Frequently Asked Questions for the Customer Experience Improvement Program in Windows Server 2008
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
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. Microsoft does not use the information collected for any license metering, product marketing, or promotional activities.
The information collected through CEIP helps to improve the Windows Server 2008 product in the following ways:
Helps to discover and fix software bugs in the operating system more quickly.
Helps to prioritize future Windows Server products and interim releases.
Helps to understand our customer system configurations more clearly, allowing Windows Server product teams to more accurately reproduce customer environments in their labs.
Helps to determine industry trends in computer hardware.
In this document:
How does the Customer Experience Improvement Program work?
Does the Customer Experience Improvement Program collect information about all products on my Windows Server 2008 system?
Will I be contacted or receive spam if I participate?
Is the Customer Experience Improvement Program spyware?
If I choose to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program, can I opt-out later?
What are the Customer Experience Improvement Program protocol and configuration requirements?
How do I enable the Customer Experience Improvement Program?
How do I disable the Customer Experience Improvement Program?
How do I set up a Customer Experience Improvement Program profile?
How do I send Customer Experience Improvement Program information if I have a managed environment that is not connected to the Internet?
How does the Customer Experience Improvement Program work?
CEIP runs only if an administrator chooses to participate. When CEIP is enabled, Windows Server 2008 automatically sends information to Microsoft about how you use the operating system and the computer hardware. The information collected from your Windows Server 2008 system is combined with other CEIP information to help Microsoft solve problems and to improve the overall product and features used most often by customers.
Does the Customer Experience Improvement Program collect information about all products on my Windows Server 2008 system?
No. CEIP only collects a limited set of information about Microsoft products and the hardware configuration of your Windows Server 2008 system. For other Microsoft products not related to Windows Server, you must choose to enable CEIP for those products separately. The following list shows examples of the type of information collected by CEIP in Windows Server 2008:
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. Note that information sent includes information about the use of features in Windows Server 2008, such as Event Viewer or Remote Assistance.
Roles including Active Directory, DNS, File Services, and Print Services
Services including Print Services and Fax Services
Server features including installed desktop composite engine
Windows Server events recorded in the Event Viewer
Information about the installation of the operating system, such as Server Foundation
Other types of information including user interfaces
Will I be contacted or receive spam if I participate?
No. Information collected by CEIP cannot be used to contact you. This means that you will not be asked to participate in surveys or to read junk mail, and you will not be contacted in any other way.
Microsoft is a member of the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance, an industry group that includes other companies such as AOL, Yahoo, Earthlink, Comcast, and British Telecom. This alliance is actively seeking to reduce unwanted e-mail messages.
Is the Customer Experience Improvement Program spyware?
No. Spyware can collect information or act on your computer without your full knowledge or consent. CEIP does not take actions other than those described in the privacy policy. You also have the option to start or stop participation in CEIP at any time.
If you are concerned about spyware, more information and tools for spyware removal are available at the Microsoft Safety & Security Center
If I choose to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program, can I opt-out later?
Yes. You can opt out from CEIP at any time. Using the Server Manager feature, you can choose to start or stop your participation in CEIP.
What are the Customer Experience Improvement Program protocol and configuration requirements?
By default, CEIP uses the WinHTTP protocol and port 80 to deliver information from your Windows Server 2008 system.
If your system's configuration prevents or blocks your system from doing a POST out using port 80, CEIP will not send your information to Microsoft.
In addition, CEIP subscribes to the Windows Server 2008 phone home settings\group policy object. In Group Policy settings, if you disable phone home technologies on Windows Server 2008, you will automatically disable CEIP.
How do I enable the Customer Experience Improvement Program?
Use one of the following procedures to enable CEIP.
To enable CEIP using Server Manager
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.
Click to expand Resources and Support.
Click Participate in CEIP to open the Customer Experience Improvement Program dialog box.
Click Yes, I want to participate in the CEIP, and then click OK.
To enable CEIP using Initial Configuration Tasks
In Update This Server of the Initial Configuration Tasks window, click Enable Automatic Updating and Feedback.
In the Enable Automatic Updating and Feedback dialog box, do one of the following:
Click Enable Windows Automatic Updating and Feedback to participate in both CEIP and Windows Error Reporting, and then click Close. You have enabled CEIP and Windows Error Reporting.
-Or-
Click Manually configure settings to participate solely in CEIP or to change your existing CEIP settings.
Continue only if you selected Manually configure settings. In the Customer Experience Improvement Program section of the Manually configure settings dialog box, click Change setting.
In the Customer Experience Improvement Program configuration dialog box, click Yes, I want to participate in the CEIP, and then click OK.
How do I disable the Customer Experience Improvement Program?
Use one of the following procedures to disable CEIP.
To disable CEIP using Server Manager
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.
Click to expand Resources and Support.
Click Configure CEIP to open the Customer Experience Improvement Program dialog box.
Click No, I don’t want to participate, and then click OK.
To disable CEIP using Initial Configuration Tasks
In Update This Server of the Initial Configuration Tasks window, click Enable Automatic Updating and Feedback.
In the Enable Automatic Updating and Feedback dialog box, click Manually configure settings.
In the Customer Experience Improvement Program section of the Manually configure settings dialog box, click Change setting.
In the Customer Experience Improvement Program configuration dialog box, click No, I don’t want to participate, and then click OK.
How do I set up a Customer Experience Improvement Program profile?
When you participate in CEIP, you can add a profile that tells Microsoft more about the environment in which your server is deployed. Adding a profile is optional; however, profiles provide more complete data that helps Microsoft provide better solutions for your specific environment.
How do I send Customer Experience Improvement Program information if I have a managed environment that is not connected to the Internet?
If you are using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007, you can enable the redirection of CEIP data from your Windows Server 2008 systems that are not connected to the Internet to another server in your network.
To redirect data from CEIP to a server on your network
Log on to the computer with an account that is a member of the Operations Manager Administrators role for the Operations Manager 2007 management group.
In Operations Console, click Administration.
In the Administration pane, click to expand Administration, and then click Settings.
In the Settings pane, click to expand Type: General.
Right-click Privacy, and then click Properties.
On the CEIP tab in the Global Management Group Settings dialog box, click Redirect CEIP Data.