Windows10 worries...

[skp51443]

Sure there are lots of options and folks should look into all of them to see what works best for them. A tablet is great if you have one or the money to buy one, the DoD Linux is great if you are short of cash to buy another toy or just don't want another device to clutter up your space.

 

-----------

 

Back to stuff directly related to Windows 10 and not work-arounds for the problems.

 

I spent a few hours today reading stuff I had hoped to never have to look at and finally decided Windows 10's security and monitoring stuff is too much for me to tolerate. I uninstalled the Windows 10 update, rebooted and hid it so I won't accidentally install it again. That was a simple point and click operation once I found good instructions so for now I'm staying on Windows 7 and letting others have the adventure of the Windows 10 upgrade.

 

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/how-stop-windows-10-upgrade-downloading-your-system

 

Pretty much just find KB3035583 , uninstall, reboot and hide update KB3035583 when it shows up again and you won't get it.

 

I have no idea how this will impact you if you want to get 10 later, too tired of reading and just don't care at this point. Call me when support ends for Windows 7... :-)

[Biker56]

 

Call me when support ends for Windows 7... :-)

That will be in 2020

[Jack Mayer]

Personally I would not move from W7 to W10. But I have W8.1 and think that W10 may be an improvement. We will see.

 

With all the applications people use these days - and that I use as well - I have no issue with privacy. That disappeared YEARS ago if you are using Windows or even Apple. I can turn off the settings I wish to.

[justRich]

My solution is to stay with my Windows 7 . . . I doubt very seriously that this "free" upgrade isn't going to cost something sooner or later. Chuck

Precisely. When Microsoft moves their operating system to cloud computing then they can say "gottcha!"

And it's easy for them to give your computer an "update" which bogs it down enough to make you upgrade.

[justRich]

. . . I uninstalled the Windows 10 update, rebooted and hid it so I won't accidentally install it again. That was a simple point and click operation once I found good instructions so for now I'm staying on Windows 7 and letting others have the adventure of the Windows 10 upgrade.

. . .

Pretty much just find KB3035583 , uninstall, reboot and hide update KB3035583 when it shows up again and you won't get it.

 

I have no idea how this will impact you if you want to get 10 later, too tired of reading and just don't care at this point. Call me when support ends for Windows 7... :-)

Got it. To uninstall KB3035583. . .

Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Installed Updates

In the upper right corner search box where it says "Search installed updates" . . .type KB3035583

Then click the found update to remove it.

[RV_]

I guess few read the excellent article ed ed linked to by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols over on ZDNet. He is one of the most cynical of MS over there but has written some great articles on Windows tablets since he got his HP x2 and whose review prompted me to get one too. It was a terrific transitional system but truly obsolete with the advent of the quad core Atom SoCs.

 

If you'd like a good unbiased view of Windows 10 security issues scroll back up and give it a read.

 

Brian,

I hope you will post your daily progress here in switching over to Linux. I asked Kirk to post his switchover to Apple OSX but haven't seen any after action reports yet. I don't think he did switch but maybe. It might be helpful to others and give the folks here an idea of the online Linux support available. Here is an article about best Linux Distro for new users. The article is a year old, but the points it makes, make sense to my Windows oriented perspective. However, the meat is in the weeds. Read at least a few pages of the comments after reading the article: http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/775873-the-best-linux-distribution-for-new-users

 

You might even graduate to a Linux user who can code and prefers 1980s text based UIs. If you read the comments in the preceding link far enough you will see the prevailing attitude Linux users display over which version they use and the always present elephant in the room is the implication that "I code, you don't." To me, only valid if applying for a coding or IT job. Not OS selection

 

Everyone won't like Linux.

 

I have no issue with MS today. But will be, as I said I would long before 10 debuted, waiting a few months to let all the dust settle. I like 8.1, and currently have two Windows 7 laptops here in our RV, along with our two 8.1 tablets and main desktops stored on the top bunk. (The two pups have the bottom bunk) one of the Win 7 laptops is going to be my test base for Windows 10 on a non touch machine. My ASUS T-200 will be the Windows 10 test hybrid with touch. Both much later. I do anticipate many staying behind with 7 and 8.1. my spousal unit uses a Windows 7 desktop and a Win 8.1 tablet. She is equally at home with both but has me to ask if an update or patch is genuine. So before I move her, and our Quicken to 10, I need to see what hiccups Intuit has in store this time. (Yes I know about the free open source financial programs, no thanks. For those unfamiliar here a reading list: http://www.bing.com/search?q=open+source+accounting+software&form=IE10TR&src=IE10TR&pc=ASJB

 

I don't see a mass exodus to Linux or OSX anytime soon as a result of 10 and security concerns.

 

I sold my quad core 3.1gHz i5 Lenovo desktop with 8 GBs of RAM, and our last Atom Z-2760 dual core Lenovo Lynx tablet and will be buying a native Windows 10 machine with those proceeds, most likely a Windows Surface 3 with the 128GB SSD, and 4 GB of RAM for $599.99 direct from MS at the store. I anticipate a sale soon, then the Surface 4 Pro superseding the current Surface 3 Pro. Then, as Windows 10 starts to react to the market, a Surface 4 (non Pro) coming out. Hopefully by Black Friday/Cyber Monday this year I'll see a choice of x7-Z8700 series Atom processor/SoC from other vendors to choose from.

 

Lots of options, and more questions that will be made clear as the dust begins to settle. Linux and Windows 10 will still be options. But I'll know which I want long before I'd have to pay retail.

 

There is an OS for every taste.

 

Jack, I'm in full agreement with you. Despite security questions I doubt MS will, be modifying their EULA to include reading my emails and listening in on my voice calls.

 

Brian, if you are indeed worried about your privacy and tracking try this. Go here to the tracking protection lists: http://www.iegallery.com/en-us/trackingprotectionlists you'll see stop Google tracking. Now open your Internet Explorer click on the gear in the upper right for settings, click on manage add-ons, then click on the active link to find tracking lists. Install Stop Google then try surfing. Bet you didn't know how despite asking for no tracking your privacy online is suspect. Don't worry you can just go back and delete that tracking protection list.

 

If you haven't yet used Linux for more than a disk load and full commitment to it on one of your machines I strongly recommend you do. Then you'll know too.

 

I suggest you wait Brian. I could buy now but the time is after a few months. I might change my mind and stay with what I've got. Or not. Ask me in six months.

 

 

[BrianT]

Hi Derek,

 

Thanks for the post. It does take me quite a while to get things done. I'm working on cleaning out my old Dell laptop (still has XP on it) so that I can have a machine that I can do a fresh Linux install on. I don't need the machine for anything else and if I should happen to kill it completetly, it won't be a huge loss. I will try to remember to post, maybe in a new thread, as I explore Linux, whether I like it or hate it or get frustrated with it or settle in and feel right at home.

 

Actually, one of the problems I've had with Win8 and Win8.1 is that Internet Explorer just refuses to work. I've spent way too many hours trying to find solutions online but finally gave up and have been using Firefox. Can't say I'm a real Firefox fan but at least it does work.

 

My wife is still using Win7 and she's a happy camper. "Happy wife, happy life." So I'm sure I won't be completely out of the Windows loop. I'll try to keep an open mind about Windows going forward and listen as the experiences with it are played out online, as I'm sure they will be. For me, though, as far as Win10, it's a "not now".

 

Again, thanks all for the posts! I appreciate the discussion.

[budeneighe]

I see a lot of talk about security but as the most secure so far in the windows dynasty, that should be less of an issue than 8.1 or 7.

 

What I do see a lot of is talk about PRIVACY concerns and I cannot tell how much of that is parroted from fear mongering sites and how much is from a personal, well-performed due diligence on the part of the forum posters.

 

I really wonder how many folks actually visualize themselves as truly "disconnected" or untethered users and the futures that await? For me, I see us all on a ship. Some choose to travel on the promenade deck and some in steerage (but I often wonder why?). Trying to travel the vast expanses of the expanding internet alone because of a fear of rubbing elbows or possibly catching a bug with others will eventually end in much greater peril with far less protection and likelihood of rescue. Visualize being in a lifeboat. If one at least stays with the ship far more resources and options are available than if one just cuts it loose and watches the ship shrink into the distance while just trying to keep the dinghy's motor running with one hand while reading navigation charts with the other.

 

Context is everything and everything helps form context. To live without context is to try to control a dream in REM sleep. It will be what it becomes with no useful ability to steer it away from nightmares. At least think seriously about being towed on a long rope, for Pete's sake!

[BrianT]

Budd, I'm not quite getting what you're trying to say. I do kinda get the difference between "security" and "privacy". But ya kinda lost me on the rest of it.

 

Not trying to be obnoxious, honest, but feel like I missed something in the translation, maybe?

[budeneighe]

I understand.. I think. I was trying to give more of a visual image of what happens when one chooses to stay locked into what one knows without considering a much bigger picture before committing to it. No one has a guarantee about risks but everyone can work towards something different. The important thing is to do it for the sake of improvement or opportunity and not for the sake of simple fears.

 

How much fear is involved in choices to avoid? Is it really personal fear or fear that has been sold through mass media?

 

How realistic is that fear in any specific case including your own? Is "not going there" going to make the things feared less likely to happen in your case?

 

This is why it is important to understand the difference between security and privacy. privacy only exists for a hermit. The more one must be a part of a community the less privacy one can afford to have and still benefit from the community.

 

I have had bogus charges run up on a credit card 1 time in 60 years. I was prepared for that because I chose to use American Express Business cards. When it did happen in 2013 to the tune of $3300, A call to Amex got all the charges expunged at no cost and a replacement card overnighted to me in Fallon, NV. I chose Amex because I knew they would be there like this if I ever needed them. The rest of my online life dating back to mid 1960s has been without any such problems. This one happened outside of the online world because of procedures required by a merchant to order emergency replacement wheel rims. It had nothing to do with my OS, programs or online connections.

 

I could not avoid the accident that caused the bent wheels and I could not avoid replacing them but I can make choices today that will improve my options in the future, no matter how far away a need may arise.... or not. I just don't want to allow my choices today to be based on other people's fears without doing my own due-diligence. If I am reading you correctly, this thread is part of your due diligence and will stand as a step for many other people with this same quandary. My hope is that they get a well rounded contextual grasp of this from its content.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Part of what Budd was saying is there a prevalence of fear mongering in the publishing community as that justifies articles, and pay. There isn't much market for "things are fine."

[Ray,IN]

At least we have a year from release date to make a decision, and receive the "free" version of 10.

 

UPDATE: Stan, I just completed deleting KB3035583, rebooted, it's gone. However, when I went to "check for updates", immediately I saw the large notification to download Windows 10 now. I hid the KB3035583 update and the install windows 10 updates. The small white windows logo is gone from my task bar. Now to do the same on my laptop. Thanks for the information and supporting links.

[BrianT]

Thanks, Budd, that really did help me to understand a little better where you were coming from.

 

In truth, I am thinking about more than just what OS I might end up using. I have no desire to become Old Order Amish but there are times when I struggle with just how much technology I want to be intertwined with in my every day life. Win10 is just one more step, maybe not even that big of a step, but still feels like it may be taking me farther into that cyberconnection than I think I may want to go.

 

While I don't exactly want to walk away from all things electronic, I do feel like I need to take a step back and do some personal re-evaluation. Thats me.

 

It's kind of like the fulltime RV lifestyle. I've been fulltime for 10 years the end of this month. And while I've had some good times in the RV, it's time for me to settle down again into a more conventional lifestyle. Someone just getting started in fulltiming is going to have a totally different perspective, and that's not wrong.

 

How a person uses a computer might have a lot to do with whether an upgrade to Win10 is a good thing or maybe not such a good thing. Guess I'm rambling, now. Anyway, thanks for the post.

[Jack Mayer]

My plan for W10 is to upgrade my Asus T100 touch first and see how things go. I'm waiting on that for the dust to somewhat settle. I might force that update in a week. If it craps out I can restore it. I just ordered a new Western Digital 2 TB USB 3.0 portable drive to put all these backups on and to keep things isolated. I could put them on my NAS, but the portable drive is easier to deal with for me. Derek - I no longer use my hard drive carousels.....too inconvenient, but they are there if needed.

 

My new Toshiba I just got (i7, 8 gb RAM, etc) is my primary machine and it is running 8.1 just fine. It is "scheduled" for a W10 upgrade, but that will likely take a while to happen. I'll just let it happen and restore it if it does not work out. Since this machine is so new, I do not anticipate driver issues (he says, naively). If all that goes well I'll upgrade Danielle's 13" ultra touch to W10. I think the interface will be better for her. (Derek, I never could bring myself to get here a Chromebook to use - although she does not need more. A minimal Windows machine like the HP Stream - a Cloud oriented computer - would be much better and around the same price. At least it has additional capabilities if needed).

 

As to Linux....well, I simply have no desire for a "new experience". My W experience is not that bad, despite some of the issues I have had. And I KNOW that all the applications I need are easily available and I can move many of them forward.

[Medico]

Fortunately most of us posting in the computers forum are not neophytes with computers. We do know how to backup and image our systems. For those that are not familiar with imaging, do a Google search and start reading.

 

Basically an Image is an exact "photo" if you will of your system when the image was made stored as a single compressed file to the media of your choice. You have to generally use special imaging S/W, even the Win 7 app, to create an image and then to restore that image if something goes wrong. It generally takes less than a half hour to create or restore an image. Back in the days when I was playing with lots of different S/W and changes, several times I hosed my system to the point it would not boot. I simple inserted my imaging app rescue disk and booted to it. I connected my Ext. HD and restored my system from my latest image, and voila in less than a half an hour I was back in business. Cloning is similar to imaging in that an exact copy of your system is put on a backup media. The problem is that the clone is the same size, and you cannot store more than one clone on that media. Imaging compresses your system into a single file that is stored on your chosen system. You can store as many different images on the media as will fit.

 

For example on my 1TB Ext HD I have the following images stored and can restore any of them:

For my PC - Final Win 7 Image, final Win 8.1 Image and initial Win 10 Image

For DW PC - Final Win 7 Image, final Win 8.1 Image and initial Win 10 Image

For daughter's PC - Initial Win 8.1 Image (This was my DW's old PC)

For granddaughter's PC - Initial Win 8.1 Image (This was my old PC)

 

As you can see I have 8 different images stored and I am using less than 1/2 the total space on the Ext. HD.

 

One thing I do is to store the Ext. HD and the Rescue media (In my case a bootable Flash Drive) separate from my coach.

[BrianT]

(...snip...)

As to Linux....well, I simply have no desire for a "new experience". My W experience is not that bad, despite some of the issues I have had. And I KNOW that all the applications I need are easily available and I can move many of them forward.

 

I can appreciate that.

 

Your comments and Medico's following (about making an image / backup) got me to thinking about my own Windows experience. While I can't call it "horrible", I don't have any particular attachment to it either. I have a pretty short list of apps that I use most of which are quite generic, and most of which are quite available as usable online versions if I want them. (A scientific calculator is an example.)

 

While there are some files, mostly PDF, audio and video files that are being preserved from the present Win8.1 comupter, the actual Windows part of it really doesn't mean enough to me to want to preserve. Maybe that alters my perceptions considerably. (?)

 

That said, I hope none of you feel like I'm saying the Windows experience is not good for anyone else. I know many really like it, and that's not wrong. I'm just looking down a road less traveled and so far (with some limited play time on a CD boot of OpenSuse13.1), it's looking like a road I want to continue on. It's not Windows, but I like the scenery so far.

[Ray,IN]

Brian T, here is another website expressing reservations about Win 10: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/