So What Is Up with HP

December 12, 2017, 03:51 AM

why would anyone feel the need to hide a keylogger in any piece of software if your intention was NOT to spy on people to begin with?

December 12, 2017, 05:37 AM

cjevans

Huh.

Local loss of confidentiality. Check.

The human interface, everywhere. Yup sure is.

Was looking at HP laptops today at a local store.

Drew my attention to the Lenovo Yogas instead ...

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December 12, 2017, 05:40 AM

Bytes

Looks like it was a debug build that should have been a release build. Easy enough to do but a very bad thing to have happen. It seems like their driver OEMs should get a few more sets of eyes on their release builds. Is it malicious? Probably not but it could be.

Touchpad Driver Today

Audio Driver Discovered in May

December 12, 2017, 06:22 AM

PHPaul

When I was doing IT work for the local school system, and before I asserted control over ALL computer purchases, one of the grammar schools bought a half dozen HP units.

Bloatware out the wazoo. Funky drivers. Proprietary hardware. Didn't play well with non-HP printers.

After the first one, I just formatted them right out of the box and did a clean install of the Windows System du jour (95 at the time, IIRC) and built a driver disk from drivers downloaded from the 'net.

In short, a YUGE pain in the ass. Put me right off anything HP other than laser printers.

December 12, 2017, 06:25 AM

Ozarkwoods

Wow, I would not just limit this to just HP units. This crossed my mind many years ago. If you wanted to spy or gain access to some very sensitive info a keylogger with a way to access it remotely or have it sent periodically. Now where do most of our computer, components and their drivers come from? Not the U.S.A. Can we trust Microsoft, sorry maybe going a bit tin hat on you all lol.

December 12, 2017, 08:44 AM

mcrimm

HP once was the go-to name for printers everywhere I worked and in everyone's homes. I never owned one of their computers as I understood they were very proprietary in components selection.

I have an old HP laser printer that is no longer supported with new drivers - even though HP still sells the toner.

On Sunday one of our elderly members complained that her new wireless printer never seemed to work. I asked her if it was an HP. She asked "How did you know?"

I would stay away from HP computers and consumer printers like the plague.

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...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham

December 12, 2017, 09:01 AM

JALLEN

I’ve been using HP printers for decades with almost no problems. We had a bunch of IIPs that lasted longer than some employees and a IV that was still cranking when our specialized software lost compatibility.

My luck with combo fax-scan-print-coffee makers have been a bit less splendid but good enough.

I made the mistake of buying a Dell color laser which is exceeded in its uselessness only by its complexity.

Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown

December 12, 2017, 09:08 AM

ensigmatic

quote:
Originally posted by mcrimm:
HP once was the go-to name for printers everywhere I worked and in everyone's homes.

Yeah, once upon a time. That has not been the case for better than fifteen years. Last HP printer I bought was eighteen years ago, and it wasn't a pimple on the backside of the 4MV it replaced.

quote:
Originally posted by mcrimm:
I never owned one of their computers ...

Nor have I, after the first.

HP used to make great printers. The best. They used to make great calculators. The best. They also used to be a top name in test equipment. No more.

Now all they are is a second-rate computer and printer manufacturer. Oh, and some second-rate network gear.

quote:
Originally posted by mcrimm:
I would stay away from HP computers and consumer printers like the plague.

"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher

December 12, 2017, 09:36 AM

SIG 229R

My question is; how do you know on any computer that you are not buying keyloggers or spyware straight out of the box? It's really scary thinking about it.

There are those like myself who do not known enough about computer programming to be able to tell and I guess that is what they count on. If you look at the installed programs, even if you suspect something you are scared to uninstall it since you don't really know what it is.

December 12, 2017, 09:53 AM

SpinZone

quote:
Originally posted by SIG 229R:
My question is; how do you know on any computer that you are not buying keyloggers or spyware straight out of the box? It's really scary thinking about it.

There are those like myself who do not known enough about computer programming to be able to tell and I guess that is what they count on. If you look at the installed programs, even if you suspect something you are scared to uninstall it since you don't really know what it is.

There is A LOT of information on the internet that is easily understood by those of us who know little about computers beyond using them. Information about bloatware, processes, and unknown files.

Each time I get a new computer, phone, or tablet I go through each process, program, or app and search the internet for information about them.

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December 12, 2017, 10:33 AM

Xer0

quote:
Originally posted by cjevans:

Drew my attention to the Lenovo Yogas instead ...

Hate to burst your bubble. Look up "superfish" and Lenovo. All the big manufactures screw up with drivers and viruses/malware/problems. It happens more often as not from all of them at some point or another.

December 12, 2017, 11:27 AM

konata88

It's hard to tell which products are actually designed and 'built' by a company versus products that are design and built by a third party with a big company brand slapped on it. I try very hard to avoid the latter.

The last time I purchased a notebook, I considered 3 that I believe to fall into the former camp: Apple, Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo Thinkpad T or X series (the old IBM pedigree).

Ended up with the Surface Pro and have been relatively satisfied so far.

December 12, 2017, 05:32 PM

cjevans

quote:
Originally posted by Xer0:
quote:
Originally posted by cjevans:

Drew my attention to the Lenovo Yogas instead ...

Hate to burst your bubble. Look up "superfish" and Lenovo. All the big manufactures screw up with drivers and viruses/malware/problems. It happens more often as not from all of them at some point or another.

+1

... bubble burst ...

December 12, 2017, 06:35 PM

konata88

I think there is a difference between the arm whose roots are as local PC maker in PRC vs the arm whose roots are in IBM and was the PC design and engineering arm in Japan.

I avoid the former (Ideapad, Yogas, etc) and am okay with the latter (generally Thinkpad T/X series).