[deleted]
Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
141–150 of 567 posts
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's an interesting problem. Live updates without requiring a restart is going to be a complex task, how do you reload a library in use by a program without crashing it? Especially when Windows has a decade+ of software compatibility. Their current solution is scheduling updates to periods when the computer is not in use. I think recently they added an option for you to define a set of hours where updates take place.…
Skype crashes quite regularly so I think we've a lot of ground to cover before "reloading software that never stops" is a problem.
Only since Microsoft bought them out. Skype used to be a fantastic piece of reliable telephony software. Now it's a fantastic piece of NSA-backdoored garbage loaded with ads.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I love the way he's compared the people who tell you to turn off auto-updates with anti-vaxxers; it's quite an apt analogy. No, it isn't. Anti-vaxxers think that vaccines are harmful (or useless). Most users think security updates are important, they just don't want to be interrupted.
> Anti-vaxxers think that vaccines are harmful (or useless). Vaccines are harmful; it's just that the positive effects vastly shadow the negative effects in the general case.
You are technically correct (everything is harmful, and vaccine application is probably associated with some amount of micromorts — but so is, say, getting up from the bed). However, vaccines are very safe (safer than many everyday activities), and negate much more micromorts. Thus, I believe that your technically correct appeal doesn't contribute anything useful to this particular discussion.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#144Why can't Microsoft or NSA or whatever good samaritan use the same vulnerability and attack vector to force-spread the update or at least a patch of some kind?
Because accessing and modifying computer systems without owner's prior agreement is a crime in most parts of the world. Why would MS, NSA or any other entity would risk potential trials?
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#145I love the way he's compared the people who tell you to turn off auto-updates with anti-vaxxers; it's quite an apt analogy. Microsoft shares part of the blame here for pushing features that the user clearly doesn't want through updates (especially to the major OS version). Look at the recent ads in Windows file explorer for one example. A lot of the advice to turn Windows Update off is a misguided response to Microso…
Taskbar > Context menu > Cortana > ( Hidden / Show icon / Show search box )
A better option is to open "gpedit.msc", then open "Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components"
Then spend an afternoon going through each option, setting enabled/disabled for everything you don't want or don't recognize.
You can easily disable entire subsystems like Cortana, tips, telemetry, camera, biometrics, error reporting, games, Homegroup, Defender, Windows Store, and a whole bunch of other garbage.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't feel it's quite an apt analogy, since anti-vaxxers have fully imaginary fears of adverse consequences (vaccines causing autism), while people who disable windows update do it after suffering real adverse consequences of forced updates. A good firewall would protect from WanaCrypt and everything else distributed via opening SMB ports on random IPs over the internet (correct me if I'm wrong), so you should be s…
> A good firewall would protect from WanaCrypt No, unfortunately not - it spread using SMB internally on LANs, but travelled internet-to-LAN by "regular" phishing. It downloads its payload off the internet, but most good firewall would allow that (was the WannaCry payload detectable by virus scanners at the time of the infection? A "good" firewall might be one expected to intercept and scan all downloads). > A legiti…
If you operate such devices, it is an absolute imperative that you have a procedure for taking them offline regularly for updates
In some contexts that simply isn't a viable strategy. As an extreme example, consider something like an implanted medical device that needs to run 24/7 for the rest of a person's life, which can only be replaced via surgery under hospital conditions, and for which any failure is already a life-threatening event. Of course that kind of device probably isn't going to be running an OS like Windows, but it makes the point. In fact, the USSS has reportedly had the standard wireless update facility disabled in such devices for prominent public figures who might be at risk of being attacked that way.
Some equipment used in hospitals or to run other essential infrastructure might be within the realms of running a "normal" OS like Windows but still be in a position where any time out of service is extremely expensive in one way or another, so routinely disrupting operation to apply updates still isn't acceptable. There are also contexts where the device is regulated and making any change at all requires re-approval -- a legitimate and serious conflict when faced with this kind of security risk if the situation when a regulated device goes out of spec can also be serious.
You need different security strategies for this kind of environment, which rely more on external controls. You can't just say everything must be able to come out of service at frequent intervals for security updates, and you can't just handwash the problem away by calling people who understand the issues "unqualified". It's a far more complicated problem than that, and often there are no completely satisfactory arrangements.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#147That article would be more believable if Microsoft (as well as other companies) hadn't slipped all kinds of stuff in earlier updates which are not on the interest of the consumer at all. (Starting with annoying UX changes and A/B tests, to telemetry, to advertising, to removal of user software and DRM) Oftentimes it looks suspiciously as if the (rightful) need for security and quick responses is used as an excuse for…
MS is 100% responsible for this and they should reap what they sowed. Imo this blame shifting PR damage control is just insult to injury and will probably backfire.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#148Does this guy work for microsoft ? It reads like a partisant piece for microsoft. Totally overlooked the suspicious timeline of Microsoft releasing patched for vulnerabilities that were exploited for a long time by the NSA right after it was made apparent those had been stolen and were about to be released in the wild. No question asked about NSA having known and exploited those vulnerabilities for a while, no questi…
> No mention that disabling Microsoft update trend is a logical answer
No, it isn't. Disabling update isn't a logical answer to _anything_ except "what's the best way to get malware". If you don't want Microsoft's "spyware" don't install their OS. There is no coherent logic to simultaneously not trusting Microsoft, and running their code - any version of it.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#149Everyone know why updates really are disabled - pirated Windows. Specifically - pirated Windows with badly written hack that fails after certain updates are installed. Given that how enormous is user base of pirated Windows it is expected really to to see lots of guidelines how to disable Windows Update.
Win10 takes it to the other extreme, where it is impossible to disable it. You can only disable it for Wi-Fi and for each network separately. It is insane really and creates all sorts of problems in some use cases.
PS: another problem - some of the Win10 updates caused dozens of incomprehensible errors in Event Viewer on my PC, now I turned on "defer updates" and hope that delay will help MS figure out problematic patches before they will arrive.
Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
The cleverest move was to integrate Cortana with local file and application search, which many users likely use as a universal command line/shortcut (hit windows key and just start typing). I find that when I disable Cortana, local search becomes severely degraded. If anyone has any tips on how to fix this, I'd appreciate them.
The degradation is intentional. In Windows phone, speech to text and quiet hours doesn't work, and the accuracy of shape writing is significantly reduced, when Cortana is switched off. Ms is trying to turn Cortana into the Google play services of Windows So they can consensually(forcefully) collect data from every windows device.
I'd guess that means speech to text and shape writing run at least partially on servers? Not hugely surprising but it seems really bizarre that quiet hours would need it. Probably some integration with cortanas contact database so that some people's messages come through? Even that seems incredibly lazy and ill thought out.