Did the monthly Windows update on Saturday, rebooted a few times throughout the day, no surprises.

Sunday morning start the system and there is a new update. Hmmm. Looked it up, KB3021917

Here's what it says:

This update performs diagnostics in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) in order to determine whether performance issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed. Telemetry is sent back to Microsoft for those computers that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). This update will help Microsoft and its partners deliver better system performance for customers who are seeking to install the latest Windows operating system.

I don't participate in CEIP, removed this update. Personally, after installing and tweaking I usually forget what I did, making notes and bookmarking pages (I want an OS, not a hobby). I never looked into CEIP before. I found this page to be very handy

https://pubs.vmware.com/view-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.view.administration.doc%2FGUID-BE82165B-13BC-4FD9-A9CF-FBEF6343D98A.html

Yeah, it's from VMWare but it's about Windows tweaking. Turned out the settings mentioned on this page were on in my system, despite that the checkbox for participating was no. In my case, six useless processes less. Every little bit helps.

It only appears to apply to those users who propose to upgrade to Windows 10 by the look of it: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3021917?wa=wsignin1.0

The update will do no harm IF you've got CEIP disabled. I build my PCs from the ground up and when completed, I disable CEIP.

If you buy a PC from either a retail outlet with MS affiliations or one who just doesn't know, you may well find it's enabled by default.

From the OP's original link to the VMWARE site, I've copy/pasted the relevant info and added a couple of extra helpful bits - at least I hope they are!

This link (also in my document) http://www.microsoft.com/products/ceip/EN-US/default.mspx explains what CEIP is all about from MS's perspective

Please see attached document.

VBF

Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program.docx

https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Microsoft+Patch+Mayhem%3A+February+Patch+Failure+Summary/19337