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posted by on Friday March 10 2017, @03:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the malware-or-spyware,-you-decide dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Windows Update came roaring back today [Mar 7] after more than a month in a semi-comatose state, and the chute filled up quickly this morning. Windows Update seems to be working well -- even more reason to check your Win7 and 8.1 systems and make sure it's turned off

[...] More disconcerting are the re-re-releases of KB 2952664 (Win7) and KB 2976978 (Win8.1). As I explained last month, those two patches have, in the past, triggered a new Windows task called DoScheduledTelemetryRun.

Even proponents of installing all Win7 and 8.1 patches balk at those patches, which were born in the crucible of the Get Windows 10 (GWX) marched upgrade madness. The series was renumbered, with no explanation: KB 2852664 was renumbered from revision 25 on Oct. 4, 2016, to revision 12 today. Microsoft states:

This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program. The diagnostics evaluate the compatibility status of the Windows ecosystem, and help Microsoft to ensure application and device compatibility for all updates to Windows. There is no GWX or upgrade functionality contained in this update.

Yet it appears as if the scheduled task runs whether CEIP is enabled or not. If there's a reason for installing the patches, other than increased telemetry, I haven't heard about it.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/3177812/microsoft-windows/windows-snooping-patches-kb-2952664-kb-2976978-are-back-again.html


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by number6 on Saturday March 11 2017, @02:44PM (2 children)

    by number6 (1831) on Saturday March 11 2017, @02:44PM (#477752) Journal

    [[[ Me, stuck on a (highly tweaked) Windows XP box for many years...and love it. However I'm starting to get the urge to move to Slackware Linux ]]]

    Anyhow back to the story....

     
    A few weeks ago at my local 7-11 convenience store, I'm using the coffee machine; I see this guy talking to the Indian working behind the counter. He is begging the Indian to have a look at his HP Pavilion dv5 notebook computer; it's running too slow and he he is desperate for somebody to "look" at it.

    I join into the conversation, and convince the guy to let me have a quick "look". After an eternity of waiting, it boots to the desktop. The OS is "Windows Vista Home Premium".

    I open "Task Manager" (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).... I see a massive list of unneeded processes with weird names.

    I open "Add Remove Programs" (appwiz.cpl).... I see a massive list of third-party installed programs with weird names.

    I open "Services control panel" (services.msc).... I see a massive list of third-party services with weird names.

    I try opening the Group Policy control panel (gpedit.msc).... but it is not available on Windows Vista Home Edition !!!!

     
    I look at the guy and tell him "your computer is completely overrun by spyware and programs trying to hijack all the resources and settings on your computer".

    I ask him "do you really need to use Windows", and he says "I like to insert DVDs and watch movies and I like watching videos on the internet with Google Chrome, I don't know much about computers".

    I say to him "look, do you trust me, do you want to free yourself from all this bullshit? ..........There are other operating systems in this world apart from Microsoft Windows .......would you like me to install Linux on this computer?"

    He say's "OK I'll try it". ...........I say "Is there any files on this computer you need me to save?" .........he say's "Nope, it's all crap you can delete everything" ..........I say "OK, Ill call you in a few days when I'm done"

     
    So I took his computer home.

    I downloaded an ISO of Xubuntu Linux (xubuntu-16.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso) [aarnet.edu.au] and burnt it to a disc.

    I downloaded this SH script: Xubuntu post-installation script (xupdate.sh) v0.8 [reddit.com] and copied it to a USB stick.

    I booted into a Live-CD containing system tools, and I formatted the whole drive (including hidden sectors) with 1-pass zero's.

    I installed Xubuntu from the disc ......the operation went perfectly from start to finish.

    I plugged in the USB stick containing "xupdate.sh" and the USB stick icon appeared on the desktop.

    I opened up the Terminal and ran these commands (make sure you are connected to the internet):

    [1]  'cd' to the folder that contains the script (xupdate.sh) - to check the directory listing, type 'ls' - you should see the script listed.
    [2]  make the script executable by typing 'chmod +x xupdate.sh'
    [3]  run the script by typing 'sudo /bin/bash ./xupdate.sh'

    the script took something like an hour to complete, but it worked like a charm.

    TIP: before running the script, open it in a text editor and comment out the lines containing the "RAM TEST", like this:

    # MEM=$(free -g | grep "Mem:" | tr -s ' ' | cut -d ' ' -f2)
    # if ((MEM < 2)); then
    #   echo "${RD}Insufficient RAM, exiting.${NC}"
    # fi

     
    My report card of HP Pavilion dv5 Notebook PC + Xubuntu Linux + addons bundle installed via 'xupdate.sh' :

    PERFECT! everything worked without a hiccup, smooth as silk .......and the guy was 100% satisfied; he told me later that he loved Xubuntu so much that he rang a few buddies (who he goes fishing with) and convinced them to also install Xubuntu on their computers!

    I was not expecting any payment or favors from him for installing Xubuntu on his PC; it was a pure love job from me with no strings attached.

    But how about this for Karma ..............:

    He rings me a few days later on a sunny Sunday afternoon and tells me he has something he wants to give me; so I ride my bike and meet him at a playground. He reaches into his bag and pulls out..

    an Apple MacBook Pro Laptop Computer with AC charger in mint condition (a couple of years old).

    ..and he tells me I can have it free as a gift!

    I asked him where he found it and he said he had a rich neighbor who moved out and quickly dumped all his electronic belongings on the footpath, not caring about their value!

    I asked him why he doesn't use it himself and he says he prefers the "HP Pavilion dv5" and he likes playing movies through its DVD drive, he is not a computer freak and has no need for the Apple and doesn't care about what it is worth and doesn't like hoarding stuff he'll never use.

    Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen, I am now the owner of a free Apple MacBook Pro ......and I must say, it is a classy and solid bit of manufacturing there, even the keyboard feels tactile and robust. I can see why they used the word "Pro" in its name.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:44PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:44PM (#477838)

    You didn't dwell on this point, so I'll mention it.

    At one point, Ubuntu (and its derivatives) had support for 18 months for each release.
    Ubuntu releases every 6 months, so that gave a span of 3 releases to upgrade to another release with current support.

    Ubuntu (and its derivatives) also have a Long-Term Support (LTS) release every 2 years.
    Previously, those were supported for 5 years.

    Current support for Ubuntu (and its derivatives) is 9 months (not even 2 complete release cycles) and 3 years for LTS releases.

    The current standard release with the short lifetime is 16.10, from November 2016.
    number6 chose not to use that one, opting instead for 16.04 from April 2016.
    That is a LTS release.
    That looks to be intentional on his part and a wise choice for that user.
    (M$ stopped offering Visduh in October 2011 and Visduh's EoL is in April 2017, yet that user hadn't gotten something more recent, which appears to indicate yet again that he is a really hands-off system maintainer.)

    the Group Policy control panel [...] is not available on Windows Vista Home Edition !!!!

    Clearly, that consumer got a bargain. {Swivels head left and right}
    FOSS seems like a good fit for that guy.
    Kudos on helping him with his upgrade to a better paradigm.

    He rings me a few days later [...] and tells me he has something he wants to give me [...] an Apple MacBook Pro Laptop Computer with AC charger in mint condition (a couple of years old).
    ..and he tells me I can have it free as a gift!

    No good deed goes unpunished. 8-)

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:53PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:53PM (#477844)

      s/16.10, from November 2016/16.10, from October 2016
      (The mantissa is the number of the month.)

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]