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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
There are some details at MalwareTips, a little old but should be a useful starter: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/intelr-system-usage-report-service/
Being of a semi-cynical nature about “telemetry” in general, I would like to have received some kind of polite notice that a new Intel(R) program had been installed on my primary workstation.
I find it almost impossible to believe that adding a second VGA monitor was the “trigger” event. That monitor is a Dell model 1704FPT, which works just fine for displaying Task Manager in real-time.
The CPU in question here is our Intel Core i5-3470. Why Intel would still need performance data for an obsolete Intel CPU is a question I am unable to answer, as of today.
EVEN WITH Windows Updates BLOCKED, this SUR sub-folder was created on my C: system partition, and several system files were written there, just 7 days ago.
Your link contains this paragraph, which can be interpreted several different ways, some of which are not so innocent:
Copilot explains how to disable Intel(R) System Usage Report:
As does the page linked above.
Per the link below from the MiniTool System Booster pages, apparently the Intel® System Usage Report and its associated service are part and parcel of the Intel® Driver and Support Assistant package! So, if you’ve installed that package, that’s probably how the System Usage Report got onto your computer.
IS THIS MORE “TELEMETRY”?
Yes, it sure is. Here’s a brief quote from the page linked to below:
Intel System Usage Report is a mechanism for sending telemetry data to Intel servers to analyze and improve CPU performance. If you use an Intel processor, you can also send this type of data. However, sometimes users complain that I Intel System Usage Report uses too much CPU, impacting performance.
I added the bolding in the quote above. Read the page linked to below for a further explanation. Feel free to close the holidays’ savings offer that will pop up when you initially to go the page. The link will open in a new tab.
https://systembooster.minitool.com/boost-pc/intel-system-usage-report-uses-too-much-cpu.html
Looks like Intel’s Driver Support and Assistant package has been keeping itself fairly (or fully) up to date on your machine, based upon the file dates you mentioned above.
Although you’ve gotten good advice on how to disable the System Usage Report and have done so successfully, I suppose if you so desired, you could uninstall the Driver and Support Assistant to ensure that the System Usage Report won’t rear its ugly, resource-hogging head again on your system!
Although you’ve neutered it, I suppose its possible for it to return/get re-enabled the next time the Driver and Support Assistant updates itself.
That’s what happened every time I used to update Acrobat Reader when I used to have it installed…the automatic update checker would get re-enabled every time and nag me to no end that an update was available even though I had no desire to install the update. The only updates for Reader I ever installed were those containing a security vulnerability fix. Because of that, I felt I had no need for its updater so I kept it disabled.
“One note of caution, though” he said as he put on his Captain Obvious hat.
If you do uninstall the Driver and Support Assistant, you’ll be on your own for finding the latest drivers from Intel for your system. But, there’s a lot of help here for you to find them.
I found that blocking Intel’s (and Microsoft’s) telemetry and data collection with my firewall to be far easier than using Copilot, AI or a Registry hack. I simply have my firewall set to prompt me when anything attempts to access the internet. And when I see things like ‘Intel container wants access ….’ I just choose the ‘Block Forever’ option (on Norton 360) and …… no more snooping. (and no more alerts) Ditto for Microsoft system modules and any other software that wants internet access. When I first launched a seemingly benign app like ‘Sticky Notes,’ I was blown away when I was prompted that sticky notes wanted internet access. Oh yea? Really? Well, I fixed that in a few seconds.
CLICK! ZAP! BLOCKED! (Forever) Do it once. Problem solved.
"War is the remedy our enemies have chosen. And I say let us give them all they want" ----- William T. Sherman
Would I need Norton software to stop “Intel(R) System Usage Report” from accessing the Internet?
If not, can you reply with simple steps to effect the same “blocking” without Norton?
See the latest screenshot below.
Even though I removed that Intel driver utility, on the advice received above, “SUR” is BAAAACK!
The two “Process” entries point to 2 x .exe files in bold below:
Directory of C:\Program Files\Intel\SUR\QUEENCREEK\x64
10/03/2024 11:33 PM 1,088,648 esrv.exe
10/03/2024 11:33 PM 1,150,600 esrv_svc.exe
10/03/2024 11:33 PM 169,096 task.exe
10/03/2024 11:33 PM 410,680 crashlog_extractor.exe
I use Evorim’s Free Firewall to help control the worst of the interference/spying and constant update checks, looks like it’s no longer under development but still a lot fresher than some alts I see bandied about.
Pretty simple to use on top of the default Windows firewall: https://www.evorim.com/en/free-firewall
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