this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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You can’t get rid of it, you can only hide it: Microsoft imposes controversial Windows Backup on users::Like it or not, the Windows Backup app installed in Windows 10 and Windows 11 is here to stay, with Microsoft calling it a "system component" that can't be

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[–] [email protected] 105 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yup, that ai generated image kills me more than the news.

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[–] cabron_offsets 89 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] TheGrandNagus 30 points 1 year ago

Tbf that's my favourite kind of AI generated person

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[–] Nindelofocho 83 points 1 year ago (21 children)

coming soon: Monthly subscription to use windows with the justification that it uses an online service in order to work

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago

"Embrace Extend Extinguish"

[–] georgette 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can't wait for the eventual warning pop-ups and emails, warning me that my onedrive is almost full (70%)

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly I hope, would be a big boom for Linux which I already use

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

This year is the year of Linux, just like every year before it.

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[–] techognito 65 points 1 year ago

For those of you who are now worried about you win10 or 11 install:

  1. This is only for those using MSA account with windows 10 or 11
  2. You cannot uninstall the backup tool, but you can disable taking backups
    1. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/back-up-your-windows-pc-87a81f8a-78fa-456e-b521-ac0560e32338

Lastly, this article had 0 sources and was misleading

[–] Moc 47 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Reason #2720183 to use Linux.

[–] TheGrandNagus 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Imagine how much better the computing landscape would be today if we actually prevented MS from doing anticompetitive and often straight-up illegal stuff in the 90s to gain their monopoly

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago (8 children)

It's always sad to see users being mistreated like this but what never ceases to amuse me is the amount of time that Windows users are willing to waste in order to remove all this trash from their systems and have a usable experience, only for it to be ruined again with something worse with the next update. At this point, they either don't know that alternatives exist or they have Stockhom syndrome or something.

I used to do that A LOT and you can still find all my old guides on my website as a testament to that, they were soooo long, it took hours to do a "clean install", they took days to write, and even then I would run into so many issues because of Windows Update... One day I realized that I was doing more work to make Windows usable than the average Arch user and I just gave up. Linux wasn't ready for gaming yet so I had to dual boot for a while, but thankfully that's not a problem anymore. I couldn't be happier.

[–] NAXLAB 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm aware of all of this, but most of the software I use is Windows only. Recommending GIMP/whatever seems like enough to a proud Linux user, but it really just doesn't cut it. I'm savvy enough to get rid of all the stuff I hate about windows or switch to Linux, but I'm comfortable enough to stay with wondoes

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago

Holy shit. Just not "no" when it asks if you want to set up backup, and keep using what you already use.

It's less difficult than falling over.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (1 children)

MacOS has had time machine for over a decade.

How is this different except for the fact it's not our Lord and Savior Linux?

[–] Dadifer 43 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't remember Time Machine backing up to someone else's server.

[–] TurboDiesel 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

iCloud does, and if memory serves you can't remove that either. But like iCloud, you can simply not sign in.

[–] gestalt 9 points 1 year ago

You can always finely control what goes into iCloud and what does not.

Time Machine backups have to be opted-in if you want to save it to iCloud.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Use local accounts only and do not login to a Microsoft account.

Edit: In my situation, I used an MS account during a reinstall and disabled backups and logged out quickly after. There are methods to still do an offline install, from what I understand.

Disabling backup is annoying, but not hard.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is that possible on Windows 11?

[–] Kbobabob 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes. When installing and it asks for your email address just use [email protected] then type anything in for the password. It will fail then you can enter a local account.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

BRB, buying thankyou.com and enjoying my several million computers.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Yes. I had to do that on my latest reinstall. I had to create a local account after the install and log out of my MS account. It really tried to force backups, which is super annoying.

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[–] ChunkMcHorkle 32 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've been on Windows since 3.0 (not 3.1) and MS-DOS, back when DR-DOS was a thing and IBM's OS/2 was a rising star, and the joke about how if operating systems were airlines, Linux would be the one where all the passengers bring parts and tools and build it on the runway themselves.

Oh, how the turns have tabled. Today, I installed Debian 12 with GNOME DE on an old 2010 MacBook, and then installed Budgie Desktop on top of that as an optional profile. It fucking screams on 13 year old hardware, lol. I'm not even done trying out all the distros and DEs I want to try out; that's just one. When I'm done playing with that I'll blow it away and install a different distro instead. And I didn't pay a penny for any of them.

There is literally no reason for me to stay on the sick, bloated advertising delivery/data collection system that is Microsoft Windows.

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[–] Ghostalmedia 28 points 1 year ago (5 children)

As a non windows user, can someone explain to be what all the fuss is about? It sounds like people are grumpy that they’re being shown a feature that they can’t use or don’t want to use, and MS is going to let people hide the UI for that.

What is wrong with this solution? Are people not going to be happy until every spec of the feature’s code is stripped from the OS?

[–] ChunkMcHorkle 23 points 1 year ago

It's another way of trying to force users into using OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud service, and paying for the privilege. It's not a big deal for the tech savvy, but it's a great way to capture subscriptions from those that are not. Using it also requires a Microsoft account.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (7 children)

The thing is, if you can't uninstall it, then Windows will repeatedly try to shove the feature into your face, until you enable it again

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I got a pop-up that said:
"Hey we have backup to OneDrive now! Do you want to turn it on?". [Yes/no/don't ask again]

[–] RadialMonster 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My options were remind me in 1 week, or remind me in 30 days

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you’ll find a number of… specific OS users, let’s call them, who will tout that they can uninstall anything from their OS without complaint or warning. Same response as being unable to completely uninstall internet explorer back in the day.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It sounds like people are grumpy that they’re being shown a feature that they can’t use or don’t want to use,

That's the problem right there. They're trying to sell you a new feature. That's an ad. Ads have no place in an operating system.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Who cares? Windows has included a backup app of some sort since NT. The only way this is more than click bait would be if they were forcing you to use it.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (10 children)

It’s nothing like the old backup apps. They were useful this is more forced cloud spyware which at this point is the entire OS now

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)

So? Sure you can't get rid of it but also you don't have to use it.

Despite what this article is trying to imply you're not actually forced to do any backups, so Microsoft are not seeing your information. Also it's probably be encrypted anyway, but who knows.

You don't have to use it, so this entire article is basically a big while load of nothing.

[–] ilinamorato 16 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Why should I waste hard drive space that I paid for to store a component that I neither require nor utilize? If I'm already on a machine that is pretty close to my drive limitations (and I am), why should I simply accept further reduction in my computer's capabilities?

This was the same argument Microsoft made about Internet Explorer during the antitrust lawsuit. Yet somehow, when faced with the possibility of a forced split, they managed to find a way.

[–] vector_zero 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Realistically, you're probably not utilizing a good 90% of your operating system's features on Windows. Is this backup crap good? No, but it's also a drop in a bucket.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

You got to love all the ads that are now a part of windows

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