XP questions??????

[JoeDoe357357]

I have some XP question?

1. Has anyone had any problems with Win XP pro with Cable internet system?
2. Had anyone heard of Win XP sending check in signial back to Microsoft for software verification. (Not when you first install it, but like random checks periodically.)
3. I heard that microsoft put in a spyware. Is that true? and if so What is spyware?
4. Has XP caused weird problems with Cable internet and AOL IM? (Errors like, you'd signed on too soon)

Some things I do know:
XP has hardware recongizion.
XP has a activation key.

Any insight would be great. And any answer and fixes would be awesome.
Thanks

My comp:
AMD 1 ghz @ 1.133ghz
512 DDR RAM
Geforce 2 MX 400
Win XP pro.
Maxtor 7200 40gb harddrive

 

[shpshftr]

Windows XP works fine with cable modems. Sharing the connection is the only thing that has changed but you would want to do that with a router anyway. You do have to activate Windows XP within 15 days of installation or you will not even be able to log on to the system. In terms of sending information back to Microsoft the problem is not in XP but Windows Media player. Windows Media player when first run creates a uniqueness identifier that can be identified by certain groups on the net. To disable this you must be running WMP version 8.0. It is not possible to disable this in earlier versions as I understand. In WMP go to tools - options - player and uncheck Allow Internet Sites to uniquely identify your player. This will generate a new identifier every time WMP is started. One last thing I noticed is an interesting line under help in the recycling bin. Check it out.

 

[JoeDoe357357]

Thanks shpshftr
As soon as I get a chance I'll do that.

But I didn't understand the last part of the reponse

"One last thing I noticed is an interesting line under help in the recycling bin. Check it out."

Question: have you heard anything about xp having spyware and what is spyware?

 

[kursplat]

thats under all the "help" boxes.
probably be the start-up screen in the next version of windows.