Hi all. I have been doing some test install of Win 10 Pro, just to get used to things and the general feel of it and how to stop all this spying business. Generally I like the look of Win 10 but still not 100% convinced I should install it as my main OS, just yet. Any way.. I have just done an install. Ethernet was unplugged. After it had finished I switched off and slotted in my MAIN OS and two other storage drives. One drive is where I keep all my OS's files and drivers files. This drive has a folder on it called "Windows 10" This is where all things Win 10 go, .ios images and the like. In this folder I have a folder called "Destroy Windows Spying". Inside is all the info I have downloaded on the anti spying front. You get the picture ,right ? Anyway, this is where it gets spooky. I slot all my drives in. Boot into the BIOS and set my Win 8.1 drive to first boot. but at the boot menu I select my new install of Win 10. It boots into Win 10, quite nicely. Still NOT connected to the net. I notice the Recycle Bin has files in there. odd me thinks.. tn takes a peek What is in the recycle bin. Guess.... here it comes.. Only the contents of "Destroy Windows Spying" ?????????? What the hell ? Why oh why would that happen.
I also had a problem concerning a folder called "Windows 10". I suspect windows defender but it's just a theory at this point. After a clean install some of my software wouldn't work that I had stored on the drive. The whole folder wasn't gone, just certain files. I've never seen that type of behavior before, except mcaffee once deleted a bunch of keygens without asking me. But this is different in that it's selective file destruction that is seemingly random, yet has a method. The drivers I had for windows 8.1 x64 were in a folder called windows 10 and it trashed them and i had to re-download them. All the files weren't deleted, just a few in each folder, and the affected folders and files had no pirated stuff or keygens, etc. And it seems to be by design. MS is deleting certain files windows 10 finds that it has no business touching. I recommend permanently disabling windows defender immediately after install. Or even better, remove it from the install media so it never installs in the first place. I'm sure that this is a problem that needs to be addressed by us digital guinea pigs. Is windows defender on a seek and destroy mission during or after install, or is it something else? Either way, something is not right.
Im getting deleted all my shortcuts on startup folder. Had to make them read only to stay there. Dont know why.
In a way I am glad it is not only me this sort of thing has happened to. @pf100 Nice bit of info. Thanks very much. You are probably right there. I think Win 10 is doing more than just spying on us. I will look into removing Defender from the install.wim. If at all this is possible. Anybody help me out with this task ? Possible ?
Hmm i only need a CMD file and install_wim_tweak.exe to stop all the spying . Using compiled tools for the same might cause problems with defender here. Defender in my tests never interferred with the Telemetry disable.
This gets stranger and stranger. I have just completed two new test installs. I put the files it deleted in a folder on my install USB called extra. After it installed these files had been deleted to the recycle bin. Or should I say they were in the recycle bin and on the USB drive. I did another install, this time I deleted the files from extra before I installed. At install I deleted all partitions then formatted then installed. After it had finished inside the recycle bin were these files. Where had they come from ?? Totally baffles me what is going on. What I am in the midst of doing. I have used DISKPART to clean the USB and format it. Then I will re-load Win 10 files onto it. NO other files at all. I will plug the test machines HDD into my working PC and use DISKPART to clean that drive too. I will do another test install.
@tnx: Very strange indeed. I'd like to know if your experiment is repeatable. And does it happen when the folder is renamed.
I am up for doing any testing. Once this new test goes with cleaned up USB and HDD I will report back. Then I will try to replicate what happened in the first place. I will take proper notes of which files & .exe's are in the extra folder. May even WinRAR the contents up to. and even maybe WinRAR up the extra folder and have that in the USB root too. One thing. Ethernet was unplugged and both my last two installs.
Maybe those files were already on the $Recycle.Bin folder of one the hardrives you plugged after you finished installing? The reclycle bin just displays the contents of the $Recycle.Bin folder stored on each mounted partition.
One HDD One USB On install the HDD I deleted all partitions and made new ones. I do not see how remnants of a previous install could appear in the recycle bin. Testing a new install right now. Clean USB with new files Clean HDD using DISKPART. Will also do a custom install deleting all partitions and making new ones. Will report back soon.
@ElDiabl0: It's possible that it may be a file system bug. But it's interesting that a folder with that particular name was marked by the file system automatically. Stay tuned... :MJ
Well just call me a big fat liar !! After saying all that I have just finished installing again with those files in extra. What's in the recycle bin ? NOTHING... All this spying talk has my head in a whirl and making me paranoid.. I can not explain what has happened with any of my installs. last few I did not plug in the net. maybe i'll try plugging it in and see. no more today though... TV time I recon..
Everyone is paranoid now after the Windows 10 FUD, even those who are defending it (like me). It's Human nature.
@tnx: The combination of that file name and what happened made Me take notice too. All's well that ends well. :MJ
A "Windows 10" folder was in the root of your OS drive when you had some weird stuff going on the first time, not a folder named "extra". Maybe a Win 10 installation would mess with any "Windows..." folders in the root, or only certain forms (short forms? Window~1), or none.
Yep.. That was on one of my storage drives. At first I thought it was from the HDD, then I thought it was from the USB. Now ? Now I don't know what to think about what happened.