NKD wrote on Aug 3, 2015, 12:07:

Bub wrote on Aug 3, 2015, 09:21:
You might as well give Microsoft an admin account on your PC and
passively watch as they get rid of all those things they don't like like media center (ripping, copying video/music)

The old bogeyman is still comin' for my pirated music and videos eh? You people promised me that Microsoft was going to crack down on that stuff 15+ years ago. It still hasn't happened. Tell them to hurry up eh?

+1, this is tinfoil hat thread no doubt.

Mashiki Amiketo wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 22:03:
Now all those people complaining about privacy concerns raise your hands since you likely use a iphone and it does the same thing.

My iphone is jailbroken and runs firewall ip. Pretty much nothing is transmitted without my permission, other than the typical carrier crap that would be on a dumb phone too.

Are these measures fullproof?

Nope.

But I'll minimize my footprint and make it as difficult as possible for marketers to track me.

This marketing spy shit should be illegal to begin with. They're WORSE than the NSA.

/shrug

Bub wrote on Aug 3, 2015, 09:21:
You might as well give Microsoft an admin account on your PC and
passively watch as they get rid of all those things they don't like like media center (ripping, copying video/music)

The old bogeyman is still comin' for my pirated music and videos eh? You people promised me that Microsoft was going to crack down on that stuff 15+ years ago. It still hasn't happened. Tell them to hurry up eh?

You might as well give Microsoft an admin account on your PC and
passively watch as they get rid of all those things they don't like like media center (ripping, copying video/music)

Not touching this for quite some time. Will wait for others to find out all the bad things, and then do write ups on how to avoid them.

wtf_man wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 14:08:
Rid yourself of Windows 10 metro annoyances and Spyware:

Phase 1, The Obvious:
Don't sign in with a microsoft account. Better yet... don't even create one. When installing, keep the network adapter unplugged or turn off your wifi. this will allow you to make a local account. If you already created a microsoft account... go into settings and accounts... create a local account then delete the microsoft one after you login with the local account.
If you are going to use IE, set it not to search bing, store form completion / passwords, suggest shit in the address bar, etc. etc.

Go into settings and privacy. Turn EVERYTHING off.
Go in your system tray and turn off One Drive.
Go in the Search on the task bar and click the gear... turn off Cortana.

Phase 2, Uninstall ALL the Bundled Metro Apps:
Open Powershell as Administrator... type powershell in the task bar search and right-click the top entry, select run as administrator.

Type:
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online

After that runs, Type:
Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage

Then for extra measure:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

Don't worry about the errors in Red... those are core components that can't be uninstalled

Phase 3, Lock Settings Down via Policy:
Right-Click Start Menu and choose run
Type: MMC
File -> Add/Remove Snapin
Choose Group Policy Object Editor -> ADD -> Local Machine -> OK
Expand Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components ->

OneDrive: Prevent the Usage of One Drive - Enabled
Search: Allow Cortana - Disabled
. Allow Cortana and Search to use Location - Disabled
. Don't Search the Web or display web results in Search - Enabled
. Don't Search the Web or display web results in Search over metered connections - Enabled

(Optional) Go down to Windows Calendar and disable if you wish... same for anything else like Mail.

Close the snap-in and reboot.
Right-click search task bar and set search to hidden (It's busted at this point, but search still works in the explorer)

Enjoy your spyware-free Windows 10!

Quite a lot of hoops to jump to get it to work spyware free. Are we really sure its spyware free after all of these steps are taken though? Has anyone checked? Does it turn shit on after an update? Can updates be disabled (or at least prompted)?

Mashiki Amiketo wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 22:03:

DangerDog wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 15:55:
It's funny how people are willing to give up their privacy just so they can talk into a microphone and ask stupid questions like what's the weather. At the very least if you're going to be willing to be data mined then you should get something out of it.

Now all those people complaining about privacy concerns raise your hands since you likely use a iphone and it does the same thing.

I don't know about other people but I use my computer very differently than a smartphone, and as a general rule I would never access any personal security sensitive material with my phone such as online banking.

Of course it's all about dumbing down the masses, if you can just speak and search it's a lot easier than learning how to type on a keyboard. The MS store will become popular with the masses for the same reason, convenience and ease of access.

DangerDog wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 15:55:
It's funny how people are willing to give up their privacy just so they can talk into a microphone and ask stupid questions like what's the weather. At the very least if you're going to be willing to be data mined then you should get something out of it.

Now all those people complaining about privacy concerns raise your hands since you likely use a iphone and it does the same thing.

Frijoles wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 16:51:

wtf_man wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 14:08:
Don't sign in with a microsoft account. Better yet... don't even create one.

I fucked up yesterday and did this. After creating a local account I wanted to check out this super-fast version of Minecraft for Windows 10. So I sign in to the store via my Live account to grab it. Step away from computer for a few minutes and it locks. Come back and it wants my Live account password to unlock the screen, which is a randomized 24 character string that I don't know (I copy/paste it from the vault). Motherfuck. Stupid thing switched from local account to online account. Ended up having to go in to work just to open my vault and get the password. Stupid fucking thing. Lesson learned though. Avoid the store at all costs.

I made that mistake when I was using 8.1, tried to check out the store, ended up making a M$ account and like you was swiftly punished for it. Maybe if their store wasn't like stepping into the Pulp Fiction pawn shop people would use it.

wtf_man wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 14:08:
Don't sign in with a microsoft account. Better yet... don't even create one.

I fucked up yesterday and did this. After creating a local account I wanted to check out this super-fast version of Minecraft for Windows 10. So I sign in to the store via my Live account to grab it. Step away from computer for a few minutes and it locks. Come back and it wants my Live account password to unlock the screen, which is a randomized 24 character string that I don't know (I copy/paste it from the vault). Motherfuck. Stupid thing switched from local account to online account. Ended up having to go in to work just to open my vault and get the password. Stupid fucking thing. Lesson learned though. Avoid the store at all costs.

Onedrive is actually mediocre.

Just recently I was considering a file sync service because I intend to code in two different locations, and once again, after trying a multitude of solutions, I was driven back to Dropbox.

It's truly amazing how Dropbox remains #1 simply because it does all the things one expects.

You know what Onedrive DOESN'T DO? The #1 feature expected from a file sync service, of course - incremental file backups.

So when I change one character in my Visual Studio project, it uploads 47megs! Dropbox uploads probably around <300k in the same situation.

Saboth wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 15:59:
Think I'm just going to wait a few months to install. There aren't any games that need DX 12 yet, and I'm happy with Windows 7. I also want to get another SSD just to install Windows 10 to, because my old SSD is almost full (hopefully you can pick your install disk). I'm hoping MS will backpedal on all of this spyware and social media crap and disable it from the start, like they backpedaled on all of the bad stuff on Xbox One.

I feel like the reason this OS is free is they are going to try to market the hell out of your personal info and advertise to you or something. I'd rather just pay $100 and get all of that crap.

Anyone know what happens when you need to upgrade your PC or do a fresh install? In the past, you'd just pop in your Windows disk and install from scratch.

You can transfer your current install to the new SSD, lots of free programs to do this. Just one as an example.

http://www.backup-utility.com/downloads.html

They won't go back on the advertising model of income generation, that's here to stay.

You need to update your current OS install to windows 10, upon doing that your system is logged with a unique ID based on your hardware that it's licensed for Windows 10. Once you've done that you're free to do clean installs on your system, you just "skip" the step where it asks for a registration key.

Think I'm just going to wait a few months to install. There aren't any games that need DX 12 yet, and I'm happy with Windows 7. I also want to get another SSD just to install Windows 10 to, because my old SSD is almost full (hopefully you can pick your install disk). I'm hoping MS will backpedal on all of this spyware and social media crap and disable it from the start, like they backpedaled on all of the bad stuff on Xbox One.

I feel like the reason this OS is free is they are going to try to market the hell out of your personal info and advertise to you or something. I'd rather just pay $100 and get all of that crap.

Anyone know what happens when you need to upgrade your PC or do a fresh install? In the past, you'd just pop in your Windows disk and install from scratch.

guide on disabling data logging in win10

detailed guide on tweaking the privacy level for 10, I imagine they'll turn some of this stuff back on secretly with updates.

It's funny how people are willing to give up their privacy just so they can talk into a microphone and ask stupid questions like what's the weather. At the very least if you're going to be willing to be data mined then you should get something out of it.

https://www.bing.com/explore/rewards

This comment was edited on Aug 2, 2015, 16:01.

Silicon Avatar wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 15:02:
OneDrive is a legitimate cloud backup service that a lot of people should actually use.

I don't want any of my data on someone else's servers. I have a little NAS at home that I back up important info to. Granted, I also have an Enterprise NG firewall too... so I won't suffer the typical home router attacks.

That said... Everything I posted is optional... If you want one drive, or cortana... skip the steps that disable them.

OneDrive is a legitimate cloud backup service that a lot of people should actually use.

I see users lose data all the time. They never backup and they never will. OneDrive solves that.

For an extra $2 a month OneDrive will even do at rest encryption. If you are broke you can use Boxcryptor for free (to do at rest encryption) if you are a non-commercial entity.

https://www.boxcryptor.com/en/onedrive

IMO at rest encryption should have been there by default, but I still recommend users take advantage of OneDrive whether they bother to go the extra step or not.

I tell users not to use an MS account too, though some may prefer it - and that's okay.

wtf_man too funny. The issue with Win8 was to download and install classic shell, the shit-storm for such an easy fix.

Now everyone is happy joy over win 10 and now we have a dozen other things to do vs 1 in win 8.

1. It does show what a dramatic affect the Start Menu is, it is HUGE!

2. We see why this is given away for free, its a tracking monster. DRM/Tracking advocates must be bouncing off the walls by now.

Then you get to the benefits of it, smaller, faster and the dream of DX12 making a difference someday. The first two to me aren't a big deal, it's not like Win7 is slow and I have plenty of resources. Stability I'm sure for Win7-10 is great. Hopefully DX12 comes through.

Thanks, this coupled with the registry edit to disable telemetry is going on my "use when needed" list

Holy crap by the way.. that's some insane list ;/

Rid yourself of Windows 10 metro annoyances and Spyware:

Phase 1, The Obvious:
Don't sign in with a microsoft account. Better yet... don't even create one. When installing, keep the network adapter unplugged or turn off your wifi. this will allow you to make a local account. If you already created a microsoft account... go into settings and accounts... create a local account then delete the microsoft one after you login with the local account.
If you are going to use IE, set it not to search bing, store form completion / passwords, suggest shit in the address bar, etc. etc.

Go into settings and privacy. Turn EVERYTHING off.
Go in your system tray and turn off One Drive.
Go in the Search on the task bar and click the gear... turn off Cortana.

Phase 2, Uninstall ALL the Bundled Metro Apps:
Open Powershell as Administrator... type powershell in the task bar search and right-click the top entry, select run as administrator.

Type:
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online

After that runs, Type:
Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage

Then for extra measure:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

Don't worry about the errors in Red... those are core components that can't be uninstalled

Phase 3, Lock Settings Down via Policy:
Right-Click Start Menu and choose run
Type: MMC
File -> Add/Remove Snapin
Choose Group Policy Object Editor -> ADD -> Local Machine -> OK
Expand Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components ->

OneDrive: Prevent the Usage of One Drive - Enabled
Search: Allow Cortana - Disabled
. Allow Cortana and Search to use Location - Disabled
. Don't Search the Web or display web results in Search - Enabled
. Don't Search the Web or display web results in Search over metered connections - Enabled

(Optional) Go down to Windows Calendar and disable if you wish... same for anything else like Mail.

Close the snap-in and reboot.
Right-click search task bar and set search to hidden (It's busted at this point, but search still works in the explorer)

Enjoy your spyware-free Windows 10!

This comment was edited on Aug 2, 2015, 15:10.

Silicon Avatar wrote on Aug 2, 2015, 13:42:
Seems like a good feature for many, but not all. Here's how to turn it off.

How to turn it off

I set mine to only get updates from MS and my local network.

LOL, the 90's called, they want their "You Can't Back Page" back, another strike. lol

Seems like a good feature for many, but not all. Here's how to turn it off.

How to turn it off

I set mine to only get updates from MS and my local network.