Bork Tuesday, Any Problems Yet?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by Daveski17, Nov 12, 2014.

  1. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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  2. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    JKFYI, Optional KB5003214 to 21H1 installed trouble free. The installation triggered KB5003254 (.NET Framework) afterwards. Installed also smoothly.
     
  3. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    Same here.
     
  4. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    I have successfully updated my computers to OS Build: 19043.1023.
    How can I get rid of the added "INFOMERCIAL" (spying) FEED -
    Weather, News, Sports, etc..?
     
  5. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    Right click on the taskbar...News and Interests..select Turn Off.
     
  6. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    My Bitdefender blocked that download.
     
  7. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    Thank you.
     
  8. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    ever heard of a false positive?

    I use F-Secure and even with NOD32 it was fine
     
  9. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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  10. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    I think it was something about the web-site.

    Feature:
    Online Threat Prevention

    We blocked this page for your protection:
    http://sf.ezoiccdn.com:443/

    The page attempted to download a PUA (Potentially Unwanted App) to your device. This type of apps exhibit behaviors that impact the privacy and security of your device and data.
     
  11. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    It's safe bro. Don't worry.
     
  12. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    This morning, my Windows Update window in the Settings showed no updates but my Bitdefender - Vulnerability Scan - had informed me about a critical Windows update - KB5003254 - that required a reboot.
    And it happened on three Win10 computers - the OS Update window showed no updates but Bitdefender informed about KB5003254.

    What's more.
    After I installed KB5003254, I could not find it on my computer's update list.
     
  13. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    For me it shows under Update History..scroll to the bottom of the page, and it's listed under Other Updates.
     
  14. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    KB.JPG
     
  15. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    For those monitoring outbound explorer.exe traffic in a firewall, KB5003214 new "News and interests" feature will cause all kinds of grief.

    This feature is connecting via explorer.exe to msedge domains early in the logon and desktop initialization phase. The two IPs so far involved are in my case 204.79.197.203 and 131.253.33.203. I have my explorer.exe Eset firewall rule set as an ask rule but this bugger's activity is happening prior to Eset GUI fully initializing. This means no firewall alert appeared and internally Eset is still waiting for user response. This results in a delay for each outbound rule executing till it times out. The end result is Win 10 logon is significantly delayed along with the desktop fully initializing. Your choice is to either allow or block communication for these IPs. However if you block IP 204.79.197.203 outbound traffic, the "News and interests" feature will not appear as a desktop feature option. In short, this "News and interests" feature is a total abomination. Also turning off the"News and interests" feature has no effect on stopping above explorer.exe IP 204.79.197.203 outbound communication.

    Bottom line - this "News and interests" feature is total unmitigated telemetry on Microsoft's part and needs to be completely removed. Good luck on finding out how to do that.
     
  16. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    Good to know. I wondered about all of this but didn't have the time or ambition to look into it. I'm wondering if they are still looking to separate the taskbar from explorer.exe and if this was a good part of the reason for doing so.
     
  17. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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  18. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    Also this is not the end of dial-out activity from this latest preview cumulative update. I also observed the Win 10 Search app connecting to an Edge domain. Note that I have Cortana startup at boot time blocked. I have all O&O Shutup10 mitigations enabled for Cortana. Etc., etc..
     
  19. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

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    Totally agree.
     
  20. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    I agree, I don't like it either. Could you check if disabling it through GPedit would remove those network connections. After disabling it there, there is no more News and interest options in taskbar.
    Setting is here: Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - News and Interests - Enable news and Interests on the Taskbar.
     
  21. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

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    I got the news and weather update a few days ago and it does not really bother me. I don't look at any of the "news" feeds but having the weather in the taskbar is ok. I realize it is phoning home but everything does these days. In the past when I would disable MS telemetry I just found that it would cause other issues on the OS in and of itself. I suppose if I get annoyed enough I may have to go back to Linux. Work on the other hand is a different story. Not much of a choice there.
     
  22. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    I have Home vers.. Hence, no Group Policy capability.

    Is there an app and path name associated with your News and Interests GP entry? Or, associated reg.key and setting?

    -EDIT- I blocked all Win 10 feeds by changing reg. key value from "1" to "0". This also gets rid of the News and Interests option entirely. Guess what? Explorer.exe still dialing out to IP 204.79.192.203; aka a-0003.a-msedge.net, at boot time. Like I said previously, this is hidden MS telemetry - plain and simple.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2021
  23. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    itman, have you tried the Woody's registry update file mentioned in their article?

    https://www.askwoodylounge.com/wl/?id=KYIiTBk3qfrb1T57FqGTDP4uKUqy2kBs
     
  24. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Thank you @itman for testing it. I somehow expected that result... :(
     
  25. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    Yes.

    That was the reg. key value I referred to in my prior posting. This setting will remove "News and interests" from taskbar setting options. However, it has no effect on explorer.exe dial-out to a-0003.a-msedge.net that is occurring very early in the Win 10 logon phase. -EDIT- One possibility in regards to this activity is Win 10 needs to establish the "News and interests" early in the logon phase so that it is available when the desktop renders. However, if the feature is manually disabled, so should this early dial out activity.

    Also and again, the Win 10 search app is dialing out to this same domain. At least this activity occurs after the desktop is initialized.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2021
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