Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program and Resulting Internet Communication in Windows Server 2008
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
In This Section
Purposes of the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program
Overview: Using the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program in a Managed Environment
How the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program Communicates with a Site on the Internet
Procedures for Controlling the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program
Purposes of the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program
The Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) in Windows Server 2008 is a voluntary program designed to help Microsoft improve its operating systems over time. The program collects information about how people use Windows Server 2008 and some details about the problems people encounter, without interrupting the users in their tasks at the computer. The information that is collected helps Microsoft improve Windows Server 2008 and identify which Windows Server features to improve.
Overview: Using the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program in a Managed Environment
The Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program runs only if an administrator chooses to participate. In a managed environment, you might decide to disable the program on all computers running Windows Server 2008. You can do this by using Group Policy or by using an answer file with unattended installation. You can also use Group Policy to redirect data from the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program to a server on your network running Microsoft Operations Manager or similar software designed to collect data from the Windows Customer Experience Program. For more information, see Procedures for Controlling the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program, later in this section.
You can also view or change the setting for the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program on an individual computer running Windows Server 2008 (to change the setting, you must be logged on as an administrator). To view or change the setting in Server Manager (opened by clicking Start, pointing to Administrative Tools, and then clicking Server Manager), make sure Resources and Support is expanded, and then click either Participate in CEIP or Configure CEIP, whichever one is currently displayed.
How the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program Communicates with a Site on the Internet
The Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program communicates with a site on the Internet as follows:
Specific information sent: The information sent includes details about the computer hardware (such as the number of processors) and information about use of the system, such as how many folders you typically create on your desktop. For additional details, see the link to the privacy statement later in this list.
Note that information sent for the Windows Customer Experience Improvement program includes information about the use of features in Windows Server 2008, such as Event Viewer or Remote Assistance.
Default setting: By default, the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program is turned off.
Note that when Windows Server 2008 is installed and the server is started for the first time, the Initial Configuration Tasks interface appears, displaying a variety of tasks including Enable automatic updating and feedback. In this task, you can choose to enable a default level of automatic updating and feedback (which includes the Customer Experience Improvement Program), or you can manually configure settings. If you enable automatic updating and feedback, you turn on the Customer Experience Improvement Program. If you manually configure settings, you can choose whether to turn the program on, and you have the option to provide information about your organization, such as the approximate number of servers your organization has worldwide.
Triggers: Data for the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program is collected over time and sent periodically, about every 19 hours, although data is not collected or sent if the server is on battery power, and no attempt to send data is made if the server is not connected to a network.
User notification: After an administrator chooses to participate, there is no notification. You are not prompted or interrupted in any way when data is collected or sent.
Logging: Events are logged in Event Viewer in Windows Logs\Application.
Encryption: The data about software usage is encrypted during transmission using HTTPS, that is, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) with HTTP.
Access and privacy: Data from the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program is stored on servers in Microsoft-controlled facilities. Microsoft uses the data to identify trends and usage patterns in Microsoft software and to improve Microsoft products. The data is not used for other purposes. Additional information about access is included in the privacy statement located on the following Web site:
Transmission protocol and port: The transmission protocol is HTTPS and the port is 443.
Ability to disable: You can disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program on an individual computer running Windows Server 2008 by using Initial Configuration Tasks or Server Manager. You can also disable it by using Group Policy or an answer file with unattended installation.
Procedures for Controlling the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program
The following procedures explain how to:
View or change the Windows CEIP setting on an individual server running Windows Server 2008.
Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program by using Group Policy.
Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program by using an answer file with unattended installation.
Redirect data from the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program to a server on your network running Microsoft Operations Manager or similar software designed to collect data from the Windows Customer Experience Program.
To View or Change the Windows CEIP Setting on a Server Running Windows Server 2008
Using Initial Configuration Tasks: If you recently installed Windows Server 2008, and the Initial Configuration Tasks interface is displayed, perform the following:
Under Update This Server, click Enable automatic updating and feedback.
Click Manually configure settings.
Under Customer Experience Improvement Program, click Change Setting.
In the resulting dialog box, view or change settings.
Using Server Manager: If the Initial Configuration Tasks interface is not displayed and Server Manager is not running, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager. (If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.) Then perform the following:
In Server Manager, make sure Resources and Support is expanded.
Click either Participate in CEIP or Configure CEIP, whichever one is currently displayed.
In the resulting dialog box, view or change settings.
To Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program by Using Group Policy
- See Appendix B: Resources for Learning About Group Policy for Windows Server 2008 for information about using Group Policy. Using an account with domain administrative credentials, log on to a computer running Windows Server 2008 (with the Group Policy Management feature installed) or Windows Vista. Then open Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) by running gpmc.msc and edit an appropriate Group Policy object (GPO).
Note
You must perform this procedure by using GPMC on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
Expand Computer Configuration, expand Policies (if present), expand Administrative Templates, expand System, expand Internet Communication Management, and then click Internet Communication settings.
In the details pane, double-click Turn off Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program, and then click Enabled.
When you enable this setting, all administrators or users to which the Group Policy object applies are opted out of the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program.
Important
You can also restrict Internet access for this and a number of other features by applying the Restrict Internet communication policy setting, which is located in Computer Configuration under Policies (if present), in Administrative Templates\System\Internet Communication Management. For more information about this Group Policy and the policies that it controls, see Appendix C: Group Policy Settings Listed Under the Internet Communication Management Category in Windows Server 2008.
To Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program by Using an Answer File for Unattended Installation
Using the methods you prefer for unattended installation or remote installation, create an answer file. For more information about unattended and remote installation, see Appendix A: Resources for Learning About Automated Installation and Deployment for Windows Server 2008.
Confirm that your answer file includes the following line:
<CEIPEnabled>0</CEIPEnabled>
To Redirect Data from the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program to a Server on Your Network
Make sure that the server to which you want to redirect data is running Microsoft Operations Manager or similar software designed to collect data from the Windows Customer Experience Program. For information about Microsoft systems management software, see the Microsoft Web site at:
See Appendix B: Resources for Learning About Group Policy for Windows Server 2008 for information about using Group Policy. Using an account with domain administrative credentials, log on to a computer running Windows Server 2008 (with the Group Policy Management feature installed) or Windows Vista. Then open Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) by running gpmc.msc and edit an appropriate Group Policy object (GPO).
Note
You must perform this procedure by using GPMC on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
Expand Computer Configuration, expand Policies (if present), expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, and then click Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program.
In the details pane, double-click Allow Corporate redirection of Customer Experience Improvement uploads, click Enabled, and for Corporate SQM URL, specify the URL of the server that the data should be redirected to.