microsoft Detested 'Get Windows 10' Snooping Patch KB 2952664 Reappears

[vissha]

Detested 'Get Windows 10' Snooping Patch KB 2952664 Reappears

 

 

Reappearance of patch designed to provide telemetry stokes users' fears about a return of 'Get Windows 10' nagware

 

Perhaps the world has gone truly mad. Or maybe Microsoft's trying to pull the wool over our eyes prior to its major shift in patching strategy -- the patchocalypse -- widely anticipated this month. It's even possible Microsoft wants to bring back the "Get Windows 10" campaign, to drive Windows' reputation even deeper into the dirt.

 

For whatever reason, our old nemesis KB 2952664 reappeared suddenly yesterday afternoon, and Windows users are livid. And scared.

 

For those of you who don't recall, KB 2952664 (and its Windows 8.1 companion KB 2976978) are officially described as:

 

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Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7 - This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program. These diagnostics help determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed. This update will help Microsoft and its partners ensure compatibility for customers who want to install the latest Windows operating system.

 

There's a lot of sugar coating around that description, but the bottom line is that KB 2952664, a prerequisite for the KB 3035583 "Get Windows 10" nagware patch, is specifically designed to provide telemetry (i.e., snoop) to see if a direct upgrade to Windows 10 will perform correctly.

 

When the patch first rolled out yesterday, I heard a howl of protest from people who are concerned about "Get Windows 10" appearing once again. There was a great deal of confusion about the way the patch was presented and what it was intended to do. For example, poster JO on AskWoody.com reported:

 

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KB2952664 appears under both the "Important" tab and the "Optional" tab of Windows Update. The brief description under the "Important" tab indicates the update was published on July 12, 2016 whereas under the "Optional" tab the stated publication is today. Clicking the "More information" button on either description takes the user to the same KB article dated July 12, 2016 revision 24.0. This seems odd.

 

Since that time, Microsoft has released an update to the KB 2952664 article, which is now dated Oct. 4, at revision 25. The official Windows Update list was also updated -- well after the fact -- to say that the new version of the patch is optional.

 

Reaction on the Microsoft Answers forum has been shrill. Poster xiowan kicked off one thread with a spot-on comment:

 

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What is going on?  Why is Microsoft update offering this update "to prepare Windows 7 PCs to more easily update to the latest operating system" when the free offer for Windows 10 is over?  Is this something that we will not be able to hide when it is sent out again starting with the new update system that doesn't allow individual updates to be hidden next Tuesday?  What does Microsoft plan to do....change Windows 7 inch by inch until it is just as intrusive as Windows 10 and prone to updates that fail and try to re-install time after time?  I paid good money for 7 copies of WINDOWS 7 that Microsoft pledged to support until 2020 and don't think it's right to change the way the operating system works to suit their money-making schemes.

 

Xiowan segues to what I believe is the crux of the situation:

 

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Windows 10 ISOs and installation disks and USB keys should be manufactured to contain all necessary software to install the new operating system....there should be no need to change millions of  peoples operating system "to more easily upgrade to the latest operating system." This is obviously just a way for Microsoft to find out more data about everyones' PC to further their opportunities to make more money.

 

Bottom line: If you want to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8.1 PC to Windows 10, and haven't already done so, you're being set up to pay full price for the privilege. If you want to keep Windows 10 off your machine, don't install KB 2952664 (Win7) or KB 2976978 (Win 8.1).

 

I often wonder why Microsoft fans the flames in an already awful situation.

 

Source

[straycat19]

No one should be wondering why I turned off all updates in Windows 7 and 8.1 in May 2015.  Microsoft has lost it f*cking mind!  People have been offering me up to $1000 for one of my retail packages of windows 7 that I hoarded so they can install it on their current Windows 10 systems that they now regret upgrading.  But I am not selling...yet.  

[steven36]

Any proof they plan to make Windows 10 free again other than a telemetry  patch that sees if you're PC is comparable?  that's the bummer  about software even open source.

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Its possible to use technology to remove the freedoms you are permitted by law. For example you can add technical restrictions on hardware to stop you fixing it yourself

 

Big problem   on Linux  you cant meaningfully run x86  on it anymore  kabylake new hardware  x86 x64 wont run on Windows 7 no ways .. If you  adapt to windows 10 or use something besides Windows you wont have worry about it any more.

 

[D1v1n3D]

14 minutes ago, straycat19 said:

No one should be wondering why I turned off all updates in Windows 7 and 8.1 in May 2015.  Microsoft has lost it f*cking mind!  People have been offering me up to $1000 for one of my retail packages of windows 7 that I hoarded so they can install it on their current Windows 10 systems that they now regret upgrading.  But I am not selling...yet.  

Why would anyone in their right mind want to pay that kind of money when you can still download the official ISO from Microsoft for Windows 7 and 8, 8.1 and you can still downgrade back to that if they so choose with proper CD-Key I have done it for a few clients of mine already.

[steven36]

48 minutes ago, D1v1n3D said:

Why would anyone in their right mind want to pay that kind of money when you can still download the official ISO from Microsoft for Windows 7 and 8, 8.1 and you can still downgrade back to that if they so choose with proper CD-Key I have done it for a few clients of mine already.

Even if they make Windows 10 free again and try  force it on users,  people would make software to stop it  like before . The last version of GWX you had to give it permission to install windows 10  anyways   And  they just removed GWX from all systems  that had it already installed in Sept  .

https://redmondmag.com/articles/2016/09/21/get-windows-app-update-deletion.aspx

I noticed Windows 7 still had a update to check if you're PC was compatible with Windows   10  back in August  when they removed GWX from windows updates . Tell Microsoft announces  Windows  10 is free  again its nothing but a conspiracy theory.

 

[Jordan]

Additional infos:

Microsoft Resurrects Telemetry Updates KB2952664 and KB2976978

 

The past year has not been easy for system owners or administrators on devices running Windows 7 or Windows 8 who don't want their systems to be upgraded to Windows 10.

The main reason for this was that Microsoft pushed a myriad of patches to devices running previous versions of Windows with the sole aim to get those Windows versions upgraded to Windows 10.

Probably the most notorious of them all was "Get Windows 10", a patch that displays an upgrade prompt to the user in various forms. What made the patch particularly problematic was that Microsoft updated it a lot.

 

This meant that it reappeared on devices running Windows 7 or 8 even if the user or a system administrator hid the page to block it from ever being installed on the device.

Another part of the problem was that Microsoft modified the prompt itself making it less user friendly with every iteration. This was borderline malware-like behavior, something that did not seem to bother Microsoft in the slightest.

 

 

But it was not just that patch that infuriated part of the Windows user base. Microsoft introduced telemetry patches as well, most notably KB2952664 for Windows 7 and KB2976978 for Windows 8.

This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program. These diagnostics help determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed. This update will help Microsoft and its partners ensure compatibility for customers who want to install the latest Windows operating system.

If you checked for updates on Windows 7 or Windows 8 recently, you may have noticed that these two patches have once again been updated.

This means that they are offered to all users on Windows 7 and Windows 8 again.

 

What makes this rather worrying from a user point of view is that these updates were prerequisites for the Get Windows 10 update KB3035583.

Some users are already worried that Microsoft might re-introduce the Get windows 10 update again, likely because the operating system's growth fell to a snail-like pace in September 2016.

 

The update description offers no hint as to what made Microsoft push out an updated version of it to user systems. It could be unrelated to the Get windows 10 campaign, considering that users may still initiate updates to Windows 10 from systems running Windows 7 or 8.

 

Then again, those who use Microsoft's upgrade assistants will notice that compatibility checks are performed during the upgrade process as well.

While Microsoft is keeping its customers in the dark in regards to what is actually going on, those who don't want their devices to upgrade to Windows 10 better block KB2952664 and KB2976978 once again to make sure nothing of that sort happens.

 

Those who find one of the patches installed already may find this guide useful that explains how to remove and block already installed Windows updates.

 

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