Security risks with using Windows 10

[Pattart]

You should keep those two to seperate machines. No matter what you study, you will not need a high end machine. Buying a laptop for gaming is a waste of money. Mobile GPUs are very expensive and you have constant heat problems. Get a decent laptop for study/work and keep it clean of distractions. Get a desktop for gaming, its cheaper for the same amount of power.

Well I would probably be studying some kind of engineering, and many of the tools used for that like AutoCAD require some serious CPU and GPU to run smoothly.

And if you suggest that I use the school's computers for that, I prefer to be able to do my work on my own computers too in case I don't have access to other machines that can do the work.

I would get a GNU/Linux laptop and run Windows 10 in a Virtualbox VM. It is actually way easier to manage Windows in a VM than on the hardware itself. This puts Windows 10 in a sandbox where it belongs. If a professor insists on you accepting Microsoft's EULA as a condition of a higher education you then have the option of caving in.

Oh. That's a good idea! If I get a laptop that can do hardware virtualization that might work really well!

It is not so simple anymore. Microsoft added telemetry to older system as well. With windows update we now have in windows Vista, 7 and 8 the same spying tools windows 10 has.
So reverting to older system - unless it is windows XP with its discontinued support and old architecture is not so good idea. The only way is to delete these updates and block telemetry.

Really !?!? That is a problem. I am currently using Windows 7. Guess I need to check the windows updates now and remove the ones that spy 

[jaberwock]

Windows 10 has the same privacy issues than all windows versions, most people use it so the hackers will closely look at their security vulnerabilities and Microsoft can install and see everything you do and have if they want to.

Plus Windows 10 is a new OS, so there are plenty of vulnerabilities still to be discovered and people say it is crappy even for Microsoft standards(I never tested myself, though)

[USB-S]

Windows 10 has the same privacy issues than all windows versions, most people use it so the hackers will closely look at their security vulnerabilities and Microsoft can install and see everything you do and have if they want to.

Plus Windows 10 is a new OS, so there are plenty of vulnerabilities still to be discovered and people say it is crappy even for Microsoft standards(I never tested myself, though)

It doesn't really add any particular new features aswell. in my honest opinion, the receive by the public has been as bad as vistas launch was. They even said that windows 10 will be the final product in this line and they wont be making any more windows products. They'll just keep upgrading windows 10 into oblivion. Tbh they haven't really added any noticeable features that are game changing since xp. Mostly UI changes into a more modern style. That's just my two bits.

[Pierre 2]

I think it is pretty safe and secure operating system.
It is enough not to behave stupid to avoid that kind of monitoring malwares.

[XinXan]

Windows 10 has the same privacy issues than all windows versions, most people use it so the hackers will closely look at their security vulnerabilities and Microsoft can install and see everything you do and have if they want to.

Plus Windows 10 is a new OS, so there are plenty of vulnerabilities still to be discovered and people say it is crappy even for Microsoft standards(I never tested myself, though)

It doesn't really add any particular new features aswell. in my honest opinion, the receive by the public has been as bad as vistas launch was. They even said that windows 10 will be the final product in this line and they wont be making any more windows products. They'll just keep upgrading windows 10 into oblivion. Tbh they haven't really added any noticeable features that are game changing since xp. Mostly UI changes into a more modern style. That's just my two bits.

Yes exactly, they could have, instead, upgraded windows 7 to something better because windows 10 not only comes with bugs and other problems but also has a pretty shit interface, in my opinion. It happens with a lot of things these days, like iphones, iphone 5 and 6 have almost nothing new. They just do it for the money.

[1Referee]

I also have read about Windows 10 that there are some boxes you need to tick in the settings in order to not let some of your precious data leak into Microsoft's hands, but regarding Bitcoin, the risks aren't really related to only Windows 10. Every OS is being attacked with loads of virusses targeting your Bitcoins.

[Jeremycoin]

So that's why this "Get Windows 10" pop up always showing up, luckily I've changed to Windows 7.
Thx OP, this discussion just saved my Bitcoins.

[Light]

So that's why this "Get Windows 10" pop up always showing up, luckily I've changed to Windows 7.
Thx OP, this discussion just saved my Bitcoins.

You could always disable it with some registry adjustments. But honestly, I found it a little annoying that they'd have the gall to put ads for themselves into their own products. I personally went back to Win 7 after I found Win 8 fustrating - and the upgrade to Win 10 was atrocious (don't like the UI at all). As to the privacy issue - they can be turned off with a bit of hassle - but once again it's rather frustrating to see them slip something in like that by default.

[richardsNY]

So that's why this "Get Windows 10" pop up always showing up, luckily I've changed to Windows 7.
Thx OP, this discussion just saved my Bitcoins.

You could always disable it with some registry adjustments. But honestly, I found it a little annoying that they'd have the gall to put ads for themselves into their own products. I personally went back to Win 7 after I found Win 8 fustrating - and the upgrade to Win 10 was atrocious (don't like the UI at all). As to the privacy issue - they can be turned off with a bit of hassle - but once again it's rather frustrating to see them slip something in like that by default.

I will keep using Windows 7 for as long as Microsoft will support it with updates. They are trying to force people to install their software while we have not asked for a shitty pop up telling is to get a free copy of Windows 10.

[Tstar]

-snip-
Do you know any good laptop which are fully compatible with linux nowadays?

Yes, driver support is difficult for linux sometimes. Older Lenovos work very well in my experience. You can often get them cheap after a leasing contract. You might want to add a (new) SSD, some RAM and a new battery though.

If you trust Microsoft and the US Government with your private keys then by all means use Windows 10. I use GNU/Linux and I must say that I trust the US Government way more than many on this forum.

As for staying with Windows 7, why keep fighting change? The direction that Microsoft is heading in has been very clear for a very long time. I moved to GNU/Linux back in 2006 since at the time I did not like the "vista" on the horizon.

I switched to GNU/linux back in 2009. The only problem for me arose when I bought an HP laptop. It has been a pain in the ass only to install Ubuntu due to UEFI restrictions. After I installed everything, wifi and video card would not work properly and I had to go back to win 8.1
I also tried manjaro linux (based on Arch) and opensuse but nothing changed.
Do you know any good laptop which are fully compatible with linux nowadays?

The first thing to understand about buying a laptop from a vendor such as HP is that there are basically two kinds of laptops. Those sold to consumers and students which are basically junk that is engineered to fail in about 6 months, and those sold to businesses that are quality products designed to last for a long time. It is important to realize that the same manufacturers are selling both the junk and the quality products. The simple way to tell them apart is that the consumer versions come with a glossy high glare screen and the "standard" "home" or "personal" versions of Windows while the business versions come with a matt anti glare screen and the "pro" or "business versions of Windows. So "HP Laptop" is meaningless depending on whether it is consumer or business it is either a piece of junk or a quality product.

The option for a GNU/Linux laptop are several depending on budget.

1) Purchase a Laptop that is designed from the ground up to run GNU/Linux

Here are some examples:

https://puri.sm/ This in an over subscribed crowd funding campaign for a Laptop designed for 100% Libre GNU/linux distributions. This by the way ensures it will work with virtually any modern GNU/linux distribution.

https://system76.com/

zareason.com/

etc.

2) Purchase an older (Windows 7 era) business laptop, and upgrade the hard drive to large SSD and possibly also the RAM. Before buying check online if that particular model has any driver issues with GNU/Linux. One thing to keep in mind is that if it is two or there years old and there little or no hits on the fora then it is likely to have few if any problems. Also when it comes to drivers GNU/Linux is very good at supporting hardware typically after about 2 years so something that failed say in 2013 could very easily work fine today. I recently bought two HP 2760p EliteBooks from a government auction for well under 200 CAD each. After adding a 1 TB SSD each and upgrading the RAM on one to 16 GB and the other to 8 GB I have two quality laptops that will last me a long time.  One of them replaced an HP Evo 1000c with a Windows 2000 logo and 3.5in floppy drive that provided me with close to a decade of service. When I replaced it this summer it was running a full Bitcoin node using Trisquel GNU/linux. By the way UEFI should not be a problem if it is unlocked (Windows 8.x and earlier). Just go into the bios and unlock it. If it is a Windows 10 machine it may be locked. I suspect that most of the locked Windows 10 laptops will be sold to consumers as part of Microsoft and its partners ongoing junk for consumers program.

3) Buy a Chromebook and upgrade the hard drive. Chromebooks are good GNU/Linux computers except that they have ridiculously small hard drives. They have to be sold unlocked because Chrome OS contains GPLv3 code.

Very good information, especially the last one about Chromebook. I supposed it was locked by default.
Thanks! So it begins my quest to go back to GNU/linux

[n691309]

All new windows from Windows 8 8.1 10 all of them have keyloggers, they can even see you from your webcam, get your voice etc, everything is going to be based on cloud, and also the last version (Windows 10) is impossible to disable updates in the regular way.

[XinXan]

All new windows from Windows 8 8.1 10 all of them have keyloggers, they can even see you from your webcam, get your voice etc, everything is going to be based on cloud, and also the last version (Windows 10) is impossible to disable updates in the regular way.

What do you mean? Keyloggers from microsoft? It's not impossible to disable updates by the way. Do you actually have any evidence of what you are saying here? As previously said they will be able to access your personal data if needed but I doubt they are spying your webcam right now.

[doublemore]

I am looking to upgrade to a new computer with Windows 10 but i have head that Windows 10 has some privacy issues which can be security risks to bitcoin wallets on Windows 10 devices. What exactly are those issues and what risks do they pose to bitcoiners using Windows 10?

Im staying well clear on windows 10 based on the tips from people on this forum. I'd honestly like to get back to windows 7 it went downhill from there.

[peta4e]

I think the security concerns about Windows involve not only bitcoin but go far more beyond.

For me Linux is the only reasonable way to go in 99.99% of the cases.

And Tux is cute yes? : )

[var53]

Use an offline live CD when accessing your Bitcoin wallet. There are both Windows and Linux live CDs that can access a wallet on a thumb drive. Sign a transaction in live CD mode and store it on a thumb drive. Afterwards use a regular operating system online to broadcast the transaction. Your Bitcoin wallet never needs to be used on an online system, and you don't have to keep a separate offline computer dedicated solely to Bitcoin wallet security.

There's a list of Windows based live CDs here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_live_CDs#Microsoft_Windows-based

And there's a list of Linux based live CDs here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_live_CDs#Linux_kernel-based

[fast2fix]

I think the security concerns about Windows involve not only bitcoin but go far more beyond.

For me Linux is the only reasonable way to go in 99.99% of the cases.

And Tux is cute yes? : )

linux is the way to go. everyone should install linux on their system and get rid of windows.

So that's why this "Get Windows 10" pop up always showing up, luckily I've changed to Windows 7.
Thx OP, this discussion just saved my Bitcoins.

i read that ms automatically downloads windows 10 setup files and forces to install.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/07/28/windows-10-automatic-download/

[BillyBobZorton]

I think it is pretty safe and secure operating system.
It is enough not to behave stupid to avoid that kind of monitoring malwares.

Windows 10 is a terribly bad idea to use if you are running Bitcoin, specially a Bitcoin node where you have people connect to you so they can benefit from your node. I think Linux is the best way to go for nodes and in general.

[ArticMine]

...
Oh. That's a good idea! If I get a laptop that can do hardware virtualization that might work really well!
...

Virtualization is supported in processors at the hardware level if the processor supports the Intel (VT-x) or AMD (AMD-V) instruction set. Most processors released since 2006 do; however in many cases this has to be enabled in the bios. On older pre-2006 processors one can still do virtualization however it is slower. One modern processors using Intel (VT-x) or AMD (AMD-V) I find that both Windows XP and earlier, Windows 7 and Windows 10 work very well as guests on a GNU/Linux host. As for Windows 8.x this is one situation where I would upgrade to Windows 10 or downgrade to Windows 7. Also for Windows Vista I would also downgrade to Windows XP or upgrade to Windows 7 or 10. The key to make virtualization work is to have more than enough RAM memory for both the host and the guest (both regular RAM and emulated video RAM).

[cjmoles]

It's hard to trust anything that Microsoft puts out.  They've never hidden the fact that they mine for our information.  So, the question shouldn't be "are they collecting our information?" but more exhaustively,  "what are they doing with the information they've been collecting?"

[funkenstein]

Bwahahhahaa!!!

If you haven't figured it out by now:  don't use proprietary software ever again!!!!  Thank me later.  

Yes that means any of these handcuff systems like windows or mac that are designed to make computers unusable.  

Seriously, grace period is over.  Use a real general purpose computer -- today.