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Too bad they didn't make it easy to block OEM spyware from Windows Update. I bought an HP at Costco a while back that was on sale... reinstalled Windows using a

Too bad they didn't make it easy to block OEM spyware from Windows Update. I bought an HP at Costco a while back that was on sale... reinstalled Windows using a clean install disc image, installed the latest drivers... next thing I know Windows update starts rolling back my drivers and installed HP spyware. I had to set a group policy option to prevent drivers from Windows update. I remember at one point doing a fresh install was the way to prevent OEM spyware, but now it seems like Microsoft is happy to include it and make it difficult to prevent.

brnt 5y ago
Did you wipe the drive? If not, there is probably a hidden OEM partition that Windows uses to install all that OEM stuff back after fresh installs.
- xunn0026 5y ago
  This reads like dealing with a hardware compromised machine. At some point, why even bother?
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
    From what I gather, Microsoft gets OEM info from UEFI and lets OEM manufacturers use that to provide software/drivers via Windows Update. In this instance, it kept rolling back the integrated Radeon driver directly from AMD to one that the OEM provided that was over a year old.
  - KronisLV 5y ago
    > At some point, why even bother? Because a lot of people: - don't care about their privacy and spyware (a non-insignificant chunk of the populace, even i'm growing weary after decades of surveillance attempts) - don't know any better (perhaps the majority of the consumerbase) - only have certain software available on Windows (e.g. MobaXTerm, or have something like Sony Vegas fit their workflow and don't have the desire to change) - don't know how to use the alternative OSes well, or have bad experiences with them (Linux driver installation, anyone?) - feel like that's a fair tradeoff to make for being able to run their favourite entertainment software or video games (Proton will probably eventually be good enough, but yet doesn't have 100% coverage, which currently isn't enough to sway everyone) Personally, i just run a dual boot setup with Windows 10 (since it seems marginally less horrible than 11 for the time being) for playing legacy games and using the software that i like, and Linux Mint (or Ubuntu, or Debian, depending on the mood/year) for development stuff. Honestly, Linux is probably the better platform for many other things, everything from privacy to development (how it works with Docker and other *nix software is especially nice, no need for weird mapping, WSL/WSL2, MinGW or any other weirdness on Windows), but for a variety of reasons the adoption remains low. That said, i actually recently wrote about some of my frustrations as a part of my blog article, "On technological illiteracy", which ended up talking a bit more about the driver issues and hardware support: https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/on-technological-illiteracy https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/on-technological-illiteracy Let's just hope that things continue improving in the coming decades!
  - brnt 5y ago
    Thats how I treat any new device: compromised, by the manufacturer.
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  Yes I wiped the drive. I didn't use any OEM partition to reinstall. I used the latest Windows ISO, including October updates that comes directly from Microsoft. This is a known issue that is well documented. You can find the HP stuff in the Windows Update catalog, as well as other OEM providers.
  - brnt 5y ago
    > I didn't use any OEM partition to reinstall. If you wipe, its OK, but if you dont, the partition may be used by Windows, even if you install fresh from an image you prepared yourself.
- toast0 5y ago
  ACPI tables from the system ROM can give Windows a list of urls to fetch and install. This is useful when the OEM isn't being a jerk. They can be sure you've got the drivers for the touchpad or whatever, regardless of how you install... But they don't always use their powers for good.
  - exikyut 5y ago
    Aaaaa! What's the table name, and can I read it from Linux?
    - my123 5y ago
      It’s not a list of URLs, but an EXE outright. The ACPI table responsible for it is WPBT.
xpressvideoz 5y ago
But what you call "spyware" can be beneficial to other people. I for one welcomed when several OEM apps were automatically installed through Windows Update, because my laptop has some features accessible only by those OEM apps. That said, I recognize that it might be better to give users a choice. But then again, isn't a group policy exactly designed to tackle this problem? Good defaults for normal people, and customizability for power users.
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  Group policy wouldn't tackle the problem for everyone, as GP is only available in Pro editions and what not. You have to use registry hacks for Home. And no, they should have an option during install. Even if you enable it after install, it is usually too late since it'll start installing drivers during install and after... you'd have to stay disconnected from the Internet to prevent it.
- kyriakos 5y ago
  Recently purchased a used HP workstation and did a clean windows install. I didn't just get all the HP stuff installed automatically but it even changed my desktop wallpaper to an HP one which was then synced to any pc that uses my Microsoft account. Wallpaper may not be important but not something you'd expect.

brnt 5y ago

Did you wipe the drive? If not, there is probably a hidden OEM partition that Windows uses to install all that OEM stuff back after fresh installs.

xunn0026 5y ago
This reads like dealing with a hardware compromised machine. At some point, why even bother?
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  From what I gather, Microsoft gets OEM info from UEFI and lets OEM manufacturers use that to provide software/drivers via Windows Update. In this instance, it kept rolling back the integrated Radeon driver directly from AMD to one that the OEM provided that was over a year old.
- KronisLV 5y ago
  > At some point, why even bother? Because a lot of people: - don't care about their privacy and spyware (a non-insignificant chunk of the populace, even i'm growing weary after decades of surveillance attempts) - don't know any better (perhaps the majority of the consumerbase) - only have certain software available on Windows (e.g. MobaXTerm, or have something like Sony Vegas fit their workflow and don't have the desire to change) - don't know how to use the alternative OSes well, or have bad experiences with them (Linux driver installation, anyone?) - feel like that's a fair tradeoff to make for being able to run their favourite entertainment software or video games (Proton will probably eventually be good enough, but yet doesn't have 100% coverage, which currently isn't enough to sway everyone) Personally, i just run a dual boot setup with Windows 10 (since it seems marginally less horrible than 11 for the time being) for playing legacy games and using the software that i like, and Linux Mint (or Ubuntu, or Debian, depending on the mood/year) for development stuff. Honestly, Linux is probably the better platform for many other things, everything from privacy to development (how it works with Docker and other *nix software is especially nice, no need for weird mapping, WSL/WSL2, MinGW or any other weirdness on Windows), but for a variety of reasons the adoption remains low. That said, i actually recently wrote about some of my frustrations as a part of my blog article, "On technological illiteracy", which ended up talking a bit more about the driver issues and hardware support: https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/on-technological-illiteracy https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/on-technological-illiteracy Let's just hope that things continue improving in the coming decades!
- brnt 5y ago
  Thats how I treat any new device: compromised, by the manufacturer.
encryptluks2 5y ago
Yes I wiped the drive. I didn't use any OEM partition to reinstall. I used the latest Windows ISO, including October updates that comes directly from Microsoft. This is a known issue that is well documented. You can find the HP stuff in the Windows Update catalog, as well as other OEM providers.
- brnt 5y ago
  > I didn't use any OEM partition to reinstall. If you wipe, its OK, but if you dont, the partition may be used by Windows, even if you install fresh from an image you prepared yourself.
toast0 5y ago
ACPI tables from the system ROM can give Windows a list of urls to fetch and install. This is useful when the OEM isn't being a jerk. They can be sure you've got the drivers for the touchpad or whatever, regardless of how you install... But they don't always use their powers for good.
- exikyut 5y ago
  Aaaaa! What's the table name, and can I read it from Linux?
  - my123 5y ago
    It’s not a list of URLs, but an EXE outright. The ACPI table responsible for it is WPBT.

xpressvideoz 5y ago

But what you call "spyware" can be beneficial to other people. I for one welcomed when several OEM apps were automatically installed through Windows Update, because my laptop has some features accessible only by those OEM apps. That said, I recognize that it might be better to give users a choice. But then again, isn't a group policy exactly designed to tackle this problem? Good defaults for normal people, and customizability for power users.

encryptluks2 5y ago
Group policy wouldn't tackle the problem for everyone, as GP is only available in Pro editions and what not. You have to use registry hacks for Home. And no, they should have an option during install. Even if you enable it after install, it is usually too late since it'll start installing drivers during install and after... you'd have to stay disconnected from the Internet to prevent it.
kyriakos 5y ago
Recently purchased a used HP workstation and did a clean windows install. I didn't just get all the HP stuff installed automatically but it even changed my desktop wallpaper to an HP one which was then synced to any pc that uses my Microsoft account. Wallpaper may not be important but not something you'd expect.