Earlier this week several Geek sites parroted an article at MYCE entitled Update for Windows 7 and 8.1 silently installs Windows 10 downloader (nice work there guys!). Although the article did not bash Microsoft, commenters around the web were pissed off. At first I thought these comments might be a little bit of anti-Microsoft hysterics. Still, it made be curious enough to research the issue. Now, I’ve changed my mind…
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Thursday Morning Random Stuff…
Busy, Busy
Windows Updates
Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 all got security updates.
Windows 7 Update history
Windows 8.1 Update history
Windows 10 Update history
I’ve updated my article Remove And Block GWX In Windows 7 to stop the new Windows 7 EOS nagware BS.
Google Chrome 79
Improvements, fixes, 51 security fixes
Download
Download for Android
Adobe Reader Updated
Download | Security Bulletin
VirtualBox 6.1.0
“This is a major update.”
Download | Changelog
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 441.66
Download | Release Notes
Friday Random Stuff…
Remove And Block GWX In Windows 7 UPDATED
A small fix.
AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.10.2 Optional
Support For CoD: Modern Warfare, The Outer Worlds, Chernobylite and a few fixed issues.
Download | Release Notes
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
The FCC is using streaming services as an excuse to raise cable rates
“The rise of streaming services could give cable companies an excuse to raise rates under a Federal Communications Commission order handed down on October 25th. The order, which comes in response to a petition by Charter, finds that AT&T’s TV Now streaming service qualifies as reasonable competition for conventional cable, opening the door to a massive deregulation in monopoly cable markets.”
Comcast Is Lobbying Against Encryption That Could Prevent it From Learning Your Browsing History
“Internet giant Comcast is lobbying U.S. lawmakers against plans to encrypt web traffic that would make it harder for internet service providers (ISPs) to determine your browsing history, according to a lobbying presentation obtained by Motherboard.
The plan, which Google intends to implement soon, would enforce the encryption of DNS data made using Chrome, meaning the sites you visit. Privacy activists have praised Google’s move. But ISPs are pushing back as part of a wider lobbying effort against encrypted DNS, according to the presentation. Technologists and activists say this encryption would make it harder for ISPs to leverage data for things such as targeted advertising, as well as block some forms of censorship by authoritarian regimes.”
Speaking Truth to Power: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft
“The future trajectory of Microsoft depends in large part on Satya’s actual commitment to his publicly professed desire to create a more diverse and humble company. One can make a case, citing the examples above, that Microsoft is making progress. But my former female colleagues who reviewed this document in advance of its publication are unconvinced. ”
Some interesting insights but using the phrase “Speaking Truth to Power” in this manner is an insult to the people and movements who actually have.
“Speaking truth to power is a non-violent political tactic, employed by dissidents against the received wisdom or propaganda of governments they regard as oppressive, authoritarian or an ideocracy. The phrase originated with a Pendle Hill pamphlet Speak Truth to Power: a Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence, published in 1955. Speak Truth To Power is also the title of a global Human Rights initiative under the auspices of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Practitioners who have campaigned for a more just and truthful world have included Vaclav Havel, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Elie Wiesel”
Alzheimer’s drug that failed early tests now dubbed effective, heads to FDA
“Those who received higher doses of aducanumab “experienced significant benefits on measures of cognition and function such as memory, orientation, and language,” the company reported. Those patients also saw benefits in daily activities, such as while they were managing their personal finances, cleaning, doing laundry, shopping, and traveling outside their homes.“
Tuesday Random Stuff…
Windows 10 Updates
Only for builds 1803, 1709, and 1703.
Addresses an issue…
1803 – January 15, 2019—KB4480976 (OS Build 17134.556)
1709 – January 15, 2019—KB4480967 (OS Build 16299.936)
1703 – January 15, 2019—KB4480959 (OS Build 15063.1596)
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 417.71
Includes support for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics cards as well as support for G-SYNC compatible monitors.
Download | Release Notes
Horowitz – I found a Windows 7 PC still infected with GWX (Get Windows 10) software
He found some GWX related tasks going. I double checked all my PC’s. All good but I had been blocking GWX from the start.
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Feds Can’t Force You To Unlock Your iPhone With Finger Or Face, Judge Rules
“If a person cannot be compelled to provide a passcode because it is a testimonial communication, a person cannot be compelled to provide one’s finger, thumb, iris, face, or other biometric feature to unlock that same device,” the judge wrote…The magistrate judge decision could, of course, be overturned by a district court judge, as happened in Illinois in 2017 with a similar ruling. The best advice for anyone concerned about government overreach into their smartphones: Stick to a strong alphanumeric passcode that you won’t be compelled to disclose.
We haven’t heard the last of this. I would imagine it goes the the Supreme Court.
https://www.google.com/search?q=gillette+toxic+masculinity
Related???: Men talk about the things that “suck” about being men : theCHIVE
‘Star Trek’ Boss: Picard Leads “Radically Altered” Life in CBS All Access Series
The Picard series will be the first onscreen Trek story set in the aftermath of that event, which would have altered the balance of power in the galaxy. The destruction of Romulus would also have extra resonance for Picard, who has a long and complicated relationship with the Romulans, the alien race that split from Vulcan society thousands of years ago and founded a separate civilization.
As long as they don’t turn him into a mutineer we’re good.
Too Many Workers Are Trapped By Non-Competes
Why have wages been so slow to rise at a time when demand for workers has pushed the U.S. unemployment rate to its lowest point in nearly half a century? One answer: contracts that tie millions of unspecialized workers to their jobs.
In far too many cases, these so-called noncompetes are an unwarranted restriction on freedom to transact and a drag on growth. If Congress won’t act to narrow their scope, states should take the lead.
U.S. Restaurant Prices Jump the Most Since 2011
It’s getting more expensive to eat out. Full-service restaurants, facing higher labor and food costs, raised prices the most in more than seven years in December…The gap between how much it costs to eat out instead of grocery shopping “has continued to widen pretty aggressively. It’s a problem,” said Michael Halen, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst.
Industry wary of alternatives tries to protect a word: meat
More than four months after Missouri became the first U.S. state to regulate the term “meat” on product labels, Nebraska’s powerful farm groups are pushing for similar protection from veggie burgers, tofu dogs and other items that look and taste like real meat.
Nebraska lawmakers will consider a bill this year defining meat as “any edible portion of any livestock or poultry, carcass, or part thereof” and excluding “lab-grown or insect or plant-based food products.” It would make it a crime to advertise or sell something “as meat that is not derived from poultry or livestock.”
Similar measures aimed at meat alternatives are pending in Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming.
Had me a burger with bacon, cheddar cheese, onions, and jalapenos last night. Animals are delicious.
Wednesday Random Stuff…
I was gonna say something about we made it through mid-week.
Then I thought about hump day.
Then I thought about the hump day camel.
And now I can’t get that stupid camel out of my mind.
You’re welcome.
This one might make you feel better.
Software Releases
Acronis True Image 2018 Update 4 (build 12510)
Rufus 3.1
YUMI 2.0.5.7
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Consumer Group Claims Win10 Problems ‘Widespread’
The 12 year old me wants to say, “No Sh** Sherlock. You’ve just deduced this?”
Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?
Several of the people at Computerworld are rightfully hard on Microsoft. IMHO Microsoft started actively trying to kill off Windows 7 with the GWX fiasco.
Star Trek reboot with Patrick Stewart as Picard tipped at CBS
Yesssssssssss!
Amazon’s Alexa will now butler at Marriott hotels
You put that crap in my room and I will put it in the microwave. On high.
This AI program could beat you in an argument—but it doesn’t know what it’s saying
I would like to put this thing up against some of my old girlfriends. You have to be able to get a word in now and then to win an argument.
Ryanair Wants to Ban Morning Drinking in Airports
Ryanair is an Irish budget airline.
I am 1/4 Irish and lover of Irish beer and whiskey, (see, stereotypes become stereotypes for a reason).
Trying to deny an Irishman a proper pint at any time of day is the most un-Irish thing I’ve ever heard of. Next they’ll be calling for a ban on fighting, football, and having a go at the lasses. Glad my Daideo isn’t around for these shenanigans!
Patch Tuesday Morning
Lots of Windows and other software updates today. Full roundup later once they are all out. Until then…
More Win10 Forced Upgrades
Woody is on the case again:
“For the third time in the past four months, Microsoft ‘accidentally’ upgraded Win10 1703 machines to version 1709 in spite of explicit, correctly applied, deferral settings.”
The constant Win10 shenanigans from GWX until now almost gets me nostalgic for Windows Vista. Almost…
[H]ard On Nvdia
Klye at [H]ardOCP takes Nvidia to task for, let us call it anti-competitive behavior:
“I think it [GPP] is going to greatly, and negatively, impact consumer choice in the AIB and OEM computer market. Consumer choice is going to be decimated. Looking at the program guidelines, I truly think that is what will happen and is where my concern lies.”
TSA Illegal Searches?
The ACLU of Northern California is suing the TSA to get access to info as to why the TSA is searching domestic passengers electronic devices:
“TSA is searching the electronic devices of domestic passengers, but without offering any reason for the search,” Talla added. “We don’t know why the government is singling out some passengers, and we don’t know what exactly TSA is searching on the devices. Our phones and laptops contain very personal information, and the federal government should not be digging through our digital data without a warrant.”
I applaud the ACLU here. Perhaps next they could defend the Oakland Police against the discrimination happening across the bay.
ETC. Other stuff I’ve bookmarked this week.
The ability to feel empathy—or not—is shaped by your genes
Bono’s anti-poverty campaign faces claims of harassment
Mom has nearly all her limbs cut off after docs failed to spot deadly disease
Patch Tuesday
I’m not patching. See the previous post: Patch Tuesday, Part 1 as to why.
Windows 10: February 13, 2018—KB4074588 (OS Build 16299.248)
Warning – Windows 7 Users, KB2952664 Is Back
It has been moved to “Important” again. We Geeks don’t like it because it is telemetry related.
KB2952664 – Compatibility update for keeping Windows up-to-date in Windows 7
In Windows Update you can right-click and hide this.
My script to block this and other sneaky updates: https://www.tweakhound.com/2015/11/01/remove-and-block-gwx-in-windows-7-2/
Microsoft Security Update Summary for February 13, 2018
I post this for your info when Microsoft sends it to me.
[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday
Patch Tuesday
Windows Updates
Updates, Update Rollups…
See:
Microsoft Security Update Summary for June 2017 farther down this post.
June 2017 Security Release
For Win10: 2017-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems (KB4022725)
June 13, 2017—KB4022725 (OS Build 15063.413 and 15063.414)
It should be noted that Windows Telemetry update KB2952664 is back in Optional Updates.
Watch AskWoody for more on this months updates.
Flash Updated
APSB17-17 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download
Latest Video Drivers
AMD Crimson ReLive Edition 17.6.1 (6/8/2017)
Nvidia Ceforce Game Ready Driver 382.53 WHQL (6/9/2017)
Best Of The Rest
CCleaner 5.31
FileZilla 3.26.2
Cleaning Up The Script
In my post Blocking Windows 7 Telemetry I provided a script to remove Windows 7 telemetry updates. This was done in haste from an older script and I have now cleaned it up.
One poster in the AskWoody lounge stated certain updates were no longer there. I asked him to provide some documentation so I could verify his statement and he did not.
So, I had to dig in and find the answer myself. I checked a few of the KB articles for the updates and there weren’t any notices about updates being removed or superseded. That is par for the course for Microsoft.
[Read more…] about Cleaning Up The Script
Blocking Windows 7 Telemetry
In the last few days I’ve seen posts at AskWoody and Ghacks discussing blocking Windows 7 telemetry.
Since this seems to still be an issue I’ve decided to revive my Remove And Block GWX In Windows 7 script.
[Read more…] about Blocking Windows 7 Telemetry