14 DAY TRIAL // Continuing from where we left off the past week... It all comes down to control. The constant flow of information between Windows Vista and Microsoft has as primary purpose the gathering of input, automated or voluntarily on behalf of the end user in order to improve the overall experience of the operating system. Still, the feedback is a cocktail of personal information and general/specific data related directly to the product. This potpourri is a potential source of paranoia. The fact of the matter is that each user will react differently to privacy scenarios. But you have to understands that Microsoft has the upper hand and exercises a high level of control from the get go. Microsoft alone decides and manages the way it collects, stores and uses user data. The Redmond company does provide Disclosures and Privacy Controls, and through them, users will be able to equal the balance. No matter if you are a Privacy "Unconcerned", a Privacy "Pragmatic" or Privacy "Fundamentalist", it all comes down to control...
Internet Protocol Version 6 - Teredo
Teredo is a transition technology set in place in Windows Vista in order to mitigate the migration from Internet Protocol Version 4 to Internet Protocol Version 6. Teredo will enable a copy of the operating system running on a machine situated behind a network address translation (NAT) device to use IPv6 with other computers. What you have to understand is that while Microsoft configured Teredo to be enabled by default, the technology will only become active in certain cases such as if an application has to use it. But activation is synonymous with the need to access information related to the particular type of NAT. Subsequently, the operating system will communicate with a Teredo server. This is the moment when Vista may issue a "DNS query to resolve the name teredo.ipv6.microsoft.com," the Redmond company informed. The query is necessary in order to identify IPv4 Teredo server addresses.
Users can either manually supply the IPv4 address of a Teredo server to the Vista Teredo client, or turn the technology off altogether, although the later option will possibly result in a depreciation of networking functionality. It is better to provide the IPv4 address of a Teredo server to Vista, and you can do this through the "netsh" command. Simply open a command prompt window with elevated privileges, type "cmd" in the search box under the Start menu and right-click the highlighted result choosing Run as Administrator from the contextual menu. Next enter "netsh", "interface" and "teredo" pressing the Enter key after each one. Finally, supply the data needed through this command "set state servername=IPv4_address."
Switching Teredo off cannot be simpler. All you have to do is make your way to the netsh interface teredo command prompt, as shown above and enter "set state disabled". In order to enable the Teredo client, if you change your mind, also from the netsh interface teredo command prompt type "set state client" and press enter. Alternatively, you can use a registry hack to kill Teredo. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesTcpip6. "Right-click Parameters, click New, click DWORD, and then type the following name for the new value (type the name exactly as shown, including capitalization): DisabledComponents. Double-click DisabledComponents, select Hexadecimal, and then in Value data, type: 8. Click OK. Restart the computer," explained Microsoft.
Program Compatibility
The Program Compatibility Wizard, Compatibility tab in the property sheet and Program Compatibility Assistant are the three program compatibility features in Windows Vista. "The program compatibility features work in an integrated way with Windows Error Reporting (WER) and the Problem Reports and Solutions feature in Windows Vista. This makes it easier for you or a user to obtain updated, Web-based information about how to overcome compatibility problems with a program you want to run", Microsoft informed.
Microsoft gets an extensive volume of data related to compatible or incompatible programs that the users integrate with Windows Vista. The Program Compatibility Wizard will enable the configuration of compatibility settings in order to make an initially incompatible application function seamlessly inside Vista. Using the wizard will generate a report and Vista will prompt the user either to send it or not to Microsoft. Changing the compatibility settings via the Compatibility tab in the property sheet for a program, accessible through right clicking on an application, selecting Properties and then the Compatibility tab, will also generate a report. However, Vista will no longer ask for the user's permission and instead will automatically pass the data to Windows Error Reporting. The Program Compatibility Assistant deals with actively blocking confirmed incompatible programs, as well as application failures generated by incompatibility exceptions. This feature also produces a report and hands it over to the Windows Error Reporting.
"Specific information sent: file name; program information (product name, version, company name, and a description of the program); feature and (in some cases) context from which the report was generated; User response (this information is coded as a number that indicates the user's response); default settings; Logging (when the Program Compatibility Assistant is triggered, it logs en event that includes the incompatible program's path, filename, version, and product name, along with information about what triggered the Program Compatibility Assistant and what compatibility settings were applied)," Microsoft added.
Controlling program compatibility features in Windows Vista is more of a task involving Group Policies. End users have only to restrain themselves from sending the information related to the Program Compatibility Wizard and to disable Windows Error Reporting. Read on to find out how.
Windows Vista Registration
The Windows Vista registration process is completely voluntarily, and through it, the user can supply Microsoft with personal data. "Product registration is the process of providing Microsoft with personally identifiable information, such as an e-mail address, for the purpose of receiving tips, tools, online training, and support resources from Microsoft. Registration is usually done on a per-product basis, and it is not required. If registration is completed, all registration information is stored using a variety of security technologies. When the user provides an e-mail address during registration, he or she also specifies whether important security, product, and event information can be sent to that e-mail address by Microsoft, Microsoft Partners, or both. Other than the uses that are specified, the registration information is never loaned or sold outside Microsoft," the Redmond company commented, and I think that is enough said.
Remote Assistance
With Remote Assistance, a user has the option to deliver complete access to the Microsoft support staff. The Redmond company will actually connect to the Vista computer from another machine also running the latest operating system. If you will make your way through Control Panel, System maintenance and System, in the left hand side menu you will notice the Remote Settings option. From here, you will be able to allow Remote Assistance connections of the computer. Configure the Remote Desktop and set the limits for remote assistance. The feature can be initiated exclusively by the user.
Microsoft revealed that there are "multiple protections are built into Remote Assistance: - Remote Assistance sessions use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), and they are encrypted. - The user must consent before the assistance can begin, regardless of how the Remote Assistance process begins (through instant messaging, through an invitation sent through e-mail or delivered as a file, or through Offer Remote Assistance). - A user inviting assistance (through instant messaging or by sending e-mail or a file) must set up a password of at least six characters that the helper must type before assistance can begin. - The user can stop the Remote Assistance session at any time."
The Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program
The Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program is turned off by default in Windows Vista, and it is a program that users have to actively agree to participate in. WCEIP will gather data about the usage of the operating system in a variety of mundane scenarios and will transmit it to Microsoft on a regular basis, however, only if the user opts to be a part of the process. The program will collect information about the hardware configuration and about the usage of Vista, and will be sent to Microsoft approximately every 19 hours thorough HTTPS and port 443. The Redmond company is interested in nothing more than Vista trends and pasterns.
Windows Defender
Windows Defender is the basic security solution that Microsoft ships by default with Windows Vista, integrated into the fabric of the operating system. The tool is designed to offer protection against spyware and potentially unwanted software. Like any other security solution, Windows Defender has to constantly communicate with Microsoft in order to access updates and the latest malware signatures. In this context, Microsoft underscores the fact that there is an intimate connection between Windows Defender and the Online Microsoft SpyNet. However joining the community is entirely an optional decision of the end user. Users can disable the automatic scanning of Windows Defender by selecting Tools and then Options.
"Each time Windows Defender performs a scheduled scan (if there is a connection to the Internet), by default it checks the Windows Update Web site for software updates and updated definitions. This is the same process that is used to check for updates for other operating system features, which means that the information sent includes the version of the current set of definitions. If updates are available, they are downloaded by Windows Defender," Microsoft explained.
Windows Error Reporting
Windows Error Reporting is a built in capability of Windows Vista set in place to help Microsoft gain information about the errors associated directly with the operating system or with the platform's features and programs, and the Problem Reports and Solutions feature is its surface. Via Windows Error Reporting users will be able to transmit data to the Redmond company and also receive solutions to their problems. The Problem Reports and Solutions feature in Control Panel is designed to act as the interface for Windows Error Reporting. You will be able to make your way through Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Problem Reports and Solutions, Change settings and then Advanced settings. Here, Windows Vista offers you the possibility to turn problem reporting on or off, to provide Microsoft with additional details, or to block the feature for specific programs. Windows Error Reporting collects information about application errors, handwriting recognition errors, errors from the Japanese Input Method Editor and Windows Kernel failures.
"Windows Error Reporting collects information about the computer configuration, what the software was doing when the problem occurred, and other information directly related to the problem. Windows Error Reporting does not intentionally collect anyone's name, address, e-mail address, or computer name. It is possible that such information may be captured in memory or in the data collected from open files, but Microsoft does not use it to identify users. Windows Error Reporting collects Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, but the addresses are not used to identify users, and in many cases, they are the address of a Network Address Translation (NAT) computer or proxy server, not a specific client behind that NAT computer or proxy server," Microsoft said.
Windows Media Player 11
Windows Media Player 11 gets a tad chatty with Microsoft's WindowsMedia.com website, offering metadata retrieval and submission and Media Guide. According to the Redmond company, its digital entertainment website is integrated into Windows Media Player 11. "Instead of using default settings, the first time that Windows Media Player is opened, it displays dialog boxes for configuring settings such as whether to allow Windows Media Player to download CD and DVD information from the Internet, or whether to send Microsoft anonymous usage information for the Customer Experience Improvement Program. You can prevent the first-use dialog boxes from appearing, and instead control such settings through Group Policy. For more information, see "Settings that Can Be Controlled Through Group Policy," later in this section," Microsoft stated.
It is important to set up Windows Media Player 11 to not connect to the Internet if you want to prevent the device from accessing Microsoft. In this context, make sure that the Work Offline option is selected in the File menu. Additionally, make your way to tools, and Options, select the Privacy tab and uncheck all the boxes enabling the features that communicate with the Redmond company. Also, make sure that the box next to the Download codecs automatically under the Player tab is not checked.
Windows Update
Windows Update is perhaps the most beneficial Internet-based service that Microsoft is providing to your copy of Windows Vista. You might want to think long and hard before turning this puppy off, and is simply not something that I recommend. Microsoft does provide security bulletins bundles into an ISO image, but the release is addressed at the corporate environment. Besides, the Windows Update infrastructure serves much more than just security patches. Microsoft offers a comprehensive catalog containing everything from service packs, to non-security updates, device drivers, help files, Windows Defender definitions. On top of the ISO security image, Vista users can also get their updates via the Windows Update Catalog Web site or through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). In order to turn Windows Update off simply make your way to the feature in Control Panel and select Change Settings and then opt for Never check for updates.