[audio.bill]

Try to follow these instructions: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-find-all-your-apps-and-programs

[srb]

WinService.exe is not a Windows system file and is most likely a virus or malware file.  There was a file of that name associated with a Netgear driver installation, but it was a non-essential file.  The fact that it is located in Program Files (x86) in a non-standard Windows System subfolder is a GIANT red flag.

If your anti-virus and Malwarebytes or similar is not detecting it, I would manually delete it.  There may also be a reference to it in the Windows registry.

159Media dot com is a website that was initiated just last month, and surely looks like it is up to no good.  It contains a robots.txt file that disallows web robot crawling of any files or folders, and there seems to be no actual webpages; only what appears to be a php script that is run when a user accesses the site and redirects to other sites containing spam and scams including bogus Flash Player update warning, PC optimizer software, etc.

Steve

[charmerci]

OK, I've got that O&Oshutup program up - now I just have to study the whole thing.

I'll just have to continue tomorrow night.   

[Doublej]

See link below, I don't know if it will be useful to you. When removing stuff I have had good luck using the free version of revo unintsaller in Advance Mode to get rid of the nasties that things like this put in the registry.

Then I typically run a registry cleaner to tidy things up. Note that the use of a registry cleaner is controversial but I haven't had any issues so far.

http://botcrawl.com/remove-360-safe-virus/

[JohnR]

Is it just me, but the early optimism of Windows 10 seems now to have been sunk by Microsoft's tactics. Win10 was the OS that Apple users could flock to in order to get upgradeable hardware. Now MS seems to be doing it's best to provide reasons not to.

I dunno 

[charmerci]

OK, it's gone. I uninstalled most of the programs that I installed (or were installed "for me"). I think it was a bad copy of VLC Player that I allowed despite a warning - because Windows 10 seems to think every non-MS program is a threat. I was/am needing a DVD player because Widow's 10 Media Player won't play DVD movies!

Thanks all for you help.

[Doublej]

Get VLC from the source (VideoLan) or a trusted download site such as FileHippo and you should be fine. I have never had a problem with VLC installs adding malware. Where did you get it from?

[charmerci]

Get VLC from the source (VideoLan) or a trusted download site such as FileHippo and you should be fine. I have never had a problem with VLC installs adding malware. Where did you get it from?

From vlcapp.com

 I also deleted the Dropbox and Search from Yahoo programs at the same time.

[ctviggen]

OK, it's gone. I uninstalled most of the programs that I installed (or were installed "for me"). I think it was a bad copy of VLC Player that I allowed despite a warning - because Windows 10 seems to think every non-MS program is a threat. I was/am needing a DVD player because Widow's 10 Media Player won't play DVD movies!

Thanks all for you help.

See, this is where you have to wonder about Microsoft.  No DVD support?   What are they thinking (then again, who designed and approved Windows ?  I assume it's because they're giving away Windows 10 for free, so they want to add less, but no DVD support is crazy.

I love VLC player and have it on all my computers. 

I think Windows 10 is OK. Microsoft seems to want to drive people to use these programs you can run from anywhere, so when you go to shutdown the computer, you get the former "metro" interface and can run an app from there.  I've yet to use that and can't see using it.  Also, there's nothing that runs these.  Microsoft gutted the Nokia phones.  I have a Nokia/Windows phone, and it's great.  I even like the interface better than IOS or Android, for my purposes anyway.  But there are zero apps for my phone.  So, once I finally get rid of this phone, I'll probably go to Android (can't stand not having a "back" button, so IOS is out for me).  And I can't stand Google -- I think they're evil.  It's really the lesser of three evils:  Microsoft, Google, or Apple?  Which one is worst?  Or should I just rotate through them? 

[GentleBender]

(can't stand not having a "back" button, so IOS is out for me).  And I can't stand Google -- I think they're evil.  It's really the lesser of three evils:  Microsoft, Google, or Apple?  Which one is worst?  Or should I just rotate through them? 

You may want to check out the new iOS that now has a very convenient feature that allows you to go back. Say you open a link from your email that opens in Safari, there is a "back to Mail" button in the top corner that brings you right back to Mail. It works in most apps that I use and is very useful.

I don't wholly commit to any of them. They all change over time and I pick the OS/software/hardware that works best for me. I do trust Apple's security more than the others at the moment, it is not perfect though. Google's app store is the wild west, where many infected apps roam. Microsoft doesn't seem to have that problem, but that may because there aren't many apps and why would a hacker spend time on a dying platform.

[HAL]

I have had no problems with Windows 10 64bit OS installs other than the earliest version before final release.  Been using it nearly 2 years in different forms and very happy with it in over 10 PC's.  Runs very fast on SSD boot drives in my setup and sounds better than Windows 7 64bit OS.  The OEM install has very few processes running and no extra programs.  I like the UI over Windows 8 and so far all the device drivers have had no problems running.

Just another take on the OS.

[charmerci]

See, this is where you have to wonder about Microsoft.  No DVD support?   What are they thinking (then again, who designed and approved Windows ?  I assume it's because they're giving away Windows 10 for free, so they want to add less, but no DVD support is crazy.

What they want is to not include anything and then only have programs that you have to buy through their App store, making money on every purchase. It was that way when I bought the Surface Pro 2 - then I sold it because of that, I couldn't download any free software without an app from their store.


However, one good thing that came out of my troubles was finding a slightly better sounding music software for nothing! 


http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=142935.msg1525557;topicseen#new


(Though a couple of you already have commented!)

[GentleBender]

It was that way when I bought the Surface Pro 2 - then I sold it because of that, I couldn't download any free software without an app from their store.

I have not had that problem with my Surface 2 Pro. I have downloaded and installed plenty of free software including VLC and Handbrake. The same cannot be said of the Surface 2 RT that ran a lobotomized version of the OS made to run on low-powered CPUs. The RT version was a disaster and confused many users, which caused it to be abandoned after the Surface 2. 

[charmerci]

I have not had that problem with my Surface 2 Pro. I have downloaded and installed plenty of free software including VLC and Handbrake. The same cannot be said of the Surface 2 RT that ran a lobotomized version of the OS made to run on low-powered CPUs. The RT version was a disaster and confused many users, which caused it to be abandoned after the Surface 2. 

Yeah, my mistake (I sold it last October). It was just a Surface 2.

[ctviggen]

I have had no problems with Windows 10 64bit OS installs other than the earliest version before final release.  Been using it nearly 2 years in different forms and very happy with it in over 10 PC's.  Runs very fast on SSD boot drives in my setup and sounds better than Windows 7 64bit OS.  The OEM install has very few processes running and no extra programs.  I like the UI over Windows 8 and so far all the device drivers have had no problems running.

Just another take on the OS.

I agree with that.  I bought a laptop with Windows 8.1 and could not figure out how to use it.  Could. Not. Use. It.  I immediately put Windows 10 on it, and Windows 10 is similar enough with Windows 7 that it's usable. 

[JerryM]

Thanks for the various pointers, All. 

The biggest problem is not Win 10 or Internet Explorer, it's the unbelievably buggy MS Edge browser that creates problems. Buggy as in *TPOS*. It has potential, but it really sucks as delivered. Internet Explorer works just fine. Thank you, srb Steve for helping me figure out how to bypass the steaming pile. 

Win 10 is 100% tailored for touch screens. It's actually quite fascinating; I wonder what they know that I don't. 

[sunnydaze]

........it's the unbelievably buggy MS Edge browser that creates problems. Buggy as in *TPOS*. It has potential, but it really sucks as delivered. Internet Explorer works just fine. Thank you, srb Steve for helping me figure out how to bypass the steaming pile. 

Why bypass anything?   What am I missing?

I recently got a brand new laptop w/ Windows 10 loaded.  I see MS Edge icon in my task bar on the screen bottom.  I don't open it, or use it in any way.  It just sits there.   On day 1 I simply downloaded Google Chrome.  Been using it for 3 weeks and everything is perfect, no glitches or problems at all.

Again, I'm pretty non-technical, but I just don't understand all these complications and issues people are having......

[JerryM]

I'm not fond of Google's privacy policies. No Chrome here.

[GentleBender]

I'm not fond of Google's privacy policies. No Chrome here.

What privacy?  To be honest, many companies have seen the money being made on our personal info and have changed things to allow collection of that. Be aware of free, since most everything comes at a cost.

[srb]

I'm not fond of Google's privacy policies. No Chrome here.

As far as privacy, Firefox is probably the safest bet in browsers.

If you install Firefox or Chrome or Opera or Safari AND it asks you if you want to make it your default browser, then it becomes the default browser.  If you only have Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, Edge is the default browser.

You can ignore Edge and just open up Internet Explorer if that's your preference, but if your link is something other than a bookmark within the browser, say for example an Audiocircle notification link in email, then clicking on it opens the default browser hence the instructions for changing/setting the default browser.

Steve