Back in January Microsoft encrypted all my hard drives without saying anything. I was playing around with a dual boot yesterday and somehow aggravated Secureboot. So my C: panicked and required a 40 character key to unlock.

Your key is backed up to the Microsoft account associated with your install. Which is considerate to the hackers. (and saved me from a re-install) But if you’ve got an unactivated copy, local account, or don’t know your M$ account credentials, your boned.

Control Panel > System Security > Bitlocker Encryption.

BTW, I was aware that M$ was doing this and even made fun of the effected users. Karma.

  • UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    They desperately wanted to eliminate personal computers and replace them with dumb terminals running over the net.

    When the public rejected this idea

    THIS is their response. They are still insisting on total control of our computers.

    • VitoRobles@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      They desperately wanted to eliminate personal computers and replace them with dumb terminals running over the net.

      I don’t know about that.

      Dumb terminal concept was more what Chromebook was doing.

      Microsoft is doing something even stupider.

      • CafecitoHippo@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Dumb terminal concept was more what Chromebook was doing.

        I mean, for a lot of people they’re fine especially if they’re priced appropriately. Especially with a lot more software as a service out there. My problem is that all of them have a built in drop dead date on when they’re going to stop getting updates and there’s not really a great option for the devices post ChromeOS.

        ChromeOS certainly can be a good system. I still have my old CR-48 from when I got selected to test the OS and even when it was in its infancy, it was solid. I used it for a lot of my college career because it was better than my Asus eeePC which had Ubuntu on it.

      • jim3692@discuss.online
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        2 months ago

        I think they want you to only use Windows and pay for cloud storage.

        By enforcing BitLocker and Secure Boot, they are trying to eliminate dual-booting (you don’t need to dual-boot Windows/Linux anyway, as you can just use WSL2 /s).

        By enforcing disk encryption, in general, they try to force the use of cloud storage, by making data recovery nearly impossible. Most people are probably too lazy to buy external storage, and manually copy their files over.

        This guarantees 2 money streams. One from Windows’s tracking/advertising and the other from OneDrive subscriptions.

      • Don_alForno@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        MS execs blathered about “the age of software running locally being over” long before Chromebooks.

    • toastmeister@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Not to mention DRM. They want to own your computer and prevent any kind of modification so that movie producers give them money.

          • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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            2 months ago

            Not really. Your problem in us is the lobbying lawyers. It’s a political systematic problem. The demonic corp entities that crave endless growth will never not do anything that could potentially suck any data from or control a customer. The ones that get “money” for things like this are your law makers. The Republican authoritarian faschists are the winners, along with billionaires that can afford to buy laws. No movie producer. No one in any business except exploitation on the mass scale can profit from these moves. In some countries it is illegal. In the us it is business

              • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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                2 months ago

                So not movie producers. You just mentioned them as another category being fucked? Because that’s what they are

                • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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                  2 months ago

                  The film industry benefits from HDCP and all DRM, they aren’t being fucked. I’ve looked back over the conversation, I think you have it flipped in your head.

                  • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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                    2 months ago

                    No. The movie producers get none of the profits of a movie. Much like game devs don’t get the profits of their games. The venture capital and wealthy owners, as previously discussed get the profit. You know this. You know what error you made. Stop slinking around so we can correct the facts

        • DFX4509B@lemmy.org
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          2 months ago

          Good luck locking loose mainboards sold for the DIY market, which don’t come with anything installed by default, to a given OS, the only way that could maybe work is forcing the OS in ROM.

          Another way would be to discontinue the socketed desktop form factors and replace them all with mini PCs that are as locked down as the current Macs.

          • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            Thinking for two seconds:

            MS pays Google to start enforcing some device verification thing so you can only view a good chunk of the Internet if you pass verification? (Assumes Google goes even harder making the web Chrome-focused)

            Ooh Cloudflare could be invited to the party here too. Constant CAPTCHAs if you’re not on an MS AUTHENTI-PC! device. (Think Private Access Token)

            …fill in the gaps friends 😉 you know MS has already debated all your “suggestions” anyway

            • michaelmrose@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              This is already part of the trusted computing spec its called “remote attestation” I would actually expect it more targeted at multimedia who are hot to keep you from copying their stuff and banks.

            • DFX4509B@lemmy.org
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              2 months ago

              So you’re suggesting MS will somehow block non-Windows OSes from installing, even on hardware like loose mainboards for building your own PC with, or even on barebones mini PC kits or certain laptop SKUs, which don’t ship with an OS installed to begin with and expect the user to install it themselves? I mean, unless something extreme happens like changing the entire PC platform to be like the current Macs, that won’t be feasible.

              Also, doing that would kill the Steam Deck which I doubt Valve would take sitting down.

              • Something Burger 🍔@jlai.lu
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                2 months ago

                SecureBoot pretty much does this. There is nothing preventing motherboard manufacturers from blocking adding non-MS keys if they wanted to.

                • DFX4509B@lemmy.org
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                  2 months ago

                  Except AFAIK loose mainboards aimed at the DIY market, as well as barebones kits, don’t ship with SecureBoot turned on by default and an off switch for that is mandatory to the PC spec.

              • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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                2 months ago

                Ah no

                so you can only view a good chunk of the Internet if you pass verification

                /

                Constant CAPTCHAs

                Get Google & Cloudflare to make the internet suck if you didn’t pay Microsoft[‘s vendors] “enough” for hardware

                Just sounds great doesn’t it?!

              • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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                2 months ago

                No. You know nobody can do that. It’s illegal almost everywhere to even try. But in usa maybe happening soon. They can still import parts for years until they ban that too