Consolidator task (wsqmcons.exe) enabled by default ?

[maa]

It's just scheduled to send any queued SQM data. If you don't run any programs with SQM / CEIP enabled, it won't have anything to send.

Also, you should opt-in! Everything collected is completely anonymous. It just tells us things like which features people use, which buttons are clicked the most often, or which menus are never opened. It's only purpose is to help us make the product better.

Are you working for MS ? Anyway thanks for your informative post !

I must say right now I'm more annoyed by the noise of my hard drives when my pc is idle than the privacy issue, since I think like salterbomb said there is little or no interest in collecting personal customers information. It's just the fact that it's possible or doable that annoyed me.

For example I have a folder in my pc with all my work and all my personal infos and my writes (~1000 files, 150 MB). There's all about me and my life since several years.

Do you know how to prevent the hard drive to work when the pc is idle ?

Edit : sorry I just saw your other post. The privacy issue : you can't allow or disallow which service can connect to the Internet, since they are using svchost.exe. The hard drives : not really loud but I sleep in the same room. For the task scheduler : if it's not a good idea to stop it, what can I do to prevent the hard drive from working. Thank you Brandon.

Edited February 26, 2007 by maa

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Are you working for MS ? Anyway thanks for your informative post !

Yup :)

I must say right now I'm more annoyed by the noise of my hard drives when my pc is idle than the privacy issue, since I think like salterbomb said there is little or no interest in collecting personal customers information. It's just the fact that it's possible or doable that annoyed me.

For example I have a folder in my pc with all my work and all my personal infos and my writes (~1000 files, 150 MB). There's all about me and my life since several years.

Do you know how to prevent the hard drive to work when the pc is idle ?

Like I said, I couldn't imagine your hard drive activity has anything to do with SQM / CEIP. It's possible it's SuperFetch, defrag, or some other application / service you're running. How long have you had Vista installed? On new installs or upgrades, some extra idle disk activity is normal as Vista will be doing some "house keeping" to get things in order, but it should settle down after a couple days.

Do you have your hard drives set to power down when idle? Or do you have your computer set to go to sleep? That should be enough to keep things quiet when you're not using it.

[maa]

Like I said, I couldn't imagine your hard drive activity has anything to do with SQM / CEIP. It's possible it's SuperFetch, defrag, or some other application / service you're running. How long have you had Vista installed? On new installs or upgrades, some extra idle disk activity is normal as Vista will be doing some "house keeping" to get things in order, but it should settle down after a couple days.

I installed Vista sunday. So it should be ok in a few days, good news !

Do you have your hard drives set to power down when idle? Or do you have your computer set to go to sleep? That should be enough to keep things quiet when you're not using it.

In fact I listen to the radio, from my pc, in my bed to sleep, so I can't change the power settings for that. I'm not asleep when the hard drives start to work, and I must go to the pc to move the mouse for another 15 minutes of tranquility lol.

For the privacy issue, it seems you can't allow or disallow which service can connect to the Internet, since they are using svchost.exe, and svchost.exe must be allowed if you want to surf the net. So all the services are allowed to connect to the Internet, aren't they ?

[Brandon Live Veteran]

svchost.exe doesn't have a firewall rule by default. You certainly don't need to create one either. Services that need to open ports (like a web server or something) should run in seperate executables. Only a few services use the svchost.exe surrogate.

If you just installed Vista a day ago then it might still be building the system index, optimizing your disk, and so on. That should calm down after a couple days or sooner.

[nevets]

Hi all,

I don't think I give permission to Windows to start this task "every 19:00:00 indefinitely".

Please check by yourself : "Administrative tools" -> "Task scheduler" under the name "Consolidator" or "Customer Experience Improvement Program".

:crazy:

ALL YOU BASE ARE BELONG TO US :alien:

:trout:

Just putting a lil humor. :laugh:

I'm also very paranoid about these things... I turn off a lot of suspected services in XP. I have not migrated my important work and file to be viewed under Vista yet. I suspect OSX might have something in it that comunicates back to base... I mean apple :D . Flame on! :woot:

[maa]

^lol :laugh:

Yes when you read a lot of security stuff like myself you become paranoid. I spent a lot of time to secure a dedicated Debian web server and scripts, and now with my personal pc I tried to do the same. When I installed Vista I put Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2007, Maxthon browser which block popups, ads and ActiveX (great software with the super drag&drop feature) and disable some services. It's also the fact that I like to know and to control what's going on.

svchost.exe doesn't have a firewall rule by default. You certainly don't need to create one either. Services that need to open ports (like a web server or something) should run in seperate executables. Only a few services use the svchost.exe surrogate.

In Vista I don't really know but in XP when I installed some firewalls I was asked to allow svchost.exe and if I refused I couldn't surf the Net. But as you said only a few services use this surrogate. But I was asking to myself : if a software put itself as a service inside svchost.exe it can access the Internet ? And if it's a trojan ? One time I developed a service in .Net it was not very difficult to do and it worked fine.

[Linkinfamous]

I'm not convinced. The facts are the facts. I explained how the operating system can communicate with any web server even if you have installed a firewall which filters the outbound data.

If it is not a problem for you, maybe you don't have any clue about personal data integrity and the concept of private information.

Do you want to send me any of your private data stored on your computer ? So why let a private company the opportunity to send any information on his web server ? It amazes me. Seriously.

Then install a firewall and monitor it if you're that paranoid. Just because it's running doesn't mean it's doing anything.

Also, .NET services can't be hosted inside svchost, as far as I know. In any case, it takes admin privledges to install a service, so if you're running with UAC, you'd notice if any bad services were to be installed.

[UncleSpellbinder]

[maa]

^ my god you're an idiot, ok ? I'm really ****ed off now. If you don't like that kind of discussion, go in other threads.

[UncleSpellbinder]

Just trying to inject a little humor to an otherwise overly paranoid issue. Microsoft is not taking any personal information of any kind.

[maa]

Then install a firewall and monitor it if you're that paranoid. Just because it's running doesn't mean it's doing anything.

Also, .NET services can't be hosted inside svchost, as far as I know. In any case, it takes admin privledges to install a service, so if you're running with UAC, you'd notice if any bad services were to be installed.

You're probably right. The .NET service I did wasn't hosted inside svchost, it was just a simple service on WinXP so no UAC in that case. So in Vista, with the UAC control, there's no risk of a trojan to install a malicious service then.

[maa]

Just trying to inject a little humor to an otherwise overly paranoid issue. Microsoft is not taking any personal information of any kind.

ok ok lol. It's just that you're not the only one who make fun of me in this thread. no problem ;)

Oh, I'm not *that* paranoid. It's just a simple discussion, not a big deal for me. I work in IT and I like that kind of subject but I like plenty other subjects but here it's an IT forum, so.

Just trying to inject a little humor to an otherwise overly paranoid issue. Microsoft is not taking any personal information of any kind.

How do you know ? lol

[mad_onion]

what?

but if microsoft wanted to get your personal information (i have no idea why they would want to) they could do it a lot more secretly than just telling you it was going to happen. plus they wouldnt, a company can be sued for infringing the privacy of its customers why would they want to read you emails when it would cost then billions of dollars as well as irreparable damage to their reputation.

tbh im surprised you even use a computer once you're connected to the internet its about a million times more likely that spyware is going to steal your personal details than microsoft is lol. also, this is a different discussion really but i've never really understood why people can so much about their privacy unless they have something to hide i know i wouldnt mind having a microchip in my body that tracked my movements if it prevented crime, as long as im not doing anything wrong i dont see why i would mind (as long as the information was only held by a reliable surce)

[maa]

I didn't think one day I have to explain why privacy is important. It amazes me, really. I'm not aggressive in saying that.

I started to write a text, since more than 30 minutes, but my english is not very good and I'm not a philosopher in that domain. Let's say I feel it's important both personally and politically. If your don't mind, there're some pretty good pages on the net that explain that well :

- http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006...l_report_f.html

A popular response is: "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

By that reasoning, of course, we shouldn't mind if the police were free to come into our homes at any time just to look around, if all our telephone conversations were monitored, if all our mail were read, if all the protections developed over centuries were swept away. It's only a difference of degree from the intrusions already being implemented or considered.

The truth is that we all do have something to hide, not because it's criminal or even shameful, but simply because it's private. We carefully calibrate what we reveal about ourselves to others. Most of us are only willing to have a few things known about us by a stranger, more by an acquaintance, and the most by a very close friend or a romantic partner. The right not to be known against our will - indeed, the right to be anonymous except when we choose to identify ourselves - is at the very core of human dignity, autonomy and freedom.

If we allow the state to sweep away the normal walls of privacy that protect the details of our lives, we will consign ourselves psychologically to living in a fishbowl. Even if we suffered no other specific harm as a result, that alone would profoundly change how we feel. Anyone who has lived in a totalitarian society can attest that what often felt most oppressive was precisely the lack of privacy.

- http://www.rileyis.com/report/nov99.htm

“The argument that only the guilty “have something to hide” builds on the flawed notion that privacy is about keeping unpalatable secrets. Yet scratch even the most ardent advocate of unfettered technology and you will find a topic that triggers some reserve; personal finances, sexual preferences, medical conditions - we all have “something to hide” and a right to hide it. Truly these matters are no-one else?s (or very few people?s) business. Those who have had the misfortune to live in states that treat the individual?s information as their own understand how this builds social control and weakens the individual.”

Bruce Phillips, Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Annual Report, 1999.9.

- http://www.privacilla.org/fundamentals/whyprivacy.html[/There are two general reasons why privacy is important.

The first is that privacy helps individuals maintain their autonomy and individuality. People define themselves by exercising power over information about themselves and a free country does not ask people to answer for the choices they make about what information is shared and what is held close. At the same time, this does not mean that public policy should shield people from the costs of their choices. American privacy allows our many cultures and subcultures to define for themselves how personal information moves in the economy and society.

A second reason that privacy is important is because of its functional benefits.s.

Also http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/0...08opethics.html and http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Info/privacy.cfm

[maa]

but if microsoft wanted to get your personal information (i have no idea why they would want to) they could do it a lot more secretly than just telling you it was going to happen. plus they wouldnt, a company can be sued for infringing the privacy of its customers why would they want to read you emails when it would cost then billions of dollars as well as irreparable damage to their reputation.

Yes I think the same you know, there would be too much dollars engaged and a really, really bad reputation on that thing.

tbh im surprised you even use a computer once you're connected to the internet its about a million times more likely that spyware is going to steal your personal details than microsoft is lol.

I think there are potential dangers everywhere, it's like that in the nature also. But it's not a reason to get paranoid all the time, I'm not masochist :) I just want to keep my eyes open.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Truthfully, Microsoft doesn't want your personal information. While some companies (spyware, AOL, whatever) would try to collect it and sell it to spammers / advertisers / whatever, there's no incentive for Microsoft to do that. For one, Microsoft's biggest customers are businesses. Enterprises won't stand for anything like that, and they would find out. Even anonymous data collection needs to be completely controllable by IT admins or they wouldn't dare let it on their network. Microsoft puts employees through a lot of training so they know how to avoid any information that can be used to personally identify a user, except in very specific cases where the user has consented to give it out (like signing up for an e-mail list and such), and what the restrictions are on those cases.

[maa]

It makes perfect sense to me, Brandon, and I agree with what you said.

BTW thank you greatly for your time and your answers :)

[winXpert]

MAHAHHAAHAHAH!

Lets not forget that Microsoft created a backdoor starting in Windows NT4 SP5 for the NSA. As a matter of fact, Microsoft worked very closely with the NSA for the Vista release too. Makes you wonder. :devil:

[maa]

MAHAHHAAHAHAH!

Lets not forget that Microsoft created a backdoor starting in Windows NT4 SP5 for the NSA. As a matter of fact, Microsoft worked very closely with the NSA for the Vista release too. Makes you wonder. :devil:

Great links winXpert.

Edited February 28, 2007 by maa

[Aero Ultimate]

MAHAHHAAHAHAH!

Lets not forget that Microsoft created a backdoor starting in Windows NT4 SP5 for the NSA. As a matter of fact, Microsoft worked very closely with the NSA for the Vista release too. Makes you wonder. :devil:

That is surely highly interesting :shifty:

[Nostromov]

Start Task Scheduler from the Start Menu Administrative Tools, or from Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Task Scheduler, or by typing taskschd.msc from Run... (Windows Key + R: to Launch the Run dialog box).

The Consolidator task (wsqmcons.exe) keys are under

• Task Scheduler (Local)
  • Task Scheduler Library
    • Microsoft
      • Windows
        • Customer Experience Improvement Program
          • 1. Consolidator
               
            2. OptinNotification
               

Right-click each one in turn, select properties, go to the Triggers tab and select Edit; Then uncheck the Enabled box and click Ok & Ok once again to close the dialogs.

This should disable the task permanently after a reboot and also for any new user accounts added later.

An EASIER way is to select Disable from the right-click menu without opening the task properties. The reason I choose not to simply delete them is because Windblows always has a way to call on things that aren't there any more and mess something else up down the line; if you catch my drift..:)

Gl, hope it helps.

[franzon]

Start Task Scheduler by typing taskschd.msc from Run... (Windows Key + R: to Launch the Run dialog box).

You don't need to remember complicated names (taskschd.msc)!

You don't need to open the Run dialog box!

Simply, open the start menu and type scheduler (or the translated word in your language) and hit Enter key. This is the power of Windows Instant Search

Edited November 22, 2007 by franzon

[Nostromov]

Sure but Task Scheduler is not visible by default, so it might not be so obvious to everyone

[franzon]

but Task Scheduler is not visible by default , so it might not be so obvious to everyone

YOU WRONG (it's in start menu -> all programs -> accessories -> system tools)!

With the Instant Search you don't need to know the real location of an item,

simply, type the word scheduler (or the translated word in your language) and the Task Scheduler will appear in the search results as you type.

Edited November 22, 2007 by franzon

[Master^IT]

This was some really good information, my Vista goes crazy sometimes loading without me doing anything. This is problery why.

Thanks for all the good replyes.