Congratulate me on being a wft again
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Oh, from the windows setup? I don't think so, but we pre-provision bitlocker in OSD here.
Yeah, that's why I haven't seen it.
And it doesn't help in the firmware rootkit case if the OS will sort of poll the firmware if it wants to inject the system...Afterwards turning BitLocker on is pretty simple.
That I have done, it's simple but takes quite long. Even though it does it "in the background" which is sort of user friendly, it really hogs your HDD (yes, the spinning one) badly enough the system is unusable anyway.
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Yeah, I know the pain. It's quite fast on SSDs though, and it helps if you move your data over afterwards.
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Does not change the fact that self-discharge exists.
No shit, Sherlock. I didn't deny that. I said it's not likely to be the problem here.
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If the cells were old it might very well be sufficient.
Old cells in a supposedly new battery? Well, that puts us right back on "shit supplier", doesn't it?
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@Rhywden said:
If the cells were old it might very well be sufficient.
Old cells in a supposedly new battery? Well, that puts us right back on "shit supplier", doesn't it?
Depends on what they're defining as "new". If they define it as "straight from the factory and not been used yet" even though it's actually 2 years old...
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Also, it's not a code that magically executes, it requires cooperationcollaboration and support from the OS. Modern OS kernels very rarely even rely on EFI runtime service or BIOS calls, especially if they have native driver support.
Well. Except in the case of the Lenovo rootkit, that was done by Lenovo. One assumes they could probably modify the kernel they distribute on laptops they build to allow this rootkit to work, right? Another commenter I CBA to find mentioned a wide variety of filesystems and so on, that would, I agree, make this harder to do. Except, again, since the hardware maker delivered the rootkit, they would know what filesystem is on all their systems. Just ship everything with ext4 or whatever and you know it's going to work[1].
[1] Well, in theory. I bought an HP desktop a long time ago and out of the box, HTTPS simply didn't work at all. I had to reinstall the OS eventually from a CD to get rid of all the shovelware, and then it worked fine. Also made the system MUCH more stable, which is why I have always maintained that most of the stability issues people had with Windows Me were actually the fault of the seller, not Microsoft.
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Depends on what they're defining as "new". If they define it as "straight from the factory and not been used yet" even though it's actually 2 years old...
True. IIRC a lot of good batteries can report manufacture date so the OS can read it? Been a long time since I used a laptop as a daily driver, though, and I CBA to go down the hall and boot one up.
And of course I wouldn't be surprised if a shitty hardware maker didn't set that, but again we'd be back to shitty hardware.
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One assumes they could probably modify the kernel they distribute on laptops they build to allow this rootkit to work, right?
How many times I need to tell you that I never even launch whatever shit they ship preinstalled and boot from my own media and install kernels I'm rather more confident about? They can modify all they want, but for me that effort is wasted.
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How many times I need to tell you that I never even launch whatever shit they ship preinstalled
Yay for you. Most people probably don't do that, though.
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Yay for you. Most people probably don't do that, though.
Well, I don't give a slightest fuck about what "most people" do.
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Depends on what they're defining as "new". If they define it as "straight from the factory and not been used yet" even though it's actually 2 years old...
" It had a broken battery and I replaced it. Two months pass"
A new batter was bought.
Two months does not make a battery old.
Unless the battery was old to begin with (shit supplier)
Or the battery was defective to begin with (shit supplier and shit kit)
Or the batteries are fine, but the detection circuits were defective to begin with (shit supplier and shit kit)
Or literally anything else that ends up defining a 2-month old battery dying after a week of "self-discharge" as "shit kit/supplier".
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How many times I need to tell you that I never even launch whatever shit they ship preinstalled and boot from my own media and install kernels I'm rather more confident about?
Accalia's steps for receiving a new laptop
- DBAN
- (optional) Rip out the HDD and replace with blank SSD or Hybrid
- DBAN (just to be sure)
- Install OS from known good media
- (if running windows) Make sure Windows Defender is up to date
- (if running windows) Source missing drivers from Windows update if available
- (if running windows) Source any remaining missing drivers from sources that do not include crapware/shovelware/malware
- (if running windows) Install Chocolatey
- Install via package manager all necessary apps such as Chrome, VLC, Minecraft, Mass Effect, GTAV, Saints Row 3(or 4 if you don't have 3)
- Install via package manager any desired optional apps, such as Visual Studio, Office, SSMS, Sublime Text 3
- realize every item on this list has been
42. - Log into what.thedailywtf.com to complain
- Realize that servercooties have struck again
- Visit servercooties.com to monitor the situation
- Start idly rereading the archives for Freefall
- Get hungry
- Make popcorn
- Consume popcorn while watching Porco Rosso
- re-realize every item on this list is still
42. - restart at item
42.on this list.
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42. Install via package manager all necessary apps such as Chrome, VLC, Minecraft, Mass Effect, GTAV, Saints Row 3(or 4 if you don't have 3)
NB: Your list of necessary apps may differ; consult your user manual for details.
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NB: Your list of necessary apps may differ; consult your user manual for details.
:raised_eyebrow:
i can see adding programs to that required list... maybe, but removing them? no. i can't see how one could remove them and still call it a acomputer.
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I'd have to argue that Mass Effect, SRIV and GTAV are bloatware and that there are plenty of replacement apps to be found. Helpfully on this forum we have a resident video reviewer who advises us on what replacement apps might be suitable.
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Mass Effect, SRIV and GTAV are bloatware
-le gasp-
HEATHEN!
/me makes the upside down sign of the cross
BACK! BACK THOU FOUL BEAST! REPENT THY SINS AND BE CLEANSED IN THE FIRES OF HEAVEN!
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Accalia's steps for receiving a new laptop
@loopback0's steps for receiving a new (personal) laptop
- Uninstall vendor-installed shit
- Install my stuff
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Uninstall vendor-installed shit
can you trust that you got it all when they installed a rootkit "to better serve our customers"?
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can you trust that you got it all when they installed a rootkit "to better serve our customers"?
If they're installing it in the BIOS then wiping or replacing the hard drive isn't going to do shit about that.
What I do instead is not buy hardware from untrustworthy companies who have been recently caught doing shit like that.
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What I do instead is not buy hardware from untrustworthy companies who have been recently caught doing shit like that.
/me starts counting on her fingers, giving up after she runs out of fingers on her front paws
okay.... so who is left on your approved vendor list?
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I'll check the list next time I need to buy a laptop. Not all of them have been caught recently.
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Not all of them have been caught recently.
i'm pretty sure that most have been caught doing something naughty in the last 5 years, and i'd be shocked if any of them have plaied nice for the entirety of the past ten years.
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I don't class 5+ years as "recent".
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It is on a geological timescale
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It isn't like it's a great pain to reformat and reinstall Windows.
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Asus? HP?
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@accalia said:
Accalia's steps for receiving a new laptop
@loopback0's steps for receiving a new (personal) laptop
rc4's steps for receiving a new laptop:- Take it to my backyard and set it down gently
- Shoot the shit out if it with a shotgun, because it might be spying on me.
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Asus? HP?
hmm... possibly.
still i'll be sticking with my dual DBAN and fresh install methodology if it's all the same to you.
the only way to be more sure than that is to use tannerite mixed with atomized Iron (II) Oxide and atomized Aluminium in a 1:1:2 ratio
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Oh, I agree. I wipe all "new" computers I get (although most don't come with hard drives anyway, or I build them myself, so it's all good).
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the only way to be more sure than that is to use tannerite mixed with atomized Iron (II) Oxide and atomized Aluminium in a 1:1:2 ratio
Just, whatever you do, don't put that lot on ice. Not unless you want chunks of ice flying in all directions at 40mph.
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Just, whatever you do, don't put that lot on ice.
with the tannerite in there as well as the thermite i assure you that laptop will be going places fast. emphasis on the plural in this case.
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I have non-EA Mass Effect on my Xbox 360.
If I installed it on PC, I'd have to get EA-branded Mass Effect.
That is enough reason to call the entire set of directions ugly and wrong.
(Ignore for a moment that the Xbox 360 will immediately update the copy of Mass Effect to show the EA logo. The important thing is the EA logo isn't on the disk. Incidentally, I wonder if these non-EA Mass Effect disks are rare in any way...)
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can you trust that you got it all when they installed a rootkit "to better serve our customers"?
Buy from Acer?
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Acer makes shit like this:
That'd be a TERRIBLE boat anchor.
What you want is one of those Panasonic ToughBooks.
Not only would it survive being dragged along the bottom of the lake, but it'd be heavy enough to even perhaps effectively stop the boat's movement.
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That'd be a TERRIBLE boat anchor.
you're tight. it'd be better if i switched to using them as trebuchet ammunition
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It's still easier to not bother, especially if you're taking the previously documented @accalia route.
I don't buy a laptop because I want to fuck around reinstalling the OS before using it. I want to remove the unnecessary shit and just get on with using it.
If I don't trust the company making any product, I don't buy it.
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with the tannerite in there as well as the thermite i assure you that laptop will be going places fast.
It is more than 1,000 times safer than ordinary black powder since it is not flammable and can not be initiated by any kind of flame or electricity.
Okay, that's got bullshit marketdroid-speak in it.
safer than ordinary black powder since it is not flammable and can not be initiated by any kind of flame or electricity.
Howzat?
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> It is more than 1,000 times safer than ordinary black powder since it is not flammable and can not be initiated by any kind of flame or electricity.
Okay, that's got bullshit marketdroid-speak in it.
Not at all; flammable != explosive. After all, an over-pressured water heater isn't flammable, but it sure can explode.> safer than ordinary black powder since it is not flammable and can not be initiated by any kind of flame or electricity.
Howzat?
Tannerite is intended to detonate when shot by a high-velocity firearm cartridge.
In other words, it is a shock-triggered explosive, and a pretty resilient one at that.
And before you bring up C4, that will burn, but will not explode unless detonated by a blasting cap.
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After all, an over-pressured water heater isn't flammable, but it sure can explode
can explode, yes.
in practice they're more like really really really big, hot, destructive bottle rockets
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Not at all;
Actually, yes, very much so. Look at the words I excised for the second quote. Bullshit marketdroid-speak.
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And as I told you,
Tannerite is intended to detonate when shot by a high-velocity firearm cartridge.
As in you need to subject it to a very high shock before it detonates. Which, by the way, is a very common property with modern high explosives; it enables them to be transported without blowing up the truck on the highway. Oh, and if said truck crashes and the fuel leaks and ignites, it still won't blow up. Which, to me, is a pretty fucking useful safety feature.
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Oh, and if said truck crashes and the fuel leaks and ignites, it still won't blow up.
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Okay, I'll be explicit.
You're a stupid cunt.
Oh, hang on, not that sort of explicit.
It is more than 1,000 times safer than ordinary black powder
That is bullshit market-droid speak. 1000 times safer under what circumstances? In what way? When used how? As an anal lubricant? If you're talking about cases where it's exposed to a naked flame, for example, I would hope for it to be infinitely safer than black powder.
If you don't have explicit, documented experimental results, you don't use handwavey bullshit marketdroid-speak, lest I (and others) make fun of you.
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OK, the gas might explode (not that likely though), but the explosive won't.
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Ah right, I forgot you expect people to read your mind.
That is bullshit market-droid speak. 1000 times safer under what circumstances? In what way? When used how? As an anal lubricant?
It's not my fault you can't be bothered to look for the source of that number.
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I forgot you expect people to read your mind.
No, I expect people to read my posts. Twat.
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OK, what's really got you worked up? Clearly it's more than just a rounded number; I certainly don't recall you being this abusive before.
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If you ever get the feeling I'm worked up, wonder if I'm yanking your chain.
BTW, you not only failed to read my posts, you even missed the joke. But you'd need to know the generic term for Tannerite (see spoiler below) before getting that, so I'll let you off.
[spoiler]Tannerite is made of Ammonium Nitrate (AN) and Aluminium (AL)[/spoiler]
It really is bullshit marketing speak though. There's no sourcing for the "more than 1000 times safer" claim at all. If they'd said "significantly safer", or linked somewhere to a report showing the actual numbers, that would be fine. Cause Tannerite really is a helluva lot safer than black powder, probbly even when used as a lube. Or maybe not. Ain't no-one wants that stuff shoved up their ass. But that claim is just bullshit that anyone can do.
I am literally more than 1,000 times smarter than you.
See?
