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ChrisJ
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Re: Microsoft Windows 95 Turns 20

Post by ChrisJ »

I'm sure most if not all Millenials and maybe some GenXers will have absolutely no appreciation for how the industry (life actually) once was. Not only the computer industry, but the idea of options in general, the ease of use (simplicity), functionality (features), et al, has become standardized, IMO in large part to the PC industry... communications, the web, entertainment, audio, video, local and streaming means of data (ours/theirs)... the PC market enhanced the desire for content, making it a mandate, with most industries, not just the computer market, responding, delivering it to our doorsteps - usually instantly, easily, and with options. It wasn't always like this. Did I mention the cell phone!.?

I single out Millenials mostly because they've had it all since birth, and in my experience have almost no appreciation for the roads crawled to get here. OTH, some of our parents and grand parents were without running water, electricity, a telephone, a refrigerator, and spent their lives appreciating even the little things. As we used to say -> conveniences | to the Millenial -> expectation. I'm not a fan of an expectation that lacks appreciation for the hard work invested - just my opinion from experience.

All wasn't rosy with Win95 though! Those of us who had to glob thru the plug-n-play myth remember how upgrades were hit-n-mis, frustration was abundant. This did bring about standards in the industry that has made things nearly a 100 percent proposition, if the device was manufactured to standards it will work as expected. This is one area that Linux has simply taken a back seat to Windows. Instead of developing 100,000 different flavors, instead focus more of your world-wide resources on better and greater device implementation so we can build exactly the computer we want, not one Linux must approve first.

So, yes, thanks to both Microsoft and Apple for the great improvements made to the modern GUI-driven OS, very awesome indeed.
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by TheAPGuy »

They might have I started up my computer just 5 mins ago and it made two contact attempts to the first blocked URL again.
ChrisJ
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by ChrisJ »

TheAPGuy wrote:They might have I started up my computer just 5 mins ago and it made two contact attempts to the first blocked URL again.
Hmm, very scarey... another good reason to use AP, you can install only those updates you want, and much easier.

If any of these updates are in AP there should be some-sort-of note in "Description" - yes - with a useful warning to users?
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by TheAPGuy »

I think 2 of them were in there.
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by Whatacrock »

Actually 3 of the 4 offending updates are included in the Windows 7 and 8.1 releases. KB3022345 was superseded by KB3068708

KB3068708: Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry - This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights. (Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

KB3022345: (replaced by KB3068708) Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry - This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to in-market devices. By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet been upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights. (Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

KB3075249: Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 - This update adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels. (Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

KB3080149: Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry - This package updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights. (Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

Have been doing some homework to find out more about blocking the updates from phoning home. This will take some time. More to come.....
"Now if you Sons of B*@ches got anything else to say, NOW'S THE F@#%ING TIME!!"
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Whatacrock
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Re: Microsoft Starts Collecting User Data from Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs

Post by Whatacrock »

Have done some homework and discovered the following updates are intrusive or phone home.

KB2952664 ----> available from Windows Update
KB2976978
KB2977759
KB2990214
KB3012973
KB3021917
KB3022345 -----> Superseded by KB3068708
KB3035583
KB3044374
KB3050265
KB3068707
KB3068708
KB3075249
KB3080149

Will update this list if further updates are involved or are available via Windows Update.
Advisable to uninstall any of the above, and hide update if you utilize Windows Update.
"Now if you Sons of B*@ches got anything else to say, NOW'S THE F@#%ING TIME!!"
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How to do a clean install of Windows 10 the easy way -- no upgrade required

Post by parkd1 »

If you want to upgrade Windows 7 or 8 to Microsoft’s new operating system you can do so through the Get Windows 10 App which appears in your system tray, or by using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. Upgrading to Windows 10 is very straightforward, but what if you want to do a clean install, which will clear out all the old clutter and give your PC a performance-boosting fresh start?

According to Microsoft, in order to do this you will need to upgrade your existing version of Windows first. This will upgrade your Windows key, and you’ll then be able to Reset your PC, or format the drive and run a clean install (you can do this because your upgrade entitlement is stored in the cloud). There is however, a clever trick that will allow you to perform a clean install without ever going through the upgrade stage.

SEE ALSO: The best alternative Start menus for Windows 10

The trick, which was discovered by Reddit user justmoa, and first reported by the always excellent Ghacks, does require you to have access to your previous version of Windows before you start.

As with any clean install, you will need to back up all of your personal data, passwords and the like before proceeding as this will be wiped otherwise. When you’ve done that, follow these steps.

Get a Windows 10 ISO image from here.
Burn the ISO, or mount or extract it.
Open File Explorer and navigate to either \Windows\x64\sources or \Windows\x32\sources. Find gatherosstate.exe in the folder and drag it to the desktop.
Run the exe. This will create a GenuineTicket.xml file. Save this to a USB flash drive or anywhere else other than your system drive.
You can now format your drive and run the clean install. Skip the product key.
Once Windows 10 is up and running, copy GenuineTicket.xml to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket.
The folder is hidden by default. If you can’t see it, go to File > Options > View > Show hidden files, folders and drives in File Explorer.
Reboot your PC.
Hit Windows+Pause. This will bring up a window showing system information, and at the bottom it should show Windows 10 as activated.

http://betanews.com/2015/08/31/how-to-d ... -required/
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Intel Researchers: GPU-Based Malware Not as Scary as Initially Thought

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Intel Researchers: GPU-Based Malware Not as Scary as Initially Thought

In Intel Security's most recent Threats Report, the company's researchers claim that GPU malware can be rendered harmless with relative ease.

Their interest in analyzing GPU-based malware comes from a series of proof-of-concept projects that were published on GitHub earlier in May.

These projects were created by a group of developers that go under the name of Jellyfish, and they include a rootkit and a keylogger for Linux systems, and a remote access tool (RAT) for Windows.

These tools, as their developers claim, were created to raise awareness for GPU-running malware and its capabilities, along for the fact that many security products don't have the ability to scan and detect them.

Since May, Intel's researchers have had their chance to analyze the JellyFish PoCs (proof-of-concepts), and they claim that GPU malware can be easily detected if scanning tools know what to look for.

"Numerous articles were published reiterating the claims made by the authors. Out of context, it’s easy to twist these points together into a picture of an undetectable superbug, running autonomously and hidden from current defenses, but the truth is not as it first appears," said Intel's Craig Schmugar.
GPU malware leaves clues of its presence behind

Examining how the JellyFish tools work, and more specifically how communication is carried out between the GPU and the system memory via the DMA (direct memory access) feature on the infected host, researchers claim that because the malware needs "ring 0" (root-level) access on the CPU itself "to map critical OS memory onto the GPU for read/write access [...] adds to the malware’s footprint on the host."

"This dependency is subject to existing kernel protections," says the Intel team, referring to various tools like Secure Boot, ELAM, and PatchGuard which can safeguard users from this type of GPU malware.

Additionally, because of the way the GPU malware will try to conceal itself by deleting CPU host files used in its installation, this leaves orphaned code on the GPU, which in the case of Windows PCs "will initiate a Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) process that resets the graphics card."

If hackers try to alter the TDR default GPU reset time (which is 2 seconds) to anything else to cover their tracks, Intel researchers claim that "any modification of these values can be considered a suspicious behavior: one that security products may choose to alert on, or even block."
Users may see "visual evidence of a problem because the GUI will become unresponsive"

Additionally malware on the graphics card also causes "long-running GPU workloads," which "will result in visual evidence of a problem because the GUI will become unresponsive." To prevent this, attackers need to leave some code running outside of the GPU, "which provides something for endpoint protection to identify."

Taking on JellyFish's claim that GPU malware is persistent across PC reboots and will remain running on the victim's PC, Intel researchers claim that "'Persistent' does not describe executing code, but rather data storage."

This means that "malicious usermode code must also persist outside of the GPU," which could be detected, and if deleted, render the GPU-based attacks lifeless.

Using these clues left outside of the GPU's cloud-shrouded realm, security products should be capable of detecting GPU-based attacks without incorporating specialized GPU analysis tools.

We will add a link to the official Intel Security Threats Report as soon as it becomes available on Intel's site.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/intel-re ... _hotlatest
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Shocker: Almost Nobody Uses Microsoft's Edge Windows 10 Browser

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Shocker: Almost Nobody Uses Microsoft's Edge Windows 10 Browser

Microsoft launched Edge, its new Windows 10 browser, with much fanfare, describing it as a modern rival to Firefox and Google Chrome that can finally replace Internet Explorer and win the hearts of users worldwide.

On paper, Edge is indeed a very appealing browser, but in reality, it lacks several key features and it obviously needs plenty of improvements on both desktops and tablets, some of which are expected to be released soon.

But right now, Edge doesn't seem to be the preferred choice for those who install Windows 10 and browse the web daily, as the new browser is nowhere to be seen in August 2015 market share statistics.
Inaccurate stats or the painful truth?

Data provided by market analyst firm StatCounter shows that in August 2015 Google Chrome 44 was the number one browser with a market share of 44.48 percent.

Internet Explorer 11 was second with 10.89 percent, followed by Firefox 39 with 7.45 percent. Several other IE, Chrome, and Firefox come next, but Microsoft Edge is not included in these stats.

The latest entry in the chart is Firefox 38 with 0.94 percent, which probably means that Edge is below this score and is only included in the Others category that has an overall market share of 15.89 percent.

While it's hard to tell whether these figures are inaccurate or not, it's pretty clear that, for the moment, Microsoft Edge is not really that powerful browser the Redmond-based tech giant wants it to be.

It does lack a number of features that are already available in rival apps, but Microsoft promised to improve it significantly in the coming updates. Living proof is likely to be an October pack of improvements that will provide us with extension support for Microsoft Edge, thus bringing the browser in line with Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, all of which already offer such functionality.

Time will tell if Edge has a chance to succeed and help the company get over Internet Explorer, but for the moment, it's pretty clear that Microsoft still has a lot of work to do in this area.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/shocker- ... 0562.shtml
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Amid Windows 10 controversy, Microsoft quietly releases privacy botching features to Windows 7 and 8

Post by parkd1 »

It's been roughly a month since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft's newest desktop operating system. It packs in several enticing features including the digital assistant Cortana. But despite all the interesting offerings, Windows 10 isn't sitting well with many. Privacy advocates have criticized Microsoft for introducing several features that are seemingly concerning to those who care about their privacy. To make things worse, the company has now rolled out some of these annoying features to Windows 7 and Windows 8.

First spotted by Ghacks, some of the recent updates that Microsoft rolled out to Windows 8 and Windows 7 set a computer to regularly send reports of a machine's activities to Microsoft. The update dubbed 3068708, for instance, introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service on the computers it is installed on. "By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights", Microsoft describes the purpose of the update.
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The 3075249, on other hand, "adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels". Moving on, the 3080149, "updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights".

The 3075249 and 3080149 updates are optional to download though the 3068708 update is being flagged as a recommended install by Microsoft. This essentially means that users who have Windows Update set to automatically snag new patches from Microsoft will get this feature. Though, as PCWorld notes the update is only functional in the systems that participate in Microsoft's Customer Experience Improvement Program. If you're one of those, the bad news is that opting out of it isn't as easy as you would like.

http://betanews.com/2015/09/01/amid-win ... s-7-and-8/
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