claus wrote:

Denny - I am running XP (SP2) on my laptop used for navigation purposes
onboard the boat.

I just downloaded the fix for the animated cursor flaw yesterday and was not
aware that it allowed MS to install the "Call Home" function... so I need to
get rid of that as my boat is not connected to the internet... what is the
proper technical name for that function - and is there any way to disable it
short of "rolling back" the software to the previous state???

Unfortunately you cannot rollback. If you were using automatic updates and this little POS got
installed, you can't un-install it. The only solution is to fdisk-format-reinstall, which of course
leads into the same "upgrade" hell cycle you've just completed. If you're not willing to go Mac or
Linux, you're simply going to have to starts whistling "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".