Windows 7 - RIP

As you surely can imagine recently I have quite often gotten the question  

What should I get if I buy a new computer?

Here is verbatim the reply that I sent to all such requests if the question came via email:

Thanks for asking.

It may be best to look for a new computer during special sales events.

For computers I recommend to look at Newegg.com or Amazon.com. Both definitely have a MUCH larger selection than any brick-and-mortar store can possibly offer.

Any new computer IMHO should go through my Set-Up job to be safe and protected on the Internet and to be free of unwanted, unneeded and sometimes outright malicious programs.

Here are some of the IMHO important technical details to currently look for:

• 8GB or more of RAM (main memory)
  
  
• Windows 10 Professional or Windows 10 Home
  (Pro is in some technical settings more flexible than Home)
  
• Buy only a computer(s) with a SSD! SSDs are MUCH faster than HDDs!
  Storage capacity of the SSD is okay if it is about three to four times of the amount of space currently used on your C: drive or larger.
  
  Classic HDDs are in many cheap offers but it's clearly an outdated technology.

Currently I have the best experiences with computers from Dell and/or HP. And here are two warnings on what NOT to do:

• If you are looking at new machines do NOT buy any additional warranties or similar!
  
• Do NOT buy Microsoft Office!
  MS sells you a subscription with yearly payments; good for MS but bad for you!

Feel free to contact me directly with any questions you may have.

The UGLY underbelly of the End User License Agreement

All of us - well, almost all of us have been conditioned to accept the so called "End User License Agreement" (EULA) for next to everything. Sometimes we agree unknowingly just by turning a new gadget ON; my classical example for that is Windows 10 with it's 12,000 words long EULA.

EVERY app on our phones,
EVERY program ever installed on our computers,
EVERY so called "smart" or "connected" TV in our living rooms,
EVERY supposedly "intelligent" device that recognizes "Google Hello" or is "Alexa enabled",
EVERY of the many useful things that require an Internet connection and an app on a smart phone
and many more things too numerous to list here can be used to spy on us.

Hard to believe? Please listen to this 12 minutes long TED talk, maybe it will change your view.

Stay safe!

URGENT ALERT - Please read!

Updated 2018-12-17 to include ALL current versions of MS Windows!

Users of ALL versions of Windows:

Please DO NOT manually check for Updates any more, now and in the future!
Insufficiently or untested updates have very recently caused many home computer systems to break and/or show erratic behavior or they have led to file loss!

Microsoft has quietly modified the technology hidden behind Windows Update. The gist of it is that when you check manually for Updates your Windows operating system will be given all available but eventually insufficiently tested updates! 

As a way of avoiding that to occur Microsoft has begun to check much more thoroughly if every given update is fully compatible with the individual computer's hardware. They give that update to a given computer only when the previously mentioned checks and tests end positively.

But all this happens only in the course of the regular, automatic update process! 

If you manually 'check for updates' your computer will get ALL available updates without these compatibility tests!

You can find an interesting article about this general problem here at HowToGeek.com. This article talks about all major operating systems including iOS and Android for cell phones. But you will find Windows 10 and Microsoft mentioned many times. Just overlook everything that does not pertain to Windows. Windows 8 and 7 are now treated the same way!

So again and to summarize:

Please DO NOT manually check for Updates any more,  now and in the future!

Stay safe!

"Force Feeding" Windows 10

"Force Feeding" are the only words adequate to describe what Microsoft is doing right now! My email inbox is overflowing with complaints and cries for help. Microsoft seems to be really desperate, it must not be going as well as they had hoped.

After the upgrade to Windows 10 (not update) you have 4 weeks to revert to your previous system. This process has so far worked without a hitch for those of my customers who reverted.

1. Click the Start button
2. Click on Settings (on a few systems it is PC Settings)
3. Click on Update & security
4. In the left side bar click on Recovery
5. Find the entry Go back to Windows x (x is 7 or 8 depending on what your previous system was) and click on it

Depending on the speed of your computer it will work for anything between 30 and 90 minutes. After you have reverted to your previous version of Windows Microsoft will again begin to permanently nag you to upgrade to Win 10. This nagging can be reliably turned off!

Microsoft has since about November 2015 been busy to put some of the telemetry of Windows 10 into Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems; this happens in addition to forcing upgrades to Windows 10. That means that Win 7 and 8 systems now contain some of what I call Windows 10 spying on me/us and IMHO that should to be turned off!!

My recommendation is to turn all this junk off and luckily since about February 2016 I know of a dependable piece of free software that allows everybody to do just that on their systems whether it is a Windows 7, 8 or 10 computer!. See this article for more details.


If after the upgrade any icons or programs are missing or if you rather have me install SD Anti Beacon I can do all that via remote support. For remote support please call one of the coming Monday through Thursday evenings between 6PM and 8PM. If I am already at home I want to connect remotely to your computer. If I can not answer on your first attempt please assume that I am already helping somebody else and keep trying every 10 or 15 minutes.

If I have set up or worked on your computer during the last three years you should be set for remote support; if you have an icon labeled either "Teamviewer ..."  or "EJH Remote Support" then all is prepared. If you do not find either of these icons please call anyway, I can walk you on the phone thru the steps to get the remote support program going. Alternatively you can prepare for remote support as described here.

Please have your computer up and running; if your computer is a notebook (or laptop) computer then please have the power supply connected and plugged into a working power outlet.

Stay safe!

Windows 10 and Microsoft's Attitude to Security and Prvacy

On Slate I found this very revealing article about Windows 10 and it's implications for privacy and security. I highly recommend you read it BEFORE you jump on the Windows 10 band wagon.

No, I take back my "... highly recommend you read ...". If you are seriously thinking about Windows 10 and/or want to be fully informed before you take the plunge (or not) THE ARTICLE IS A MUST READ!

As I said in an earlier article by now we can do something about all that, reliably and free of charge. Well, maybe not totally free if you want me to set it up and demonstrate it's correct usage to you.

Stay safe!

Spybot Anti Beacon - A Must Have?

If privacy of your data and files is to you as important as it is for me than the answer to the title question on Windows 7 and above is YES, clear and loud.

Let me explain: SpyBot Anti Beacon is a relatively new utility that can reliably turn off most of Windows 10's unwelcome behavior. Many others besides myself think of as being spied at. Whether Micro$oft calls this telemetry or whatever, I feel spied at.

If you want to know why I call Windows 10 a masterpiece of data collection and judge it's telemetry as for me unwanted spying please read this article originally written in October 2012 after Windows 8 was available. And I repeated the IMHO main reason in the context of Windows 10 quite recently.

If you want to try SB Anti Beacon (SBAB) please keep in mind this is professionally made but it is a FREE program; free as in free beer, that is you do not have to pay for it. This has consequences; not everything is as automatic as you might have come to expect from good programs. The main program window has four tabs for four different functions or info screens. I recommend to read the Frequently Asked Questions in tab #4 but will shortly describe what I do in tabs #1 and #2 (usage instructions).

In tab #1 I want ALL the entries to be green, that is all the spying turned off. So I just click the Immunize button at the bottom of the page.

In tab #2 I want as well all entries to be turned off but the page is differently organized. For every entry I have to click on the Apply button immediately above the entry. And especially on laptops and other (mainly smaller) wide screens I have to realize that in tab #2 the program windows has a scroll bar! I need to use it to uncover the last entry or entries on that tab's page.

Here are some visual examples from the only Windows 10 system I currently have available which happens to be a laptop:

Tab #1 BEFORE and AFTER "Immunize"

Tab #2 BEFORE and AFTER "Apply"

Please see that the scroll bar in the pictures of tab #2 is in a different positions.

Just an hour ago I made an interesting observation: After installing updates from Windows Update I checked the Win 7 system I write this on and there was one new telemetry entry in each of the tabs. That shows that Micro$oft at least for now will keep bringing telemetry from Windows 10 back to Windows 7 and 8!

That is why I say to you:  If you are willing to use SpyBot's Anti Beacon and to take on this additional check after EVERY update from Micro$oft (whether the updates were automatically applied or you checked and installed them manually) then you can rest fairly assured that Micro$oft will not collect data from your computer and about your computing habits.

As usual, stay safe.

Wrong, Every Step She Took Wrong

Original text of email I got from a long ago customer:

Recently our Microsoft Essentials "little house"  has been erratic in its stability.  We have done full scans and quick scans with it staying green for a short period of time changing to orange and then eventually to red.

I googled this question and received an answer that Microsoft is not updating this since last year - so the definitions are not really up to date.  Is this true?
It was suggested that I get AVG Anti Virus which is Free.  I did do this and it  appears to be doing the job with the green circles, etc. 

On that same page there is a area where I can check to "fix performance".  It is a PC Analyzer - After doing this, the report was: many errors in various areas and they said it could be fixed for fee/one time and/or I could get a program for 1 year.  I would not need one for one year but I would like take advantage of the free analyzing of this performance.  Do you think I should do this and is AVG a good solution if indeed Microsoft has stopped updating?

... [I] realize we will have to update to windows 10 when they force us to do so.  If we do not do this will they charge us?

 And here is the original text of my reply, please judge for yourself:

Thanks for asking. If you remember I do not express myself politically correct so please brace yourself for some rough truths:

• The "little house" you refer to represents Microsoft Security Essentials which was your anti virus program until you installed AVG.
• ANY anomaly with your anti virus should have rang a LOUD alarm bell.
• If it has not updated since last year your computer potentially was not protected against common viruses.
• AVG is a program that I urge my customers to stay away from!
• It installs really crappy programs, that is how AVG (the company) makes money nowadays.
• PC Analyzer IMHO is known malware.
• I bet you that almost ALL the errors that you get shown are false messages meant to scare you into installing even more useless programs.
• Keep going with these silly suggestions and soon your computer will likely not be usable any longer.
• No, DO NOT take "advantage" of the "free" solution that you mention, it will make it only worse.

I believe I still could fix the situation and hopefully repair your computer. I guarantee that the free solution will not work to your satisfaction. 

The question about "they" ( I assume you mean Microsoft?) charging you only Microsoft can answer and they, MS, has been asked the same thing thousands of times; so far MS has only replied with marketing blah-blah; we just do not know. My personal suspicion is yes, no later than January 2020 when in MS's view Windows 7 comes to the end of it's supported lifetime.

In case my replies offended you I apologize, that was and is not my intention at all.

For my readers here: No further comment from my side; please come to your own conclusion and PLEASE, don't make similar or the same mistakes.

Stay safe.
 

Windows 10 and why I change my recommendation

On 1/17/2014 I wrote on this blog a rant titled: Microsoft Accounts and Windows 8 – A Rant

For Windows 10 this article is just as valid today. I want to quote the main point (emphasis added):

Apple has made an incredible fortune "having access" to all this information about their customers and as I see it Microsoft wants to bake themselves a similar pie, not only get a slice [of this pie of advertisement money]. Once I realized this my reaction was "Big Brother. . . ".

IMHO Windows 10 is a masterpiece of a copy of that pie, even with some improvements; it's main objective is to gather information about and from the user; why else would Microsoft assign a unique "advertising ID" to  every email address that unsuspecting users give them?

As often in this life where there is light there is shadow and vice versa. And besides the "shadow" that I call outright spying there is light:

Technically Windows 10 is a really good operating system.

The main complaints can by now be alleviated with third party programs.

• The data reporting can reliably be turned off (no more spying!) while the helpful reporting about the inner workings of the system (or failures to do so) remains active.
   
• The main menu can look and feel just like your old version of Windows; it can look and
  work just like you were used to from Windows Vista or Windows 7.  

If you want to upgrade to Windows 10, go ahead!
 
But be warned: When you upgrade to Windows 10 IMHO you have to install and correctly configure the program that turns Windows 10's reporting features OFF! And do NOT give Microsoft your email address, it will be treated as a Microsoft account!

Again, if privacy is of any concern to you then DO NOT give Microsoft your email address! That includes that you should NOT use Skype! We have a free alternatives to Skype that does not require to give your email address to Microsoft.

Remember what I wrote in Windows 10 Settings - What I Recommend (August 8th. 2015):

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!

Should you feel asked a bit too much with all this please contact me by email, I can help. An email address to contact me is in non-computer readable format at the end of the Welcome paragraph in the left side bar of my blog.

And if you upgraded and don't like what you see you have four weeks to 30 days (conflicting info from MS!) to revert back to what you had before.

Stay safe.

Windows 10 Now FORCED On Your Computer

You have good reasons to stay with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1? If the world were like Microsoft wants it to be you are out of luck, plain and simple.

Since this month Microsoft, true to what they announced in November last year, will only give you a choice to "Upgrade Now" or to "Upgrade later".

There is NO WAY to decline the upgrade, neither only for now or for the future as well. Now, I admit, the latter was wishful thinking anyway.

Since most of my customers call themselves computer illiterate I recommend to stay away from registry editing or similar DIY solutions.

The only comprehensive, user friendly and dependable solution I know of is GWX Control Panel.
Warning: Do NOT click on the title "GWX Control Panel", the name of this program; this would start the download immediately!

Instead I recommend you read through the description and then read the detailed description of how to use the program and of what the program does. Read this even if you don't fully understand all technical details; it will give you a comprehensive overview and make using the program far easier.

After reading these descriptions you should go back to the first page I linked you to above. To the right of the description of GWX Control Panel are two download links, one for an Installer version and one for the Stand-alone version. I prefer the Stand-alone version because installer programs IMHO introduce an unnecessary additional layer of complexity.

I leave it up to you to decide which version you want to download and use.

Stay safe.

How to avoid Windows 10

Are you tired of Microsoft's permanent nagging to upgrade to Windows 10?

Do you want to avoid the computer world's biggest and most openly staged attempt to get the greatest data collection system world-wide set up?

Then here is THE solution - as far as I know and as of January 3rd 2016.

Download GWX Control Panel from this web page. I recommend to use the portable version called "Stand-alone" and please read the program author's user guide.

You best start GWX Control Panel [GWXcpl] in administrator mode, that means you right click on the program file and the click on "Run as administrator".

The GWXcpl windows looks like similar to this:

I can not show you an EXACT picture because I have no computer that is still unprotected from Windows 10 upgrades.

 On your computer the upper part will have different contents; I believe it is very self explanatory.

In the lower part you will probably see instead of *n these text entries:

*1  Disable 'Get Windows 10 App' ...
*2  Delete Windows 10 Download Folders
*3  Prevent Automatic Windows 10 Upgrades
*4  Delete Windows 10 Programs

  I recommend to at least click on Disable "Get Windows 10 App' ..." and on "Prevent Automatic Windows 10 Upgrades". Whether you want to delete Windows 10 files and/or folders is up to you; on older computers with less than 320GB large disk drives it seems to be a good idea to free up the space. And don't forget to reboot when you are asked to even if it means that you may have to run GWXcpl more than once.

Feel free to ask any uestions you might have, preferably by email.

Stay safe.

Early End to Windows 7/8?

According to this Neowin article Microsoft is telling manufacturers to stop producing computers with Windows 7 and/or Windows 8 much earlier than usually.

Another heavy handed Microsoft tactic. Draw your own conclusions.

2015-11-05 WBKV Talking Points

Microsoft admits Windows 10 spying can not be stopped!
Reference here.

Microsoft will push Windows 10 onto computers with Windows 7 and 8.1.
The fun begins in January 2016 (or earlier if MS thinks it feasible).
Reference here.


We need to begin to talk publicly about alternatives to MS Windows! Yes, there are alternatives.
I promise an article about the alternative(s) in the near future.
And yes, in future this blog will talk about other computer operating systems but Windows.

What is the one, big major difference between Windows and the alternatives?
     Technically: Repositories are centrally managed.
     Economically: The alternatives are free; free as in no money.

Is Microsoft Pushing Windows 10?

Let me, at least by name, introduce Susan Bradley to you. The lady is a very experienced and knowledgeable system administrator in the world of Microsoft networks and she is a Microsoft MVP. She is very active on widely read internet forums and generally well respected.

Ms. Bradley started a petition on Change.org asking Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella to reconsider the Windows 10 policy of forcing updates of the Windows operating system on user's machines.

Today Ms. Bradley posted  an update to her petition that you can find here.

I have little doubt that Microsoft could and will attempt something like that. I would consider this to be an intrusion into my personal and private sphere.
MS seems to think they own my computer! Have they gone nuts?

It is time that we begin to talk publicly about alternatives to MS Windows!

And before you ask, yes, there are alternatives. I do not want to discuss these here because this blog is named "Computer Trouble..." and that means trouble with MS Windows computers and I will keep it that way.

10 Reasons Against Win 10 - 10 Reasons For Win 10 (plus comments)

Besides my massive reservations towards Windows 10, voiced here and here, I want to give my readers the pro and con disregarding that personal opinion.
 

The following are excerpts from an Infoworld paper published under the title “Everything you need to know about Windows 10”.

Iinfoworld has these 10 reservations against Windows 10:

1. Substantial privacy concerns regarding Windows 10. The trade-offs between privacy and what the system “needs to know” can not be simply decided as a black and white decision.
   The same is true for Windows 10's automatically attached Advertising ID.
    
2. OneDrive works different from Windows 7 and Windows 8. VERY confusing!
    
3. Media Center and DVD player missing.
    
4. No useful “universal apps”. The Windows Store is a wasteland.
    
5. Mail program and Edge browser are test versions at best. Maturing is badly needed.
    
6. Tablet Mode partially useless (MS Office is better on an iPad than on a Win 10 tablet).
    
7. The installer may determine that they (MS) are ot quite ready for your machine yet.
   Beg your pardon? Microsoft themselves seem to know that the upgrade isn't as easy peasy
   as they want us to believe!
    
8. Forced updates have already caused quite a few problems.
    
9. “If it ain't broke don't fix it”. If you are using Windows 7 properly updated and have switched away from Internet Explorer than there is hardly a reason to risk the upgrade.
    
10. WAY TOO MANY open questions!

And Infoworld has 10 reasons for an upgrade; I have taken the liberty to comment in the second line:

1. Windows 10 is the way into the future (of Windows!)
   … the way into the Brave New World of Big Brother Microsoft.
    
2. The new Start Menu is a big plus for keyboard and mouse users of Windows 8/8.1
   if they had never heard of Classic Shell (and here) which creates a menu identical to Win 7.
    
3. DirectX 12 is a BIG plus for hard core gamers
   hard core gamers know what they want and where to get it.
    
4. Some security improvements already in Win 10 and some announced
   the old game of a sparrow in the hand and a dove on the tree.
    
5. Notification Center similar to smart phones.
   those who ignore notifications now have a central place where they can do their ignoring.
    
6. Actually usable on touch screen units like tablets
   partially usable that is; MS Office still is better on the iPad!
    
7. Multiple desktops built-in
   power users always knew how to get that, even free as in no money.
    
8. Cortana may some day actually help you
   but when? And what does it in the meantime? Listening, recording and building a case?
    
9. Edge browser is getting better
   meaning now it is not (yet) good enough for prime time.
    
10. Navigation is easier for mouse users
    than in Win 8/8.1; only for those who could not help themselves so far.

I can only repeat what I have said many times before:

Get ALL the information, combine that with  your individual situation and then make an educated decision.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.  

 For whatever reason the darned TOC (Table Of Contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry. And I just don't have the time to hunt down another solution; if you know one please tell me in a comment. Thank you.
 

 

Why Not Windows 10?

I have been asked one too many times why I oppose Windows 10. Here is some more fodder for thought.

Besides all eventual arguments for or against technical merit here are only three facts that everybody can check out in Microsoft's Terms of Use for Windows 10. Every single install of Windows 10 must agree to Microsoft's Terms And Conditions for use of Windows 10. This is (supposedly) a 12,000 word document. Everybody I know, me included, just clicks on Agree - and Microsoft knows that.


We usually allow Windows 10 to install with Express Settings (the default that most people choose!); in the Terms of Use we can find that we agree among others goodies to:

1. Windows 10 is logging all keystrokes
    
2. Windows 10 is always listening to the microphone
    
3. Microsoft will turn over all your data and info about you to authorities

Re. point #1: 

Programs that log our keystrokes on the functional level of the operating system (or even below that) have always been called Key Loggers and always have by all security systems been flagged as viruses and removed.

Just think of every keystroke being logged and stored at MS (Microsoft); what about your username(s) and password(s)? What about account details like credit card or bank or investment account numbers?

Re. point #2:

Many desktop computers and virtually all laptop computers have a microphone. Windows 10 will record and store on MS's servers every spoken word that reaches the microphone while the computer is running. Big Brother is always listening!

Windows 10 will (at least try to) make an automatic backup copy of every file you create on your computer and store that copy on MS's servers. What about confidentiality requirements? No lawyer, doctor, real estate agent, CPA or PI can ever use Windows 10; actually everybody who by law is required to respect and guarantee any degree of confidentiality should never use Windows 10. 

Re. point #3:

That sounds kind of "normal" and okay - on the surface at least.

BUT: MS does not say that they require a court order or warrant for that.
Any "authority" can request and will receive all your files and all information about you that MS has gathered.

With no court order at all!

Then there is yet another side to the whole thing that, for me at least, is even more scary; although I have to warn you, it will take 30 minutes away from your busy day to listen to this "video" - which actually is a recorded audio interview.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

For whatever reason the darned TOC (Table Of Contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry. And I just don't have the time to hunt down another solution; if you know one please tell me in a comment. Thank you.

Windows 10 - Better Instructions to Make it "SAFE"

After writing the previous long, long article about how to make Windows 10 running without the glaring privacy issues I discovered on a forum a link to a MUCH better organized article with visual examples for everything from installation to changing the relevant settings.

You find it here: https://fix10.isleaked.com/

I thank the author(s) of this web page; GREAT work!


As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.
   

Windows 10 Settings - What I Recommend

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:

1. Right click on the Start button
2. Open Control Panel
3. Click Settings
4. 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:

1. Right click on the Start button
2. Open Control Panel
3. Click Settings
4. Click Accounts
5. Click Sync your settings 
6. 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:

1. Right click on the Start button
2. Open Control Panel
3. Click Default Programs
4. Click on "Set your default programs"
5. You should see a list of installed programs
6. Find and highlight the entry for Firefox
7. Click on  "Set this program as default" (my cursor points to it)
8. 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:

1. Right click on the Start button
2. Open Control Panel
3. Click System
4. In the left sidebar click System protection
5. Highlight your system disk C:
6. 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:

1. Right click on the Start button
2. Open Control Panel
3. Click Settings
4. Click Network & Internet
5. Click Wi-Fi.
6. Scroll past your wireless networks and click Manage Wi-Fi settings. 
7. Turn off  Connect to suggested open hotspots and
8. 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:

1. Right click on the Start button
2. Open Control Panel
3. Click Settings
4. Click Update & Security
5. Click windows Update (it is no longer in the Control Panel!)
6. Select Advanced Options
7. Click Choose how updates are delivered
8.  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.

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