http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140858/Microsoft_confirms_first_Windows_7_zero_day_bug Microsoft confirms first Windows 7 zero-day bug Urges users to block ports until a patch is ready, but workaround cripples browsers By Gregg Keizer November 14, 2009 08:11 AM ET http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/327065/microsoft_denies_it_built_backdoor_windows_7 Microsoft denies it built 'backdoor' in Windows 7 Don't worry, company tells users; NSA involved only in security compliance standards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY _NSAKEY is a variable name discovered in Windows NT 4 Service Pack 5 (which had been released unstripped of its symbolic debugging data) in August 1999 by Andrew D. Fernandes of Cryptonym Corporation. That variable contained a 1024-bit public key. 20121115 http://www.joedissmeyer.com/2012/11/troubleshooting-slow-boot-performance.html (an example of how fucked Windows can be. And what extreme measures are required to find out exactly what type of fuckedness is going on. Good case of 'how not to do it' for GOSH.) 20130810 http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-10423985-285/understanding-windows-7s-godmode/ Understanding Windows 7's 'GodMode' Enthusiasts are buzzing over a trick that lets users get access to all of the operating system's controls in one folder. ---- By creating a new folder in Windows 7 and renaming it with a certain text string at the end, users are able to have a single place to do everything from changing the look of the mouse pointer to making a new hard-drive partition. Enable 'GodMode' in Windows 7 The trick is also said to work in Windows Vista, although some are warning that although it works fine in 32-bit versions of Vista, it can cause 64-bit versions of that operating system to crash. To enter "GodMode," one need only create a new folder and then rename the folder to the following: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} Once that is done, the folder's icon will change to resemble a control panel and will contain dozens of control options. I'm not sure it's my idea of playing God, but it is a handy way to get to all kinds of controls. ---- 20160507 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/06/microsoft_update_asus_windows_7/ Microsoft half-bricks Asus Windows 7 PCs with UEFI boot glitch A recent Windows 7 update partially bricks computers that have an Asus motherboard fitted, it emerged this week. Windows 7 machines that have installed Microsoft's KB3133977 update may trigger a "secure boot violation" during startup, preventing the PC from loading the operating system, Asus said. Though the KB3133977 patch has been out for a while, Microsoft has only this week changed its classification from "optional" to "recommended", meaning for many users it now automatically installs through Windows Update – and then borks the PC. 20160507 http://betanews.com/2016/05/05/asus-secure-boot-windows-7-update/ Now Microsoft is breaking Windows 7 to get users to upgrade to Windows 10 Microsoft has made a change to an update for Windows 7 that can prevent certain systems from booting. While you might expect me to say, "good news, the software giant has fixed the problem", in fact what Microsoft has done is switch the update from "optional", to "recommended". So, on some systems, it will now install, and break Windows 7 automatically. There is good news though, and that’s you can solve the problem and get your computer working again by (can you guess?) upgrading to Windows 10. Hooray! 20160507 http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2457031/updategate-microsoft-suggests-updating-to-windows-10-to-patch-windows-7 Updategate: Microsoft suggests updating to Windows 10 to patch Windows 7 So now, if you have one of the affected motherboard and you keep your security updates automatic like wot Microsoft recommends, then your machine will stop working properly. We should add it's not permanently bricked, but it will take some mucking about in the BIOS to fix and that's a pain even for an experienced computer user. Microsoft has, by offering a workaround, suggested heavily that it won't be fixing the problem, though we have asked the question, so expect a response in about a fortnight. But the real kicker is this piece of advice: "Note The Secure Boot feature is supported in Windows 10. To learn more about the security advantages of this feature and about the upgrade path from Windows 7 to Windows 10, go to the following Windows website" Holy toledo, this company really knows how to rub people up the wrong way. WRH: So, Microsoft puts out a patch that wrecks Windows 7 machines, and the recommended "fix" is to update to Windows 10!