I’ve still got a windows XP computer that I fire up once in a while for the LOLs. it continues to remind me that support ended in 2014, but it keeps working.
I also have a Windows 8.1 tablet that continues to work, and receive Windows Defender updates.
They won’t disable anything, stop spreading FUD, that’s Microsoft’s job.
Microsoft will sell it as a safety thing - your essential stuff is backed up to your Microsoft account, so in the event that your computer is compromised or damaged, you can wipe and start over with your important stuff restored from your Microsoft account.
Which is not a bad idea in itself, but the rest of the data harvesting and telemetry makes it yuck. I use pihole to block access to Microsoft telemetry servers.
What, as a delimiter? Even some FOSS software uses spaces.
You know, if you copied those three lines into a text file, then saved it as bypassnro.cmd, you’ll have solved that problem.
I put this in another thread: It’s not a big deal. They’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script, which is just this:
@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0
You can still use shift-F10 at the same point, type those two lines (not the @ECHO OFF), and it will achieve the same result.
It’s not a big deal. They’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script, which is just this:
@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0
You can still use shift-F10 at the same point, type those two lines (not the @ECHO OFF), and it will achieve the same result.
Well, if I’ve got no way to bypass it (when setting up for customers), I’ll create an account specifically for this purpose.
And proceed to poison the hell out of any data it sends.
Does it still let you sign in locally if you disable network interfaces in BIOS?
Ah yes, that’s a concern - but I have a job in Task Scheduler that re-writes my registry tweaks - mostly changing various tasks back to “disabled”. You can trigger it hourly, or on an event. As soon as a selected event - such as a telemetry switch-on - hits the event log, the “disable” script runs.
There’s other ways, like taking ownership of the executables and changing permissions to lock out the “SYSTEM” account.
And pihole blocks DNS resolution of the telemetry harvesters as well. Windows update won’t touch that. It’s not 100% effective, but I couldn’t be bothered to take it further.
Conchiglie - kon-kill-ee-a (last letter rhymes with ‘hay’)
Little shells, each one a cup for sauce.
Colossus (The Forbin Project)
Audio playback is such a low-demand process, surely a player (e.g.VLC) can spare a thread to line up playback of track 2, a few seconds before track 1 ends? It knows the exact length of the track, why can’t track 2 be initiated when the audio level in track 1 drops to zero (or minus infinity dB) in the last frame?
If you choose “expert install” it asks you if you want automated updates or not.
I tried co-pilot. Once.
I asked it “why does Windows Defender peg my HDD* at 100%”
The reply was “I don’t know, but here are some google searches that might help”
Microsoft’s own co-pilot doesn’t seem to have access to microsoft products, so now I uninstall/deactivate it every opportunity I can.
*yes, a HDD. Not ideal for performance these days, but it’s the last laptop I have with a HDD, and I use it for experiments.
A sequel to Ex Machina - Ava’s experiences in the real world. Caleb has managed to escape, and he’s tracking her.
Ringworld and its sequels The Ringworld Engineers, Ringworld’s Children, and the Ringworld Throne, with some less-dated attitudes. I mean I’m not totally opposed to rishathra as a concept, but just a few tweaks here and there to catch up with modern attitudes.
If money really wasn’t an issue, the entire “Known Space” series. A chance for some really good CGI with Pierson’s Puppeteers, Kzin, and all the specialised post-human races living on the Ringworld. And Thrint, Slavers, Outsiders, and so on.
Then there’s the first-contact “The Mote in God’s Eye” and its sequel “The Mote in Murchison’s Eye” AKA “The Gripping Hand”. Another opportunity for some interesting three-armed CGI aliens.
Oh, and “Footfall” - an alien invasion story. These aliens look somewhat like baby elephants 😲
Some of your data flows through Syncthing servers (but I agree that’s a great product, I use it myself) LibreOffice works for entry-level users, but it does not have the same functionality as MSOffice. And the UI sucks as much as MSOffice.
It’s not difficult to block the mining and telemetry. Pihole, a few registry tweaks, a few scheduled tasks disabled and life goes on.
Folk see nothing wrong with spending hours tuning a Linux distro, but they object to doing the same with Windows?
FWIW I use vanilla Debian for everything other than what I’m required to use Windows for.
One doesn’t need to pay for MS Office. Not home users, anyway.
That’s all well and good, what happens to your kids when they can’t tick the Windows and MSOffice boxes on job applications?
I’m not having a go at you, I’ll assume you’ve taught your kids how to approach the new and unknown in the IT fields, but if they have limited or zero experience with Microsoft products, they’ll be at a disadvantage.