MICROSOFT STOLE MY SPECCY
Last night I started my machine out of hibernation to be presented with the log on screen, (normally it goes to my desktop), after logging on I had a pale blue screen and in large letters a message; ‘YOUR COMPUTER HAS BEEN UPDATED’, this was there for a few seconds before being replaced with ‘NONE OF YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN MOVED OR CHANGED, THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR ORIGINAL PLACE’ or words to that effect. My first thoughts were. Sh*t, I’ve been hijacked, especially when the your computer has been updated appeared again. Then a message appeared in the bottom right hand corner, ‘SOME OF YOUR PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN REMOVED, AS THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM’. Sh*t again, waiting for a ransom demand. This screen was there for several minutes before I hit off switch and rebooted.
Log on screen as normal, logged in, OK, then a message, Speccy has been removed as it is not compatible with your OS. I clicked on the icon, NO SPECCY, cannot be found, Sh*t. Went to control panel, programs, no speccy. At no time did I have a message about an MS update.
Did a full security scan, no malware or virus’s
Checked my build no, Windows 10, V1511. 10586.29. then checked updates, Security update KB3116900 03/01/16. I then checked online, apparently this is the P I A November update, many people have had similar problems with the update removing so called incompatible programs, after this review, I found that CC cleaner had also gone. How many more? Perhaps I will find out over the next few days.
One interesting point, when I installed Windows 10 at the end of July/early August I was one of those who installed window blinds and Iconpackager before the warnings. I removed WB after following the threads, but didn’t remove IP because of the many problems people had had when uninstalling. It is true to say that I have had no problems with IP, except that it does not alter the folder icons. The latest Windows 10 update reset all of my icons, but did not flag IP as incompatible, I have manually changed all of those icons which I could, each time W10 sent me to IP for the Icon. I will not use IP now to blanket change my icons as I do not want to risk it, I dread to think what might have happened if the update had tried to remove IP. Is Microsoft going to determine what programs are allowed on their OS in the future?
My main concern (apart from being Pi**ed off at losing my programs) is if MS can remove programs during an update, what stealthware can it install to spy on and monitor our files at the same time, will it start to remove non DRM items, like Amazon tried with the Kindle several years ago. Even more to worry about with MS, (apart from my wife who has MS, but that is another story).
Also glad to report that no problems with WB10 after the update.
it's in the privacy statement:https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement/
I do agree with you, Doc, that the privacy statement is ambiguous at best, and that people can read more into it than is there.... or a lot less than is there. It was crafted that way, to be vague, confusing and shadowy.
As for not scanning emails or conversations? How do you think they target users with specific ads... based on [users own] key words? Google and Yahoo have been doing it for yonks, and it has been a great source of income for them, so why would Microsoft, as a business for profit, not want to do it?
Also, and here's the $64,000 question, if Microsoft does NOT scan hard drives, how can if find 'non-preferred' software and uninstall it? Being this is what the OP is about, it is a pertinent and important question. For Microsoft to know non-preferred program are on a particular machine, it would seem, it must be scanning hard drives in order to see them. Surely?
Sadly, the Windows of old is gone, and with Microsoft's business model changing to rival that of Apple's and Google's, there is little or nothing to like or trust about it anymore. This Windows as a 'service' thing is a bad, bad thing and will sting users more and more as it evolves. It's not about users and/or their needs anymore, but about profit and what's best for Microsoft. Users, <read former Microsoft Customers> have become commodities for it to manipulate and use to further its grip on the software market.
Worse still, Microsoft knows it has a captive market. People like and trust Apple even less... not to mention its prohibitive pricing. And then there's Linux, which most will agree is not quite ready for mainstream just yet.... though it is catching up fast. So, with this captive market, Microsoft knows that Windows 10 will surpass the 200 million devices thus far and pretty much make Apple computers irrelevant... exept to a handful of fanbois. This is not a good thing! whether you like Apple or not, it is necessary, not only as an innovator but as an option.
There needs to be viable alternatives to Windows 10, because if there's not we're all fucked.
Bypassing ALL the 'FUD' which is only good for the naïve amongst us, there is really only ONE issue with Win 10.
'Forced' updates [and inherent need for program 'rejection'] mean the OS you use is a perpetual Beta [and thus potentially flaky.]
It is not just corporate users but ALSO private individuals who want 'reliable' computing.
Microsoft has chosen what they perceive to be 'forced reliability/conformity' which, if a PC user really wanted then they'd move to Apple anyway.
PC users want function AND diversity, not a closed environment of dictation. For that we have Apple.
If and when Microsoft enables actual CHOICE for update acceptance I see exactly no reason to declare it any more [or less] evil than any other vintage of MS OS.
The rest of the hysteria is plain garbage fuelled by that 'FUD'....
Okay, believe that if you want... stick with Win 10.... it's not my privacy funeral.
Sadly, though, too many people are thinking the same way - or are oblivious or simply don't care - thus enabling Microsoft to do as it fechen pleases.
Thats the trouble with the world, people have become too complacent, blaze and/or "tell somebody who gives a fuck".
No wonder we're losing rights and priveleges by the dozen... why governments and corporations believe they have free reign to screw us over time and time again.
That's right! The modern public LETS them.
FUD, what does that mean, did I miss something. Sounds derogatory sort of like "us" and "them" in the context.
Fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Speccy was removed from my system as well. I have not tried reinstalling it as I really don't need it but I wonder if it would work in compatibility mode?
Fricken Ugly Duckling.
Nah, seriously, it's a term people use when others point out the pitfalls of using something they think is okay.... like Win 10, for instance.
Frankly, I don't really care. I know I'm doing the right thing for me by refusing to accept/install Win 10, and that is all that matters... that I'm not saddled with it, now or ever.
Speaking of FUD, anyone else notice that there have been no Win7 security update notifications in quite a while? I've had my system set to notify me when important updates are available but no systray notifications have appeared since maybe November. Out of curiosity, I just checked Windows Update manually and lo and behold, 34 important updates are waiting. Same on another rig so it must be 'server side'. Inscrutable, MS is.
thanks Seth.
Use the portable version: https://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/portable
Downside of that is that eventually MS will stop supporting Windows 7 and 8.1.
There's always Apple or Linux, etc....
I just reinstalled Speccy and updated to the latest version. 1.29.714. No problem and it's working well.
I did as well. No issues.
Welcome, Greg.
Downside of that is that eventually MS will stop supporting Windows 7 and 8.1.There's always Apple or Linux, etc....
Yeah, I know, my Windows lifespan is limited, but that's not the end of the world. As you say, there's always Apple or Linux... not that I'm a fan of Apple, either. However, having said that, I do have a Mac Mini running the 2nd latest OS, Yosemite, not that I've turned it on in a while, what with moving and setting up house, etc.
Thing is, while I don't mind using the Mac Mini, I'm thinking more along the lines of Ubuntu, Mint or Robolinux as my main OS... though I recently read a scathing review on the latest Mint distro that pretty much dismissed it as a serious offering. Hopefully the developers will have resolved the issues by the time I'm looking to Linux for a competent alternative to Windows. And yeah, I have used the aforementioned distros before, so I am fairly familiar and shouldn't take too long to settle into doing things a little differently.
Interesting read -
http://www.zdnet.com/article/revealed-the-crucial-detail-that-windows-10-privacy-critics-are-missing/
Reading the znet article makes me feel a whole lot better about Win 10.... NOT!!
We all know that Google and Yahoo store and use all sorts of users personal information... both private and otherwise, so it's no wonder that people are distrusting of those tech corporations who mine users data. Sure, Microsoft and Apple protect your privacy and data... from other people, that is, but both companies state that they collect personal information for the purpose of targeting users with specific ads, meaning data that collection is not just about anylitics to improve software and services.
FUD.... Fearful. Unwilling. Definot. Okay, that last one's not a real word, but it should be... as a contraction of definitely not.
In an ideal world FUD-punchers would be shot.
Sensationalist riot-inciters. The type of person who shouts 'fire' in a crowded cinema.
Fortunately I live in the real world....full of bereavements and misery.
Enough of this twaddle. Here's something to offend everyone.
On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of South Pacific,the following people are stranded:
Two Italian men and one Italian woman.Two French men and one French woman.Two German men and one German woman.Two Greek men and one Greek woman.Two British men and one British woman.Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman.Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman.Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman.Two Irish men and one Irish woman.Two American men and one American woman.
One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in themiddle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:
One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.
The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a menage a trois.
The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman.
The two Greek men are sleeping together and the Greek woman is cooking and cleaning for them.
The two British men are waiting for someone to introduce them to theBritish woman.
The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island.
The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are awaiting instructions.
The two Chinese men have set up a pharmacy, liquor store, restaurant,and laundry, and have got the woman pregnant in order to supply moreemployees for their stores.
The two Irish men divided the island into north and south and set up adistillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because itgets somewhat foggy after a few pints of coconut whisky. However, they're satisfied because the British aren't having any fun.
The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn't they bring a damn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this forsaken deserted island in the middle of freaking nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping.
That was awesome, Doc!!
By the time folks finish reading it, they've forgotten whatever they were going to write to begin with...
Designed with the 'older crowd' in (what's left of their) mind.
Very good Doc. I enjoyed that.
WAIT! WAIT! It did make me forget......................MS stole CryptoWall
If and when, ain't gonna happen... not in Win 10. MS has 200 million users by the short 'n curlies and it ain't about to let go.
However, with regard to enforced updates, I am seeing more and more 3rd party programs coming out to combat that.
Here's one of them: Win Updates Disabler 1.3
Oh yeah, and for people who think MS does not scan HDDs.... think Windows Defender. I mean, seriously, who knows what it is scanning for, let alone what it reports back to MS?
Fortunately, for those as distrusting as I, the above linked program provides a digital tinfoil hat that can also disable Windows Defender.
Oh, and FUD....
Foolish Underestimation of Da-Microsoft.
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