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submitted 11 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

You can’t get rid of it, you can only hide it: Microsoft imposes controversial Windows Backup on users::Like it or not, the Windows Backup app installed in Windows 10 and Windows 11 is here to stay, with Microsoft calling it a "system component" that can't be

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[-] spez@sh.itjust.works 105 points 11 months ago

Yup, that ai generated image kills me more than the news.

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[-] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 89 points 11 months ago
[-] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 30 points 11 months ago

Tbf that's my favourite kind of AI generated person

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[-] Nindelofocho@lemmy.world 82 points 11 months ago

coming soon: Monthly subscription to use windows with the justification that it uses an online service in order to work

[-] georgette@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

I can't wait for the eventual warning pop-ups and emails, warning me that my onedrive is almost full (70%)

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[-] Zetta@mander.xyz 8 points 11 months ago

Honestly I hope, would be a big boom for Linux which I already use

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 12 points 11 months ago

This year is the year of Linux, just like every year before it.

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[-] techognito@lemmy.world 64 points 11 months ago

For those of you who are now worried about you win10 or 11 install:

  1. This is only for those using MSA account with windows 10 or 11
  2. You cannot uninstall the backup tool, but you can disable taking backups
    1. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/back-up-your-windows-pc-87a81f8a-78fa-456e-b521-ac0560e32338

Lastly, this article had 0 sources and was misleading

[-] Moc@lemmy.world 46 points 11 months ago

Reason #2720183 to use Linux.

[-] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 34 points 11 months ago

Imagine how much better the computing landscape would be today if we actually prevented MS from doing anticompetitive and often straight-up illegal stuff in the 90s to gain their monopoly

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[-] dosse91@lemmy.trippy.pizza 39 points 11 months ago

It's always sad to see users being mistreated like this but what never ceases to amuse me is the amount of time that Windows users are willing to waste in order to remove all this trash from their systems and have a usable experience, only for it to be ruined again with something worse with the next update. At this point, they either don't know that alternatives exist or they have Stockhom syndrome or something.

I used to do that A LOT and you can still find all my old guides on my website as a testament to that, they were soooo long, it took hours to do a "clean install", they took days to write, and even then I would run into so many issues because of Windows Update... One day I realized that I was doing more work to make Windows usable than the average Arch user and I just gave up. Linux wasn't ready for gaming yet so I had to dual boot for a while, but thankfully that's not a problem anymore. I couldn't be happier.

[-] NAXLAB@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

I'm aware of all of this, but most of the software I use is Windows only. Recommending GIMP/whatever seems like enough to a proud Linux user, but it really just doesn't cut it. I'm savvy enough to get rid of all the stuff I hate about windows or switch to Linux, but I'm comfortable enough to stay with wondoes

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[-] dm_me_your_feet@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

I just have migrated to using an untrusted Windows Gaming PC exclusively for that and Debian for everything else. Go ahead, harvest my wasted hours on steam and chat trashtalk, idgaf.

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[-] Mossheart@lemmy.ca 39 points 11 months ago

MacOS has had time machine for over a decade.

How is this different except for the fact it's not our Lord and Savior Linux?

[-] Dadifer@lemmy.world 42 points 11 months ago

I don't remember Time Machine backing up to someone else's server.

[-] TurboDiesel@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

iCloud does, and if memory serves you can't remove that either. But like iCloud, you can simply not sign in.

[-] gestalt@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

You can always finely control what goes into iCloud and what does not.

Time Machine backups have to be opted-in if you want to save it to iCloud.

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[-] pirrrrrrrr@lemmy.dbzer0.com 39 points 11 months ago

Holy shit. Just not "no" when it asks if you want to set up backup, and keep using what you already use.

It's less difficult than falling over.

[-] remotelove@lemmy.ca 33 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Use local accounts only and do not login to a Microsoft account.

Edit: In my situation, I used an MS account during a reinstall and disabled backups and logged out quickly after. There are methods to still do an offline install, from what I understand.

Disabling backup is annoying, but not hard.

[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 13 points 11 months ago

Is that possible on Windows 11?

[-] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago

Yes. When installing and it asks for your email address just use no@thankyou.com then type anything in for the password. It will fail then you can enter a local account.

[-] planish@sh.itjust.works 12 points 11 months ago

BRB, buying thankyou.com and enjoying my several million computers.

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[-] remotelove@lemmy.ca 8 points 11 months ago

Yes. I had to do that on my latest reinstall. I had to create a local account after the install and log out of my MS account. It really tried to force backups, which is super annoying.

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[-] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 32 points 11 months ago

I've been on Windows since 3.0 (not 3.1) and MS-DOS, back when DR-DOS was a thing and IBM's OS/2 was a rising star, and the joke about how if operating systems were airlines, Linux would be the one where all the passengers bring parts and tools and build it on the runway themselves.

Oh, how the turns have tabled. Today, I installed Debian 12 with GNOME DE on an old 2010 MacBook, and then installed Budgie Desktop on top of that as an optional profile. It fucking screams on 13 year old hardware, lol. I'm not even done trying out all the distros and DEs I want to try out; that's just one. When I'm done playing with that I'll blow it away and install a different distro instead. And I didn't pay a penny for any of them.

There is literally no reason for me to stay on the sick, bloated advertising delivery/data collection system that is Microsoft Windows.

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[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 28 points 11 months ago

As a non windows user, can someone explain to be what all the fuss is about? It sounds like people are grumpy that they’re being shown a feature that they can’t use or don’t want to use, and MS is going to let people hide the UI for that.

What is wrong with this solution? Are people not going to be happy until every spec of the feature’s code is stripped from the OS?

[-] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago

It's another way of trying to force users into using OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud service, and paying for the privilege. It's not a big deal for the tech savvy, but it's a great way to capture subscriptions from those that are not. Using it also requires a Microsoft account.

[-] xuniL@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 11 months ago

The thing is, if you can't uninstall it, then Windows will repeatedly try to shove the feature into your face, until you enable it again

[-] pirrrrrrrr@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I got a pop-up that said:
"Hey we have backup to OneDrive now! Do you want to turn it on?". [Yes/no/don't ask again]

[-] RadialMonster@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

My options were remind me in 1 week, or remind me in 30 days

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[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 11 months ago

I think you’ll find a number of… specific OS users, let’s call them, who will tout that they can uninstall anything from their OS without complaint or warning. Same response as being unable to completely uninstall internet explorer back in the day.

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[-] my_hat_stinks@programming.dev 9 points 11 months ago

It sounds like people are grumpy that they’re being shown a feature that they can’t use or don’t want to use,

That's the problem right there. They're trying to sell you a new feature. That's an ad. Ads have no place in an operating system.

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[-] SeeJayEmm@lemmy.procrastinati.org 21 points 11 months ago

Who cares? Windows has included a backup app of some sort since NT. The only way this is more than click bait would be if they were forcing you to use it.

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[-] echodot@feddit.uk 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

So? Sure you can't get rid of it but also you don't have to use it.

Despite what this article is trying to imply you're not actually forced to do any backups, so Microsoft are not seeing your information. Also it's probably be encrypted anyway, but who knows.

You don't have to use it, so this entire article is basically a big while load of nothing.

[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

Why should I waste hard drive space that I paid for to store a component that I neither require nor utilize? If I'm already on a machine that is pretty close to my drive limitations (and I am), why should I simply accept further reduction in my computer's capabilities?

This was the same argument Microsoft made about Internet Explorer during the antitrust lawsuit. Yet somehow, when faced with the possibility of a forced split, they managed to find a way.

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[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 9 points 11 months ago

You got to love all the ads that are now a part of windows

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I consider everyone still using Windows by now to be masochists of the worst kind.

Who would want to have backups of important files on a Microsoft server? Probably located in the USA, where it's contents are free game for the snooping agencies? If you are not a US citizen (and even that is no real protection) they will hoover every byte about you "just in case".

[-] pathief@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

Not masochists, just people with very different needs, privacy concerns and overall tech knowledge than you. Not sure why this is hard to understand by some folks.

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[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

I’m waiting for the inevitable Lemmy comment from an engineer or sys admin that tells me to install Linux.

[-] 0ddysseus@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

Well I'm neither of those. I'm not a tech bro and I don't really understand computers well or what a tick tock does. I'm just an old dude who's been using standard desktop stuff since windows 3.1 and DOS before that.

You should install Linux unless you absolutely need either commercial architecture software or Excel for specific things.

MS is the devil and windows sucks balls. I use windows on a work machine and it is objectively worse than most Linux flavours.

Start on Mint or KDE Neon if you're coming from windows.

As they say, don't knock it till you try it.

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this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
338 points (86.0% liked)

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