Windows 10

[KNakamura]

So back to that same old - disable updates totally. It's the ONLY way to protect yourself against MS. Wait until W11 is released and has 1 Service Pack. Then install W10 and the last SP for it - all offline (pull the cable out - don't trust MS not to be hiding connections from you). Disable updates. Install a Firewall which warns you about absolutely every tiny attempt to use the network and make sure you block everything which pops up. Register windows so you never have to do it again (allow that, obviously), pull the plug out and continue deleting / blocking until you're happy. Grin like the cheshire cat while giving MS the finger.

What's so annoying is that we should not have to fight so hard to prevent these companies doing this shit in the first place. But at least we can, until there are no PCs and everything is a phone/tablet which makes life so much more difficult for us. Then just throw the lot in the trash and go live on a beach somewhere, but be careful - they'll be trying to shove a GPS tracker up your arse if you do...

 

Uninstall windows. No, seriously, if you're going to make yourself zombie bot bait, uninstall windows, go to linux, and be goddamn stupid over there. OS's will phone home naturally, and if you're THAT distrustful of Microsoft, do not use their products.

 

Also: Alternity is incorrect. I've ran several updates, and my privacy settings are precisely what I set them to. (Mostly off.)

[alt3rn1ty]

Alternity is incorrect. I've ran several updates, and my privacy settings are precisely what I set them to. (Mostly off.)

 

Sounds like your "mostly off" method is infallible empirical evidence, and proof positive that I am incorrect. 

[KNakamura]

It's as true as your empirical evidence. You cited *nothing* so I don't feel the need to cite anything either. 

[alt3rn1ty]

Please dont feel obliged to grow up either.

 

You are obviously here to insult people again, calling Screwball stupid, not like its the first time you have insulted someone in this topic, and now you are looking for a rise out of me aswell ..

 

Have you nothing better to go and play with ?

[Mator]

Any regular Linux distro will do. A lot of games now run under Linux either natively or in WINE. You can always keep Win 7 in a separate partition and just use it for playing games. That's what I do. Once the support ends for it (in 2020?) you can just keep the internet shut off in it. That way you can keep using it for as long as you like.

I wasn't sure if I should upgrade my win 7 to Win 10. After reading this thread I've made up my mind to keep Win 7 for games and use Linux for everything else.  Over the past few weeks I've been trying out my games in Linux to see what works and I've been quite surprised with what I've been able to get running.

 

^this.  In my next computer build I'll be running (most likely) Linux Mint as my main OS, with a Windows 7 partition and virtualization through VirtualBox, plus wine.

[InsanePlumber]

Great toy for those who are not slaves to the default settings in windows.

 

This tweaker is just 495 KB in size and includes over 200 tweaks. Like its predecessors, UWT 4.0 sports a clean minimalistic UI, offering links in the left panel, and tabs on the top, in some categories. Hover over any tweak and helpful tool tips will tell you what the tweak does.

Tweaker 4 for Windows 10

List of Tweaks

 

Tweaker 2.2 for windows 7 Users.

 

Tweaker 3 windows 8/8.1 Users.

[alt3rn1ty]

Great toy for those who are not slaves to the default settings in windows.

 

Tweaker 4 for Windows 10

List of Tweaks

 

Tweaker 2.2 for windows 7 Users.

 

Tweaker 3 windows 8/8.1 Users.

 

That UWT4 for Win 10 is rather good = Added to the OP

[alt3rn1ty]

Anyone staying on Win 7 or 8 .. watch out for some sneaky updates which have probably already happened :

 

Windows 10 data gathering features are being backported to older OS

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2978239/windows/microsoft-slips-user-tracking-tools-into-windows-7-8-amidst-windows-10-privacy-storm.html

 

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/microsoft-accused-of-adding-spy-features-to-windows-7-8/

 

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/213183-once-more-with-tracking-microsoft-backports-privacy-invading-windows-10-features-to-windows-7-8

 

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/28/microsoft-intensifies-data-collection-on-windows-7-and-8-systems/

 

 

Those tweakers Insaneplumber linked .. Watch out for updates to Win 7 and 8 versions to disable Telemetry etc

[lmstearn]

Those tweakers Insaneplumber linked .. Watch out for updates to Win 7 and 8 versions to disable Telemetry etc

Hey that's a bit of a worry. Don't we, the users determine the Policies on our machines? At least there should be a warning by the installing routines of such tinkering.

[Arthmoor]

Good lord. Doubling down on Evil Microsoft from the 1990s. If this is the new CEO's doing, he needs to be fired and QUICK.

[InsanePlumber]

Win 10 Downloads Itself Whether You Want It To Or Not

[Arthmoor]

If you neuter the GWX folder as outlined in previous posts in this thread, that won't happen. Along with disabling the associated KB updates. No hidden folder full of junk for me

[alt3rn1ty]

If you neuter the GWX folder as outlined in previous posts in this thread, that won't happen. Along with disabling the associated KB updates. No hidden folder full of junk for me

 

Post #44, what I like to call the null device file

[InsanePlumber]

Curious whip on Windows 10

 

Features:

• Remove all spyware modules
• Remove spying apps
• Add to hosts spying domains!

 

Destroy Windows 10 Spying on GitHub

[VaultDuke]

I'm making the switch on an old win 7 laptop. Keep your fingers crossed people.

Aside from the settings under privacy and the update distribution setting, is there anything else to look out for? Anything the program from the first post does additionally?

[alt3rn1ty]

Im sticking with the one Insaneplumber linked in Post #183

 

UWT4 for Win 10 - Nothing against the other projects, but I just like the pedigree on that one backed up with a community scrutinizing its operation on a regular basis.

 

It does also have a few more options to choose than the others I have tried. Explore all the tabs ( But also be careful with some options which are not in the Privacy section, its a powerful tweaking tool and some changes may not be desireable if you do not initially understand what they will do )

 

Edit : I found you also have to click apply for every tab that you are on where changes have been made, you cant just browse through all tabs and click Apply at the end expecting them all to be applied at once.

[VaultDuke]

Well, the update from win 7 went surprisingly smooth. It restored anything, from my login to my desktop background and my taskbar. All games and programs also seem to be runming fine. No performamce boost though neither ingame nor during boot. And that's with a hybrid SSHD with 4 Gig of SSD, that win 10 should make better use of than 7. But on the other hand even my gpu drivers and the install of dx9 (required for emb, smaa and the like) survived.

answay, a few casualties are to report:

I uninstalled a few open source programs (imagej and sagetumbs) whose win 10 compatibility isn't finishes yet.

My Office installation required reactivation, which was easily done, once i activated my universities vpn.

2 drivers do no longer work propperly. My laptop special key (those FN functions) don't work aside from a few. Surprisingly they workmduring boot (e.g. turning keyboard illumination on and off) but not once i login and give the full driver some seconds to load. Also my bluetooth does weird things. It does not let me deactivate it, neither does it find any devices. I'll try to dig a bit deeper with it today. Edit: working again. The trick was to uninstall all related,toshiba software and drivers,,and just let win fetch some from it's database. Btw: i don't recommemd toshiba as a laptop brand)

Not sure all my blueray player software is still working propperly under win 10, since microsoft dropped some codecs. I'll have to check those still.

Virus scanner had to be reinstalled.

Nvidia settings had been erased.

Fallout 3 had to rescan its graphics settings.

Also, a loss of privacy ;P (but actually i wanted to update mainly for the synching features to my other devices).

But all in all i'm super surprised, that all the rest did make the transition. Though from the looks of it, i can not yet recommend the update for anyone with a win 8.1 tablet (x86) or detachable. The tablet mode still needs some improvements in terms of touch usability.

[alt3rn1ty]

2 drivers do no longer work properly. My laptop special key (those FN functions) don't work aside from a few. Surprisingly they work during boot (e.g. turning keyboard illumination on and off) but not once i login and give the full driver some seconds to load. Also my bluetooth does weird things. 

 

Yep I think thats the only down side to the upgrade ( apart from all the privacy crap ), especially on laptops, any custom drivers and custom background services mostly need a re-install with updates. That will probably come as a shock to some people who have never looked into their machines support web site

 

If your laptop manufacturer has already put your laptop model on the scrapheap as far as updates to all the original software are concerned, fingers crossed the generic stuff works instead.

 

My multi-device printer was the awkward thing to accommodate for all of our machines with Win 10, and NVidia drivers needed the new rushed out the door version at the time I upgraded, but they all worked okay'ish, and now work fine on all machines.

 

If my experience is anything to go by you will probably 'feel' improvements with an SSD after a weeks worth of settling in.

Also after a fair few updates from Microsoft windows, the OS will seem a little less clunky ( or maybe in my case that was because I adopted it early, and they have since then ironed out the kinks with the initial install a bit more before you even let it happen ).

Those metro apps and new settings look still feel a little rough around the edges to me occasionally.

 

I really hate the explorer ( and many other ) windows new habit of magnetically sticking to the top or bottom edge of windows, if they are over a certain size, and not appearing with the dimensions / position you last gave them. So annoying even after all this time of using it I cant get used to it. Its nearly as bad as UAC used to be when that was first introduced on the aggravate the user scale, unfortunately with no setting to change the behaviour.

 

If anyone finds a setting for changing that behaviour please let us know.

[VaultDuke]

yep, it's definitely still rough around the edges and has nowhere near the polish and internal consistency in look and habit than either win 7 or win 8.1. But it also comes with a few good tweaks here and there and works as advertised. with a bit more polish (i have high hopes for next patch day, and especially the patch that comes around the time windows 10 mobile hits) it will be a good OS.

[Elgar]

It's fun to see how tastes and preferences differ from one person to another. I find Windows 10 much more polished and consistent than Windows 7, and I suffer when I have to use a Windows 7 PC at work ! In addition to my personal PC I'm also using Windows 10 on my Surface 3 tablet, and I find it more pleasant to use than 8.1.

[alt3rn1ty]

yeah opinions are a bit different within my household too

 

I like the new copy / move dialogue, it has gained a progress / performance graph ( instead of the old highlighted green progress bar, you now see a realtime performance graph of the copy / move updating in real time )

( If you havent seen it before do a google images search for "windows 10 copy progress graph" )

 

I have on two occasions though seen this ( and the copy or move process ) get .. erm, stuck. And the only solution was to cancel the copy / move.

 

That little quirk doesn't inspire confidence when it happens, especially when it concerned only a small file or two - I would not like to experience that on copying a hard drive partitions worth of files across devices

I tend now to not use move files, just copy and then delete the source afterwards when confident the files copied, Win 7 was very dependable with copy and move operations, but Win 10 has undermined that confidence greatly.

 

Edit : Again, do a google search for "windows 10 stuck copying files" ( web search this time ) .. It aint just me

[VaultDuke]

i managed to crash the settings window a few times when deleting old saved WLAN connections. not the strongest move to boost confidence.

 

in terms of polish, i was referring to a unified look. in win 7, all menus were at the top left of an application, in win 8.1 you swiped from the right/moved the mouse to the right and down. in win 10 i can currently not yet determine, what is the difference between a "burger menu" setting, a "three dots" setting and a "screw-nut" setting, and i see applications sport various of those in different places. especially bad with "old" win 8 apps, that already had a burger menu on the top left and now get a second burger menu even further top left from windows. then there is the fact that you need to move the mouse quite a bit to disable sound when clicking on the little speaker symbol in the lower right corner. in win 7 and 8 you only needed to move the mouse upwards, which you were already doing while the slider popped up. in win 10, you need to move upwards and left or right, which feels harder to do intuitively, until the slider is fully loaded, so currently, there is an additional second wait time for me. (lucky, i got my laptop keys back, eh? )

 

win 8.1 was also much better usable in tablet mode. the IE app mode is stellar, but sadly missing in win 10. with all the talk about the new and hip "continuum", i was a bit baffled to see that edge looks the same in desktop and tablet mode, and is generally bad in tablet mode. The best part of Win 8.1 was hands down that fact that the address bar in the tablet IE was at the bottom, where my fingers are. why has no other browser done this yet? why have they abandoned this? why does the new tablet mode no longer let my close applications by swiping downward over the screen (another great win 8 move imho)?

i was hoping tablet mode would be closer to the win 8 feel. i like Win 10 as an improved desktop "hub" compared to win 7/8 though. i hope the tablet mode will be improved in the future (again, hoping that this may come with the introduction of continuum, which imho would be wise to introduce with win 10 mobile in december)

 

i found the full screen all apps list/window in win 8.1 much faster to navigate than the long list on win 7 and 10, but i guess i will be able to get used to the swiping features and the quick letter selection.

 

at the end of the day, the new notification center, the prominent search function and the new "unified" start menu (7 + 8.1 in one) is a big move forward, and i think that is the big strength of win 10. the central control elements are massively improved and refined, in terms of where they are and what is now just a button press away. there is just more in quicker reach than before, and having the apps available on the desktop is a good move forward (i like Mail, Calendar and Contacts as apps way more than i liked outlook. outlook is too heavy and doesn't update in the background for starters)

[Arthmoor]

Windows 7 Warriors, 3 new nasties to block:

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2952664- Windows 10 sneaky stuff.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583- More of the same.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083710- Update that doesn't actually say what it's for. Therefore assumed bad/useless.

[alt3rn1ty]

Got the first two already in the OP from a while back,

 

2952664

3035583

 

So your machine probably got pushed again to try and get the automation of the upgrade in place

 

The third one you listed could that not just be a security update to the way windows updates work ?

I havent seen that one mentioned anywhere related to Win 10 update before.

But by the amount of files it updates, thats one heck of an overhaul of WU

MS are certainly being short on information regarding that update.

[Arthmoor]

Oh, well in that case it means Microsoft is now actively unhiding updates in Windows 7. Those 2 should have been hidden.

 

The 3rd one I posted comes up in several Google hits as being related to Windows 10 update stuff under the hood so I decided to block that one too. Since the associate article literally says nothing about what it's for, it's automatically untrusted in my book regardless.