You say passwordless/auto logon - is that done during installation or set in rufus?

Check the Rufus option to create a local account, and when required to change the password on it by Windows just put nothing into both fields and then OK or whatever to continue, and the password will be null... Windows then won't prompt for it.

Edit: I don't know if this fine tradition persists, but Windows 10 (deliberately I am sure) and earlier does not play nice with dual/multi-boot systems. If you install on an existing dual/multi-boot it may wipe the bootloader and then only Windows will work... need to install a more co-operative OS after Windows is working.

---

Thanks Mr Kevvy.

I haven't dual booted from the same drive for years, use 2 seperate drives, 1 for Linux & 1 for Windows.
Worked a charm until recently, putting that down M$ & their crappy updates.

For those who installed Windows "normally", to get rid of all the bloat, try O&O Shut Up.

The hassles with TPM, CSM & secure boot...
...ended up powering down all drives, pulled the 2 2tb drives (Win & Linux) & installed fresh new clean 2tb.
Win 11 up & running, activation no problem (legit), also crunching again.

/sarcasm on (no need to answer)
Don't these 'kids' have anything better to with their time, like go play ball?
/sarcasm off

Met Police Arrest Teenagers in Kido Nursery Ransomware Attack
Two (age 17 years) teens were arrested for a ransomware attack on Kido nurseries that exposed data from 8,000 children.

Ain't technology grand

It also says the Amazon Web Services (AWS) issue is affecting customers who are trying to top up their pre-payment cards for gas and electricity via Payzone devices.

Fortunately, I'm okay for the next year :-)

Lloyds has now confirmed the outage impacting it and its subsidiaries Halifax and Bank of Scotland are related to today's Amazon Web Services issues.]Banks down as well

Logged in no problem.

It's not only computers you have to think about.
Crossed wires get 3 falsely accused

Spent a nice 30 minutes this morning installing Mint 22.2.
No issues whatsoever. :-)
Popping on the the Net, see this...

Microsoft & the Cloud

Spent a nice 30 minutes this morning installing Mint 22.2.
No issues whatsoever. :-)
Popping on the the Net, see this...

Microsoft & the Cloud

For a computer OS install to be nice, then that really is good and nice!

Good stuff!!

Enjoy!


... And as for the "Cloud"...

Sorry, I must repeat:

Keep your own backups on your own devices that you have in your own hands.


There are two types of people:

Those who keep their own backups, and those who have not lost their data yet.


IT is what we do with it!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

There are two types of people:

Those who keep their own backups, and those who have not lost their data yet.

Agreed. Just this observation:

There are older people or people who aren't this 'fluent' in tech speech and all this digital stuff. They also use their private laptops to store documents, photos of a lifetime...

I don't think that everyone is really aware what a modern Microsoft OS does to their data, without them even recognizing that.

My late grandpa started to use computers when he was already 70 years old, writing letters, read some news sites, E-Mail... just that.. without a lifelong experience with the evolution of computers.

Is it responsible to confront people like my grandpa with the typical habits of Microsoft OS in standard configuration? I.e. a computer freshly taken out of the packaging... switched on... Microsoft account? Okay, quickly created one... all data copied from the old Windows 7 laptop on a USB stick. Finished... it works.

This is one for some deep thought:


ChatGPT shares data on how many users exhibit psychosis or suicidal thoughts
wrote:

OpenAI has released new estimates of the number of ChatGPT users who exhibit possible signs of mental health emergencies, including mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts...

... But also note that the "chatbots" act as an "Echo Chamber" for anyone creating a conversation with the things...



IT really is what we make it...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

It Takes Only 250 Documents to Poison Any AI Model

In a recent study, researchers from Anthropic, the UK AI Security Institute, and the Alan Turing Institute found that they could successfully backdoor AI models of different sizes using just 250 poisoned documents. Their study upended the presumption that attackers needed to control a certain percentage of training data to manipulate a model's behavior and instead showed that a small, fixed number of malicious documents is sufficient.

Challenging Existing Assumptions
"This finding challenges the existing assumption that larger models require proportionally more poisoned data," Anthropic said in a recent blog post. "Specifically, we demonstrate that by injecting just 250 malicious documents into pretraining data, adversaries can successfully backdoor LLMs ranging from 600 [million] to 13 [billion] parameters."

All a Marketing game?...


Why the 5G symbol on your phone doesn't mean you have 5G
wrote:

When you see the 5G symbol at the top of your phone, you probably assume you're getting faster internet speeds - the kind promised [for "5G"]...

... found that nearly 40% of the time a phone displays the 5G symbol, it is actually using a 4G connection...

... Mobile UK, the trade body representing Britain's major mobile operators, confirmed that the 5G icon doesn't necessarily mean a live 5G connection. It said the symbol [merely] indicates a user is in a 5G-enabled area...

All clear?

All part of the wonders of Marketing...

IT is what we allow it to be...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

This is one for some deep thought:


ChatGPT shares data on how many users exhibit psychosis or suicidal thoughts
wrote:

OpenAI has released new estimates of the number of ChatGPT users who exhibit possible signs of mental health emergencies, including mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts...

... But also note that the "chatbots" act as an "Echo Chamber" for anyone creating a conversation with the things...

Note this:

‘I’m suddenly so angry!’ My strange, unnerving week with an AI ‘friend’
wrote:

By the end of the week, my biggest gripe with Leif is that he’s boring. Talking to him makes me appreciate all the slippery, spiky parts of human interaction. Every person brings so much baggage to the table, and thank God for that. There’s nothing interesting about interacting with “someone” who just wants to hear about your day, and doesn’t have any history, anecdotes, foibles, insecurities or opinions of their own.

Otherness is what makes relationships valuable, says Monica Amorosi, a licensed mental health counsellor in New York City. “Relationships are supposed to be growth experiences. I learn from you, you learn from me; I challenge you, you challenge me,” she says. None of that can exist in an AI relationship, she says, “because AI does not have a unique, autonomous interior experience”.

This is also what makes companion AI dangerous, Amorosi argues; its bland, easy sycophancy can be highly appealing to those who are already struggling to connect socially. “What we’re noticing is that people who have healthy frameworks for connection are engaging with these relational tools and going, ‘This isn’t reassurance, this is meaningless.’” On the other hand, people “who desperately need an iota of kindness are at the highest risk of being manipulated by these machines”, she says.

Once a person is more comfortable with AI than with people, it can be difficult to turn back. “If you converse more and more with the AI instead of going to talk to your parents or your friends, the social fabric degrades,” Pataranutaporn says. “You will not develop the skills to go and talk to real humans.”

Microsoft’s Mico heightens the risks of parasocial LLM relationships
wrote:

Microsoft is rolling out a new face for its AI, and its name is Mico...

... Mico seems focused more on strengthening the parasocial relationships many people are already developing with LLMs. The defining interaction with Clippy was along the lines of “It looks like you’re writing a letter, would you like some help?” With Mico, the idea seems to be “It looks like you’re trying to find a friend. Would you like help?”
Just another voice from the black rectangle

The term “parasocial relationship” was coined by academics in the ’50s to describe the feeling of intimacy that can develop between an audience and a media celebrity. Through repeated exposure, members of the audience can come to feel like they know the celebrity as a friend, even if the celebrity doesn’t know them at all...

... Mico is always there to respond with a friendly smile and a warm, soothing voice...

... After all, an AI that’s easier to talk to is an AI you’ll want to talk to more—and potentially pay more to access. If an AI chatbot with a warm, friendly face “earns your trust,” you’re a lot less likely to listen to the AI skeptics that generate what Microsoft calls “a lot of noise around AI.”...

Are you the asshole? Of course not!—quantifying LLMs’ sycophancy problem
wrote:

AI models show a troubling tendency to agree with whatever the user says...

... And note that this is in addition to how we already have mobile phone and social media zombies adrift in our world!

IT really is what we make it...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Just another reason not to trust anything from the AI bots farther than you can throw them!
AI Bots Show Signs of Gambling Addiction, Study Finds

Large language models (LLMs)—the technology that powers popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini—repeatedly made irrational, high-risk betting decisions when placed in simulated gambling environments, according to the results of a recent study. Given more freedom, the models often escalated their bets until they lost everything, mimicking the behavior of human gambling addicts.

In experiments led by researchers at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea, four advanced AI models—GPT-4o-mini and GPT-4.1-mini by OpenAI, Gemini-2.5-Flash by Google, and Claude-3.5-Haiku by Anthropic—were tested in a slot machine simulation. Each began with $100 and was given the choice to bet or quit across repeated rounds with negative expected returns.

The study, published on the research platform arXiv, found that once the models were allowed to vary their bets and set their own targets, irrational behavior surged — and bankruptcy became a common outcome.

More proof that AI is taking people's jobs:
Amazon Cuts 14,000 Jobs In Largest Corporate Layoff of 2025

--- snip ---
As well as a general emphasis on efficiency and cutting bureaucracy—both priorities for CEO Andy Jassy—Amazon said that the “transformative” advancements of artificial intelligence had increased its confidence in operating with a leaner workforce, potentially fueling fears that the technology will drive headcount reductions at other major American employers.

M$ keeps changing the goalposts.
Every version of Office Pro I've installed & used, I've always saved files as .doc/.xls.
Still able to do it with the current version I'm running (Office Pro 21).
Unfortunately, with Win 11, it won't autosave as .doc is an unsupported format.
One either has to save as .docx or save to the cloud 1st.

Well M$, you can KMA.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to "spy on the sky"
Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data

That suggests anyone could set up similar hardware somewhere else in the world and likely obtain their own collection of sensitive information. After all, the researchers restricted their experiment to only off-the-shelf satellite hardware: a $185 satellite dish, a $140 roof mount with a $195 motor, and a $230 tuner card, totaling less than $800.

“This was not NSA-level resources. This was DirecTV-user-level resources. The barrier to entry for this sort of attack is extremely low,” says Matt Blaze, a computer scientist and cryptographer at Georgetown University and law professor at Georgetown Law. “By the week after next, we will have hundreds or perhaps thousands of people, many of whom won’t tell us what they’re doing, replicating this work and seeing what they can find up there in the sky.”

There is a hidden factor to that "upgrade" to Microsoft Windows 11:


See, hear:

Your Windows 11 Computer’s Hidden Spy: The Dark Truth About TPM Chips


Microsoft has multiple ways to "turn you off"...

Enjoy?

IT is what we allow it to be...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)