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AskWoody_MVPFebruary 18, 2018 at 10:40 am in reply to: AskWoody is going to Ludicrous Speed on Sunday night #168477Thanks.
As long as it moves faster than I do…
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AskWoody_MVPShort of digging through frequency of certain processes, is there a means to determine the presence of MELTDOWN and SPECTRE?
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AskWoody_MVPDraw your own conclusions for what might be going on behind the scenes at Intel and Microsoft, since Microsoft and unlike Linux, doesn’t separate and isolate kernal cached memory from program cached memory.
This is the bottom line and problem source.
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AskWoody_MVPAs a postscript, more and more computer operations are designed to be transparent. The average user, in my opinion, just wants the computer to work, rather like television and pressing the remote. To that end, updates including telemetry are bundled and automatically installed for maximum consumer comfort and ease.
Telemetry, in theory, is probably a good notion. In practice, it is rather uncomfortable.
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AskWoody_MVPWhat are conditions under which telemetry would be permitted by a user?
Here are four such conditions:
• Run under secure https: as opposed to http:
• Provide information on uploaded elements.
• Allow user to decline or accept telemetry reporting.
• Not bottleneck the communication pipeline nor slow other processing time.
• Do not bundle telemetry with other updates.On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
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AskWoody_MVPFebruary 16, 2018 at 12:54 pm in reply to: Microsoft using insecure HTTP links to distribute security patches through the Update Catalog #167885Isn’t that an oxymoron?
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AskWoody_MVPFebruary 16, 2018 at 8:29 am in reply to: 2000009: Getting out of a no-boot situation after installing Windows updates #167804Useful devices include, but are not limited to:
- DVD+RW Rewritable Blank Discs
- Multiple external hard drives
- Multiple flash drives, for short-term or portable work
The shelf life of these devices is limited, so keep them fairly fresh. For example, when the external hard drive sounds like a freight train, it’s wise to retrieve data and replace the drive. These devices are cheap. Personal and proprietary data are not cheap.
Protecting information is paramount.
Maintaining a functional system is paramount.
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AskWoody_MVPFebruary 15, 2018 at 1:14 pm in reply to: Meltdown and Spectre from a Windows user’s point of view #167722Backups are for the contingency that nothing has gone well, trust notwithstanding.
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AskWoody_MVPWhat do the following mean in the email message (not on the copy I’m seeing here):   I see these often and don’t have a clue as to what they mean. Thank you for any information you may have on these. Thank you.
  is HTML coding for a single space within a line of text.
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AskWoody_MVPFebruary 15, 2018 at 7:18 am in reply to: February patches bring key Outlook fixes and a rebirth of KB 2952664 #167630The original Spectre proof of concept code was 97.9% accurate, whereas the researchers’ new SpectrePrime proof of concept code is 99.95% accurate. The scary thing about these numbers is that this if the first research article which unequivocally states just how effective both types of proof of concept code really are in terms of being able to accurately read exposed cached data from computer memory.
Can one block or effectively erase cache?
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AskWoody_MVPI use the built-in reader in Mozilla Firefox and find Adobe products awkward.
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AskWoody_MVPInstalled KB2952664 on two Windows 7/64-bit systems yesterday.
No brick. No problem. And both computers booted up. Sunshine.
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AskWoody_MVPPosts 165731, 165750 & 165776 are all me attempting to illustrate the situation as best as possible. 750 was clarification on 731 in that the reply button does “not” work as it should. Hence the comment in post 776. Why the quote button is not visible for anonymous visitors is most likely a limitation by design. Registered members can quote all day, which I just confirmed earlier by logging on. Should’ve thought of that from the beginning. Poor anons, always gotta try harder that lot. Thanks for helping me figure it out NightOwl.
Reply to #165872
Thanks for the information on how to build a template.
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AskWoody_MVPFebruary 8, 2018 at 7:50 am in reply to: Intel says its new Spectre-busting Skylake firmware patch is ready #165976Oh boy. I love the smell of fresh bricked PCs in the morning.
Reply to #165970
Noooooo, but noooooo.
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AskWoody_MVPThis is the current policy regarding anonymous posters. https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/a-note-on-anonymous-posters/
Thank you for the explanation.
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