Have you claimed your free upgrade to Windows 10?

The Windows 10 keylogger is a known "feature" of the Windows 10 Technical Preview / Insider Edition, and that keylogger was supposed to be removed when Windows 10 went GA and released to the world. It wasn't.

Untwist your panties -- Windows 10's 'keylogger' is nothing to worry about
http://betanews.com/2014/10/07/untwist-your-panties-windows-10s-keylogger-is-nothing-to-worry-about/

How to turn off Windows 10's keylogger (yes, it still has one)
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2974...ndows-10s-keylogger-yes-it-still-has-one.html

"Last fall, I discussed the keylogger that Microsoft openly put into the Windows 10 Technical Preview. The company admitted that “we may collect voice information” and “typed characters.” At the time I defended Microsoft, pointing out that the Preview was “intended for testing, not day-to-day use,” and that Microsoft recommended against installing the Preview on a computer with sensitive files. I said that “I seriously doubt that the worst spyware features will remain in the finished product.”

I was wrong

Microsoft pretty much admits it has a keylogger in its Windows 10 speech, inking, typing, and privacy FAQ: “When you interact with your Windows device by speaking, writing (handwriting), or typing, Microsoft collects speech, inking, and typing information—including information about your Calendar and People (also known as contacts)…”

If that makes you feel creepy, welcome to the human race."

Why is the Keylogger software still shipping in the public release of Windows 10?

Don't we buy software to remove Keyloggers found on our PC's? Don't we buy software that is supposed to protect us from malware installing Keyloggers in the first place?

Why do we need to make an effort to turn off a Keylogger on our PC's?? Why is the default setting to have a Keylogger running?

If turning off the Windows 10 Keylogger is as effective as turning off the Windows 10 Telemetry, it's not actually off.

 

Thanks for the links and BTW you can tell the author of PCWorld, that yes, he can control what services each application can access in Android, but he may need to be rooted.
To be fair, some of the services MS trying to introduce in Win10 may require some data collection (for example they would have to monitor microphone for speech recognition and PC voice control) and I know for the fact some of Android's speech recognition is done on Google servers, not locally, may be similar for Win10.
I'm still not clear about keylogger: Does it log only users interactions with it's own programs, like Cortana, Bing, etc which would be OK, or does it log everything inlcuding my id and password when I log on to my credit card account from Firefox for example, which wouldn't.

 

passwords too

 

Encryption keys, USB hosted as well.

 

Acvording to the Privacy Statement, the keylogger part (listed as part of "Input Personalization") can inded be completely turned off. The only real consequence of doing so is that turning it off turns off Cortana as well. Microsoft also claims that they scrub such information of IDs and IP addresses, but it's difficult to tell exactly what they keep and what they don't unless it's explicitly stated.

In contrast to Input Personalization, the Privacy Statement says clearly that telemetry must be enabled, although users are allowed to choose how much data and of what type is sent.

And I agree that it's ridiculous and appears borderline malicious that all the data collection options are enabled by default. But I am grateful that all the worst ones (from my perspective) can be turned off, even if it takes some extra work to do so.

 

If that's the case, privacy is not even an issue here, this is basic security issue. I already had my personal data stolen in at least 3 massive data breaches at Home Depot, Target and T-mobile.
Never had any intention of using those new services like Cortana, so shutting everything off is no big deal for me, but that probably is not enough.

 

http://www.extremetech.com/computin...ows-ads-on-lock-screen-heres-how-to-kill-them

Yet another reason not to upgrade.

 

I've got a stupid question. How does Windows 10 tie itself to current hardware, and what happens if I upgrade CPU and SSD, and perform clean reinstall of Windows 10 received by upgrade offer?

 

AFAIK it only ties itself against the motherboard. So as long as you don't change it, you shouldn't have issues.

 

Call Microsoft and ask. That's the only way to know for sure.

Before Windows 10 I have had issues after replacing video cards, memory, HDD => SSD, and adding a new network card (PCI), all to the same motherboard.

It may have changed for Windows 10, but before Windows 10 it's a % calculation that can be tripped over easily given random combinations of stuff upgraded.

You would think the Motherboard / MAC address would be the main / only change that matters, but it's not the only item in the inventory monitored for change.

Again, Call Microsoft with what you have and plan on changing, and they can give you a good idea of the impact of hardware changes after Windows 10 Activation.

 

No way, Jose! I switched to Linux. And Zorin Core 10 is my distro.

 

Microsoft is coy when it comes to activation specifics. ZDNet and WinSuperSite for instance have written tons of articles on this topic over the years since XP first debuted activation technology, and they've asked Microsoft about it many times in the process, but with each inquiry/Windows release Microsoft has gradually given them less and less information.

I highly doubt they're going to tell a random caller anything beyond "yes your copy of Windows is now activated" and "no you need to buy a new copy of Windows" when they won't even tell the press anything about activation parameters these days.

 

When I called and asked for upgrade vs activation info for Windows 7 and 8, MS was very helpful and looked up specifics giving me plenty of useful info.

Maybe give them a chance and try for yourself, if you have a good reason to ask.

Some random Media person asking questions based on no actual computer or example likely was why they got no info.

With a real customer, an actual computer, and specific upgrade options you want to ask about, like MXM GPU, CPU, Memory, screen, MS should give you some useful info.

I don't have a need to ask for myself, and I don't want to waste my time and theirs asking hypothetical questions.

 

There's nothing hypothetical about it. Activation is based on an algorithm, one which Microsoft has in recent years refused to divulge.

If they were willing to share the algorithm, as they did back in the XP days, it would be possible to simply calculate what the impact of any given change would be on activation.

And if "some random Media person" who has access to people like Julie Larson-Green can't get that information from them, what makes you think that nobodies like you and I talking to a call center rep can do better?

 

You are getting too technical about it.

I initially did ask them to send a list and they said no, call in if it gets deactivated, tell them what you changed, and they will re-activate.

I said I would rather not go through the hassle of calling every time I upgrade a component.

And, they were nice enough to help me through proposing some upgrades I had planned - actually sitting right in front of me in a pile.

They have a range of options listed, they ask you what you are upgrading, I told them and they said you will have to call in to re-activate / confirm it's the same computer.

I asked if I did the upgrades individually, one at a time, would that be better - not trip the re-activation - and they went away and asked and came back and said yes.

It's not a algorithm, it's a list of parts man, just parts

I asked why they wouldn't send the list. They told me because it changes over time. If they published the list, and changed it, they would get lots of complaints.

I suggested that it was still a frustrating situation where we don't know what change will require wasting 30 minutes on the phone, and they said yes they know, but this is the best way for them to do it.

I think they didn't want the liability of making "promises" based on the list, only to have to withdraw the list and make changes should something in the market / choices change.

It's not that big of deal. Call in and re-activate.

 

I guess we simply have different expectations. You're happy to know what will happen for the scenario(s) specifically relevant to you (in other words, practical knowlege), whereas I'm not satisfied until I know what will happen for all possible scenarios (knowledge for the sake of knowledge).

 

So if ms doesn't officially release that info, it can be found out simply by testing.
For Windows 10, German computer magazine c't did that, for the current build. They found that the only hardware change leading to a deactivation was an exchanged motherboard.
But then you can still call in and have it reactivated.
MS not revealing all their secrets yeah who cares

[Edit] the free license when upgrading from Win 7, 8 however would be lost - see my post two posts below.

 

Nice, thanks for the up to date info

If you can recall, please post the URL so we can check it out. Google translate works well enough for German to English.

 

It's in a short article in c't 21/2015, so it was actually tested on TH1.
C't sells their issues as pdf on their site, but I found a copy of just this article here:
http://www.drwindows.de/windows-10-...ean-installation-neuen-festplatte-neue-3.html

Depending on the kind of license, you may or may not be able to re-activate. The free Windows 10 upgrade license is bound to the computer, determined by the motherboard.. so you would lose that license when changing MB

 

Normal RMA service might replace the motherboard, but the BIOS / key could be moved by the OEM/vendor doing the motherboard swap... not sure if that is possible.

The other choice is to call in to MS and explain that the service was done, motherboard replaced with new BIOS ID - and MS could re-activate using that new ID.

That would be something to ask the vendor/OEM service people, do they handle that migration of license to the new motherboard ID, do they work with MS, or is this something we need to do after getting our laptop back from RMA.

There must be a way to handle the RMA motherboard replacement license transfer / re-activation.

 

Those laptops that I've repaired, manufacturer issues new license key that is then written into bios with a special software (both Lenovo and Fujitsu do that). Old license key dies with the motherboard, I believe. Unless it is recovered by the OEM afterwards but I doubt that.

 

Yes on T100, no on DIY desktop and M60J.

 

I have on my XPS 13 which has a touch screen but no on my desktop.

 

MS must be giving win10 away for free now. I downloaded the usb installer, and on a different pc with a brand new SSD installed / no OS, I installed win10 and it says it's activated with a digital entitlement. I never even had to put in a key - and this is on an older dell with non ufei bios so I don't think there is any "key" in the bios.

 

Almost all notebooks in the USA come with Windows preinstalled and the OEM key is written in the SLIC (part of the BIOS).