microsoft sneaking patches into pcs

microsoft have been caught patching files by stealth on xp and vista machines over the last few days. they are happening even if you selected no updates or wish to choose which updates to install yourself!

9 executable files have been found to have been altered so far. whilst they have been asked to provide information on what these patches are for, they have admitted they have updated files but have so far not answered what they are actually for and why they are being updated by stealth.

further information and a list of the files affected can be found here

I'm sure Microsoft bowed down to the governments anti monopoly hearing awhile back. Remember the government threatened to split Microsoft up. I'm betting they made a deal with the government by handing over all source code to future operating systems which in effect will give the government complete and utter control over anyones PC. I would wager money on that and I'm not much of a gambling man.

reply to post by cloakndagger


ooh = that reminds me.... i saw this in the news earlier today.....story here
it was about how on monday the european union's anti-trust ruling with microsoft will be finalised so maybe you are onto something there......

reply to post by cloakndagger


I wouldn't put much past Microsoft. They watch the bottom line more than the one between right and wrong.

Which is why I went to Linux and wiped Windows off of my system. Since only the root admin can open an exe. through a Linux setup, the Microsoft way of doing things "for you" is not possible; or at least that's what I am given to understand. It also seems that this is the reason why so few viri and trojans are even made to attack Linux.

Power to the Pinguin People!!!!

YES! I noticed that last night.
I went to shut down my machine and it did that installing file thingy.
I couldn't figure out what was going on, I have it so that I have to authorise any downloads and I certainly didn't.
I do not subscribe to the automatic downloads and do not want to.
Thought I was going nuts, antivirus didn't find anything,I wondered what was going on.
Now I must scour my computer to find out exactly what was put in there.
I like to know.
thanks.

reply to post by earthchild


the link i provided can help you locate and check if any of your files were affected. it also shows you how to prevent it from happening again

Hmm, I warned about this and mentioned that using the MS Visa firewall was probably not protecting against MS intruding.

But I didn't think they'd be so bold. This is going to cause a firestorm. They think they can slip this stuff by, but the Hacquers and Reversers are smarter than anyone MS clone-coder.

I looked my files over and they all have a date stamp of 2006 (which doesn't mean they couldn't have been changed).

The file versions are 6.0.6000.163xx (last two digits masked by me)

I made backup copies...we'll see.

I do have the update turned off for both the system and the AV application. (that AV app can be used for evil purposes if they change it. It can actually prevent you from running one of your legacy apps!)

Thanks for the heads up!

EDIT: Oh, I DID notice something strange but not sure it's related. One of my sidebar gadgets (weather) was missing this morning - it was there last night and I didn't reboot.


[edit on 14-9-2007 by Badge01]

It is very strange that when I type " the bomb is ready. praise allah" that my computer sends off info to several websites.

I use to goto Live Leak to check out videos until I started getting redirected to whole new web pages without hitting any link or doing anything. It's like someone took over my pc. I'm getting to the point where I could do without computers.

[edit on 14-9-2007 by cloakndagger]

These changes took place on my wife's computer too. This happened in the last few days, as best I can tell.

The link to the article states that these stealth patches were not harmful, but what about the next ones? Once people get used to Microsoft going into their computer and making changes and rooting around, it's only a short step to real spying.

My wife loves XP, as it is all she has ever used, but she's even thinking of changing to another OS now.

I hear that there is a reverse-engineering of XP on the way. It's still in beta right now, but hopefully soon you won't have to go to linux and you'll still get the MS reins off your neck AND you'll still get to use all the programs you got to use before! Or you can just use Wine for Linux.

Thanks OP....I was wondering why we were getting so many 'my computer isn't working right' phone calls the past few weeks.

I use Linux as well....I'd never go back. In fact, I tried Vista for the first time a few days ago and it is so heavy and slow, nothing worked the way I needed it to. It amazes me that people not only USE it but LIKE it, I guess they don't use it for anything other than browsing the web and putting in all of their personal information, ohhh... and it's pretty too.

They say that the patches aren't harmful. Why stealth install then? Sorry, not buying that one. Again, we've had a lot of phone calls saying that things are wrong. Now we know why.

Originally posted by sardion2000
I hear that there is a reverse-engineering of XP on the way.

Legally? I'm curious about this.

Also, I'd like to try Linux some time.

Wow. Over the pst few days my computer has been doing funny things and this may explain it. Like alomst constant internet activity for long period of times during which I wasnt using it. Also if I left my computer to idle, after about 30 minutes it would suddenly and for no reason have a sudden large load and the cpu activity light on the front of my box would be constantly on, like it was writing long files. WTF, time to write my senator and representative again about those MS swine.

Originally posted by Johnmike

Originally posted by sardion2000
I hear that there is a reverse-engineering of XP on the way.

Legally? I'm curious about this.

Also, I'd like to try Linux some time.

Go with Ubuntu, that one seems to be the most beginner friendly distro. At least from all the ones that I have tried.

Originally posted by Pfeil
Wow. Over the pst few days my computer has been doing funny things and this may explain it.

Honestly, I doubt it. But who knows?

Originally posted by Pfeil
Like alomst constant internet activity for long period of times during which I wasnt using it.

What was telling you about your internet activity? Modem light blinking?

Originally posted by Pfeil
Also if I left my computer to idle, after about 30 minutes it would suddenly and for no reason have a sudden large load and the cpu activity light on the front of my box would be constantly on, like it was writing long files.

That's probably just programs of yours, looks like time to reformat. Since Windows is a multitasking OS (oh, how I miss DOS...), a lot of things happen in the background.

Originally posted by Pfeil
WTF, time to write my senator and representative again about those MS swine.

Well, what law did they break? Don't you agree to that in the terms and conditions when you install the software? We'd have to look at that before doing anything, and I don't know off hand.

Anyone that is thinking about switching to another OS, be aware that there are a lot of choices. I chose Xandros because with the Codeweavers in it you can run most windows software just the same as always.

There's a thread for the Linux users, and the Linux curious, in BTS. It might help to check on what people are saying, though that thread is mostly aimed at using it here on ATS.

I'm just glad that there are choices other than Mac or Microsoft.And best of all, most of the Linux stuff is open source, so it's free' or at most, really cheap.

I noticed my hard drive would activate randomly in windows. This ONLY happens when I personally access files on this specific harddrive, you can hear it 'boot up.' If you dont use it for a while, then it goes into a sleep mode. So when you access it, it will come to a ready mode and you can hear this process as i said. However, it was doing it on its own with windows. I use Linux now, no problems whatsoever and the only thing I cant do on linux is play some games, but who cares about games.

reply to post by Badge01



Hey. I have not noticed any new downloads, I rarely turn the machine off. BUT, I too noticed that my Weather sidebar was missing.

Now that is weird.

Originally posted by Johnmike

Originally posted by Pfeil
Wow. Over the pst few days my computer has been doing funny things and this may explain it.

Honestly, I doubt it. But who knows?

Originally posted by Pfeil
Like alomst constant internet activity for long period of times during which I wasnt using it.

What was telling you about your internet activity? Modem light blinking?

Originally posted by Pfeil
Also if I left my computer to idle, after about 30 minutes it would suddenly and for no reason have a sudden large load and the cpu activity light on the front of my box would be constantly on, like it was writing long files.

That's probably just programs of yours, looks like time to reformat. Since Windows is a multitasking OS (oh, how I miss DOS...), a lot of things happen in the background.

Originally posted by Pfeil
WTF, time to write my senator and representative again about those MS swine.

Well, what law did they break? Don't you agree to that in the terms and conditions when you install the software? We'd have to look at that before doing anything, and I don't know off hand.

1) well YOU doubt it. That doesnt make it law.

2)No, I put my ear to the ground and was told that I was having internet connectivity. Yes my modem, what else would tell me that?

3)It has not done that before, like I said "over the past few days."

Reformat? As in deleting all the data on my hard drive and reinstalling all of it again? I have no idea how that would help.

4)Whether or not they have broken a law is irrelevant. I have turned off auto-updates on my PC and if they are putting files on my PC without my authorization, then that is wrong. Writing my senator and representative will alert them to what MS is doing and THEY will have people to look into it. If enough people contact them about it or if this concerns them to the point of taking the initiative to look into it and take care of it.



If you have a problem about anything you can write your senator/representative about it. Thats what they are there for, thats how Democracy works.

[edit on 14/9/07 by Pfeil]