Three ways to control someone else's computer without being aware of it!
Sometimes You may Want To Control A Computer To Someone Else In Order To Find Out Some Things About Use Of This Device, Not Talking Here About The Penetration Of Digital Or Spyware, Which Is A Criminal Offense Without A Doubt. But What I Mean Here Is To Monitor And Keep Track Of Everything That Is Being Done In Your Computer may Be My Home For The Family Computer Or Computers Employees Of A Company, Or Even Your Own Computer. Today I Suggest You 3 Simple And Easy Ways To Monitor Any Computer Even After all!
1. Parental Control Tools
This feature is present in both Windows or Mac as well as, This feature allows you to monitor the sites and programs that are used in the computer and you can prevent it, but you can also block access to some other Kalcamara components, this feature is useful for you too and is the easiest way to monitor your children's activities or young your brothers on the Internet.
an easy way to keep track of the activities of the computer user observer. The beauty of this program is the possibility of tracing more than one device at the same time, also provides you with a detailed report on user activities, and you can access them via the Internet, is also software you can set it up to Etbihec If you use the program or site exists within the black list you set up by.
The program is an advanced professional, monitors any computer you want or several computers at the same time, the Albornmj take a screenshot every 30 seconds based on the use of a list of specific words previously. In the sense that, for example, when a user types the word "professional" filming the screen, the program automatically! Tool send you an analytical send a detailed report of all activities performed by the user in the device, as you can also activate the recording everything that is written on the keyboard, including passwords feature. The program features multiple bad but he paid but can carry experimental version of the program!
If you are the only regular user of your computer then configuring Windows 8.1 to automatically login without the need for a password when powered on is an easy way to speed up the startup time.
Once you have completed this tutorial your computer will automatically logon to your user account without asking you for a password. Although I’ve written this tutorial for Windows 8.1 the same process applies to Windows 8.
Warning: It is highly recommended not to configure Windows 8.1 to automatically login if you’re using a tablet or laptop.
Although only providing basic protection, a Windows password does help if your computer ends up in someone else’s possession.
Step 1 – Open Advanced User Accounts
Type into the start menu “Run” and open the associated program
Type in the following command:
netplwiz
Step 2 – Deselect the User must enter a password
From the “Users” tab, deselect “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer” and click “Apply”.
Enter your password twice and click “Ok”.
Note: If you’re using a Microsoft Account the “Username” will be your email address.
Step 3 – Restart
Finally restart your computer to make sure that Windows 8.1 boots straight into your user account without asking for a password.
A Microsoft logo is seen at a pop-up site for the new Windows 10 operating system at Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York July 29, 2015.
REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON
Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it will begin warning users of its consumer services including Outlook.com email when the company suspects that a government has been trying to hack into their accounts.
The policy change comes nine days after Reuters asked the company why it had decided not tell victims of a hacking campaign, discovered in 2011, that had targeted international leaders of China's Tibetan and Uighur minorities in particular.
According to two former employees of Microsoft, the company's own experts had concluded several years ago that Chinese authorities had been behind the campaign but the company did not pass on that information to users of its Hotmail service, which is now called Outlook.com.
In its statement, Microsoft said neither it nor the U.S. government could pinpoint the sources of the hacking attacks and that they didn't come from a single country.
The policy shift at the world's largest software company follows similar moves since October by Internet giants Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and most recently Yahoo Inc.
Google Inc pioneered the practice in 2012 and said it now alerts tens of thousands of users every few months.
For two years, Microsoft has offered alerts about potential security breaches without specifying the likely suspect.
In a statement to Reuters, Microsoft said: "As the threat landscape has evolved our approach has too, and we'll now go beyond notification and guidance to specify if we reasonably believe the attacker is 'state-sponsored'."
In a blog post published late Wednesday, Microsoft said: "We're taking this additional step of specifically letting you know if we have evidence that the attacker may be 'state-sponsored' because it is likely that the attack could be more sophisticated or more sustained than attacks from cybercriminals and others. (here)
The Hotmail attacks targeted diplomats, media workers, human rights lawyers, and others in sensitive positions inside China, according to the former employees.
Microsoft had told the targets to reset their passwords but did not tell them that they had been hacked. Five victims interviewed by Reuters said they had not taken the password reset as an indication of hacking.
Online free-speech activists and security experts have long called for more direct warnings, saying that they prompt behavioral changes from email users.
NEW DELHI: Microsoft has criticized the Centre's proposal to empanel a set of cloud service providers for rendering government services, with Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman of the Indian unit of the American technology company telling ET in an interview that smaller vendors may not have the scale and capability to run complex projects that big players such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon do.
Making a strong pitch for a policy that leverages use of public cloud infrastructure by the government, Pramanik said Microsoft is not suggesting that the entire Aadhaar database be run on its data centres since it is very critical from a security point of view, but that other non-critical projects can definitely be run through the cloud.
"Our point to them (the government) was very simple. Anything which is under the ambit of the RTI (Right to Information), why don't you keep it under a public cloud?" said Pramanik. Most governments across the world have figured out use of infrastructure that results in massive cost savings and efficiencies, said Pramanik. "It's not rocket science anymore," he said.
Earlier this week, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) released a request for proposal or RFP for empanelment of cloud service providers for use by departments, in addition to the National Cloud services offered by National Informatics Centre, the government's IT arm, for their e-governance solutions.
Pramanik said that a definition of public cloud infrastructure is that it is hyper-scalable, hyper flexible and highly secure, and globally there are only three companies in this business - Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
"In India they want choice...the government is saying they need to open it up for everybody... now the guys who can play in this are really the big guys. They (smaller players) can't have global footprint," Microsoft India chairman said.
Microsoft has invested $15 billion to set up 100 data centres in 40 regions across the world including India, said Pramanik. "Tell me any Indian company that can provide that capability. We need a better evaluation process and we need to understand that they need hyperscale, otherwise they can do it out of their NIC data centres," he said.
A senior government official, when questioned about Microsoft's criticism of the policy, said that the government has held two rounds of consultation with the industry based on which the RFP has been drafted.
"We are not here to satisfy any particular company," said the official. He said the idea is to create as much competition as possible so that prices fall and one day it could be even possible to offer cloud services for free.
As per RFP, one condition for qualification mandates there should be at least 30% headroom available for any unanticipated spikes in the user load.
"I think they need to understand what is hyperscale," said Pramanik. Anybody who has put a couple of servers and storage in the basement; connects it to a fat pipe which has been rented, can supply to the government, he said.
The central government, which is in the process of building its cloud called Meghraj, is just warming up to the use of this technology. The uptake has been slow since there are concerns regarding data security over the use of such public infrastructure.
Though India already has a policy in place to provide strategic direction for adoption of cloud services by the government, it is in the process of working on detailed guidelines for departments stating the kind of projects that can be hosted on such infrastructure.
Pramanik said that at a recent Microsoft conference which was attended by its global chief Satya Nadella, both communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and IT secretary JS Deepak had strongly emphasized the need for a policy that leverages the use of public cloud infrastructure.
"It's just change transformation. Savings will be massive because you pay only after you launch the service, not before it. You don't have to buy the servers, hardware, software; do the pilots, etc...the government saves on the capital cost and the delay," he said.
Nadella, during his visit to India in 2014, announced that the company will set up local data centres in the country which were formally inaugurated in September last year.
Worried sick over Windows 10's privacy settings? There's a lot you can do to lock them down, but you will lose some functionality along the way.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they're not out to get you.
With some work you can lock Windows 10 privacy settings down but at the cost of some functionality.
That said, I think some people's fears about Microsoft looking over your shoulder are over-the-top. And, I speak as someone who looks at Microsoft with a great deal of suspicion.
What you need to realize is that Microsoft has made Windows 10 both a desktop and a cloud operating system. Adding cloud functionality means that when you run Windows 10 you'll be sharing far more information with Microsoft and its partner customers than ever before.
For example, while Windows 10 doesn't have a keylogger it does collect your keystrokes and voice to improve spell-checking and voice recognition. Before having a fit about this, keep in mind thatevery cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) program does this to one degree or another. Google Docs, Apple's Siri, Office 365, whatever -- they all collect not just your final words but every keystroke and spoken syllable that went into making those words.
It's another case with Wi-Fi Sense. You don't need to be afraid that Wi-FI Sense will let any of your Skype, Outlook, or Hotmail contacts use your Wi-Fi network without your permission. Yes, Wi-Fi Sense is on by default, but take a closer look. It doesn't permit anyone to use any of your Wi-FI networks without your specific permission.
LOCKING DOWN WINDOWS 10
Still don't trust these new "features?" I can't blame you. This is not the Windows you've known and used for years. This is a Windows that exists both on your PC and in Microsoft's cloud. Here's how to lock down Windows 10 and make it more of a PC-centric operating system.
First, head to Settings/Privacy. There you will find no fewer than 13--count 'em, 13--different privacy settings screens. The major settings are under the 'General' screen. The other screens are concerned with which apps can and can't access your calendar, camera, messages, microphone and so on.
On the General screen, you'll see your Advertising ID. This is your unique ID number. Think of it as being like a web cookie and you won't be far wrong. It's used to identify you to Windows apps advertisers. So, for instance, if you're a big Dallas Cowboy fan, you can count on seeing ads for Cowboys gear. Microsoft claims it doesn't link this ID with your name, email address, or other personal information.
Of course, they don't need to. Any company that does modern web advertising is going to have you pinned down with our without this ID. Welcome to the 21st century. Personally, I've already turned it off.
If you're still concerned about keylogging, head to Privacy/Speech, inking & typing. Think long and hard about whether to use Microsoft's "Getting to know me" improvements. Steve Hoffenberg, VDC Research's Director of IoT & Embedded Technology worries, for instance, that these Windows 10's "features" violate Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy requirements. If his fears are valid, this means medical offices and health insurance companies should turn off this Windows 10 setting.
I doubt he's right, but I'm no lawyer. Even so, were I working with transactions that fall under Sarbanes- Oxley (SOX), Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB), or HIPAA, I'd turn off this feature, and its related setting, "Windows 10 Input Personalization." Better safe than sorry.
Be aware, however, that if you turn off the "Getting to know me," this will also disable both dictation and Windows 10's voice-activated assistant Cortana,
You'll also want to look at each individual setting page to make sure that Microsoft and Windows have just as much access as you feel comfortable with. So, of course you want Windows' Calendar app to access your calendar data (obv) -- but share it with advertisers via App connector? I don't think so!
Be sure to go through each setting even if you don't think they'll matter. By default, each and every privacy setting is set to give Microsoft and friends the maximum possible access. This is not a good thing.
Moving on: Head to the Location settings and turn them off. While your PC probably doesn't have a GPS like your smartphone, you'd be amazed at how accurately your location can be pinned down using Wi-Fi access points and IP address. I've never been comfortable with letting anyone track me and I turn location off on every device I own except when I need GPS directions.
If you turn off location services, though, you won't be able to fully use Cortana. That's annoying because Cortana is one of Windows 10's best features. It's helpful to just ask your computer a question and get useful, personalized answers. But like its older relatives, Siri and Google Now, for Cortana to show to its best advantage it needs access to an enormous amount of personal data. For instance, Cortana must have locations services on. Cortana also watches pretty much everything you write, say and do on your PC. For example, it keeps track of your flights by detecting "tracking info, such as flights, in messages on my device."
That's both incredibly handy and incredibly creepy. If you find it more disturbing than useful, head to Cortana's settings, under Cortana and Search, and turn off everything there that doesn't pass the smell test. Cortana will be less useful, but you'll get more privacy.
Another approach to locking down Windows 10 is the open-source "Disable Windows 10 Tracking." This brand-new program claims that it disables telemetry collection, certain Windows services, and other tracking. At this point, this is a bare-bones program and only Windows experts should use it.
Still not private enough for you? Then don't use Windows 10, Chrome OS, iOS, Android, or any other system that's tied closely into the cloud. Instead, use Linux as your desktop operating system. By default, Linux is the only mainstream operating system that still relies primarily on true desktop apps.
Not ready for such a radical move? Well, actually, it's not that radical. If you can use Windows, trust me, you can use Linux distributions such as Ubuntu 15.04 or Mint 17.2.
Otherwise, get busy locking down Windows 10. Good luck.
Microsoft has spent the past year or so pivoting to a cloud-firststrategy for many of its products. Even Windows 10 on the desktop has taken on some decidedly cloud-like (and not necessarily welcome) features, such as forced updates and increased background telemetry reporting on how you’re using the OS. You could argue the way Windows 8 forced tablet mode on desktops, Windows 10 seems to force the cloud-like “always updated” model on desktops.
When it comes to Wall Street, though, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had some harsh words for the company at its annual shareholder’s meeting, Bloomberg reports — specifically, that Microsoft should disclose margins and sales numbers for both its cloud and hardware businesses.
“It’s sort of a key metric — if they talk about it as key to the company, they should report it,” Ballmer said to Bloomberg. He characterized as “bullshit” the company’s use of an annualized revenue run rate, which describes sales over a certain period of time extrapolated to a yearly rate, instead of pure revenue numbers by division, which would give a clearer picture of how each of the company’s individual businesses are actually performing.
And it’s clear Microsoft is doing this for a reason. Hardware has never been as profitable for the company as software like Windows and Office has, and cloud services are also known to be less profitable as well.
The Bloomberg report also said current CEO Satya Nadella addressed a question from the audience regarding the lack of Windows Phone apps. Nadella said that the company wants to court Windows developers by letting them write so-called Universal Apps that work across all devices, including computers, phones, and tablets. In response, Ballmer said “That won’t work,” and that Windows Phones need to run Android apps in order to stay competitive.
Well, that was the plan, remember. Microsoft initially promised Windows 10 phones would run Android and iOS apps back at the company’s Build conference. Then, it inexplicably canned the project, saying that the Android tool, dubbed Astoria, wouldn’t be available any time soon and is on hold indefinitely. The underlying Android subsystem has also been removed from the latest Windows 10 build.
At the time, a Microsoft spokesperson said the following to Windows Central:
“We’re committed to offering developers many options to bring their apps to the Windows Platform, including bridges available now for Web and iOS, and soon Win32. The Astoria bridge is not ready yet, but other tools offer great options for developers.”
It’s questionable whether Ballmer’s right about running Android under emulation, as emulation is never the best way to present an app and often means the app in question won’t sport the native platform’s best UI features. Regardless of the tack Microsoft takes with Windows 10 on the mobile side, it’s pretty clear the platform is still going nowhere fast.
When Microsoft launched theSurface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (aperson identifiedonly as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
Engadget reports that some users have had issues with multiple Surface Book / Surface 4 Pro devices, leading them to switch to other platforms. If you’ve got one of the new devices, what’s been your experience thus far?
Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (a person identified only as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
Engadget reports that some users have had issues with multiple Surface Book / Surface 4 Pro devices, leading them to switch to other platforms. If you’ve got one of the new devices, what’s been your experience thus far?
Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (a person identified only as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
Engadget reports that some users have had issues with multiple Surface Book / Surface 4 Pro devices, leading them to switch to other platforms. If you’ve got one of the new devices, what’s been your experience thus far?
Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (a person identified only as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
Engadget reports that some users have had issues with multiple Surface Book / Surface 4 Pro devices, leading them to switch to other platforms. If you’ve got one of the new devices, what’s been your experience thus far?
Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (a person identified only as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
Engadget reports that some users have had issues with multiple Surface Book / Surface 4 Pro devices, leading them to switch to other platforms. If you’ve got one of the new devices, what’s been your experience thus far?
Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (a person identified only as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
Engadget reports that some users have had issues with multiple Surface Book / Surface 4 Pro devices, leading them to switch to other platforms. If you’ve got one of the new devices, what’s been your experience thus far?
Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the company won accolades from many users. The new laptop-style device was hailed as one of the best pieces of hardware you could buy, while the Surface 4 Pro continued to refine and improve on Redmond’s earlier Surface devices. While a few sites reported issues with early hardware, that’s fairly typical across review (Google’s Pixel C tablet is another such example). For the past few weeks, reports have been coming in that the device doesn’t sleep properly, and continues draining power at nearly the full-use rate.
According to Microsoft’s support staff (a person identified only as “Joe”), the problem is that the CPU isn’t dropping into its full sleep state, and Microsoft knew about the problem from day one. He writes, “We couldn’t do it at RTM for a variety of reasons, power management is a very hard computer science problem to solve especially with new silicon. Currently it is not in the deepest ‘sleep’ that it can be so there are wake events that would not otherwise wake it. We will have an update for this issue sometime soon in the new year.”
Miserable battery life is apparently an extra feature.
According to Microsoft, the solution is to disable Connected Standby by manually setting the chip to “Hibernate” from within Windows 10’s power management options. He also notes that users are advised not to leave any streaming browser windows open, as this will prevent the system from sleeping the CPU.
Based on the problems people are having, it doesn’t sound like the CPU is sleeping very much at all — all in the name of giving people email five seconds faster than they’d otherwise have it, but at the cost of drastically reduced battery life. It’s baffling that Microsoft would ship a system with a problem this severe — battery life is one of the most important metrics for a system these days. There is no special path for Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book users to contact the company, so hopefully you can either wait until January or return your device if you’re unhappy with the product as it currently exists. Microsoft has pledged to continue updating the platform until it resolves the outstanding issues.
