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Re: Row Hammer DRAM Bug Now Exploitable via JavaScript, Most DDR3 Memory Chips Vulnerable

Post by TheAPGuy »

Wow... that is rather remarkable. There are hardly ever any hardware related viruses. The last one I can remember was a video card virus that targeted old ISA S3 video cards.
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How to temporarily prevent a Windows or driver update from reinstalling in Windows 10

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How to temporarily prevent a Windows or driver update from reinstalling in Windows 10

Symptoms
In Windows 10, your device is always kept up to date with the latest features and fixes. Updates and drivers are installed automatically, with no need to select which updates are needed or not needed. In rare cases, a specific driver or update might temporarily cause issues with your device, and in this case you will need a way to prevent the problematic driver or update from reinstalling automatically the next time Windows Updates are installed.
Resolution
If a driver or update you are being offered is causing system crashes or instability and Windows was operating correctly prior to that update, you can follow these instructions to prevent the unwanted driver or update from being installed:

To uninstall the unwanted driver:

Launch the Device Manager with a right click on the lower left corner of the desktop and a left click on Device Manager.
Located the device driver with the problem driver installed, right click and choose Uninstall.
In the uninstall dialog, check the box to Delete the driver software for this device if available.

To uninstall an unwanted Windows Update:

Type “View Installed Updates” in the Search box and then click on View Installed Updates – Control Panel from the Search results.
To uninstall the unwanted update, select it from the list and then click Uninstall.


To temporarily prevent the driver or update from being reinstalled until a new driver or updated fix is available, a troubleshooter is available that provides a user interface for hiding and showing Windows Updates and drivers for Windows 10. You can obtain and run the "Show or hide updates" troubleshooter by downloading it from the Microsoft Download Center.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930
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Win10 info to improve how it's used

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Last edited by Whatacrock on Wed Aug 05, 2015 2:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Spelling corrections
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Security Company Builds Unhackable Version of Windows

Post by Whatacrock »

Security Company Builds Unhackable Version of Windows

It’s no secret that many (including Linux users) describe Windows as a very insecure operating system that’s prone to hacks and exploits because of its vulnerabilities, but one Israeli security startup is working to change people’s perception of Microsoft’s software.

Morphisec is currently developing a Windows version that’s basically impossible to hack, thus becoming the right operating system for military applications, including those controlling missiles and airlines.

In a statement for BI, Dudu Mimran, the co-founder of the company, describes this new OS version as the Windows that “Microsoft should be doing,” explaining that, while the platform was initially designed for government use, it can be actually installed by any enterprise that wants to make sure that no hack is possible.

Basically, this operating can block any zero-day attack, the founder says, thanks to the operating system randomizing all memory, which means that the hacker cannot target the computer memory and compromise the data stored on the drives.
Perfect success rate

Even though the operating system is not yet publicly available, Mimran, who is also the CTO of Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories in Israel and the chief security officer of Cyber Security Research Center at Ben-Gurion University, says that internal testing showed that it can block 100 percent of the attacks, which does nothing more than to emphasize the huge potential that such a project has.

Needless to say, developing such an operating system costs a lot, but the company has already raised $1.5 million in funding from Israeli investors, at least to complete work and get the platform ready.

Obviously, it’s hard to say whether the product would sell well, as it this depends on a number of factors, such as how effective it actually is in blocking various types of attacks, but also the price, but it’s definitely a very promising project that can help make Windows more secure.

Microsoft isn’t yet involved in the project, but if the developing team indeed finalizes work on it, expect the Redmond based tech giant to be very interested in the technologies used to secure it.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/security ... 8653.shtml
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Microsoft Releases the First Windows 10 Cumulative Update

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Microsoft Releases the First Windows 10 Cumulative Update

Microsoft has just rolled out the first cumulative update for Windows 10, fixing a number of bugs that were found by users after the July 29 launch and committing to the Windows as a Service approach that’s supposed to bring us updates at a much faster pace.

Since it’s a cumulative update, this release includes all the previously shipped bug fixes, but it also brings some new ones that are supposed to solve unaddressed problems with the operating system.

So if you’ve already installed all the updates that Microsoft has rolled out in the last weeks, the new cumulative update will only deploy the new files, so you’ll be fully up to date.

Redmond doesn’t say what exactly is new in this update, but it does provide a long list of changed files. Here is the official description of the release:

“This update includes non-security-related changes to enhance the functionality of Windows 10 through new features and improvements. Windows 10 updates are cumulative. Therefore, this package contains all previously-released fixes (see KB 3074683). If you have installed previous updates, only the new fixes that are contained in this package will be downloaded and installed to your computer.”
Service Release 1?

As we previously reported to you, Microsoft is also scheduled to roll out a larger pack of improvements to Windows 10 that many are referring to as Service Release 1, but at this point, it’s not yet clear if this is indeed the eagerly anticipated update or not.

Microsoft’s Gabe Aul says that this update “doesn’t have a name,” which could a sign that Service Release 1 will actually arrive at a later time. And yet, just like today’s update, SR1 will be mostly focused on fixing bugs and improving performance, so you won’t see any big difference in terms of new features after installing it once it becomes available.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsof ... 8624.shtml
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Microsoft Windows 95 Turns 20

Post by Whatacrock »

Microsoft Windows 95 Turns 20

Forget Windows 10, Windows 95 celebrates 20th anniversary

Twenty years ago today, Microsoft introduced what quickly became its most successful “modern” operating system and which paved the road for a completely new computing world that's now being used by 90 percent of the PCs.

Windows 95 was Microsoft's first major step towards a screen full of windows, bringing changes that made working on a computer with a mouse and keyboard a lot easier than any time before.

Development of Windows 95 started in March 1992 and Microsoft officially launched it on August 24, 1995, exactly 20 years ago, with a midnight party that brought people in line at Microsoft stores to purchase the new operating system.

Codenamed Chicago, Windows 95 benefited, just like Windows 10, from a beta program before its launch, so American testers could try out the operating system for only $19.95. All those paying the fee received a pack of 3.5-inch floppy disks to either upgrade from Windows 3.1 or perform a clean install on their computers and discover what Windows 95 was all about.

Microsoft's plan was not only to let users test Windows 95 and help it improve the OS but also to pave the road for the big launch, thus creating a whole new craze ahead of its product’s debut.

For Windows 10, users who can't live without a Start menu, here's something very interesting. Windows 95 build 56/58s was the first to come with a Start menu in the form of a concept that grouped the main sections of the operating system in a single menu. At that point, it wasn't called a Start menu, but later versions of Windows 95 came with a Start button that provided access to this menu.
Windows 95 user interface

While we won't talk about the features of Windows 95, because there's plenty of information in this regard on Microsoft's website, it's worth mentioning that the operating system introduced 20 years ago came with a completely new UI based on the quintessential desktop, which is still available today in all Windows versions.

The taskbar provided quick access to running apps because yes, multitasking was already a thing at that point, and the Start menu offered a quick way to launch programs on the PC.

Since the user interface brought so many changes, Microsoft introduced a welcome screen to assist users as they explored the operating system, providing an in-depth look at some of the features, such as the Start menu. The very same thing is available today, so it was clearly a smart decision from the company, which had to convince users that Windows 95 was the OS of the future. And since many of the features are still here today, it seems that it really was.
The Start menu

Just like in Window 10, the Start menu played quite a key role in Windows 95 and Microsoft knew this very well.

One of the first commercials the company released for Windows 95 was based on the Rolling Stones single “Start Me Up,” which was a clear reference to the Start menu, which serves as the main way to access apps on the PC.
What's more, Redmond created a 30-minute video with Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry, two of the main starts of the sitcom Friends, which was enjoying a terrific success at that time, in order to make more people aware of Windows 95 and introduce them to its essential features. A total of $300 million were spent on advertising campaigns.

The Windows 95 criticism

To make sure that more people come at Microsoft stores at midnight to purchase Windows 95, the Redmond-based tech giant turned to all kinds of tricks, including offering free pizza to those waiting in line in front of its stores.

A New York Times story dated August 24, 1995, perfectly describes the efforts that Microsoft put in the Windows 95 launch.

“At the stroke of midnight in New Zealand, the first English-speaking country to greet the new day, the world's first buyer of Windows 95 picked up his copy to great hoopla. Throughout the day, computer store employees here and abroad blew up balloons, stocked the shelves and waited for the first moment of Aug. 24 in their time zones, when they could usher their customers into what they had hyped for weeks as ‘the World of Windows 95’.”

But just as it happens with modern Windows, not everybody liked Windows 95 from the very beginning.

Some people preferred to postpone the purchase decision just because it was “too much hype,” and they just wanted to wait and see what it was all about. However, quite a lot of people bought it, even if they had no plan to install it right way.

“I probably won't install it for a couple of weeks, but just to have it in the house, to hold the box, something fun like that,” one of those who waited in line at the Microsoft store said.

Overall, if we compare Windows 95 and Windows 10, it's pretty clear that the latter is based on the first and many of the features we use today are here because of the OS introduced 20 years ago. The Start menu is a living example, and fortunately, Microsoft managed to recover after the mistake it did in Windows 8 and brought it back on our desktops in Windows 10.

Happy anniversary, Windows 95, and thank you for being so awesome!

Photos and videos available from link

http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsof ... 9922.shtml
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Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by Whatacrock »

Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

The Windows 10 privacy saga moves to older OS versions

Microsoft has been accused of spying on its users with some of the features that it implemented in Windows 10, and the company not only refrains from commenting too much on these claims but it has also released some updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 computers, which appear to enhance data collection on older OS versions.

A number of updates that Redmond has recently released “introduce the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service” in Windows 7 and 8.1 and “add telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels,” as the company says in the official KB pages.

The updates in question are KB3068708, KB3022345, KB3075249, and KB3080149, and you can find their full description in the box after the jump.

Basically, once you install any or all these updates, Microsoft can start data collection from your Windows 7 or 8.1 computer in the same way it does on Windows 10.

How to stop data collection

As WinAero notes, KB3068708 even mentions two of the domains that Microsoft is using to send collected data to, so if you want to stop this from happening, you need to add them to the HOSTS file and completely block both (more information on how to edit HOSTS file here):

vortex-win.data.microsoft.com

settings-win.data.microsoft.com

But the best way to prevent data tracking if the updates are already installed on your computer is to remove them completely, so go to Control Panel > View installed updates and remove all the four updates mentioned above.

Additionally, you can remove them faster by launching a command prompt window with administrator privileges and typing in the following commands one by one:

Code: Select all


wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /quiet /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /quiet /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /quiet /norestart
Once you do that, you should also hide the updates to make sure that they won't be reinstalled after you reboot the computer.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsof ... 0302.shtml
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by Whatacrock »

Telemetry and Data Collection are coming to Windows 7 and Windows 8 too

In the recently released Windows 10, Microsoft introduced new Telemetry and Data Collection features which will not give you the option to opt out. These services are collecting various information about the software installed on your PC and even personal data stored on your computer. Microsoft claims they may not be used to personally identify you but no one is comfortable with this kind of shady data collection. This change has had a very negative impression on the Windows 10 OS. Now Microsoft has brought similar Telemetry and Data Collection features mainstream directly to Windows 7 and Windows 8 family of operating systems.

If you have Windows Update enabled in your Windows 7 or Windows 8, you might have noticed that a bunch of new updates are available for your operating system which add more telemetry and data collection services to your OS besides the one already present which you can opt out of. This is a notable change for all users who consider Windows versions prior to Windows 10 as relatively private and safe.

Once these updates are installed, Windows 7 and Windows 8 will start sending collected data using the HTTPS protocol to the following Microsoft servers:

vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
settings-win.data.microsoft.com

Another thing that's out of your control is that the operating system ignores any lines you may have added to the HOSTS file, so you cannot block the IP addresses of those servers in the usual way. They are hardcoded into system files and cannot be turned off easily.

The following updates bring more thorough telemetry and data collecting features to your older operating systems:

kb3068708
kb3022345
kb3075249
kb3080149

If you don't wish to share any data whatsoever with Microsoft, you should not install these updates.

Due to such radical changes made by Microsoft in recent months, I think it's not a bad idea to consider an alternative operating system for daily use. Personally, I already switched to Linux a few years ago after Microsoft started eliminating user choices from Windows. I have stuck with Arch Linux for a while.

http://winaero.com/blog/telemetry-and-d ... ows-8-too/
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by TheAPGuy »

There must be more installs then that. I blocked the two provided addresses and then checked if I had those KB's installed. I don't have them installed however, I just got two blocked attempts to send a packet to the first address.

edit:
Found it.. kb3022345 this was installed. It was calling MS every damn 2 minutes. Anyways... the remove wusa command didn't work. It would search and then say not installed. I found it in the installed updates window and removed it. Now I am not getting bugged by my firewall every 2 minutes anymore.
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by ChrisJ »

I'm surprised that, by now, Microsoft hasn't made features like these, permanent fixures (integrated) in their OS, with the end user completely unable to turn off or bypass em - or maybe they have and this is only a diversion!.?
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