Windows Update NOT Snooping

by Jack Mathews, Feb 28, 2003 10:00am PST

Various online news outlets (like Slashdot and The Register) have been reporting that Windows Update is sending a list of all of your installed software to Microsoft. It all stemmed from a report at tecChannel where they sniffed the data that is sent to Microsoft when Windows Update is run. It's all very clever the way they went about it. But the truth of the matter is that what is ACTUALLY sent is the list of hardware and some other attributes of your system (which, to be fair, is more than used to be sent). It is said in the tecChannel article is that the capability EXISTS for Microsoft to snoop on your software with Windows Update, but that they're not doing it. Of course, it's pretty obvious that the capability would exist as anything's possible with an ActiveX control. But that's a far cry from what's being reported, and what 10 minutes of actual reading rather than cut and pasting would have shown people.

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34 Threads* | 118 Comments*

#117

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By: aliengrey x Show Full Post

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btw, jack is being payed right now to say just that...

Mar 01, 2003 1:02pm PST

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btw, jack is being payed right now to say just that... : aliengrey
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- heh : aliengrey

#116

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By: ornee x Show Full Post

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Get used to it, Windoze monkeys. With DRM and other treats in the pipeline, you've got a future of reporting to your Redmond master.

Feb 28, 2003 8:35pm PST

Get used to it, Windoze monkeys. With DRM and other treats in the pipeline, you've got a future of repor... : ornee

#2

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By: ventro x Show Full Post

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I like windows

Feb 28, 2003 10:03am PST

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I like windows : ventro
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- Me 2. A lot. : [7]kami
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  i hate it. : personaljesus
  - why? .. : swampnutz
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  best OS EVAR.. IMO. 2000, that is.. haven't really messed with XP : freshview
  - XP is a Godsend. Especially it's networking. And you can make it look just like 2000 which is great :D ... : Katarn3279
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  i like linux : Silent1
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    woman :P : Katarn3279
    - Pics? a/s/l??! : samhain78
- me too.. its neat : Q-ball
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  XP is probably the first OS I'm actually really satisfied with. : fishbone
  - I concur. : Former_HPB
  - AS A PROGRAMMER OF PROFESSION, I concur. : ad0-q3m
- i only like 98se, because of the lack of linux versions of my favorite games :( : SPAZER
- FreeBSD is where it's at. : booyaka

#58

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By: johnny rotten x Show Full Post

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I like windows. It lets me play my computer games.

Feb 28, 2003 12:29pm PST

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I like windows. It lets me play my computer games. : johnny rotten
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- And Computer Games are very fun ! : booyaka

#88

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By: idealego x Show Full Post

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How is sending info on all your hardware not snooping?

Feb 28, 2003 2:07pm PST

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How is sending info on all your hardware not snooping? : idealego
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#40

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By: Ukrainian Thunder x Show Full Post

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Typical psycho pro-linux bullshit. /. makes me wanna vomit at times.

Feb 28, 2003 11:34am PST

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Typical psycho pro-linux bullshit. /. makes me wanna vomit at times. : Ukrainian Thunder
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#111

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By: seven x Show Full Post

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Gah, reading all of this zealot speak is making me want to punch someone.

Still, I guess most of the people who are being zealots got the nerd kicked out of them enough in school, so it'd really be like kicking a puppy.

Feb 28, 2003 4:59pm PST

Gah, reading all of this zealot speak is making me want to punch someone. Still, I guess most of the p... : seven

#30

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By: dodob x Show Full Post

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never knew so many people refused to even install sp-1. that is whack.

Feb 28, 2003 11:07am PST

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never knew so many people refused to even install sp-1. that is whack. : dodob
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  Well u can't install SP1 on a warez'ed XP, so that might be why. : The 404
  - Yeah you can. : darkling
  - yeah you can : rosewood
  - SP1 refuses to install if you use a certain 2 CD keys there were very popular among the warezers. If you ... : idealego
  - <insert "Burn warez monkeys, burn" comment here> : Dimmona

#105

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By: ibrokn x Show Full Post

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how else did people think windows update worked?
that it magically just knew everything you had in your computer and its current version?
gah, this is stupid.

Feb 28, 2003 3:41pm PST

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how else did people think windows update worked? that it magically just knew everything you had in your ... : ibrokn
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- For Software, WU sends your machine a list of EVERYTHING available and your machine is the one which pick... : nudel
- agreed. I think people bitch just to hear themselves bitch about Microsoft. : V0lk

#106

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By: overtoke x Show Full Post

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Why are people worried by that? It's just MS. (Not the thousands of hackers out there with possible access to your machine.)

oh, yeah almost forgot to say : Fuck Microsoft

Feb 28, 2003 4:23pm PST

Why are people worried by that? It's just MS. (Not the thousands of hackers out there with possible acces... : overtoke

#52

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By: ad0-q3m x Show Full Post

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Windows is the BEST.
I have no idea why everyone are so eager to find that kinda things to gab about. I would find it normal to pull out info about current machine config when WO also has driver updates. I have no idea what the problem is.

Software cannot assume!

Feb 28, 2003 12:14pm PST

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Windows is the BEST. I have no idea why everyone are so eager to find that kinda things to gab about. I ... : ad0-q3m
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- but it can apparently brain wash : Cpt. Baseballbat

#51

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By: st0ck x Show Full Post

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I don't want anyone to know what sort of stuff I have installed on my computer!!! They might find out I am a geek.

Feb 28, 2003 12:14pm PST

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I don't want anyone to know what sort of stuff I have installed on my computer!!! They might find out I ... : st0ck
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- too late ... : rosewood

#74

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By: tommysgun x Show Full Post

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If They Make Linux able to play BF1942 and Doom3 at a faster or the same framerate as WinXP then i will switch...

Feb 28, 2003 1:36pm PST

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If They Make Linux able to play BF1942 and Doom3 at a faster or the same framerate as WinXP then i will s... : tommysgun
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  there will be a doom3 linux version i think, thank GOD for opengl : SPAZER
  - totally... : tommysgun
  - actually, thank SGI : freshview
- WineX is making a lot of progress on getting BF1942 to work with it, already tons of games are supported.... : ovrlrd

#68

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By: turkeyspecial x Show Full Post

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I thought all posts regarding w***z, pirates, and other such illegalities were to be nuked and/or the responsible poster potentially banned? No? Open season in the forums?

I think not

Feb 28, 2003 1:21pm PST

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I thought all posts regarding w***z, pirates, and other such illegalities were to be nuked and/or the res : turkeyspecial
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- IM GOING TO EAT YOU! : SPAZER

#13

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By: Optimus Prime x Show Full Post

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they snoop, they don't snoop, what's the diff? I buy all my software so I could care less about this.

Feb 28, 2003 10:19am PST

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they snoop, they don't snoop, what's the diff? I buy all my software so I could care less about this. : Optimus Prime
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- Asif it would matter if you didn't buy all of your software? Wake up. Nobody cares about you. Especial... : myLeftTesticleofFury

#3

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By: sinistarfith x Show Full Post

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Yeah, I kept looking at that log sample trying to figure out WHERE software was being listed. But nothing. I had just assumed that maybe they were keeping the good stuff in the Premium section of the site.

Was there even anything in there that specified the patch level of Windows? I couldn't discern that, either.

Feb 28, 2003 10:03am PST

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Yeah, I kept looking at that log sample trying to figure out WHERE software was being listed. But nothin... : sinistarfith
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  No, I think most of the work is done on the client. They probably just inserted the hardware stuff so th... : Jack Mathews
  - I was thinking the hardware was kept for people who click the "Send report to MS" after major errors occu... : UTSD3DSUCKS

#15

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By: rosewood x Show Full Post

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Btw - for a long time, such information was NOT sent and it was promised that it would NOT be sent. Then it is sent. This data does NOT need to be sent and in a world where people are worried about cookies and the privacy issues associated with that, I dont want my hardware specs going off to Microsoft.

Feb 28, 2003 10:20am PST

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Btw - for a long time, such information was NOT sent and it was promised that it would NOT be sent. Then... : rosewood
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#34

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By: *metal* x Show Full Post

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BTW, you don't have to download Only from Windows Update. MS makes the files available by other means usually.

Feb 28, 2003 11:12am PST

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BTW, you don't have to download Only from Windows Update. MS makes the files available by other means usu... : *metal*
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- In most cases, the downloadable files are available a day or so before WindowsUpdate. : Reignman

#7

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By: redfive x Show Full Post

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even with them snooping and say you had a few relatives over from Juarez, Mexico it's not like they're going to pull your file out and actually persue it.

Feb 28, 2003 10:07am PST

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even with them snooping and say you had a few relatives over from Juarez, Mexico it's not like they're go... : redfive
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- So many files... so little time :D....The court costs alone would kill them. : Q-ball

#14

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By: barbs x Show Full Post

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Always trust content from Mircrosoft Corporation? [X]Yes

Feb 28, 2003 10:19am PST

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Always trust content from Mircrosoft Corporation? [X]Yes : barbs
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  I wish there was a "no" checkbox for stuff like Gator and Comet Cursor. : declspec
  - I've wanted that for a while as well! "Never trust content from these cunts." would be great. : nudel

#37

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By: The_FrO x Show Full Post

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Ummmm, wasn't that TecChannel report for subscribers only?

Feb 28, 2003 11:23am PST

Ummmm, wasn't that TecChannel report for subscribers only? : The_FrO

#

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By: x Show Full Post

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Dec 31, 1969 4:00pm PST

:

#27

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By: lapdance x Show Full Post

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Who cares? I donÃ‚Â´t give a damn what MS finds out about me, itÃ‚Â´s not like they are gonna send the police to my house to arrest me for my mp3s/warezÃ‚Â´d games and pirated XP.

We all know that MS is evil, live with it or move on to linux or some crap like that.

Feb 28, 2003 10:35am PST

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Who cares? I donÃ‚Â´t give a damn what MS finds out about me, itÃ‚Â´s not like they are gonna s... : lapdance
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- Yeah, but if any company that can do it with all that money....it's microsoft :) : MarksmanX

#24

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By: xenoeye x Show Full Post

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Doesn't Windows Update recommend drivers now? Hardware lists are fine by me, software, I see no reason why they'd need that.
They could snoop on it, sounds like a waste of their bandwidth though tbh.

Feb 28, 2003 10:27am PST

Doesn't Windows Update recommend drivers now? Hardware lists are fine by me, software, I see no reason wh... : xenoeye

#23

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By: malloc x Show Full Post

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I'm sure eventually they will need to verify hardware/license key matching so that people who pirate won't be able to update their software.

Feb 28, 2003 10:26am PST

I'm sure eventually they will need to verify hardware/license key matching so that people who pirate won'... : malloc

#20

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By: Durandal07 x Show Full Post

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NOT Snooping. Yet...

Feb 28, 2003 10:24am PST

NOT Snooping. Yet... : Durandal07

#12

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By: rosewood x Show Full Post

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I think the problem was it was a pay article and a lot of people jumped to the conclusion

Feb 28, 2003 10:18am PST

I think the problem was it was a pay article and a lot of people jumped to the conclusion : rosewood

#11

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By: baron calamity x Show Full Post

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I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Unless you have linux installed on another partition and then the Microsoft Brute Squad might pay you a visit.

Feb 28, 2003 10:17am PST

I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Unless you have linux installed on another partition and then t... : baron calamity

#10

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By: archon x Show Full Post

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It's a trap.

Feb 28, 2003 10:15am PST

It's a trap. : archon

#9

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By: batkiwi x Show Full Post

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Slashdot spread FUD about windows?
Slashdot editors post articles without fact checking the links?

It's crazy I tell you!
Next thing you'll be telling me is crazy stuff like banzai buddy not really being helpful and kazaa having spyware!

Feb 28, 2003 10:13am PST

Slashdot spread FUD about windows? Slashdot editors post articles without fact checking the links? It... : batkiwi

#8

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By: Freon x Show Full Post

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Yeah for online journalism!

Feb 28, 2003 10:08am PST

Yeah for online journalism! : Freon

#5

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By: ansuble x Show Full Post

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when you say things are obvious about things most people dont know about it makes them feel dumb :(

Feb 28, 2003 10:06am PST

when you say things are obvious about things most people dont know about it makes them feel dumb :( : ansuble

#1

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By: EqualsP x Show Full Post

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and hence we have the conflict of trusting Microsoft while also not trusting Microsoft..

Feb 28, 2003 10:03am PST

and hence we have the conflict of trusting Microsoft while also not trusting Microsoft.. : EqualsP

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