Windows 8 hassles - hidden data leaks and unwanted updates, etc.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Windows 8 is a problem to tame, aside from the 'playschool' interface. While it does offer a high degree of control to the user, it is always trying to do something in the background that you are barely aware of, and that something could be either an annoyance or downright unwanted (e.g. unwanted updates, reporting information back to to microsoft , etc.)

In my case, I noticed, using a data transfer rate Reporting Tool , that there was always data being uploaded (or downloaded) to somewhere on the internet, even when I thought nothing was happening.
Given that I have a super-tight data limit on my internet service, this "data leak to unknown destinations" is a major problem.

I use a good freeware firewall called "Privatefirewall 7" that gives me some indicator of background processes that I was not aware of, and I was able to use this tool to block a few programs that were sending or receiving unwanted data in the background.

Another way that I was able to find programs running in the background that were sending (or receiving) "unwanted" data to somewhere on the internet is to find the "Services" utility in windows 8
Just find the "Run" programs box, and type in "services.msc". If you do this, you might get a surprise as to how many annoying and unwanted things your computer is doing in the background!!!
(this is an ever increasing problem, with every sequential release of new windows versions)

Also, in most versions of windows, this little bugger of an O.S. loads programs at the start that you don't want it to load, so you need to find "Startup" to stop this.

[allan gould]

Thanks for that information Robert. Handy to know.
Allan

[04Stefan07 (Stefan)]

Not a huge fan of Windows 8, especially since I am coming from more of an Administrator view.

[JohnH]

The above comments are true of all versions of windoze (not the interface comment - that is fixed by going to 8.1 or using a 3rd party app) Vista (yuk!), 7 and even good old XP all suffer from this - typically it is the maker of the hardware that loads up lots of "helper" apps, Dell are absolute bu33ers at this but this cr4p can also get onto your machine from installing apps from the internet so watch those optional installs that default to ON alongside the product you want. Uninstall what you do not use/need.

Watch out for defrags, scans, updates and backups running on a schedule that can conflict with your imaging run. Don't disable these - just move to a time that suits - like a Sunday afternoon when all good imagers are at the pub....

Best way to clean up what happens at startup - run MSCONFIG for the rest have a look in the ADMIN tools section of the Control Panel - but be careful...do not disable services you do not understand it could make your machine malfunction.

[acropolite (Phil)]

that is fixed by going to 8.1

Nothing was fixed on either of the 2 machines I upgraded from W8 to 8.1. lots of stuff broken, my desktop machine, rock solid on W8 kept locking up on 8.1, the download and patches for the 8.1 upgrade blew my DL limit and wouldn't you guess it, MS have removed the option to save the upgrade file. Total disaster and a total waste of a couple of days of my life. I ended up reverting back to 8. Not happy Jan.

I believe that a clean install of 8.1 doesn't have the same issues.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by JohnH

Watch out for defrags, scans, updates and backups running on a schedule that can conflict with your imaging run. Don't disable these - just move to a time that suits - like a Sunday afternoon when all good imagers are at the pub....

Thanks for that, John,

I agree with you.....why do software manufacturers want to load up our machines with all kinds of rubbish, without telling us that it is running on the computer?!?

Agreed, John, windows is full of "cr^p" that needs to be removed for it to work at its best.

Seems that in order to "help" us, our windows computers want to update some software every 5 minutes, and to constantly report "information" about our machine to some site on the internet.

My personal philosophy is to always take the option "no automatic updates" when I instal a piece of software;
but it seems that my computer is nevertheless still riddled with all kinds of software that is doing things I don't want!
(If I want an update , I ask for it myself)

In the olden days (windows 2000, win XT, win 98, DOS, etc), we had to do add or remove files from the operating system simply because the system misbehaved regularly or because it used the very limited available computing power in an inefficient way.

Now I am having to relearn how to do this "add and remove unwanted software and processes" because the latest versions of windows and windows software are so often doing sneaky things "in the background and behind our backs"

cheers, Robert

[JohnH]

Originally Posted by acropolite

I believe that a clean install of 8.1 doesn't have the same issues.

Umm yes all I meant was a clean v8.1 has the old Start button and interface restored - nothing else. I have not tried an 8->8.1 upgrade - and will not based on your feedback.

[multiweb (Marc)]

This is true for any OS since windows XP. There are a lot of services that transact in the background. If you install a program to show you port connectivity and traffic you'll see the OS is not the worst culprit. Adobe is right up there too but the sneakiest by far is google. Even if you uninstall chrome and clean your registry they keep installing back every time you go do a search on google.com and you can see ports being access outwards every minute or so to a server owned by google somewhere.

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

The built in Resmon utility is great for tracking down processes using net io.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

The built in Resmon utility is great for tracking down processes using net io.

Thanks for that Trevor.

I have never used Resmon before, but I see that it is a very very useful tool for finding out what your system is doing in the background.

[multiweb (Marc)]

I've been using wireshark for a number of years.

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

I've been using wireshark for a number of years.

That's a whole different kettle of fish

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

That's a whole different kettle of fish

It's all in the filtering.