Is this Windows 10 situation true?

[Al Launier]

I just received this email from a retired friend of mine. It states ".......Hope all is well you guys. Are you familiar with computer websites which offer a periodic cleaning / maintenance of your computer? With Windows 10 you get all kinds of Help?? Are they safe? -- they do have the capability of taking over the curser if you want. Technicion Inc. is the site and they work out of Canada. They claim to be the number one company who provide this service for Windows 10. Mind you, I didn't ask for this. They say that Microsoft uses them? I called the outfit and after the normal 15 minute wait, I got a person who spoke English. (must be legitimate, because 10-20 minutes is about right for all businesses these days). Anyway these are the kind of issues that they say I have with my computer. 32 SYSTEM RELATED ERRORS, 172 COM&ACTIVE X ERRORS, 349 USER RELATED ERRORS, AND A FEW STARTUP & UNINSTALL ERRORS. Sounds like a lot of errors slowing down my computer? and how the hell do they know my errors? One thing I don't like is when I boot up each AM a screen comes up listing all my errors and it is often a little hard to get out of their site -- sometimes to point of re-starting. Can you tell me the risk of using one of these sites? If you study their website, the service is "kind of free", but they make you agree to let them release info for advertising purposes. YUK! Is there a way to cleanup my own problems? Mind you, I didn't know I had problems before they got into my network. I'm finding that Windows 10 gives you too much for the average person to work around. Apps out the ying yang Do you do anything particular to keep your computer healthy and not overloaded with junk?"

Have anu of you W10 users experienced anything like this? I'm nearing the time when I plan on upgrading from W8.1 to W10, but if any of this is true I may have to reconsider.

Yout thoughts please.
Thank you.

[Jim Koepke]

I get these guys calling me, AND I AM ON A MAC!!!

Macintosh has enough of these phonies trying to get access to my machine with Mac targeted ads. From the user group conversations I have read, it is best to stay away from these predators.

When they call, I always ask how they know my machine is having a problem. Then I ask why they were spying on me. Then I tell them I do not do business with criminals. When they protest I tell them I am on the national do not call listing. If they are calling me, they must be a criminal.

It is kind of refreshing to get them to hang up before I hang up.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

Scam. Tell them to get a real job. Then hang up on them.

Mike

[They sent that message with your friend's email address (spoofing). I'm pretty sure he didn't send it.]

[Mark Taylor2]

It's definitely a con. These guys are in a call center in India or Pakistan. Usually they call you and immediately say they are from Microsoft Support and that you have viruses. They will remote into your PC and leave assorted bad things and screw up settings and then hit your credit card for their "service". MS doesn't call anyone about viruses. Ever. Nor do they email.

I'm not sure who to report this site to, but it's a fraud as are the others.

[Myk Rian]

I have a few seniors that I help with their problems. I'm ALWAYS un-installing that crap from their machines.
It isn't just Win 10, it's all versions.

[Lee Schierer]

When they call me I tell them I have a Commodore 64, some of them don't know what that is.

[Brian Tymchak]

I just received this email from a retired friend of mine.

Sounds like maybe your retired friend well fell for the scam and while they were in his/her machine, they swiped the address book.

[Kev Williams]

The other day this pig 8.1 I'm using started up its usual afternoon works-for-2-seconds-doesn't-work-for-5-seconds routine. I was pretty sure it was Avast running a virus scan or something. Some of my other XP computers have been doing the same thing, but to a much lesser extent. So I uninstalled Avast and put Defender back in service.

Wow, what a difference! Nooo, not in a good way-- the computer lost at least half it's already glacial speed. Every single click of the mouse goes like click, blue-circle-thing for 2 seconds, action. Every single time! Is this stupid computer looking for a virus every time the mouse is used? That's how it's acting... Then Sunday, this thing becomes nearly unusable. So I start shutting down programs, and open the task manager. My CPU is running between 90 and 100% constantly, even after every program (but task manager) is shut down. Task manager is eating only 2.3%...

So I took some screenshots...

First one is CPU usage, 4 minutes worth, with NOTHING running but Task Manager--
333264

Then I got a bright idea, and shut down internet access...CPU usage plummets...
333266

4 minutes later---
333267

Now, I don't care what anyone says, my conspiracy theory is that this is Microsoft deliberately bombing my computer
in order for me to go "gee, my Windows 8.1 sure is getting slow, maybe I should go ahead and put Windows 10 on it".

NOT ON YOUR *&^%$! LIFE, BILL. I will never ever ever use anything newer than Win7 as long as I live. I don't have to,
and I won't. Every Win10 computer- and 8.1 it seems- is like a bank vault with no door, wide open to allow
Bill to do whatever Bill wants with it. Sorry Bill, you're not welcome here. I don't appreciate that you've taken it upon
yourself with every new version of Windows to eliminate more and more functions that are necessary for the equipment that I-
and MANY OTHERS use. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend good money buying new equipment I don't need just because
your fancy new Windows 10 (and 8, and 7) won't run my old equipment.

Guess it's clear how I feel about Windows 10... ;)

And the "missing door" on everyone's computer is just making the pickin's ripe for all these scammers...

[Dan Hintz]

Now, I don't care what anyone says, my conspiracy theory is that this is Microsoft deliberately bombing my computer
in order for me to go "gee, my Windows 8.1 sure is getting slow, maybe I should go ahead and put Windows 10 on it".

Two heavily more likely things are happening: 1) You're downloading/installing Windows updates in the background (temporary, but can last for hours on poorly-admin'ed systems), or 2) You have malware on your system that is acting as a bot. I give 50/50 chances for either the way things are these days.

Shutting off the internet connection and seeing CPU usage drop like a rock is a big, red pointer to this issue. Been there, done that hundreds of times. MS is not quite that evil... yet.

Oh, BTW... Task Manager is never the only thing running on your system. After the three finger salute, check under the Processes tab and click the "Show processes from all users" button. I expect 50 or so processes to be running.

[Al Launier]

I still have W8.1, but get reminders daily on my screen to update to the free W10 OS. I have held off doing so waiting for most of the changes, i.e. updates, to be included into the download. I like W8.1. Having gone directly to W8.1 from Windows Vista Home Premium it was an easy transition. Frankly, I really didn’t experience all the woes others conveyed when I went to W8.1. It does everything I want to do with my PC. Now, if W10 is supposed to be a combo of W7 & W8.1 what’s my gain? I can only think that in time W8.1 won’t be supported by MS, but by then there most likely will be another version, or two, available. So, if the problems noted are due to various scams, as they most likely are, why should I go through this with W10?
Secondly, if these scams are specifically targeting both W10 & W8.1, then I suspect that my AV protection software (Kaspersky Total Security) is doing its job. Perhaps it would work as well for W10 as it has for W8.1, but impossible to predict. Another reason to stand down from installing W10. Plus, with hacking being so pervasive these days, especially at the federal levels, I think it would be more appropriate for software manufacturers to trace the source of these AV intruders & have them immediately prosecuted with criminal penalties – without the typical delays.

Anyway, I still have until July, 2016 to update to W10 if I should decide to do so.

[Curt Harms]

2) You have malware on your system that is acting as a bot.

That was my first thought.

As I understand it, staying away from Windows 10 will not prevent personal data being sent to Microsoft (and who knows who else). The same monitoring software on Windows 10 is supposedly being installed on Win 7 & 8.1 as an update. There is a way to avoid the monitoring and malware mess. It doesn't come from Microsoft or Apple or any 'security software' vendor.

[paul cottingham]

Here I am. I will say what needs to be said.

Linux.

That is all.

(before anyone gets all wound up at me, I am just poking the bear. I can't help myself.)

[Wade Lippman]

Aside from the standard antivirus programs, I use Glary Utilities to clean my register and such. There are a number of similar programs.

Your friend might have a bad problem. Since he obviously isn't computer literate, he might want to take it somewhere fast.

[paul cottingham]

If even half of the FOD about Windows 10 and its invasiveness is true, I would never install it. I was horrified to hear that 7 installs most of the invasive stuff as part of some of the security updates. Very bad stuff.

[Curt Harms]

If even half of the FOD about Windows 10 and its invasiveness is true, I would never install it. I was horrified to hear that 7 installs most of the invasive stuff as part of some of the security updates. Very bad stuff.

From whose point of view? ;) They can monitor every keystroke I make in Windows. They won't learn much.

[Alan Rutherford]

....Linux. ....

Agreed. It's no harder to get into Linux than into a new version of Windows although it helps if you have some help sifting through the many choices. I've been using Linux for years but I still get the "I'm from Microsoft" calls. I once had a great conversation with one of those guys in German - a language neither one of us speaks.

Whether it's about my computer, my credit card or anything else, I trust almost no one who calls to tell me about a problem I didn't know I had.

[paul cottingham]

From whose point of view? ;) They can monitor every keystroke I make in Windows. They won't learn much.

To me, that isn't the point. The point lies in the invasion of privacy inherent in that. Just like most people "have nothing to hide" but still have curtains on their windows, and frosted glass on their bathroom windows, I think people have an inherent "right" to privacy, and more to the point, an inherent need for it.

[paul cottingham]

Agreed. It's no harder to get into Linux than into a new version of Windows although it helps if you have some help sifting through the many choices. I've been using Linux for years but I still get the "I'm from Microsoft" calls. I once had a great conversation with one of those guys in German - a language neither one of us speaks.

Whether it's about my computer, my credit card or anything else, I trust almost no one who calls to tell me about a problem I didn't know I had.

i get them too. All we run here is Mac (FreeBSD) and Linux (everything else) and I still get those calls, and they insist that our *nix computers are infested too.

[lee cox]

I had Windows 7 on my laptop and I ran well. Then some where a long the line rogue software was installed on my laptop to issue coupons out into the internet. My laptop started running hot with the CPU running about 100% all the time. The other thing was my upload speed was always maxed out on my internet connection. I tried a lot of different software removable virus and malware programs to fix this with no luck. I guess running this software was not totally illegal.

I decided it was time to upgrade my laptop since my other one was old any way. I bought the laptop upgraded the wireless chip with the latest Intel wireless chip so I could run 5GHz since I switched my house network to only 5GHz wireless. I also installed Windows 10 on the new laptop. With Windows 10 I have not had any bad problems. I am glade Microsoft is watching over their OS trying to keep it safe. Who can better keep it safe than the people who write the code.

[Brian Henderson]

Who can better keep it safe than the people who write the code.

Depends on who you want to keep it safe from.

[paul cottingham]

I had Windows 7 on my laptop and I ran well. Then some where a long the line rogue software was installed on my laptop to issue coupons out into the internet. My laptop started running hot with the CPU running about 100% all the time. The other thing was my upload speed was always maxed out on my internet connection. I tried a lot of different software removable virus and malware programs to fix this with no luck. I guess running this software was not totally illegal.

I decided it was time to upgrade my laptop since my other one was old any way. I bought the laptop upgraded the wireless chip with the latest Intel wireless chip so I could run 5GHz since I switched my house network to only 5GHz wireless. I also installed Windows 10 on the new laptop. With Windows 10 I have not had any bad problems. I am glade Microsoft is watching over their OS trying to keep it safe. Who can better keep it safe than the people who write the code.

I must disagree. Open source is inherently safer than closed source, many extra eyes on source code keeps it more honest, and exposes vulnerabilities much faster. Patches appear more quickly as well.

people may argue that open source is more vulnerable as the bad guys can find the holes as well.this may be true, but it is also true that it is much easier to fix and spot those holes for reasons I outlined above.

ms has a history of sitting on vulnerabilities for a long time without acting; (Apple does as well, at least with the closed off GUI part of OSX) this is not anywhere near as common in open source communities. There is often "friendly" competition that keeps code clean.

of course, this doesn't adress the inherent weaknesses in the windows security model, which is a massive mess. Running almost everything as a super priveleged user as Windows does is just begging for all the problems windows has with security.

[Curt Harms]

ms has a history of sitting on vulnerabilities for a long time without acting

<Tinfoil hat on>
I've wondered if that was an secret part of their settlement with the DOJ re the Monopoly trial in the '90s. Let U.S. intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies know about exploits and don't patch them until others find and publicize them. In return Microsoft's punishment after being found guilty would be a relative slap on the wrist.
<Tinfoil hat off>

[paul cottingham]

<Tinfoil hat on>
I've wondered if that was an secret part of their settlement with the DOJ re the Monopoly trial in the '90s. Let U.S. intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies know about exploits and don't patch them until others find and publicize them. In return Microsoft's punishment after being found guilty would be a relative slap on the wrist.
<Tinfoil hat off>

<sotto voce> "intriguing" </sotto voce> :-)

[Dick Latshaw]

<Tinfoil hat on>
I've wondered if that was an secret part of their settlement with the DOJ re the Monopoly trial in the '90s. Let U.S. intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies know about exploits and don't patch them until others find and publicize them. In return Microsoft's punishment after being found guilty would be a relative slap on the wrist.
<Tinfoil hat off>

Sir, that black helicopter that you ordered, will arrive shortly. :D

[paul cottingham]

Sir, that black helicopter that you ordered, will arrive shortly. :D

Sweet candy, baby.

[Pat Barry]

Drink the Win 10 kool-aid. It actually tastes pretty good. I for one have had 0 issues on it, first with an upgrade to an older laptop from Win 8 which we all agree was terrible, then on a new laptop with Win 10 from the factory. I wouldn't want to go back to good ol Win 7 - I'm not sure it was all that good anyway. I won't be going to Linux - that's the devil I don't know - rather stick with the devil I do know.

[Curt Harms]

Drink the Win 10 kool-aid. It actually tastes pretty good. I for one have had 0 issues on it, first with an upgrade to an older laptop from Win 8 which we all agree was terrible, then on a new laptop with Win 10 from the factory. I wouldn't want to go back to good ol Win 7 - I'm not sure it was all that good anyway. I won't be going to Linux - that's the devil I don't know - rather stick with the devil I do know.

The useful thing about live DVD/USB is that you're not doing anything to your existing machine. Create a live USB, use the 'boot from a different device' key (F12 seems popular though it varies by manufacturer) and tinker if you're so inclined. Shut down, remove the DVD/USB drive, reboot and everything is exactly as it was. You might find that what you thought was the devil is more like Boo Radley from "To kill a Mockingbird".

[tom coleman]

I had the same problem last week only it was windows 7.........i thought i was being contacted by microsoft and gave technician access to my computer......lots of flashing lights and scrolling gibberish..........then the punchline........you have a corrupted network which we can fix for $250.........called my son a computer scientist.........he said scam.......anti virius sw costs less than $50..........i upgraded to windows 10....so far no problem

[Chuck Wintle]

If even half of the FOD about Windows 10 and its invasiveness is true, I would never install it. I was horrified to hear that 7 installs most of the invasive stuff as part of some of the security updates. Very bad stuff.

MS is desperate to get users to move to windows 10 because when I hide the updates associated with Windows 10 they just come back in the next round of updates. I switched it to "never check for updates" so I have more control. Some one sais that MS is not evil....yet but they want more and more control of your computer it seems.

[Al Launier]

Can one get the W10 upgrade on a CD rather than download it?

[Larry Browning]

Well actually it won't fit on a CD, so no. But it can be put on a DVD disc.
A quick search revealed this link where you can download the ISO image and then burn it to a disc.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

However I think you may be asking about ordering a physical disc from Microsoft because you may have a slow or unreliable internet connection. My quick search did not find that, but I must say that if you do not have a good internet connection, you might want to skip the upgrade until you have a good connection. Windows 10 is going to want to keep itself updated via the internet and it probably will not work well without it.

[Curt Harms]

Well actually it won't fit on a CD, so no. But it can be put on a DVD disc.
A quick search revealed this link where you can download the ISO image and then burn it to a disc.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

However I think you may be asking about ordering a physical disc from Microsoft because you may have a slow or unreliable internet connection. My quick search did not find that, but I must say that if you do not have a good internet connection, you might want to skip the upgrade until you have a good connection. Windows 10 is going to want to keep itself updated via the internet and it probably will not work well without it.

Boy, you're not kidding about that one. If you google "Windows 10 iso" you can find a legit download from Microsoft, it's 3 GB+ so dial-up probably wouldn't cut it. I imagine an in-place upgrade would have to download a similar amount. I don't know if a DVD can be used to upgrade an existing install, I've never tried it. If you're upgrading/replacing an existing Windows install, you'll need the same type. If your existing install is 32 bit home premium, you'll need 32 bit Windows 10 home in order for it to activate.

[Larry Browning]

Boy, you're not kidding about that one. If you google "Windows 10 iso" you can find a legit download from Microsoft, it's 3 GB+ so dial-up probably wouldn't cut it. I imagine an in-place upgrade would have to download a similar amount. I don't know if a DVD can be used to upgrade an existing install, I've never tried it. If you're upgrading/replacing an existing Windows install, you'll need the same type. If your existing install is 32 bit home premium, you'll need 32 bit Windows 10 home in order for it to activate.

Actually this is what I did. The upgrade option that shows up on Win7 and 8 will simply upgrade the OS leaving all programs and apps in place. I wanted to do a clean install leaving only the data. You have to download the upgrade to a USB stick or ISO image and follow a special procedure to do that. It is really a pretty painless process but it still requires you to download from MS. So if you have a slow internet connection, it's going to be a problem.

[Al Launier]

Good advice Laryy, thank you.