Please
click this link if you are looking for general information on Windows 10.
If you absolutely do not mind to be followed by "
Big Brother" then please do not read the remainder of this article, you are excused and may leave.
By now I have decided to recommend to my customers
NOT to upgrade to Windows 10. There are way too many IMHO serious privacy issues that go along with a so called Microsoft account.
In the following I will give some tips on how to remedy at least some or much of that messy situation. For every instance of something I deem in need of correcting or changing I will preface the paragraph with "
Gripe:".
Because virtually all of my customers work on the desktop and use a mouse and a keyboard
all the following step by step instructions are for desktop mode only.
Immediately after upgrading to Windows 10 your computer will work quite differently than it did before the upgrade.
Gripe:
If you gave the system on first start your email address Microsoft has
created on their servers the storage for an immense wealth of
information about you that Win10 and it's programs will collect from and
about you; and that besides the fact that every email address will have
it's unique "advertisement ID" assigned. Guess what that will be used
for!
If you want to change your inadvertently created Microsoft Account back into a normal, local account then:
- Right click on the Start button
- Open Control Panel
- Click Settings
- Click ====================to be finished
Gripe:
Synchronizing personal settings between various computers could under certain circumstances be a convenience. But some of us
don’t want the same settings on all of our various Win10
computers. Just imagine using Win10 on your “old” keyboard/mouse
computer and on a tablet; ARGGHH!
Plus: My settings are my personal preference and are none of Microsoft's business! Obviously I am way too old for that brave new world where everything is made public! If you are like me here is how to turn synching off:
- Right click on the Start button
- Open Control Panel
- Click Settings
- Click Accounts
- Click Sync your settings
- Turn OFF Sync settings to disable synchronizing
Gripe:
Microsoft Edge, the new web browser, will be the default for all things Internet. You should set that back to Firefox following these steps:
- Right click on the Start button
- Open Control Panel
- Click Default Programs
- Click on "Set your default programs"
- You should see a list of installed programs
- Find and highlight the entry for Firefox
- Click on "Set this program as default" (my cursor points to it)
- Click OK to close the window
Gripe:
System Protection is the Win10 name for the feature that creates
Restore Points. This is turned off after the upgrade on many systems! It is by no means a good backup system but still better than nothing. Here is how to turn it on again:
- Right click on the Start button
- Open Control Panel
- Click System
- In the left sidebar click System protection
- Highlight your system disk C:
- Click Configure (see screen shot)
7. Click on "Turn on system protection" (see screen shot below)
8. Click OK and OK to close all windows
Gripe:
Especially important to users of laptops computers are
Wi-Fi-credentials
A new Win10 feature —
WiFi Sense (online
FAQ)
— has generated more than its share of controversy. Just read what
well renowned security researcher Brian Krebs has has to say about it
in a recent
column.
Simply said WiFi Sense allows
all your Facebook friends,
Outlook and Skype contacts to automatically sign in to your WiFi
router when they are in range; likewise you can use their WiFi network as soon as you are in range of their router. In short, it “blabs” access to
your WiFi network to numbers of people who you might not know well
enough. And that feature is turned ON by default! Here is how to turn
it off:
- Right click on the Start button
- Open Control Panel
- Click Settings
- Click Network &
Internet
- Click Wi-Fi.
- Scroll past your wireless
networks and click Manage Wi-Fi settings.
- Turn off Connect to suggested open hotspots and
- Turn off Connect to networks shared by my contacts.
Gripe:
Simply said,
I hate Cortana,
the so-called “digital
assistant” in Win10.
My wife and my best friend may
know a lot about me that you don't know and likely even don't want to
know. The NSA, Apple and now Microsoft want to know more about every
Apple or Win10 user then we want to know about ourselves.
The End User License Agreement (EULA) for Win10 clearly
states that Cortana has the ability to collect and use various types
of personal information, including your location, calendar data, and
programs (called "apps") you use. Cortana collects information about your choice of
music, alarm settings, what you view and purchase online, your Bing
search history, your use of other Microsoft services, and can even
use the camera and microphone of the computer. In short,
it is ALWAYS
listens when the computer is on. Remember, practically all laptop
computers have a microphone and a camera.
This sort of always on data collection worries me deeply; 1984
anyone?
Here
is a decent PC World article explaining how to disable Cortana. And don't forget additionally and separately to disable Cortana in the new Edge browser, even
if you don't use it!
Remember, Big Brother is always listening, always watching.
Gripe:
Since Microsoft announced that the upgrade to Windows 10 will be
free, I have been waiting for the catch. And, surprise, it's very first installment comes with
the ubiquitous game of
Solitaire.This popular app is included with the new OS, but it includes
advertising. To remove the ads, you have to pay a monthly
subscription, as reported in a Business Insider
story.
Currently I do not know of a hack to get around this.
Just do not go into the trap of recurring payments. There are many free alternatives on the internet.
Gripe:
Along with forced updates, Win10 also includes — again, on by
default — the option to share patches with other computers on your
local network or the Internet; this is called
peer-to-peer updating.
You might want to disable update sharing.
There are serious concerns
that attackers might find a way to inject malicious code into the
process; many internet connections are metered and with the
almost
3GB download size of Win10 you can easily run over your limit and
that costs dearly.
You want to disable peer-to-peer updating obtain patches only
directly from Microsoft? Here is how:
- Right click on the Start button
- Open Control Panel
- Click Settings
- Click Update & Security
- Click windows Update (it is no longer in the Control Panel!)
- Select Advanced Options
- Click Choose how updates are delivered
- Turn Update Sharing OFF
So much for today.
This article is meant to be continued as more details become available.
As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.
Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.
