MICROSOFT STOLE MY SPECCY
Last night I started my machine out of hibernation to be presented with the log on screen, (normally it goes to my desktop), after logging on I had a pale blue screen and in large letters a message; ‘YOUR COMPUTER HAS BEEN UPDATED’, this was there for a few seconds before being replaced with ‘NONE OF YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN MOVED OR CHANGED, THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR ORIGINAL PLACE’ or words to that effect. My first thoughts were. Sh*t, I’ve been hijacked, especially when the your computer has been updated appeared again. Then a message appeared in the bottom right hand corner, ‘SOME OF YOUR PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN REMOVED, AS THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM’. Sh*t again, waiting for a ransom demand. This screen was there for several minutes before I hit off switch and rebooted.
Log on screen as normal, logged in, OK, then a message, Speccy has been removed as it is not compatible with your OS. I clicked on the icon, NO SPECCY, cannot be found, Sh*t. Went to control panel, programs, no speccy. At no time did I have a message about an MS update.
Did a full security scan, no malware or virus’s
Checked my build no, Windows 10, V1511. 10586.29. then checked updates, Security update KB3116900 03/01/16. I then checked online, apparently this is the P I A November update, many people have had similar problems with the update removing so called incompatible programs, after this review, I found that CC cleaner had also gone. How many more? Perhaps I will find out over the next few days.
One interesting point, when I installed Windows 10 at the end of July/early August I was one of those who installed window blinds and Iconpackager before the warnings. I removed WB after following the threads, but didn’t remove IP because of the many problems people had had when uninstalling. It is true to say that I have had no problems with IP, except that it does not alter the folder icons. The latest Windows 10 update reset all of my icons, but did not flag IP as incompatible, I have manually changed all of those icons which I could, each time W10 sent me to IP for the Icon. I will not use IP now to blanket change my icons as I do not want to risk it, I dread to think what might have happened if the update had tried to remove IP. Is Microsoft going to determine what programs are allowed on their OS in the future?
My main concern (apart from being Pi**ed off at losing my programs) is if MS can remove programs during an update, what stealthware can it install to spy on and monitor our files at the same time, will it start to remove non DRM items, like Amazon tried with the Kindle several years ago. Even more to worry about with MS, (apart from my wife who has MS, but that is another story).
Also glad to report that no problems with WB10 after the update.
