As long as I can remember, I’ve been being a windows user since for ever: Win95, Win98, Win2000, Win9x, WinMe… It’s kind of a part of my teenage: installed windows 98 for 3 times a week as it just broke after a day. I was a loyal windows user despite of bugs and all because there was no other option. But these recent years have me change my view about windows and Microsoft, or I should say Microslop.
Well, I’ve been pausing windows update for a few months now, but this time, it didn’t let me pause windows update anymore.
Yep, there is an important update that won’t allow me to pause updates. That is KB5077181. This update reveals that my current windows is a ticking timebomb. More to it later.
I had a nice quiet time during the past few months without microslop secretly download the update and cause FPS drop during game sessions. The last update I allowed to get was about 3-4 months ago.
Do you see that I get update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 which is ancient according to Microslop standard. That is because I need those frameworks for the app SV Toolset that I am maintaining. The users of this app are mechanics who do dyno tuning for motorcyles. Of course, they are not tech-savvy. They probably don’t know how to invoke the pop-up menu. And often the PCs that used for those dyno machines are probably about 20 years old, as old as those dyno machines. Those PCs usually are not connected to the internet. No need to take the risk that Microslop update will break the app. And yes, .NET Framework 3.5 is already installed as a part of windows since win7, hence it is the framework that SV toolset is using.
The picure above was stolen from the internet just for describing the dyno machine.
And more than one case, the PCs run those dynos are on windows 7, just because the manufacture of that machine went out of bussiness 20 years ago! Matter of fact, I did a rescue of data and software of a dead PC (Pentium 4 core2quad) and transfer it successully to a hp elitedesk g3 and run on windows 11. Took me a solid few days to fiddling with mysql and all.
Yeah, my SV toolset has to run probably on those windows 7 and windows 10 machines. I have to make it backward compatible. It is already hard to write an app to communicate with BLE on windows 11. Apparently microslop makes it extra hard for me with recent update of visual studio community 2022 that I am using.
The newest update for VS this time removes support for windows 10, which only I know after I did the update. It also breaks the Windows namespace reference by delete the old windows ux (windows.winmd – 10.0.18362.0) for windows 10 that I am currently using for SV toolset.
I was panic for a second there. Then I checked the reference, it still there but somehow it couldn’t understand those reference of Bluetooth namespace.
Fortunately, I have a backup of those windows ux packages on the NAS. Then I just remove current Windows reference and add a different one. So, I go ahead and make a minor update for the app.
You might ask, what does it have to do with windows 11 as a ticking timebomb? Well, I went derail there. But it happens just the right time of this fricking KB5077181 update, just like the last straw.
So what is this KB5077181. I took screenshot of the page
Secure Boot certificate of most Windows devices are set to expire in June 2026. In Layman’s terms, if your PC cannot get this fricking KB5077181 update, you cannot boot into windows after June 2026. And if your PC is bitlocker enabled (by default) and you don’t have the key (or backup the key before hand), then you will be probably completely f*cked. You cannot take the hard drive out and copy your data because it is encrypted by bitlocker (file/folder name still looks good but data in all the files are encrypted by bitlocker). It is the frigging same of ransomware that encrypts your data and holds it hostage.
The thing is, Microslop automatic backup the bitlocker key to your Microslop account without your knowledge or consent. And if somehow, microslop doesn’t have that key, just like my case which I never log into microslop account for my current PC, then again, you are f*cked. Basically, any change to the secure boot (key reset, faulty tpm chip, whatever…) Windows won’t boot and the hard drive now just contains some garbage data that you cannot use anymore.
Yeah, I can see some scenarios where top security CIA spy stuffs would need the bitlocker to prevent the enemy reading the data. But for mundane people like me, bitlocker is just jackshit.
Fortunately for me, I have built a NAS and now I my work data stored directly on the NAS, nothing important stored locally on my PC.
Of course I still have to reinstall and reconfig the software I use, such as visual studio, STM32CUBEIDE… in the case of catastrophes such as windows 11 Secure Boot certificate gone. But when that time ever happens, I am ready to go back to Tiny10 just because I have to run frigging F*ck-U-sion (or once it’s called fusion360), otherwise it would be fedora or linuxmint.
I might go on ape mode and delete the current windows if the windows update keeps being annoying to me again and again.
I wish to go back in time when win32 app didn’t have to be whitelist by microshit and when AI sh*t was just a product of hollywood. Happy those days…
Nowadays, too many companies get away with enshitification by just using the magic shield “for security”, like those frigging companies that goes full throttle against right to repair movement. Let’s show ’em what we can do with our wallet.
-Hey Microshit, you won’t get another dime from me. I paid for microsoft partner account with foolish thinking publish on M$ store would whitelist my app. I paid for windows 10. I don’t need windows 11, 12 or 13. I don’t need Cortana. I don’t need copilot. Let me be with windows 10.
I am changing my habit of using some small tools like notepad and paint to notepad++ and Greenfish Icon Editor. It’s been a good journey but you have turned the journey very painful for me.
Yeah, F*ck microsoft!!
