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Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

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Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#301

Post by criddell »

Gene_Parmesan wrote: post #179
criddell wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last two computers have been Lenovo ThinkPads (T520 and Yoga S1) and they bundle more crappy software than just about any other business computer maker. It's good hardware and once you reformat and reinstall Windows (or Linux) they are great machines.

I'm strongly considering the ThinkPad P1 as my next work machine -- any other issues you've experienced? I wouldn't have expected Lenovo to mess with the ThinkPad brand like that. My image of ThinkPad has always been no-nonsense, get-stuff-done, power-user-favored. Packing in a bunch of cruft doesn't seem to mesh with that image.

The machines have been good and I'm not sure if there is a better choice in the Windows world.

For some reason some screws have fallen out the S1 and I have no idea where to get replacements, but it still feels fairly sturdy. I like the keyboards on both machines even though they are very different. The track pads are decent for a Windows laptop.

I really wish Lenovo would open retail stores. It would be nice to be able to try the machine out before you buy it and have a local place to take it for service.

The cruft that they pack in are a bunch of system utilities that replicate the basic Windows tools. It's mostly stuff about Wifi management, power management, etc... None of it seems to be very well made and I recommend getting rid of it all and getting as close to a stock version of Windows as you can.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#302

Post by NullPrefix »

josteink wrote: post #105
snazz wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many computer manufacturers seem to do this at least. There might be a way to trick the UEFI into thinking that you’re installing a non-Windows OS but I’m not sure.

You got it completely backwards. UEFI doesn't install anything. It provides a machine-specific binary for Windows to install (intended to ensure that Windows has proper drivers for all the machine’s hardware). Windows then decides to install this, based on the assumption that OEMs won’t bundle non-critical shit-ware using this method. Which has turned out to be the faulty assumption here. Either way: Use any other OS…

That cd with stuxnet in autorun.inf doesn't do anything. It's the Windows that chooses to load it.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#303

Post by cryptonector »

naikrovek wrote: post #209
zanny wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In both the phone and PC space I do not understand the need to do this at all. There is commoditization of the market on the low end, but high end products that compete with iphones and macbooks are definitely not commodity and there is ample differentiation to be had on quality where mindshare can reap substantial margins on a smart investment of good design.

There is no need for this stuff, of course. It's added because marketing want to improve the company's image in the eye of Joe/Jane Consumer, and probably someone in a support organization was honestly trying to make a customer's life easier. It was just implemented poorly. The day that hardware vendors get over the idea that they need to "add value" to software that they resell will be a very good day for everyone.

Hear hear!

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#304

Post by lozaning »

sfifs wrote: post #226
lozaning wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's now possible to reassign the bixby button to something else without rooting the phone.

Oh interesting. How do you do that? I don't see anything obvious in the settings area.

You've gotta make sure that all your native samsung apps are up to date and then you should see the setting: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-remap-the-bixby-...

Rooting will still give you the most functionality, but Samsung has finally at least partially relented.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#305

Post by cryptonector »

flattone wrote: post #119
zanny wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In both the phone and PC space I do not understand the need to do this at all. There is commoditization of the market on the low end, but high end products that compete with iphones and macbooks are definitely not commodity and there is ample differentiation to be had on quality where mindshare can reap substantial margins on a smart investment of good design.

do not understand the not understanding that businesses seem to exist to monetize every possible aspect of their existence.

Any business (individual persons too!) has at least some conflicting goals and trade-offs to make. E.g., profit now, or profit later? The one in this thread is exactly that sort of trade-off: monetize consumer data vs. optimize for reputation.

It's not like reputation has no value. Reputation is an intangible. You'll be able to put a fairly accurate dollar value on reputation after ruining it, but you should be able to estimate it before trying to ruin it.

Problem is, intangibles have an out-of-sight, out-of-mind effect going on: because you don't see them when putting a dollar value on tangible things, you tend to ignore the intangibles.

Companies often find this out the hard way and end up taking tremendous PR damage. Remember United's PR damage when they had to have cops drag a passenger off the plane because they wanted to "bump" him? Yeah. That sort of thing. Or perhaps the 737-MAX saga. Or any number of such events.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#306

Post by tssva »

Razengan wrote: post #195
tssva wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I have a MacBook and Apple won't even let me uninstall the chess program bundled with macOS.

It's barely 5 megabytes.. and it's probably not connecting to anything. The protections for pre-installed apps help to make sure nothing else tampers with them, e.g. injecting some malware, but I'm sure you can remove those protections and reclaim the 5 MB if you really wanted to. https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Se...

Chess was given as an example of the ridiculous situation that not even a game can be removed by default. There are a host of other larger apps I would like to remove such as Home, Maps, News, Books, FaceTime, Messages and Mail. I never use any of them and would prefer they were gone from my computer.

Disabling system integrity protection to uninstall them should not be required and I'm guessing wouldn't be a long term solution anyways because likely they would reappear when upgrading macOS versions. There is also the issue of why does chess need greater protection from being tampered with than say Apple Pages.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#307

Post by tssva »

cryptonector wrote: post #111
tssva wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may come preinstalled but in this case the author wiped the computer, reinstalled Windows and then voluntarily installed the software while visiting the Dell support site checking for updated drivers. It is also able to be uninstalled which the original comment suggested it could not be.

Because the author was doing research? Come on.

According to the article the author wasn't doing research when first downloading and installing the application.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#308

Post by tssva »

carleton wrote: post #232
MagicPropmaker wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly! With Windows you do have choices. I bought a desktop PC from ThinkMate configured exactly as I wanted it with a plain vanilla Windows 10.

As another user said- "It's barely 5 megabytes.. and it's probably not connecting to anything. The protections for pre-installed apps help to make sure nothing else tampers with them, e.g. injecting some malware, but I'm sure you can remove those protections and reclaim the 5 MB if you really wanted to." [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19803067

Chess was given as an example because it is the most ridiculous thing that can't be removed. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19809880 for my full response to the other user.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#309

Post by LeoPanthera »

pjmlp wrote: post #275
LeoPanthera wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works, too. This is partly why the iPhone was so popular, at first. It's been so long now that probably everyone has forgotten, but before the iPhone, essentially every smartphone on the market was fully loaded with trialware, crapware, and often had hardware features locked out by software so that you could pay extra to unlock them. I remember one particular phone that had four user-configurable hardware buttons,…

So the bundled FB app on iPhone is a trick my mind is playing on me?

...I mean, it might be, because iPhones don't come bundled with the Facebook app.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#310

Post by pjmlp »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #309
pjmlp wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the bundled FB app on iPhone is a trick my mind is playing on me?

...I mean, it might be, because iPhones don't come bundled with the Facebook app.

The ones provided by Vodafone on my previous company contract sure do.
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