login123 Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Saw this article cited on another forum: http://www.howtogeek.com/173592/windows-8.1-will-start-encrypting-hard-drives-by-default-everything-you-need-to-know/ Windows 8.1 will automatically encrypt the storage on modern Windows PCs.. . . Microsoft does hold the recovery key and would be capable of providing it to law enforcement if it was requested, which is certainly a legitimate concern in the age of PRISM. . . . This is the new normal for Windows PCs, tablets, and devices in general. Where files on typical PCs were once ripe for easy access by thieves, Windows PCs are now encrypted by default and recovery keys are sent to Microsoft’s servers for safe keeping. I trust nobody less than I trust microsoft. Not a bit worried about PRISM, Stellar Wind, NSA, or anybody of that genre. But microsoft I trust not at all. They scarcely constrained by any law known to humankind. And their security history is dirt poor. Speculation: Is this a step toward requiring a subscription for windows? Regardless, this is nearly the last straw for me. If I weren't so lazy I would have switched over to Linux long ago. This may do it. @ Rridgely: You wanted lively...? The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators hazelnut Posted October 15, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2013 I don't log on with a Microsoft Account.. just a local user account so I won't get encrypted Support contact https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general or support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
login123 Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 Thanks for the info. I saw you had posted that earlier. . . .I don't even know how to change that account yet. Frankly I have not started the win 8 laptop often enough to know much about it. The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators hazelnut Posted October 15, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2013 Great site here for anything Win 8 related. Tutorials for just about everything http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/ Support contact https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general or support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Augeas Posted October 15, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2013 Yeah, I am accountless, so - hopefully - encryption free. M/S, Google, etc, the devil's work, these accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_B Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 If Microsoft hold the encryption recovery key, can they or NSA etc re-encrypt your system to lock you out should you be suspected or accused of copyright violation ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWebAtom Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I don't see the concern. Currently Windows isn't encrypted which means everyone can access your files - including Microsoft. Now it is encrypted and only Microsoft can open it up. Perfect? No. But still 6,999,999,999 less people* who can open your stuff. **I'm defining "Microsoft" as a single person I'm Shane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators hazelnut Posted October 16, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2013 I can foresee situations where quite a few users will also become people who cannot access their info. Hopefully it will encourage people to think more about saving passwords and keys and also backing up their info. Support contact https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general or support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators mta Posted October 16, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2013 Hopefully it will encourage people to think more about saving passwords and keys and also backing up their info. i hope you are right, i am still staggered at how many people simply do no backups at all and live in some sort of dreamworld. how many PC repair centres will be getting dead PC's they have to pull the encrypted drive out of and have to jump through all manner of hurdles to recover the data - if they can. Backup now & backup often.It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eL_PuSHeR Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I agree with MTA. This cannot be good for IT people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWebAtom Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 MTA raises a valid point. I don't think it would be hugely prominent though. The computer's death would need to coincide with the owner losing access to their Microsoft account. I'm Shane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
login123 Posted October 16, 2013 Author Share Posted October 16, 2013 I don't see the concern. . . . . The idea that this will foil genuine hackers is questionable. Microsoft has never yet been able to secure its OS. Somewhere in that registry or on some chip there will be a key. Some malevolent 14 year old will figure out a workaround within a month, if he hasn't already. Some nation state is working on it right now. Moreover, microsoft has probably built in some sort of master password (read as "back door"). For sure that is an overly broad statement, based on absolutely no hard facts, just history. But imagine that your car manufacturer said "This car will always start. Period". Such a statement would immediately be recognized as hyperbole and would tarnish the credibility of the car maker. The folks who really need encryption (doctors, lawyers, keepers of trade secrets, double 00 spies) will not dare to depend on this encryption. For such folks there are free and paid apps that work...some are open source and therefore open to investigation by skeptics. If you accept that premise, then this microsoft initiative is a marketing gimmick. It creates a (false?) sense of security. And it gives microsoft a degree of control to which they are not entitled. Actually I think the motive for it is a tossup: Either another effort to lock down the PC market or a step toward windows subscriptions. OK, OK, not a positive, happy post...sorry for that, but I just don't see microsoft playing well with others these days. The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators hazelnut Posted October 16, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2013 On a lighter note (and we need one these days) I've heard this may be the new 8.1 start screen http://i.imgur.com/XGt8nth.jpg Support contact https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general or support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
login123 Posted October 16, 2013 Author Share Posted October 16, 2013 Yes. Should be making light not heat. Sorry for the rant. The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_B Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 But imagine that your car manufacturer said "This car will always start. Period". But they said it and acted on it. Before that every car came complete with a hole in the front bonnet to accommodate the insertion of the starting handle that was carried in the boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
login123 Posted October 16, 2013 Author Share Posted October 16, 2013 Well, on a positive note, that microsoft encryption thing will probably be actually helpful for small businesses who need to protect their data, and its free. (Work with me here, doing the best I can.) Alan, you have a car that starts every time? PM me asap the make & model... The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_B Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Alan, you have a car that starts every time? PM me asap the make & model... Not any more - I lost the starting handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators mta Posted October 16, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2013 I don't think it would be hugely prominent though. The computer's death would need to coincide with the owner losing access to their Microsoft account. the scenario i had in mind was a dead PC comes in and, for whatever reason, can't be fixed, the encrypted drive is removed and put into another PC, one already with a Microsoft account (or without, doesn't really matter i guess), the It guy will need to make a new user account on his PC that matches the account the encrypted drive had and will need to ask the client for their password. that's the theory, but with anything like that, it usually is never that easy in practice, then throw MS into the equation and what should be an easy task escalates into a dog's breakfast. and the whole of idea of Person A giving Person B their password (which tend to be lazy and used repeatedly) is just wrong. and do you think some MS geek has thought of this scenario, where a PC has a MS account accessing an encrypted C:\ and another MS account accessing an encrypted F:\ drive, geez i hope so. will have to wait and see on that one... Backup now & backup often.It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I don't log on with a Microsoft Account.. just a local user account so I won't get encrypted Hi hazelnut, it's been a while since I last posted! I have Windows 8 and I too have been using a local user account rather than a Microsoft Account. I've just upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1 and I wasn't able to complete the upgrade without converting my local user account to a Microsoft Account. Perhaps I overlooked some setting but I don't think I did. Basically once Windows 8.1 was downloaded to my laptop and was then installed (a process that for both took in total well over two hours) I had to go through a number of screens that were similar to those I had to go through the first time I switched on my laptop after buying it back in June though some such as having to give the laptop a computer name didn't appear. But the screen that asks for a Microsft Account for signing in did appear and I couldn't see the option that I had back in June which sadi "Sign in without a Microsoft Account" which then created a local user account. Bizarrely, after installing Windows 8.1 I have an additional 12GB of free space on my C: Drive which is the drive I use for the system files. The drive is 100GB in size and the free space available has increased from 33GB to 45GB. Quite how or why I don't know. I do like Windows 8.1 (apart from this local user account issue) though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winapp2.ini Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Perhaps some old jank was removed from Windows 8 during the upgrade? winapp2.ini additions thread winapp2.ini github Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Perhaps some old jank was removed from Windows 8 during the upgrade? At 12% of the contents of the drive it would seem to be quite a lot of old jank! I've solved the problem of being forced to sign in with a Microsoft Account each time I startup the computer or bring it out of standby - all I did was go to Settings -> Change PC Settings -> Accounts and then signed out of my Microsoft Account. I'm now back to being logged on as a local user account and this stays the same even when restarting the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
login123 Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 Robbie, did that encryption get enabled during the installation? The cited article seems to indicate that it will if the computer meets certain criteria. I must get over to the win 8 forum and read about it before I turn this one on next time. The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Robbie, did that encryption get enabled during the installation? The cited article seems to indicate that it will if the computer meets certain criteria. I must get over to the win 8 forum and read about it before I turn this one on next time. The installation process took about an hour and a half so I wasn't taking much notice of the laptop... all I did see was a set of generic installation screens "eg "devices" each displaying the % of installation for that particular part of the installation. The specifics of each part of the installation wasn't displayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
login123 Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 OK. Thanks. I'll read about it over at the win 8 forums, as I wish for it to be turned off, just in case something goes awry and file recovery becomes necessary. My first choice for that would be a Linux OS, but I don't think that will work if the files are encrypted. The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-) Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_B Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Bizarrely, after installing Windows 8.1 I have an additional 12GB of free space on my C: Drive which is the drive I use for the system files. The drive is 100GB in size and the free space available has increased from 33GB to 45GB. Quite how or why I don't know. If you have a Macrium Reflect Partition Image backup of Windows 8 you can mount that as a virtual drive and use TreeSize Free to rapidly analyze the sizes of all folders and subfolders, and launch a second instance of TreeSize to analyze your real Windows 8.1 and do a side-by-side comparison to see the cause of the 12 GB difference. I guess that you could do the same with NON-Macrium image backups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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