Is The Windows Update Site "safe"

[chem]

I am wondering if it is "safe" to go to http://www.windowsupdate.com, since every time I download the Windows update software, Microsoft tries to put a tracker on my computer. I noticed it and imported to the range to my firewall the first time Peerguardian caught it. My question is, do you believe it's relatively safe to download the patches after the trackers been blocked, or not?

[james_bond_rulez]

that depends on what u mean by safe??

yeah i feel pretty safe using it since i have a legit copy of windows runnin'

[chem]

I have a legit copy too. I just wondered if any filesharing activity will cause my OS to "phone home" after updating, in case I missed a tracker.

[Switeck]

It has been reported that Microsoft gathers information about OTHER programs installed on your computer -- even non-Microsoft ones -- using their trackers and cookies when you use Windows update.

[SeK612]

I haven't had any problems yet using Win update. Some of the patches MS launch seem important so I just download them to fix potential vulnerabilities. I have heard that MS products do do stuff like this (I've seen people state that win media player sends info to MS about the files your playing) but cannot verify the truth myself . If they do it'd be good to know how to stop them if needed.

[G2k1boy]

Hmmm.....never heard of anyone getting caught through Windows update so I'm assuming it's pretty safe

[Switeck]

Originally posted by G2k1boy@11 January 2004 - 21:37
Hmmm.....never heard of anyone getting caught through Windows update so I'm assuming it's pretty safe

And there won't be for non-Microsoft products... although M$ may well know due to their monitoring!

There's a corporate upgrades section for windows patches that I use. It's made so you can download the patches and install them off a CD to multiple computers without hogging so much bandwidth. Makes life MUCH simpler when trying to patch a room full of computers.

And it won't monitor you as much doing it because it doesn't require the windows updater program...

[ZaZu]

Originally posted by SeK612@8 January 2004 - 09:26
(I've seen people state that win media player sends info to MS about the files your playing) but cannot verify the truth myself . If they do it'd be good to know how to stop them if needed.

To disable this in Win Media Player go into tools ,options ,player then uncheck all boxes there

[Switeck]

Originally posted by ZaZu+12 January 2004 - 12:40--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ZaZu @ 12 January 2004 - 12:40)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-SeK612@8 January 2004 - 09:26
(I&#39;ve seen people state that win media player sends info to MS about the files your playing) but cannot verify the truth myself&nbsp; . If they do it&#39;d be good to know how to stop them if needed.

To disable this in Win Media Player go into tools ,options ,player then uncheck all boxes there [/b][/quote]
That, from what I can tell, only stops MOST of it.

[Arm]

Just uninstall Windows Media Player and install classic media player. It&#39;s much better and can plau Quicktime, Realplayer and pretty much every other file format.