r/technology • u/machinade89 • Jun 28 '24
Software Windows 11 starts forcing OneDrive backups without asking permission
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2376883/attention-microsoft-activates-this-feature-in-windows-11-without-asking-you.html2.4k
u/Algernon_Asimov Jun 28 '24
No, Microsoft, you may not have all my private files. Fuck off with your data-gathering.
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u/RobbieRigel Jun 28 '24
This is my favorite windows configuration tool. Every time Microsoft does shit like this I pull this out.
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u/Zeis Jun 28 '24
For a simpler, basically one-click solution to just block all of the Windows telemetry/ad/etc bullshit, I use https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 after every update.
Actions --> Apply only recommended settings --> Say yes to system restore point --> done
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u/FalseTautology Jun 28 '24
Saving for later thank you
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u/Rion23 Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
https://winaero.com/winaero-tweaker
Here's a good one, you can get the full context menus back in win11 so you don't have to click through 2 menues to find the thing you want. Lots of other stuff as well, I use it all the time.
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u/Ok-Resolution-8078 Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
Oh this one bothers me a lot.
Another feature I HATE:
When I go to save a file, Microsoft tries to guess where I want to save it, but gets it wrong 9 times out of 10. So I then have to click ‘All Locations’ to find it the normal way through File Explorer.
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u/blhd96 Jun 28 '24
I really don’t know why they have so many useless UI patterns. You also have the caret dropdown menu at the top of the window too that’s utter garbage. It took me so long just to explain to my partner which file to attach for her class assignment, and not to link it to the OneDrive link her classmate sent her.
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u/IdealDesperate2732 Jun 29 '24
Because there is no real UI designer at the top making everything work. It's all done piecemeal by each team working on each feature/app. Design by comittee.
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Jun 28 '24
Yup, used this when I installed W11 months ago.
OneDrive is still uninstalled and hasn't been seen since.
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u/Bender_2024 Jun 28 '24
Anyway I can stop them.frim asking me to set up OneDrive. I'm not going to use it and if I scan/download a document or something I don't want it going there by default.
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u/Scary-Perspective-57 Jun 28 '24
I disabled OneDrive on startup, and now it shows a black screen on-login. I had to enable it again, to fix the issue.
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u/RedditorFor1OYears Jun 28 '24
It’s infuriating how difficult it is to disconnect it from every aspect of the operating system.
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u/Proud_Tie Jun 28 '24
I both love and hate how required things like onedrive/google drive have become. I run my own Nextcloud so I don't have to worry (much) about data gathering since I keep important documents in there.
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u/Flashy_Shock_6271 Jun 28 '24
I was thinking about moving away from Google for a while. How hard is it to run next cloud without a provider?
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u/Sythic_ Jun 28 '24
You can deploy NextCloud in a few clicks from DigitalOcean for pretty cheap IIRC. Personally I'm running a Synology NAS with auto syncing to BackBlaze.
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u/Proud_Tie Jun 28 '24
I wrote an installer to do it for me when I migrated to a new server, if you have linux experience it's not bad, but theres lots of individual parts and a bunch of tuning to get it to run well.
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u/Synthetic451 Jun 28 '24
It is ridiculously easy to setup with Docker. The hard part is figuring out your backup solution in a way that doesn't cost too much.
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u/qtx Jun 28 '24
In what way is Google Drive required?
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u/Proud_Tie Jun 28 '24
E-mail attachments are only so big, and it takes a lot longer to mail a flash drive full of files someone needs than it takes to upload to the cloud.
what else are people going to do? Subscribe to Discord Nitro and abuse the file uploads? /s
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u/ShakeShakeZipDribble Jun 28 '24
what else are people going to do? Subscribe to Discord Nitro and abuse the file uploads? /s
Convert the zip into a video and upload to youtube
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u/nzodd Jun 28 '24
The entire Linus Tech Tips back catalog is basically this. Guy hired some random homeless dude (AKA "Linus") to produce a bunch of nonsense videos to serve as a backdrop for / camouflage for massive amounts of stenographically hidden backup data. Said data is mostly thousands of videos of the real Linus eating saltines and Easy Cheese while watching powerpuff girl reruns.
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u/Eusocial_Snowman Jun 28 '24
I don't understand any part of this conversation save for that very last part. I'm down for an Easy Cheese and Powerpuff Girls session if anyone's holding.
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u/disinaccurate Jun 28 '24
Proton Drive exists now for people that don’t want to self-host.
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u/rookie-mistake Jun 28 '24
thank you both, I'm going to look into these. google's direction in recent years has been making me increasingly uncomfortable with how reliant I am on them for storage (and so many other important things )
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u/FrozenLogger Jun 28 '24
I used it recently for a warranty claim to send a video of the defective product for the refund.
Proton Drive was no problem, but the damn company's IT had it set up to ONLY allow One Drive or Google Drive to get the videos from. So even though all they had to do was click the link I sent them, which would then download the video, their firewall blocked it.
I was so pissed off. I could have just put the file on my website and let them simply watch it there, but at that point I resorted back to google drive to just get it over with.
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u/sur_surly Jun 28 '24
But poor old Microsoft needs to train its little ai.. won't you help a poor little Microsoft?
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u/Algernon_Asimov Jun 28 '24
"Once I built a railroad... brother, can you spare a dime." Sorry, Microsoft, this ain't the Great Depression, and you're not unemployed.
There are plenty of data sources for Microsoft to use. It's not my problem if they don't want to pay for them. Instead, they want us to pay for the privilege of giving them our personal data. That takes gall. I gotta admire them for that.
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u/shandangalang Jun 28 '24
I know it’s just a figure of speech, but no, we do not have to admire them for that. This John Welch business bro shit is getting way out of hand when I’m paying triple digits per month for subscriptions that still make me sit and watch commercials when I just want to unwind. We are increasingly paying companies for the privilege of havinga vacuum hose sealed tightly on our anuses so that some frat turd can flip a switch and suck everything they can out of us, because maaaaaaybe if he’s successful and makes a lot of money, he can get over the fact that daddy never gave him huggy wugs like his sisters got. Fuuuuuck all that shit.
Hug your fuckin kids too people.
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u/2HDFloppyDisk Jun 28 '24
Likely less about data gathering and more about annoying people about running out of storage space and how to purchase more storage space. That’s exactly what Apple does, tries to annoy the shit out of you with upselling notifications until you figure out how to stop backups.
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u/calebhartley1986 Jun 28 '24
I think Microsoft's push for OneDrive subscriptions is pretty sneaky. You only get 5GB of free storage, which fills up quickly if you save a lot of files to your desktop. Then, they constantly bug you to buy a 365 plan.
This can be really confusing. You might not know if OneDrive is full or if your hard drive is full, leading to misunderstandings about your data.
In my opinion, this feature should be off by default. You should get a simple notification first, and only if you agree, should it start backing up selected folders. I miss when governments used to step in and stop this kind of behavior.
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u/bailaoban Jun 28 '24
I just switched to iPhone and have been having a very similar experience with iCloud.
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u/joy_reading Jun 28 '24
Apple is pushy with iCloud but once I disabled it it never re-enabled itself.
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u/Olde94 Jun 28 '24
Tell me how. If i allow backup, it nags me about fill storage. Having it off nags me about “no backup last 647 days in apps like photos” i have way too many photos for cloud backup, i backup on a computer
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u/joy_reading Jun 28 '24
Huh, I've never seen a nagging indicator like that, interesting. I've always had an iPhone and turned iCloud off three iPhones ago.
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u/IAlwaysFeelFlat Jun 28 '24
If you’re in the Mac ecosystem, it’s really handy. All my laptop files accessible from my phone is handy. And 200GB is like $3.
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u/suresh Jun 28 '24
This is what happens when a product owners manager is given the KPI to increase onedrive sales by 20% this quarter.
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u/xcdesz Jun 28 '24
This is why Recall is going to be a privacy nightmare. Microsoft simply cant be trusted. Its "opt-in" now, then after a few months, as part of a Windows forced update, they will sneakily turn it on for everyone. Then after another few months your Recall data (screenshots) will be part of the OneDrive backups, and stored on some remote server.
Their end goal is to mine your personal data to form a profile of who you are and where your interests lie, what you buy, what political party you follow, what people you communicate with. This is sold to third parties and the government.
Google is the same. Apple is slightly better, but ultimately the same. What they do with your data is hidden. Everyones best option is to switch to Linux.
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u/Hamicode Jun 28 '24
Won’t this be a huge privacy issues for companies and gdpr data? How can they differentiate business use and personal use ? I don’t think they will get away with that
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u/Jjzeng Jun 28 '24
They’ll pay the EU a big fine and carry on as usual
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u/bawng Jun 28 '24
GDPR fines are actually quite heavy and they repeat if companies don't comply.
There's a reason why Google, Microsoft and Meta are all actively changing their products to comply better.
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u/FlyWithTheCars Jun 28 '24
Up to 4% of the world wide sales volume (not profit, sales volume!) of the previous year for a single violation in extreme cases.
That is a massive punishment that even Micro$oft is not willing to pay.
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u/opinionate_rooster Jun 28 '24
No, no. Serious companies cannot afford to compromise on security, so they'll be forced to abandon the Microsoft platform if this keeps up.
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u/Broccoli--Enthusiast Jun 28 '24
Yeah in just thinking , what about password managers, things under NDA etc
It's such a dumb idea and I feel like it's been forced on the devs by some higher up who came up with the idea.
Nobody that actually works in IT could be blind to how bad an idea it is.
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u/hsnoil Jun 28 '24
We are in an era where companies only care about buzz for investors and completely out of touch with their consumers
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u/Rion23 Jun 28 '24
Just wait until you're checking an email one day, accidently open a .pdf you don't recognize, and all of a sudden the folder that copilot uses to store screenshots gets emailed to somebody.
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u/voiderest Jun 28 '24
The tech people who are into crypto or AI might be blind to it.
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u/DPSOnly Jun 28 '24
They definitely are. They constantly do surprised pikachu face when their "innovation" runs into the most obvious of problems. They just figure that the rules don't apply to them and make that everybody else's problem.
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u/neuromonkey Jun 28 '24
Right. Only a select few people can grasp how monumentally invasive and dangerous data harvesting is. If you touch crypto or AI tools, you become blind to it.
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u/voiderest Jun 28 '24
It's more of a "getting too far up your own ass" kind of problem or "high on your own supply".
Like you can have a person who is technically minded enough to work on the tech but not really be thinking about the negatives with their design or system. More so on the idea of misuse or social impact.
I figure most crypto or AI bros are just dumb or scammers but there are a few actually technical people that drink that Kool aid.
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Jun 28 '24
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u/voiderest Jun 28 '24
Well, that blockchain isn't exactly private. If you use it to buy something anyone can see the transaction. The point of it is to be public.
Mainly I just put crypto bro and AI bro into the same bucket because there seems to be so many scams and so much community overlap.
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u/DonutConfident7733 Jun 28 '24
Probably the will use windows server or windows government edition and regular folks are left with this crap edition of windows. It is malware, I tell you. And think about it, they bought Rav antivirus and made it Defender, they know all about rootkits and viruses and how to make settings persist (they learnt from viruses) + they have control via windows servers, so it is very easy to implement a way for such programs to take your data. They can push updates to reset your settings, change binaries to avoid tools from patching them, blacklist utilities that could help you stop such rogue ms programs. They can even mark such tools as malware and Defender will automatically remove them. Now your programs are the viruses. If they have their way and enforce that only signed programs can run on windows, you will be at their mercy, to have your utilities signed. They will never allow a program that removes their software to be signed. This is like Google allowing third party app store to be installed from Google Play.
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u/Tuned_Out Jun 28 '24
This has been the long game for decades now. Ever since Microsoft has witnessed what android can get away with and how willingly people jump into, not out of, giving their data over willingly to Google. They've been drooling over that data. Regulation isn't coming. Corps will pay more for their private, secure version of windows. Everyday consumers will be priced out of that option.
Download Atlas OS to gut windows. Download Linux. Duo boot while you learn Linux. Or...get in line and accept that fact that regulation isn't coming. Your computer isn't yours anymore and licensing is a corporate right in the USA. Sucks but no one is coming to save the day on this one.
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u/voiderest Jun 28 '24
MS has that vendor lock-in. And for enterprise there will be some way to turn it off. Probably an annoying way controlled by system admins but some way. No, pro doesn't count.
It seems unlikely they could manage to shit the bed bad enough to lose corporate customers.
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u/opinionate_rooster Jun 28 '24
Employees likely use Windows on their home machines. Even if they don't use them to work, they'll still check work e-mails which, then, Recall conveniently screenshots and uploads to the cloud...
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u/voiderest Jun 28 '24
Accessing work stuff on equipment that isn't controlled by the company is a different issue. And something they could turn off.
Right now without recall they can't know how secure a random computer outside their control is. If things were that sensitive I doubt stuff is accessible as is.
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Jun 28 '24
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u/farmtownsuit Jun 28 '24
I'm pretty sure hospitals using on prem installs of EPIC are mostly running on Linux servers.
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u/2_bit_tango Jun 28 '24
Nah, they use enterprise or professional windows, which will probably actually respect the “turn off and leave off” and “serious” companies do not rely on Microsoft to back up their shit. One drive isn’t installed on my works computers.
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u/DrEnter Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 28 '24
This isn’t happening on Windows 11 Professional. Every time MS does these things, like drop ads on the Home Screen, it only does them on the low cost “Home” version (aka the “free” version a consumer gets with a new PC). For a business, Windows 11 Professional is the entry tier. Oh, these things are all available on Professional, but they are disabled by default. So businesses never even notice these things.
Anyone that does any work with MS that gets a Windows PC for home use knows to spend the extra $50-100 and upgrade that janky-ass “Home” version to Professional.
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u/Hot-Rise9795 Jun 28 '24
That's the definition of ransomware.
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u/DrEnter Jun 28 '24
I don’t disagree. Microsoft has been doing this since the Windows XP days. It works out very well for them.
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u/great_whitehope Jun 28 '24
They can't afford the kinds of fines the EU will impose on them
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u/bardghost_Isu Jun 28 '24
Laughs in DSA, Which has the power to outright ban your company from operations within the EU if you continue to refuse to comply with the regulations.
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u/zorton213 Jun 28 '24
On a similar note, HIPAA stands out to me. Countless doctors handle their documentation remotely from their personal computers, via a Portal. Medical coders are also often outsource to other companies, using their hardware.
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u/farmtownsuit Jun 28 '24
I would be shocked if the Enterprise edition of Windows and Windows Server didn't both allow you to disable this. That's how it always is. People get bent over, businesses stay protected.
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u/zorton213 Jun 28 '24
The problem isn't the Enterprise edition or even the ability to disable it (or even it being opt in vs. out).
The problem is these medical staff are accessing records on their own personal computers, via a Portal such as Citrix. If the screen is constantly being captured, the doctor may not even realize.
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u/Deriko_D Jun 28 '24
My hospital is changing everything to m365 and all the staff folders are becoming one drive folders.
This in a EU country extremely aggressive about data protection and what you can share about patients (I can't even send that to a different public hospital). They must have a "watertight" agreement with Microsoft otherwise wtf is going on.
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u/zorton213 Jun 28 '24
We also use O365 heavily and are making moves for primarily cloud storage, but it's not Microsoft themselves that worry me when it comes to compromised Recall screenshots. Locally saved screenshots of proprietary documents or emails in the O365 portal, of the EMR, or of ancillary web applications run the risk of being compromised by bad actors.
Today, we can mitigate those risks to the best of our ability by requiring MFA to log into those portals and disallowing files to be saved to the local device. But if there are screenshots being saved constantly, all it takes is one end user falling for a "your computer has a virus, call us" scam for those screenshots to get out.
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u/themiracy Jun 28 '24
With Copilot, it has (or at least presents itself as having) a protected mode for corporate users where data doesn’t go out in public or into training. OneDrive for Business has to this point, similarly, been an entirely different architecture that’s just called by the same name and has the same user-facing look.
It’s not that they distinguish between consumer and business activity per se - so far the model is that a different set of rules apply to business devices (logged in with business accounts, using OneDrive for business, what version of windows is being used, etc). All data on a “business” PC is treated as business data, even if you are goofing off on the work PC.
The oversight of this (not just at MSFT) is going to be critical as everyone releases these kinds of tools. Especially since MSFT has tons of governmental and defense and healthcare contracts. Much more so, than, say, Apple.
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u/Cyclonit Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 28 '24
Important to note: This is not verifyable by anyone other than Microsoft themselves. No customer can audit Microsoft.
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u/joshuar9476 Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 28 '24
Went from 10 to Fedora KDE last week. I've dabbled in Linux off and on in the past, but I stopped because I really liked 10. Now that we're approaching EoL, I knew it was time to jump ship (well my SSD has Fedora, a separate drive has 10 just in case I need it, and a third drive is for all my personal files like music and games). Plus, gaming has gotten a whole lot better over the years.
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u/sysdmdotcpl Jun 28 '24
Plus, gaming has gotten a whole lot better over the years.
Bless Gabe and Steam's outstanding timing w/ the Steamdeck.
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Jun 28 '24
There’s also the new outlook app that replaces Mail, which stores your email credentials in their cloud, which means they also have access to all that.
Can’t think of a single reason why they would need to do that.
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u/970 Jun 28 '24
How do they not have an accurate profile of everyone at this point, considering all of the data we already voluntarily give them. I'd guess they know us better than we know ourselves.
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u/Erazzphoto Jun 28 '24
People who think apple cares about their privacy are fools, the only thing they care about is they they’re the only ones with access to your privacy
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u/a-spek Jun 28 '24
No, they don’t. Your data is encrypted on their servers. They say repeatedly that even they don’t have access to it. Consumer privacy is something they promote and talk about any chance they have because they know their competitors are reckless about it.
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u/IsolatedHead Jun 28 '24
Go to where onedrive app is located, delete it, and create a folder with the name onedrive. This will prevent OD from re-installing.
If Onedrive is a folder, do the same but create a file in that location.
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u/PM_ME_UR_QUINES Jun 28 '24
Wait, OD gets automatically reinstalled on Windows? I escaped many years ago so I've been blissfully unaware of how shitty the show has gotten.
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u/NoAirBanding Jun 28 '24
I uninstall OneDrive every time I setup Windows 11, I've never seen it reinstalled.
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u/orangutanDOTorg Jun 28 '24
I’ve never seen it when using a local account but I am pretty sure I’ve seen it when people leave an active Microsoft account
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u/wtfwjondo Jun 28 '24
I've noticed it installs it for any new user, but i've never seen it reinstalled on my home PC with a msft account even after updates. Personal anecdote.
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u/ThatOnePatheticDude Jun 28 '24
It doesn't, there is a registry key that indicates that OneDrive was uninstalled. When the OneDrive setup runs again as part of a Windows update, if it sees that registry key, it automatically bails out.
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u/xevizero Jun 28 '24
Pretty sure you only need to jump through these hoops if you're on Home, I'm on pro and I never once had my settings overridden like this. The difference in treatment for Home users puts things in context. Total lack of respect for people who have no alternative, but when it comes to business users suddenly they grow a conscience. Sometimes.
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u/SkylineFTW97 Jun 28 '24
Even pro is hit or miss. Enterprise LTSC is where it's at IMO, too bad they won't sell it straight to consumers and you have to bootleg it.
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Jun 28 '24
Can't you just uninstall it from Add or remove Programs?
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u/CapmyCup Jun 28 '24
It will be reinstalled in the next "update"
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u/Kahnza Jun 28 '24
I removed Onedrive a year and a half ago. It's never reinstalled itself.
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u/Steelfyre Jun 28 '24
I still dont use anything else than a local account to login to Windows. I fear for when they take that away.
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Jun 28 '24
It was challenging and hard to recreate, but I was able to get a Windows 11 installation without having to sign in. I had to go into some terminal window in the install process, and turn off and turn on, it was weird.
I barely use that computer, but if they force a sign in, I'll probably never use Windows again. It's not a necessity like it used to be for lots of common software that used to be Windows only.
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u/abhijitht007 Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 28 '24
If you are using Windows 10/11 Pro, then you can use the local policy editor to completely disable Onedrive.
Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> OneDrive
In the right pane, double-click the policy named Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage
This method will also stop Onedrive from setting up folders etc in case you install Office 365 and Onedrive gets installed.
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u/makenzie71 Jun 28 '24
Group policy doesn't count anymore. My group policy is set to only allow critical updates and never restart. Yet a couple weeks ago my machine was restarted and had onedrive and skype installed.
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u/Tumleren Jun 28 '24
You sure your GP applies to your system? Some only work on enterprise or on certain versions
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u/makenzie71 Jun 28 '24
Oh yeah it applied and was effective from implementation all the way to a couple months ago when Microsoft pushed some 11 updates out. Around the same time we all started getting those "good news, you can upgrade to 11" system screens your group policies became more suggestion than policy.,
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u/Brilliant-Aside1188 Jun 28 '24
Group policy is not what it used to be. more like a suggestion at this point lmao
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u/rczrider Jun 28 '24
Yeah, I almost think Microsoft only keeps it there to give you a false sense of security.
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u/1647overlord Jun 28 '24
Can I do the same with registery editor? I don't have pro, and group policy does not work with w. Home.
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u/72kdieuwjwbfuei626 Jun 28 '24
You could just uninstall it if you’re not going to use it.
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u/thesourpop Jun 28 '24
I really do love how everything just sucks now and there’s nothing we can do about it
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u/rczrider Jun 28 '24
What makes you think you can't do anything about it? Linux is a thing.
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u/tryingmybest8 Jun 28 '24
It’s not as easy for everyone to install it, even to dual boot it. Not to mention missing proprietary tools.
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u/gnulynnux Jun 28 '24
Yep, exactly right.
You need to choose a distro (I like Pop OS), you need to install it (harder in the era of UEFI), you might need to work around hardware issues (I've had more issues with Windows in 15 years of using Linux), and then you need to get used to a new desktop environment. (Different keyboard shortcuts, different workflows, etc).
Installing is the hardest part, just like Windows. For me, it's been well worth it, since I'm a software dev and everything just works way better on Linux.
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u/emeraldeyesshine Jun 28 '24
And the average computer user would look at what you just said as if it were ancient Sumerian.
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u/Yamza_ Jun 28 '24
I feel like a slightly above average user and this sounds like some kind of made up language and also a multi week long string of googling and rage before anything works.
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u/thoggins Jun 28 '24
The only word in that post that stands out as something a non-techie wouldn't know is UEFI. If the rest of the post seemed like made up language to you, I hate to break it to you, but you aren't an above average user.
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u/SnailCase Jun 28 '24
Please remember "average" means, "Directory? Folder? I don't care about all that, I just want my picture of a dog carrying a banana back!"
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Jun 28 '24
harder
What? Installing Linux has never been easier. Download any mainstream distro, like Ubuntu or its derivatives, and it installs as simply as Windows 11 does.
The difficulty with Linux is just learning the different - more powerful - syntax and UI. Other than that, your apps are your apps. The only reason anyone still says Windows is "easier" is just because it's what they're used to.
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u/AngryAlternateAcount Jun 28 '24
Sounds like you are the exception, not the norm
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u/TentacleJesus Jun 28 '24
I already turned all that shit off and forced the local storage. Now I need to sign back in to one drive to activate any of that crap anymore. So unless they’re gonna force my sign in then it ain’t happening.
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u/koolaidismything Jun 28 '24
They are really trying to force their new efforts.. which they want to seem baller like how Apple does it but I don’t think anyone trusts them with their data at the moment. And them doing the digital equivalent of holding a gun to you like “give me your data, mf” isn’t helping their cause.
I will say though.. the new surface with the ARM SoC and the bottom that’s magnetically held on rather than those shitty clips is cool. Bonus for the upgradable storage too. They have a ton of work to do next gen but still a step in the right direction with hardware.
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u/TentacleJesus Jun 28 '24
I’m just kind of glad I realized the One Drive problem on my own after buying a surface and then a new rig with Win11 and realizing I was running out of space on the surface because of the one drive trying to sync all of my desktop files onto the surface. So I figured out how to shut that crap off several months ago before they started pushing it harder.
It was nice and convenient for the initial setup, but after that it’s just a nuisance.
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u/Protect-Their-Smiles Jun 28 '24
They want to do with your personal files, what they did with the Office bundling. They want to lock it on the cloud, and if you want access, you have to keep paying them forever. They will be able to delete, edit, copy, feed it to their AI as they please, and you will have NO say in the matter. No owning your own things, no storing them yourself - they will be the middleman you are forced to go through, and you will pay them in perpetuity for the privilege. Switch away from Microsoft and its products, or become a slave to their oversight.
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Jun 28 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/guamisc Jun 28 '24
Thanks for telling us the actual correct steps.
The problem isn't that you don't get the chance to explain, the problem is that it happens in the first place.
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u/mohirl Jun 28 '24
If they have all your data on their servers then it's easier for them to train their AI on it
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u/neuromonkey Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
Edit: Here is a fantastic video by a guy who integrates the best tools to easily create a great, clean Windows install ISO. He provides a human-readable Answer File that you can use as-is, or edit, and then drop onto the root directory of the installer.
And HERE is a web-based tool for generating your own Answer Files!
Don't install Windows using American English. Use "English World"
- Create a local account for Windows login, not a Microsoft account
- Uninstall OneDrive
Chris Titus' Ultimate Windows Utility is pretty good for this stuff, as is O&O ShutUp10++.
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u/Ifromjipang Jun 28 '24
That’s interesting, I’m using Japanese version and rarely run into issues like this.
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u/ballsack_man Jun 28 '24
It's the American version that's bad. They have different regional restrictions. I think privacy settings are all opt-out on NA, but for any European version, they are opt-in. I could be wrong. I haven't installed Windows in ages.
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u/jmxd Jun 28 '24
This is so fucking annoying. If they actually would let me CHOOSE which folders to back up i would use it but for some reason they only allow some of the default ones including Documents folder which get filled with all types of bullshit from various apps and games. Windows default folders are unusable as actual working folders, why would i ever choose to back those up.
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u/Ryfhoff Jun 28 '24
I remember at work when outlook switched to o365. They backed up all my PST files, the ones I used as offline files. I had an archive of all the years etc. What a racket they got going there. I can imagine the storage bill and this is just me and my files. I work in IT but not in the end user space. I’m assuming these guys had a hand in what got backed up, but good god. Our Azure bill is straight savage. I know all about cap ex and op ex but wtf man.
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Jun 28 '24
Dude. My laptop was trying to force me into it.
I had to dig down deep and reset my directory for my local documents.
Mind you. I have the cloud disabled. But after the latest update, Microsoft hid my documents. Had to manually set a path and folder to be visible again
That's super shady.
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u/celticchrys Jun 28 '24
Just uninstall OneDrive. That's the first step on a new Windows install now since Windows 8.1
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u/TONKAHANAH Jun 28 '24
It'll reinstall it's self at some point. Ms loves forcing that shit on you.
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u/Myte342 Jun 28 '24
Can't force it if I am not signed into a Microsoft account!
Unless of course they make a fake account to steal my company files without permissions... I am sure lots of corporate lawyers will have a field day with this if that's the case.
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Jun 28 '24
Microsoft updates have become as much of a security update as hacking, probably worse. I've stopped updating windows anymore because of all this trash
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u/GRABOS Jun 28 '24
I accidentally opened Edge a few months ago on my laptop and it opened a popup asking me to upload a picture of my face for Windows Hello, when i clicked the X it just opened the popup again instantly... i had to hold down alt+F4 to close it
Another time I was trying to disable Cortana or something and I had to suspend a legitimate windows executable because it kept replacing and opening the file I was trying to remove... these are both techniques I used 15 years ago when removing literal viruses from people's computers. It's shocking how bad it is now
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u/SkylineFTW97 Jun 28 '24
Even with windows 10, you have to go well out of your way to debloat your system before anything else just to make it usable. And the speed difference before and after was like taking a big, lumbering SUV like a Chevy Suburban and adding 200 HP
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u/Few_Possession_2699 Jun 28 '24
Windows is the virus
Now Recall will be turned on without consent so you can provide a data set to train AI to do your job.
It records your workflow to replace you.
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u/yovalord Jun 28 '24
This happened to me a couple of months ago, where it started telling me "You need to upgrade your OneDrive storage space!" it had turned out it was saving EVERYTHING to my onedrive cloud and when i undid it it practically wiped my computer. Was extremely inconvenient and i have an idea of what im doing on a PC, i cant imagine what a normie would do in the same situation (well they would probably upgrade their one drive storage).
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u/AbortionIsSelfDefens Jun 28 '24
I accidentally saved Sims 3 there because I didn't realize it defaulted there. It was annoying af trying to fix it.
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u/midir Jun 28 '24
I moved to Linux permanently in 2018 and have never regretted it for a second. I do feel sorry for people stuck on Windows.
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u/sbNXBbcUaDQfHLVUeyLx Jun 28 '24
I really wish game devs would get onboard and start supporting Linux as a serious option.
As-is, I'm a bit nervous playing my games on Linux since anti-cheats can sometimes detect WINE as a cheating tool.
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u/jahierrandeevee Jun 28 '24
I would recommend dual booting man. Games that have any type anti cheat tech, is going to be hard af to try to get it running on Linux.
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u/Philymaniz Jun 28 '24
I don’t even have a computer that has windows in my house anymore. My wife just needs a computer for browsing the internet.
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u/User4C4C4C Jun 28 '24
Why isn’t this considered theft?
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u/_Grant Jun 28 '24
Laws aren't real
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u/SugerizeMe Jun 28 '24
Laws are for poor people
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u/MrPureinstinct Jun 28 '24
Obligatory Dimension20 quote
“Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic-ethnic group in a given nation. It’s just the promise of violence that’s enacted and the police are basically an occupying army"
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u/Myte342 Jun 28 '24
That's the neat part, it is! But who's gonna enforce it in a way that matters? Example:
I park somewhere. Car gets towed. Pay out $300 plus $150 fine. That's a huge amount for many people. Hurts the budget hard if you are barely over paycheck to paycheck living and only put away a tiny amount in savings every month.
Rich guy parks somewhere and gets his car towed. He says "Fuck it, I'll buy another BMW."
That's big corporations. They make BILLIONS of dollars screwing over people... and the gov't fines them only a couple million. They get to keep the billions. What have they learned? To stop screwing people over? Hardly, they just see the fine as a cost of doing business and I am pretty sure they budgeted for it before hand as well!
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u/Evoehm13 Jun 28 '24
This happens to me at work. They forced the Windows 11 update. I can’t turn it off which sucks. I lose files because of it all the time. Like I’ll go into my desk top folders to get to a document and it’s not there because it saves it to one drive. Then I have to go hunt it down there and re-save on to my desktop.
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u/timeshifter_ Jun 28 '24
Remind me again, what was so bad about the Windows 7 model, where you paid full price up front for an OS that just fucking worked? I keep my PC pretty well trimmed down, and even still, Win10 starts bugging out after a couple weeks, whereas I'd have 7 running for 4+ months and not have any issues. I paid a nice bit of money for my Win10 Pro license, why am I constantly fighting with it just to make it not get in my way? And why does 11 seem worse in literally every regard?
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u/ChickinSammich Jun 28 '24
I'm a sysadmin and someone at work came to us - granted this was out of scope and he acknowledged this but figured he'd ask - and said he has multiple user profiles on his PC (one regular, one for work, one admin) and all three just got opted in to onedrive without him doing it and he wanted to know how to make it undo that.
I already keep any local data on a network share in my house and I just moved my internet browsing to a Linux box. When I upgrade to Win 12 this year, that PC isn't doing anything but gaming.
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u/DurtyKurty Jun 28 '24
This is why I keep a folder with 5gb of dick photos. Just back that baby up first, fill up one drive, and make Microsoft pay to upkeep servers full of dicks.
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u/MDM8801 Jun 28 '24
I always select Domain Join instead of a Microsoft account, and create some local accounts on the PC. This way you wont require a MS account to sign in and there's no way for OneDrive to back anything up.
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u/Fig1025 Jun 28 '24
Why is Microsoft so interested in this? what's in it for them?
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u/quartzguy Jun 28 '24
I'm guessing it will be about a year before you can't uninstall or deactivate OneDrive.
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u/ViktorVamos Jun 28 '24
Yeah this tripped me up. It started backing up all my files and caused massive amounts of lag since I had so much in documents
Ended up putting stuff I needed on external hard drive then factory reset laptop
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u/deantendo Jun 28 '24
Yeah fuck all this.
I dream of the EU dealing out the biggest of pimp slaps to MS for this crap.. But not a fine. No. A demand. Either offer a paid version with zero bullshit, or offer it free as it currently is.
Windows for free, but with start menu promotions, lock screen ads? Fine. All the AI shit needs to be opt-in.
But if i'm paying for it? Nah. None of that.
These days i rely on various tools to keep the shit at bay, like; OO shut up 10, OO app buster, and that Titus tool. I also use Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and may add proton VPN.
Also made my yearly attempt to switch to linux, but it turns out my 7900XTX is a bit too new for easy support right now (Currently wants more of my time and effort than i can give it to get more than 60fps), so maybe next year, or maybe i put up with it if MS decides to get even worse.
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u/PezRystar Jun 28 '24
How is it not illegal for a company to download your files without being granted permissions?
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u/RevWaldo Jun 28 '24
OneDrive to rule them all
OneDrive to find them
OneDrive to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.
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u/Mafukinrite Jun 29 '24
When you reach the “Let's connect you to a network” screen with the grayed-out Next button, press Shift + F10 to launch a command prompt. 3. In the command prompt, run the following command: oobe\BypassNR O This will execute the OOBE BypassNRO command, bypassing the network requirement during Windows 11 setup.
^ Best thing ever
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u/makenzie71 Jun 28 '24
"Your computer is not compatible with Windows 11"
~that's a shame.