Sneaky windows 10

[727Sky]

May 23, 2016 @ 02:10 PM 277,226 views The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
New Windows 10 Upgrades Have A Nasty Surprise







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[url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/]Gordon Kelly ,  
Contributor
I write about technology's biggest companies  
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


Are you happy using Windows 7 or Windows 8? Would you like the Windows 10 upgrade?
I’m asking you these questions for two reasons. Firstly because I think respecting consumer choice is important. Secondly because Microsoft MSFT +3.08%’s latest Windows 10 upgrade trick demonstrates the company stopped caring about your answers to both these questions a long time ago. Yes, a nasty surprise is in store…
‘Great Features’ and ‘Nasty Surprises’ are my regular columns investigating operating system updates for the best features / biggest problems hidden behind the headlines.
As picked up in a scathing new PCWorld article by a furious Brad Chacos, Microsoft has deceptively changed the Windows 10 upgrade notice and it is catching out millions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 users who wanted to stay put.

How requires a short history lesson: For the last six months Microsoft has presented Windows 7 and Windows 8 users with a Windows 10 upgrade pop-up that seemingly gave you little choice: ‘Upgrade Now’ or ‘Upgrade Later’.
Windows 10 old upgrade prompts on Windows 7 and Windows 8 were already using disingenuous language before the change. Image credit: Gordon Kelly
Recommended by Forbes

The only way to skip the upgrade was to close the ‘X’ in the top right corner and, given the regularity of the pop-up, dismissing it via this method has become second nature to millions who are happy staying where they are.
Well not anymore.
Now the Windows 10 upgrade pop-up has been changed and if you dismiss it using the ‘X’ in the top right corner it sends the message to Microsoft that you WANT to install Windows 10 and the upgrade will begin.
Yes, Microsoft has changed the one action which previously stopped a Windows 10 upgrade and turned it into a confirmation. Furthermore the user is not notified of this prior to the upgrade starting.
New Windows 10 upgrade prompts on Windows 7 and Windows 8 now turn the close button into a confirmation. Image credit: PCWorld
Why did Microsoft do this? It all comes down to how the company has tweaked the upgrade pop-up.
Instead of asking you to confirm you want to upgrade (which clicking ‘X‘ stops), the new pop-up assumes you have accepted you want to upgrade because it is now ‘Recommended’. So clicking the ‘X’ means you are dismissing the window because you already agree. Sneaky in the extreme.
Now if you want to avoid the upgrade you need to spot the new sentence “Click here to change upgrade schedule or cancel scheduled upgrade”. It’s the only route to opt out. Microsoft confirmed this change on its upgrade page saying: “If you click on OK or on the red “X”, you’re all set for the upgrade and there is nothing further to do.”
Windows 10 Upgrades Are Borderline Malware
I contacted Microsoft asking it to justify this sudden change of behaviour and received the following statement:
“With the free Windows 10 upgrade offer ending on July 29th, we want to help people upgrade to the best version of Windows. As we shared in October, Windows 10 will be offered as a ‘Recommended’ update for Windows 7 & 8.1 customers whose Windows Update settings are configured to accept ‘Recommended’ updates. Customers can choose to accept or decline the Windows 10 upgrade.”
Yes, I’m sure this attitude annoys many of you as much as it annoys me.
The problem is not whether users can accept or reject a Windows 10 upgrade. It is that in continually changing what users have to do and even how specific buttons behave, Microsoft is deliberately causing confusion and increasing the chance the wrong option will be picked. This is a tried and trusted tactic of malware.
Another Windows 10 upgrade prompt Microsoft has used in recent months. Now the close button confirms an upgrade. Image credit: Gordon Kelly
And at this point I want to be very clear: none of this is about Windows 10 itself. Whether you like, dislike, need or avoid Windows 10 is a personal choice based on individual circumstance.
My problem is Microsoft clearly no longer respects any of this. Over the last year, forced Windows 10 downloads (even if you say ‘No’) have escalated to hardware restrictions, automatic upgrade recommendations and support cuts. Now even successfully rejecting Windows 10 upgrade prompts has become a game of cat and mouse.
My advice? For those who do want to avoid Windows 10, the excellent third party tool GWX Control Panel is the simplest option. Meanwhile those who have now accidentally upgraded to Windows 10 can use the platform’s rollback feature to return to Windows 7 or 8.
As for the longer term picture, Microsoft recently pledged to dial down its Windows 10 upgrade pressure once the platform is no longer free. That’s two months and counting. After which I sincerely hope Microsoft remembers its manners…

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/...yptr=yahoo

[Sol]

I'm on windows 10, have been for a while and aside from Firefox not playing nice with this platform, I kinda used to it.

I know there will be extra charges here and there in the future, I think it's been part of their plans for a while but hey...nothing keeps me from changing it eventually.

However, those DO look like shady tactics to get you to switch. Just that should raise a flag or two.

Good thread on a very controversial topic !

[Mystic Wanderer]

Yeah, I've been fighting the pop-up boxes for awhile now.  For some odd reason I haven't had any for the past two weeks.

I hope this didn't jinx it.   :huh:

[Chiefsmom]

I'm so glad I found this thread!  We just had to deal with this, and it is even sneakier than they say.

We shut our computers off every Friday, here at work.
Well, we came in Monday, turned them on, and the main computer that hosts a program that the rest of us use, had been upgraded to 10.   WITHOUT ASKING!!!!!
It just did it.

So, of course, it changed all of the security settings on the computer!  Nobody could log in to the shared program.

I got to spend the morning on the phone with a computer guy we use.
While he was remote fixing us, (which still freaks me out) we chatted.
I was the 5th company that had called with this problem.  He was getting an earful. 

He also told me that there are lawsuits pending against them for doing this.

This is just down right DIRTY of Microsoft!!!!!

[Ninurta]

It gets even worse than merely the sneak update through forced thiefware.

Ask yourself WHY MS is going the thiefware route to take over as many systems as possible.

Ask yourself WHY MS is going the unprecedented route of giving Win10 away for FREE, in an attempt to make it more palatable.

Ask yourself WHY MS  is allowing even systems with pirated Windows to "upgrade" for free - although, for the time being, they are saying that those installations will still be pirate copies (even though MS gave them the "upgrade" for free).

Ask yourself WHY MS is pushing "the cloud" so hard, where YOUR data will be entirely in their control - even if you encrypt it, THEY still own it (see below about encryption vs. Win10).

Ask yourself WHY MS is becoming increasingly insistent that you log into YOUR machine via one of THEIR accounts rather than logging in locally with a secure password, accessible only to you.

Ask yourself WHY they are pushing "the Internet of Things" so hard.

Take into consideration that Win10 is confirmed to have keylogger spyware built in to the operating system to steal and upload all of your keystrokes (think "stealing and recording your passwords").

Take into consideration that you CAN NOT disallow whatever updates MS wants to push out on to your computer with Win10. There is NO way to turn off updates. Once they have your computer, they can make it do whatever they like via the forced updates and remote control.

So while you're asking questions, Ask yourself WHY MS has suddenly, with Win10, decided to no longer allow you to decide which "updates" you need, and have started to force feed YOUR computer what they want it to have.

Take into consideration that MS has already been busted removing programs from user's computers without their permission or even knowledge until they try to use the program, as part of it's "update" programming for Win10.

In May of 2014, what was at the time the finest and most secure encryption software on the planet, TrueCrypt, suddenly, mysteriously, and with no warning or explanation, burned their website to the ground and opened a new one, concurrently pulling their encryption software and replacing it with a "decrypt only" version and the advice to migrate to BitLocker (MS of course, built in to Windows) for encryption needs. Everyone in the security community mistrusts any encryption software MS puts out based upon their past (and apparently current) actions. I personally believe that they were given a heads-up, and knew that the next Windows would be absolutely impervious to encryption (if they steal your passwords, they own your encryption, too - it becomes a wasted effort). Because of that, they were aware of the futility of encryption software on Win10, and elected to fold up shop rather than output a false sense of security to the unsuspecting.

The mantle has been taken up by VeraCrypt, who have improved the software vastly over even the old TrueCrypt, but even at that, it CAN NOT secure a Win10 system - nothing can, when they have built in keyloggers to steal and send home any encryption passwords. Even Windows BitLocker, the built-in encryption system, cannot secure against that.

Microsoft has placed a bid to own YOUR computer, and everything on it, by stealth, right under your nose. Anyone running Win10 no longer owns the computer they paid their own money for - they only rent it from MS, and at the pleasure of MS. For MS, they now own 300 million plus computers around the world that they never paid a dime for. Sweet deal, eh?

I'm currently running Win7, and it will be the last Windows version I run. None of the ones beyond it, starting with Win8, is secure enough to allow on one of MY computers. When the time comes that Win7 will no longer interact with the internet, I will be migrating entirely to Linux, and disconnecting any of my Win7 machines from the internet entirely. I'll probably keep one "airgapped" and with the wifi radio pulled out (rather than merely disabled), just to run Windows specific programs that have no Linux equivalent, but any new programs that require Win8 or later will be of no use to me, so it will only be running older programs ("Older" at that point in time) that will function with Win7. I have disabled ALL updates on my Win7 installations, because that is necessary to avoid the Win10 stealthware/nagware.

Linux, at least for the time being, is still secure and will still protect encrypted data against incursions, if used properly, and both TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt have Linux versions to protect your data.

Neither Microsoft nor the government have any pressing need to read my grandma's secret peanut butter cookie recipe, which is so highly encrypted that the NSA can't even get it. WHY would the government need to know just what dirt you have on them? I can think of a few reasons, none of them good or conducive to the longevity of the individual in possession of such information. I'd recommend making several highly encrypted copies of it and salting them out to various venues, and creating a mechanism to distribute the password in the event of your untimely demise. It won't matter much at that point if your password is distributed on the nightly news to everyone on Earth - you'll already be beyond the repercussions of it.

Another thing to think about is those forced updates of Win10, and the implications they have for "down the road". Once MS has a maximal number of folks on the hook, what's to keep them from releasing "updates" that turn the operating system into hostageware - forcing you to pay a monthly fee for access to YOUR OWN computer and data? I'll bet you dollars against donuts that's already in the works - MS has already said that Win10 will be their last OS, and that eventually asking "what version of Windows are you running?" will be a nonsensical question.

And then there's "the cloud", which in most cases ALREADY has folks paying monthly for access to THEIR OWN data, and even productivity programs. Why anyone would accede to that plan is beyond me.

Aaaaannndd... "The Internet of Things" currently being pushed by nearly everyone, not the least MS themselves. Cameras in your home "for your own protection". your refrigerator, toaster, TV, and blender spying on you and phoning home... who really thinks that's a good idea, if they bother to think about it at all?

To coin a phrase, this is a Brave new World we are entering, kiddies. protect yourself. TPTB are gearing up to own everything in your life, and convince you that it is somehow a good idea to pay them to own you. Protect yourselves, it's gonna be a hell of a ride.


.

[Ninurta]

...nothing keeps me from changing it eventually.

You might be surprised. Go into your BIOS and check to see if you can disable UEFI and/or "Secure Boot". If you can't, there IS something keeping you from changing it - ever.

"Secure Boot" is a facet of the old "Trusted Computing Platform" (TCP) concept that was being pushed hard a few years ago. It sounds like it means you can trust your own computer, but what it really means is that THEY can trust YOU to compute in THEIR approved ways. The eventual goal was to prevent you distributing, or even opening again yourself, documents that YOU created but THEY disapproved of, via certificate servers - if they revoked the cert for it, no one, anywhere, not even the creator, could ever open it again other than THEM, who controlled the certificates.

With the release of Win8, MS required enabling UEFI and Secure Boot on with all systems that shipped with Win8 installed. With Win10, they have shifted the responsibility (and blame) to the manufacturers, saying that it was at OEM discretion whether to lock it or not.

Check yours, and see where it stands. I would also check any newly purchased computers before leaving the store with them. If they won't let you, then you don't need the computer bad enough, and neither do they need your business bad enough.

[BIAD]

Phew! I wish I knew more about all this whizz-bang paraphernalia that's going on beneath
our very noses, the subtle way it's being done in the name of 'good' is one helluva way to
get access to your private information.

(Oh no, one of Boy In A Dress' antiquated ramblings...?! Yes, but a true one)
When it was decided to have cable television installed here in the UK, I was surprised by
the lack of news coverage regarding the installation of the wiring that needed to be done
in thousands of roads and streets throughout the towns and cities of Britain.

Comcast -the company at that time, quietly went about digging a narrow channel in the
pavements (sidewalks) and then laying a network of cables that ended at the edge of
everyone's property.

The mainstream media were quiet about it and I was surprised, considering that the BBC
must have surely seen it as an encroachment on the monopoly they'd enjoyed since back
in the 1920's.

ITV, a British independent television network, they didn't ring any warning-bells and I was even
more surprised to see that Sky didn't make a song-and-dance over this secretive, low-keyed
operation. After all, Sky was well underway convincing the public that satellite dishes were
the way of the future.

But I decided to got for it and requested the whole package. Telephone, television and
internet access. I wanted all the channels... the whole kit-and-kaboodle.

I'm not a 'techy'-person and even though I think Ninurta and I are of a similar age, this stuff
has left me behind, where as the winter-hardened mountain-man has embraced it.
Even if it was with deep caution!!

So the chaps turned up one morning and after surveying the situation, decided that three
separate cables would be needed from the Main box further up the street, to get me the
service I wished for. Luckily, I'd been changing my front garden from a moss-ridden lawn
that yearned to hold grass into a stony, 'Arizona-desert-style' terrain with boulders and
stuff called 'Beach Cobble'!
So putting in the wrist-thick cables wasn't such a disruption.

As the two men went about their work, I asked them how all of this is installed, I didn't want
walls being knocked down or terrible-looking contraptions blinking on and off taking up the
house!

Remember, the mainstream media hadn't really spoken of it -except for one half-assed 'quiet'
discussion programme I'd seen on the BBC one Sunday morning, and Comcast hadn't certainly
used any advertising on the television that I was aware of.
It had come through leaflets through the letter-box.

They explained that the cables would go to a little box fixed to the side of my house and from
there, feed whatever service I'd asked for. Up to this point, I would suggest that like many
others, I'd have gone into the house and waited for the flashing lights, bells and whistles to begin.

But being a weird assho... being someone who tends to look at the world with a slightly-askew
perception, I began chatting to them about what effect they thought this communication system
would have on the country and I was totally 'gob-smacked' by the response from one of the
engineers.

He explained that -with all respect to myself, this was about accessing peoples homes.
It was about being there after the current family was gone. It was about an invasive continuity.
Whether the next family used cable or not, it was there... it had made it into your house!

The engineer didn't go into it too much, but I understood the kernel of what he was saying.
It's all about thrusting the controlled aspects of communication towards you and slowly-ever-so
-slowly, taking away areas where your choice would be just that, choice.

Think Libraries, think about the book you chose from a random shelf that now sits there on a table
before you, does it call to you in the same way a website does? If not, why not??

The many social media sites are a breeding ground where folk argue and joust on inane topics
and I'd dare to say some of these places, points of views are altered. Yet in the real world, would
you be really concerned about your opinion being accepted by others?

Of course, you choose where to go on the internet and you choose what to read, but has anyone
else noticed the general hostility that seems to be the norm across the many sites these days?
Is it part of a programming agenda or are do we just like to bicker with someone we will never
meet physically?

What are the social benefits from this interplay and if he we learn from using the internet, what
do we learn? Can there be more to all of this than just acquiring relevent information for marketing
purposes?

The television programmes are there for you to enjoy, to be convinced to function a certain type
of way and to perceive the world has others would have you see it. The many 'beneficial' services
in regards of television viewing, are set up to suggest programmes you'd enjoy and even record
them whether you access them or not.

The box in the corner suggests you buy, gamble and make decisions based on the information
presented, I would suggest the internet to some extent, does the same. 

The internet access is merely a conduit to take your browsing, fire it up into the satellites and
through them, to the wonderful places you might wish to go.
But who owns the satellites...? who originally put them there?

I'm not saying we should pull the cables from the backs of our computers and turn off the lights
and I'm not suggesting we should perceive all communication appartus as tools of sinister
agencies. No... that would be silly, wouldn't it?... I mean, wouldn't it?!!
(Takes off tin-foil hat)

Finally, when the technicians arrived the next day to install the internal parts of the cable viewing,
the first image I saw (my family were away at a Great-Grandmother's 100th birthday shindig!)...
was the second plane hitting the towers.

Good thread.

[Sol]

I will be on and off during the next few days due to...

Windows 10.


Yesterday morning, after a windows update, my computer locked me out. Password no longer working, couldn't access anything.

I spent a good chunk of the day just trying to get back in at no avail.

Finally, today I decided to get into forums and have found that this issue has happened to a LOT of people.

I was able to download necessary reboot programs through my girlfriend's computer to bypass the log in feature and reset a user account.

Problem 1; as a user, I could not do anything as it asked for an administrator password even for downloads. Back to square one.

Problem 2; I lost everything that was on the administrator account that I used before the update.

So this afternoon, I finally bought an administrator password reset program that now enables me to do pretty much all I need.

So I've just downloaded, installed and am presently using a data recovery program to try and get all those files back that are still on the hard disk.

Hopefully, it'll work.


So, today and tomorrow will be spent on trying to save what I can. Oh...even the back up didn't work.


Windows 10. I was bragging that I never had a problem with it.


Until now. And it's a MAJOR one.


Just to let you guys know. : (

[senona]

So, today and tomorrow will be spent on trying to save what I can. Oh...even the back up didn't work.


Windows 10. I was bragging that I never had a problem with it.


Until now. And it's a MAJOR one.


Just to let you guys know. : (

Do you think you jinxed it, bragging about no issues???   :smallundecided:

I bet that did PISS. YOU. OFF.  



I still got that sledge hammer handy if you need it (winks)
Although that last 'ban hammer' you had sure would do the job  





Seriously, hope you get it all sorted out, back the way you had it.
Or near the way it was at least.

I still have Vista, and know I will need to update soon.
Will just go one step to Win7 I think.....or maybe Win8

But definitely not Win10