubuntu laptop from System76 and he does everything he needs with no problems. I have my sister and niece on a laptop running Debian with LXDE and they have no trouble. Both of these people called me last week asking "How do I hook up my printer on this Linux thing?" I said, plug it in and off you go. Both of them did and were amazed at how easy it was. The one was a wireless printer. It just found it and set it up automatically. So far, there hasn't been a single thing either has not been able to do easily... although I did have to help my co-worker install some streaming media codecs.. but even Windows users run into stuff like that.

  22. GOOD! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you are still using Windows 10 after all the terrible shit that's already come, you have earned this.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  23. Re:Die, fscking adverts, die! by tepples · · Score: 2

    Microsoft is under NO obligation to produce a product that doesn't incorporate advertising, spying or other "evil" things.

    Depends on the jurisdiction. The European Union regulates privacy, consumer protection, and competition more strictly than the United States of America does.

  24. Re:So that's why it keeps popping up by Slugster · · Score: 2

    I've noticed over the last ~3 months that whenever I start up Notepad++, it also seems to kick the MS CloudDrive thing on (which I have never set up, and keep shutting off when it asks if I want to, even tho it's not set to ever come on automatically).

    Oddly enough I use Visual Studio (community/freebie) to write personal programs and CloudDrive never kicks on when I start that...

    I have no plans on using CloudDrive.
    Using a free could service to hold important files is rather like asking a street bum to hold your wallet.
    Eventually something bad will happen, and they will only shrug and say "hey, waddya want for free?"

  25. Re:Sorry state of computing today by david_thornley · · Score: 2

    Strange. I've used Ubuntu for quite a few years, and found it excellent for someone who wants a Unixy environment and doesn't want to put in system admin work. I've found the desktop software available to fully suit my needs.

    YMMV, of course, and the fact that I've been using Ubuntu doesn't mean other distros aren't just as good or better. (As I implied earlier, I'm kinda lazy, and haven't tried others).

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes