my photos placed in album not requested and other questions

I'm very new to windows 10 (just installed a couple days ago) and I placed my photos in pictures folder for use on the desktop, etc.  Today I'm getting messages about them being placed into several albums and on the cloud.  I really don't want this.

I didn't sign up for MS accounts with my computer accounts (although have emails - not using anything except Firefox to go to check).  It even said my photos were on the cloud - which I really don't want and to give them my account information or sign up for a MS account.  

I'm trying to keep as much of my privacy as possible.

How do I undo this?  If it can't be done, if I delete all my photos from the computer, will that help?

Any more suggestions to keep as private as possible I'd appreciate (cortana is disabled, sending MS info about writing and stop getting to know me done, not sure what else)?  I'm not using calendar, or anything but FF and office 2010 (which it's harrassing me to update and I don't wish to) and placed my photos into pictures, windows defender, etc.  Do I have to go into every account to switch off things or just doing it in admin or one of the standard accounts (2 standard accounts) will work?

I heard there may be an app that will stop the privacy violations - is this true and where can I find it?  Would it need downloading to every account or only the admin account?

Also, Olde timer's temporary file cleaner  - is it compatible with windows 10 (I can't find a windows 10 download for it)?

Also, everytime I plug in my kindle to it for downloading library books (I read a lot and have several coming in) says there's a problem with it and wants to fix it?  Should I believe it?

Thank you.

Edited by Tierra93, 21 November 2015 - 11:26 AM.

I'm very new to windows 10 (just installed a couple days ago) and I placed my photos in pictures folder for use on the desktop, etc.  Today I'm getting messages about them being placed into several albums and on the cloud.  I really don't want this.

 

I didn't sign up for MS accounts with my computer accounts (although have emails - not using anything except Firefox to go to check).  It even said my photos were on the cloud - which I really don't want and to give them my account information or sign up for a MS account.  

 

I'm trying to keep as much of my privacy as possible.

 

How do I undo this?  If it can't be done, if I delete all my photos from the computer, will that help?

 

Any more suggestions to keep as private as possible I'd appreciate (cortana is disabled, sending MS info about writing and stop getting to know me done, not sure what else)?  I'm not using calendar, or anything but FF and office 2010 (which it's harrassing me to update and I don't wish to) and placed my photos into pictures, windows defender, etc.  Do I have to go into every account to switch off things or just doing it in admin or one of the standard accounts (2 standard accounts) will work?

 

I heard there may be an app that will stop the privacy violations - is this true and where can I find it?  Would it need downloading to every account or only the admin account?

 

Also, Olde timer's temporary file cleaner  - is it compatible with windows 10 (I can't find a windows 10 download for it)?

 

Also, everytime I plug in my kindle to it for downloading library books (I read a lot and have several coming in) says there's a problem with it and wants to fix it?  Should I believe it?

 

Thank you.

What you're describing sounds like normal operations for Win10 with OneDrive enabled to sync with whichever folder you have your pics in currently.

The quickest way to check is by simply opening File Explorer and look if your see OneDrive and the blue clouds icon then it was set up (It's not clear if you're the administrator for this PC or you're one of the multiple users). What you want to do is simple but hinges on whether OneDrive is active.

How are you logging on to the system itself? A Microsoft account, or did you create a local user account? One of the issues may be you weren't fully aware of how Win10 is designed to operate connected to the internet to take full advantage of it's features.

The method you login with(or the Admin if not you) is the best place to start

(Only leave the method of login, not the actual one)

Unless you have a Microsoft account your stuff cannot be placed on OneDrive/the cloud unless you have some other cloud storage.  If you're getting messages that this has happened then it's likely you have a Microsoft account that you signed up for during the install process using one of your e-mail addresses.  The Microsoft accounts in my household all have Gmail addresses as the login IDs.

I do not use OneDrive and have simply turned it off so that it doesn't even start when the machine boots.

As to Office 2010, that's what I use and I am not getting any messages about upgrading other than the occasional generic message telling me I qualify for a trial of Office 365.  If you freshly installed Office 2010 on a Windows 10 machine there will be scads of Windows updates related to it, presuming you have Windows Update set to download product updates as well as OS updates.  Those needed for Office 2010 were downloaded and installed within a couple of days of my having installed Office 2010 on the machine.

Preferences for the various Microsoft services (Cortana, OneDrive, Inking, etc.) are controlled at the account level (at least on home machines, which it sounds like this is what you're talking about).  When you set up accounts you need to configure the user settings immediately after setting them up (for those things that you don't get to configure during setup).

As to your Kindle, no, you should not believe it.  Virtually any time I plug in any device that has external storage, including external card readers, Windows states there *might* be a problem and wants to scan the device.  There isn't, and I don't.

Edited by britechguy, 26 November 2015 - 10:27 AM.

Thank you ChuckPasadena and britechguy

The accounts weren't signed up with MS.  The computer company that installed it didn't have my account information and I've not been on them they also set it up supposedly for privacy.  They showed me how to open extra accounts on the computer without a MS account.

There is no one drive or blue clouds in my file explorer.

I'm administrator but use a general account.  There is an admin and 2 general accounts on this computer.

I bypassed al the MS account stuff when generating the accounts - so there is no MS account with any of the accounts.  I've not even had a chance to check hotmail accounts which I would do in sandboxed Firefox (set as default browser)  - not some email app.

I didn't use the MS accounts when signing up but bypassed them and the info isn't on the computer.  Camera, location, typing, contacts, calendar, call history, email, messanging, radio, sync with other devices, Cortana, One drive, etc. are all turned off. 

I've also had some hiccups when working on my documents (word 2010) and several I update several times a week, and when I rt click and send to D drive instead of asking me if I want to copy and replace, save both copies, etc. it just sends them to my thumb drive without asking duplicating everything so I get 4 copies all titled the same on the thumb drive (no copy or copy 2, copy 3, etc.).  I had to change the way I send things to my thumb drive so I don't have the old copy and just the new copy.

I haven't let it scan my kindle althought it keeps asking as wasn't sure if it had to do with having the sync with it turned off.

Is there a program I can use instead of Oldtimers TFC?

Also, is there an app that really does help prevent privacy violations?  I heard that even if I've done everything I can find to do - there still isn't any privacy?

Thank you very much for your answers.

If you do not have the "blue cloud" icon active (even if hidden, click the upward pointing carat character to check) in your system tray then OneDrive is not running.

You do not say what hardware you upgraded, but it sounds like it was a well-used system and I'm willing to bet it was running Windows 7.  You could be having some of the driver problems that are discussed again and again in these forums.

I will simply say that I have tired of even dealing with so-called privacy issues anymore.  Search this forum for the words "application" and "privacy" and you'll find several posts related to those.  The system health telemetry is not, in my opinion, violating anyone's privacy in any meaningful sense of the word.  If you have turned off the "Get to know me" and "Include web results" features of Cortana you've already gotten to a *personal* privacy state that's similar to what you always had before.  If you turn off the Inking (etc.) setting then you're most likely at precisely the level of privacy you've always had provided you aren't using any of the services listed in the Microsoft Services Agreement.  The paranoia surrounding the telemetry related to system health under Windows 10 is being stoked and fed without a shred of evidence that privacy is being violated by the attempt to gather and analyze personal information.  I don't think that knowing how the OS is doing and interacting with the various hardware that's connected to it is in any way personal.

CCleaner is a great temporary file cleaner application that's been around for decades now.   It is free for home use and can be found at piriform.com.

Hi britechguy,

I didn't have any hardware upgraded.  It was just before the warranty was up and they wanted to check it out and install windows 10 for me as many of their clients were having terrible problems with windows 10 upgrade.  I was running windows 7 hp 64-bit.  They did the drivers as they wanted to be sure the correct ones were installed (the only driver I installed was my printer driver and I got that info from canon and downloaded from their website not my disc - and that was just yesterday).  They did a clean install of 7 before upgrading to 10.  This is a small local company that builds custom computers.

Thank you for the info on the privacy.

I've used CCleaner in the past - but often it comes with malware in the downloads, so was worried about it.  I'll download it again. 

Thank you.

 

Hi britechguy,

 

I didn't have any hardware upgraded.  It was just before the warranty was up and they wanted to check it out and install windows 10 for me as many of their clients were having terrible problems with windows 10 upgrade.  I was running windows 7 hp 64-bit.  They did the drivers as they wanted to be sure the correct ones were installed (the only driver I installed was my printer driver and I got that info from canon and downloaded from their website not my disc - and that was just yesterday).  They did a clean install of 7 before upgrading to 10.  This is a small local company that builds custom computers.

 

Thank you for the info on the privacy.

 

I've used CCleaner in the past - but often it comes with malware in the downloads, so was worried about it.  I'll download it again. 

 

Thank you.

 

 

Good, saw Bri had stepped in, you're in a much safer pair of hands

Thank you too - ChuckPasadena

I have never, even once, had malware in CCleaner that was downloaded from Piriform.  One should always start at the vendor's download page even if it offers multiple mirrors (e.g., CNet, etc.) as options for downloading from.  These other options are vetted by the vendor.

I cannot recall whether they, like many other vendors who give away product for home use, have started making "offerings" as part of the install process, but if they have all one needs to do is to decline.  I have tried to make my clients aware that they need to be very careful even when installing entirely reputable free software because the practice of either bundling other products with it or offering to make specific browsers or search providers the default.  There is nothing at all underhanded about this, as it's always done on a dedicated screen, but many people want to only keep clicking "OK"/"Continue"/"Yes" without paying any attention to what's on the screen.  Unless you've purchased software it's not ever wise to do this, and even then I discourage people from clicking any button before at least taking a quick look at the information presented.

What I meant by "hardware you upgraded" is what make/model of computer.  You've just confirmed that it was a well-used system that originally had Windows 7 and that a clean install of Win7 was done on the box before Win10.  This still doesn't necessarily preclude issues, particularly with drivers and, now that further reports are surfacing, antivirus software.  Most driver issues can be resolved provided the hardware itself is not "too old" for the original vendor to even care enough to bother doing any driver updates.  All antivirus issues I'm aware of have been resolved either by doing an uninstall/restart/reinstall or an uninstall/run the antivirus vendor's full purge tool/restart/reinstall.

Hi britechguy,

Thank you. 

I always download from the software vendor and not other sites and uncheck everything.  However, after running ESET online it found a problem and it turned out to be the download for CCleaner, even though I downloaded from Piriform.  I found out later that it was the download and in my recycle bin and all I had to do was empty it.  However, it still makes me a bit nervous and I really liked TFC.

On my computer it's a Puget System not sure of the model - probably one of the Echo series.  It has Asus H871-Plus, intel core i5 1GHz Quad core 6MB 84W

2x Kingston DDR3-1600 GB, onboard video and sound. US Robotocs external modem for faxing, LG Slim SATA 8X DVD-RW drive, Western Digital Black 750GB 7200RPM 2.5 inch SATA 6Gb/s, Antec ISK 310-1450 w /USB3.0, Zelman CNPS 8900 Quiet CPU cooler, Artic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound upgrade, additional chassis Fan,etc.

I'm just running the Windows Defender that comes with windows 10.  I do have and run the free version of Malwarebytes, and SpywareBlaster and also have Sandboxie.  I have several protections on Firefox, noscripts, adblock plus, ghostery, flagfox, a cookie program, FEBE, redirect remover.  Plug-ins have to request permission each time. 

I hope that answers your questions.

Thank you for all of your help.

Edited by Tierra93, 28 November 2015 - 11:52 AM.

Tierra93,

           Have you ever figured out what actually is or is not happening with regard to Microsoft and cloud storage?   I cannot for the life of me figure out how you could have a single byte placed into the cloud as far as personal files (photos, documents, etc.) if you have no Microsoft account.  Every cloud based service, and not only from Microsoft, requires login credentials and you have to set those up; it's not an automatic process.

Hi Britechguy,

No, I've no idea. 

Thank you.