Privacy concerns & System Builders

[PyroTheWise]

I review a few new aggregate sites during the day and I found a very interesting article.  The article was titled:

 

Asus Invading Privacy By Installing Background Software Without User Consent (source: https://techspy.com/news/2324103/asus-invading-privacy-by-installing-background-software-without-consent)

 

I was going to build my own system and installl windows to a new M.2 NVMe drive on the system, but would that prevent bloatware from being added to my system without my consent?

 

So I was wondering, is this normal practice now?  I haven't been PC gaming or building PCs for over 20 years. 

 

What is your experience with building systems and auto installs from manufacturers?

[Adorable Cat]

I know every time I set up a laptop I reinstall windows to get rid of all the bloatware like McAfee and stuff, haven't heard about custom built PCs installing their own stuff like that though.

[Kilrah]

This talks about software installed on prebuilts/laptops.

[PyroTheWise]

Yes, but I was wondering if that was a feature of pre-built and if anything like that has made it to build your own....

[Kilrah]

No. It's just the bloatware manufacturers install in their Windows image. If you wipe it and do a clean reinstall it's gone.

[jj9987]

4 minutes ago, PyroTheWise said:

Yes, but I was wondering if that was a feature of pre-built and if anything like that has made it to build your own....

Build your own or buy preinstalled and install fresh OS - pretty much the same.

 

I can think of two ways this can happen:

1) Windows Update, which automatically installs drivers and might include OEM-supplied tools/apps - also mentioned in the article. Nothing new in today's age.

2) Those apps being included on the motherboard ROM which then somehow find a way into the OS (because hardware access). Theoretically possible (spyware used spread through motherboard in the earlier days), realistlically no idea of the modern UEFI systems and their security.

Some laptops also have a recovery partition, which likely includes those tools. I haven't had a Windows laptop in a long time, so I have no idea what such partition has and what it can do etc.

 

The author does not mention from where his Windows "fresh copy" originated from. So there is definitely some additional digging to be done before any conclusions can be drawn.

[PyroTheWise]

9 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

The author does not mention from where his Windows "fresh copy" originated from. So there is definitely some additional digging to be done before any conclusions can be drawn.

 

Yes, that was my concern with the article as well.  There is no independent confirmation about anything in the article at this time. 

 

[Touch My Hamm]

Looking at the article it is a prebuilt system. Now when they say "Fresh copy of Windows" do they mean they put in a new ISO while wiping all partitions of the old system? Or did they use the built in refresh from Windows OS? Or did they use some recovery partition that some OEM's built? Lets say the user used the Refresh built into Windows 10, now Asus could in theory have multiple partitions on the HDD where it will reinstall its software upon new windows install to the C:/ partition. Or when the user is installing their own software they clicked Yes in one of those boxes while installing some random software and it installed Asus software. This article has 1 occation of this happening and its not in a test environment that is controlled. There is no independent confirmation on what has happened either. If the user noticed the software quickly they should be able to go to logs and see when the software was installed and started running. There are only a few screen shots showing software running. We do not know what system this is attached to or when they were taken. 

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Asus trying to install some weird software if your building a custom machine but thats just IMO...

[PyroTheWise]

2 minutes ago, GodSeph said:

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Asus trying to install some weird software if your building a custom machine but thats just IMO...

 

Not really worried.  My current build list has a MSI motherboard instead of a ASUS.  I was however interesting in what is going on currently.  It sounds like the person did something weird during their re-install.  Probably from the recovery partition with automatically re-installed the ASUS software.  

 

[Touch My Hamm]

4 minutes ago, PyroTheWise said:

 

Not really worried.  My current build list has a MSI motherboard instead of a ASUS.  I was however interesting in what is going on currently.  It sounds like the person did something weird during their re-install.  Probably from the recovery partition with automatically re-installed the ASUS software.  

 

That would be my best bet. That or the HDD has a partition for recovering the Asus software. Maybe when reinstalling the drivers for the laptop he allowed the installation of that asus software as he would get most of the drivers from the official Asus support page for the laptop. 

[GoodBytes]

I always had the best computer experience by installing just the drivers, and skip on all those extra software.

 

Microsoft does it for all its Surface products. You have the driver and just the driver (they even go a step further, where the control panels needs to be aquired by you from the Microsoft Store app) this is how lean they like it, and this is how I like it on my side. System starts quick, no problems, smooth sailing.

 

If I need to configure something, say RGB something, first I ensure that the hardware can be configured at the firmware level, that means that I can install the software, set my settings and uninstall it, and my settings remains, same if I take it and plug it into a different system. This allows me to do just that, and I don't have a software of questionable quality running on the back all the time.

 

The exception is my Logitech mouse/keyboard software, as I do use it for the special extra buttons. I wish I can not have it, but sadly, Windows doesn't support fancy mouses, so the extra button presses will be registered by the OS. It needs the driver and software. But it is a light and while in teh old days Logitech software sucked, their latest one is pretty well made and supported.

[Mira Yurizaki]

3 hours ago, PyroTheWise said:

What is your experience with building systems and auto installs from manufacturers?

My rule has been for the past 15 or so years is install only the drivers. If the additional software that comes with the drivers have something you'll actually use or, god forbid, is required to make the thing work, then install that as well. Like I never install GeForce Experience with my NVIDIA drivers, because it provides me with zero functionality I care about. But I have a Sound Blaster card that has software that's needed to configure it, so I have that installed. I also always skip motherboard utilities because all of that can be configured in the UEFI config anyway.

 

But as far as "auto installing" goes, I almost never see that. But then again, I'm careful about going through the install process to make sure I'm getting exactly what I want, rather than click on "Next" mindlessly.

[Roswell]

The only thing that comes to mind is Windows update auto downloading updated drivers and one of them may have come with additional software. Kind of like if you let Windows handle your Nvidia drivers, you end up getting Nvidia control panel no matter what you do. Same goes for some Synaptic drivers and Intel stuff as well. Honestly, this is kind of expected and isn't some huge conspiracy.