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Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

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Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#331

Post by Qwertious »

inetknght wrote: post #270
capitalF wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, Window…

Unfortunately I've had Windows 10 turn OneDrive integration back on even after disabling it. That was literally the nail in the coffin for me; I've since uninstalled Windows 10. I'm still using Windows 7 for games. Anything else is done on Linux. When 7 goes end-of-life, I'll be 100% Linux.

"I'm still using Windows 7 for games."

I've heard this setup be described as a Wintendo. Not sure why, but that cracks me up.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#332

Post by pfarnsworth »

CydeWeys wrote: post #4

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. 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…

I turned off Windows Update precisely because it tried to force and trick me into upgrading to Windows 10. This is their fault for making people distrust what Windows Update should be, and whoever made that decisions at Microsoft should get fired.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#333

Post by lovich »

Arizhel wrote: post #321
sangnoir wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 Microsoft's own bone-headed moves in recent years to install bullshit that the user doesn't want. Vaccinations are awesome, but M…

I disagree about the CIA analogy, because having your DNA collected really doesn't harm you or affect you significantly, though it is a privacy violation. Here's a better analogy: suppose you were pushed to get a vaccination, but the vaccine company secretly added a virus to the vaccine which alters your DNA so that your hands turn into claws and you grow antlers, because they thought this would be a great idea someh…

On the CIA point, from the Pakistanis viewpoint it was a foreign government agency using the DNA from the vaccinations to pinpoint a physical attack in their borders. If it had come out that another nation had done that in the US, we'd be clamoring for war. That is a very good reason to be wary of vaccinations at that point

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#334

Post by rrauenza »

I have a Windows 10 system that I believe was about 1 year behind in updates. I'd periodically run what solutions I'd find online .. dism.exe, sfc.exe, etc to try to fix whatever was failing. Nothing worked. I stumbled across an awesome forum (sysnative.com) with volunteers that help you track down your issue. Turns out I had a subtle 1 byte registry corruption:

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/windows-update/22645-win10v...

Tracking it down required using sysutils' procmon.exe to log about 4GB of event data and correlating it with the CBS.log. It was a broken embedded unicode string registry value with a byte swap from x36 to xFE.

My point -- there are a LOT of posts out there with people with broken windows 10 updates, and I think Microsoft could better address this.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#335

Post by Arizhel »

tsukikage wrote: post #310

My PC is not a toy, and is owned by me, not by you. * Don't reboot it without my consent * Don't install/run advertising without my consent * Don't install/run spyware without my consent * Don't keep interrupting my work to nag me for my consent The tasks I want to accomplish using my PC are more important to me than the tasks you want to accomplish using my PC. If the latter get in the way of the former, I will take…

>My PC is not a toy, and is owned by me, not by you. * Don't reboot it without my consent * Don't install/run advertising without my consent * Don't install/run spyware without my consent * Don't keep interrupting my work to nag me for my consent

Wrong: you are implicitly agreeing to the above 4 behaviors if you willingly use a Microsoft OS. Any time you select a vendor, you implicitly agree to their business practices and the way their product/service works. For MS, that means you consent to it rebooting whenever it wants, advertising to you, spying on you, and interrupting your work to nag you for consent. If you don't agree with these things, then you need to find another vendor.

>The best solution, of course, is to switch to a stable Linux distro.

Exactly!

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#336

Post by digi_owl »

type0 wrote: post #301
vocatus_gate wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They weren't "my" experiments - I was the station network engineer with double-duty as helpdesk/IT person. Imagine this: you're a broke grad student and you're given $xx grant money to conduct a certain experiment in N months. What are you going to spend your VERY limited time+money on? Finding a good Linux hardware developer to roll some custom solution that no one can understand or support? Or just throw together s…

What are you going to spend your VERY limited time+money on? Finding a good Linux hardware developer to roll some custom solution that no one can understand or support? Just install some distro and "just throw together some hacky Python". If you had some hardware and measurement instruments that require Windows for drivers then I could understand it, otherwise it's just negligence. > or .net MVP that will run on Wind…

> If you had some hardware and measurement instruments that require Windows for drivers then I could understand it

It likely is. I have read similar stores about having to refurb an aging 386 or 486 running DOS. This because it is being used to operate a very expensive particle sensor, and the company that made it is long gone.

And if you want to replace said sensor you first have to get the funding to do so, and then you have to shut down the lab for a year to run calibrations so that the results from the new sensors can be compared to those of the old one.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#337

Post by Arizhel »

kstenerud wrote: post #230
JorgeGT wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your CFD software isn't saving at least the last converged timestep in order to restart the calculation if there's an unplanned interrupt maybe you should implement such a feature! It's been a lifesaver for me many times.

That's right. Blame the victim.

The victim is to blame. Microsoft's behaviors are well-known, so victims are to blame if they continue to use Microsoft platforms. CFD computation does not in any way require a Microsoft OS.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#338

Post by bigbugbag »

egg_head wrote: post #30

article should be rewritten as: don´t tell people to use windows, just don´t

That's what I thought too reading the title, but the windows tax makes sure it comes pre-installed with computers and for most people it means having to deal with windows.

It should be "tell people to use a non-windows OS" instead.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#339

Post by bigbugbag »

ourcat wrote: post #160

I wish they didn't push updates as I'm trying to shut the PC down. That has to be the most irritating time to do that.

Aren't you bothered that they push updates as you try to turn the PC on ? Or have you not experienced this part of windows update ?

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#340

Post by bigbugbag »

retube wrote: post #106

So I have blocked my mother's PC updating from Windows 8 to 10 because it broke everything for her - so I rolled it back. Have prevented the upgrade auto-occurring again by specifying we are on a "metered" connection, which seems to be the standard trick to prevent the upgrade to 10. Any idea if this also prevents security updates?

I thought the standard trick to prevent the upgrade to 10 was to use never10 to disable the upgrade.

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

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