Seems like a lot of users out there.
Most people are not educated on computers.
Probably doesn't know how to open the task manager. LOL
Maybe sort of related? Just came across this, just watch till the end....
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Start with Windows 10 in a VM, leave the default options on. Wireglass installed in the VM is easy to look at and you can quickly identify which processes are connecting to remote servers. Let them run or block at your discretion.
Download and learn how to use the SysInternals tools, this will help you work out what each process is up to, what libraries it uses, which files it touches or creates etc.
On the host you can use Wireshark to inspect network packets being sent – you should quickly realise that some of them are carrying compressed and/or encrypted traffic. You’ll be able to figure out approximate sizes and frequency of data sent – enough that you’ll be able to rule out Windows 10 isn’t uploading all your personal files.
Now switch off all the Cortanna and predictive stuff and use the VM. You will see that the outbound stuff drops off dramatically, but not completely until you start stopping certain processes within the VM.
Just because something is closed source does not mean you can’t figure out what is running and where it is sending stuff. The problem with Windows 10 is that it compresses and encrypts much of what is sent. Even if after lock-down it only sent a small 256kb file to MS once a week; that file could still contain a lot of data. <\tinfoil hat on> What could 75 pages of text reveal about you? <\tinfoil hat off>
EDIT: Just top be clear, I've not dug quite this deep myself. I am not sure what it sends where after lock down. If you google for it you will find others have - look for studies done after Nov/dec last year, anything before that is likely well out of date or possibly from the preview version which was extra chatty with MS servers.
The problem I have always had with this Windows 10 stuff, and the backdoor/telemetry stuff is what happens when hackers finally figure out EXACTLY how MS are doing it? its going to be pretty devastating! Then you have peoples data being recording by MS, only matter of time before that is exploited in a way that is unethical.
Of cause I don't think you can really escape any of this stuff, I still have Windows 10 on my system which I use primarily for Fallout 4 and Witcher 3, almost everything is now done in Ubuntu MATE, I just hope there isn't anything shady happening on my Linux install since we all know canonical is slowly starting to think like Microsoft...
Just glad AMDGPU-PRO drivers work so well for me atm, it was a nice surprise right at the time when I was about to give up using Linux for good, or switch to NVIDIA....
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Do you use Windows 10 at home? If so, how long did it take you to implement the instructions in that article (including learning time)?
Do you have to set aside an entire weekend?
I am using Windows 10 right now. I use bsd, linux, windows and mac equally. I don't limit myself to one operating system, but I work in IT, so I need to use everything.
There's no need to fool around with Windows 10 settings too much. All you need to do is turn off the majority of settings inside settings/privacy. If you use a MS account (I choose not to) then make sure you opt out of targeted advertising.
The scaremongering comes from people who have next to no idea how windows telemetry works, and why it is used. By default, a windows 10 install has privacy settings set to enable all telemetry and intergrated apps. That is a problem, and also the reason IT experts were originally quite cautious of using Windows 10. Online journalists just took the "MS is stealing your data" story and ran with it, causing everyone to flip out.
Facebook, Twitter and Google have more data on users than Microsoft.
It's the age we live in - we sacrifice some privacy for convenience.
Do you use EMET? Is it a thing?
Have you encountered the following resources before? Would you say they're credible?
The former is really the only remotely valid argument I've ever heard regarding this calamity. The latter is just bullshit. It's not just "some" privacy. There's a lot of information one can glean about a person from their metadata.
Metadata can be used to learn a lot about you, but it also has the potential for falsely incriminating a person because certain things can only be inferred, such as international travel destinations or reason for being at a particular location. If metadata was weighted heavily by a jury in court (as forensics is today, thanks to the CSI Effect) the evidence could be circumstantial enough to damn the defense.
I was on customer's site today, in a middle of work the fucking thing decided to restart. How can you call this a convenience?
Also I don't remember Win 8 or 7 having integrated key-logger.
I can always chose alternative to Facebook, Twitter and Google but I can't chose not to use windows.
Therefore that is a bad comparison.
Actually...you can for many applications. Click Random Distribution if you're feeling lucky. The problem is, Linux doesn't have enough support still, particularly for gaming and certain professional grade applications. *Cough*Photoshop*cough*video editing*cough* And the FOSS alternatives can't compete with them.
You don't need photoshop or premier though.
you can edit video with blender and darktable for photos.
For games just use steam or wine!
Yes, any idiot who uses their real name, DOB and address to register a sim card deserves to be tracked.
This is why we turn off the telemetry and data collection settings in Windows 10.
Forced updates are being removed in the next SP, and I agree that it's not convenient.
Your job should never require you to use your real credentials with an operating system. If that is the case, then you should have used a dummy account.
One of my best friends is a kernel developer for windows and sadly all of the data collection is part of the foundation of windows 10 if the days collection services never return then the kernel literally panics and freezes and crashes trying to disable it yielded my system literally deleting my Linux partition and RE expanding and then restored all of my settings it also rebuilt the registry even though I had services going to prevent this it forced everything. Windows 10 knows when it's in a virtual machine and tanks it's performance. Windows 10.1 is coming soon and will be a pay to play update machines will start up with 10.1 and it will force you to enter a credit card before logging in I have seen it with my Ken eyes! Dark days are coming windows is a burning ship jump while you still can swim. Microsoft is ruining their own company and the computer industry. They should have just stuck to making software for other operating systems. Windows hello is a legal excuse to record from when the desktop open. I have seen the tools they use to watch the users. Your machine have a video stream at 1/fps unless someone is watching on the other end then it can be ramped all the way up to 60/fps audio is also recorded at a very weak poll rate and it slowly ramps up if someone is watching. Microsoft remote desktop vnc was built into the kernel BUT IT IS UN ACCESSABLE FOR NON MICROSOFT PROGRAMS it was built as a backdoor to see what you are doing. It is barnyard to help with tech support it is used as a spy tool. It doesn't have the necessary tools built into it to be helpful to tech support but it has tools to tell them about your IP address and all of your directories and such. Windows is as evil as it sounds they have violated our trust, freedom, and privacy. Please hear me
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Most people either won't believe or won't care. Just give them the latest shit and they'll be happy.
I recently tried to use it in a VM and it was sluggish... Hmm
My machine dual boots to Win 10 to play Skyrim . It updated to the anniversary version yesterday. Im grinding my teeth already. I installed it with only a username and password because I could not be bothered using a microsoft email.
So every time a start Skyrim (which has Enderal atm cool mod). Right in the middle of screen pops up press WIN - G to record your game. Sure ok. Then siding in from the the bottom right while playing is YOU NEED TO ENTER YOUR EMAIL PASSWORD FOR OUTLOOK!. Ok so a wait 20 secs and it sides away. Five minutes later it slides right back out, Im still playing Enderal and it just what I need Microsoft.
For me personally, the issues were three-fold when it came to Win 10. First, the snooping by MS. Yes, most of the telemetry can be disabled with some work, but experience suggests MS will just re-enable it at their whim. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Some people it doesn't bother, but I'm not one of them.
Second, the tech used for "Cortana" was spotty at best. Up until not long ago, non-mobile devices could not have a static, default location assigned to them, and Cortana would assign locations based upon IP addresses and who knows what other data. My Win 10's location would change with the wind for me, never getting within 30 miles of my true location, to as far away as being in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, 1,150 miles away. Not much of a help, when it thinks I am several states away from where I really am. One evening, I was working away, and Cortana began responding randomly to an audiobook I was listening to, even without her "trigger phrase" being spoken or even remotely sounded. It must have opened Edge about 20 times in the span of an hour, before I finally shut her voice response system off. That kind of concerned me Microsoft might be doing a lot more covert listening than simply responding to commands after being called upon. I certainly didn't leave her voice response on after that.
Third, I started looking at what I wanted out of an OS, and I found that all the gimmicks, toys and "bling" that Win 10 brought to the table, just didn't impress me all that much. People call these "conveniences," but for me, I consider them distractions. I simply wanted an OS that ran reliably, didn't blue screen every other day, communicated with my hardware, didn't interrupt my workflow, ran the programs that I asked it to, and then have it get out of my way, so I can get my work done. Of course, I'm also a guy who despises cell-phones and only have a candy-bar phone with minimal complements, for when I'm traveling or in the mountains and need to make an emergency call. :-)
It is kind of interesting that I am quite happy with my Win 7 workstation install, but the Win 10 installs on my laptops, well, W10 just had me pining for an OS that wasn't always "in my face," which got me looking down the Linux path. Not to preach about what works for me, and this is all just my personal experience and preference, so YMMV.
This is what I found on reddit:
link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10/
There's been a lot of commotion over W10's privacy terms. I'm sure these methods can change/improve at any time, but here's a guide which should hopefully give you a relatively more private, safe experience, however at the risk of not being able to enjoy some of W10's features.
Before/During Installation
Do not use Express Settings. Hit Customize, and make sure everything is turned off.
It's strongly preferred that you use a local account with Windows 10.
After Installation
Head to Settings > Privacy, and disable everything, unless there are some things you really need.
While within the Privacy page, go to Feedback, select Never in the first box, and Basic in the second box.
Head to Settings > Update and Security > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered, and turn the first switch off.
Disable Cortana by clicking the Search bar/icon.
(Optional) Disable web search in Search by going to Settings, and turning off Search online and include web results.
Change the name of your PC by going to Start (or hitting the Windows key), typing About PC, and clicking Rename PC.
Slightly Complex
Open up the Command Prompt by launching cmd as an administrator, and enter the following:
sc delete DiagTrack
sc delete dmwappushservice
echo "" > C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Diagnosis\ETLLogs\AutoLogger\AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener.etl
Open up the Group Policy Editor by launching gpedit.msc as an administrator. Go through Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview Builds. Double click Telemetry, hit Disabled, then apply. NOTE: This only truly works in the Enterprise edition, but the final step provides a decent enough workaround for Pro users.
While still in the Group Policy Editor, go through Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive, double click Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage, hit Enabled, then apply.
While still in the Group Policy Editor, go through Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender, double click Turn Off Windows Defender, hit Enabled, then apply.
Open up the Registry Editor by launching regedit as an administrator. Go through HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\DataCollection, select AllowTelemetry, change its value to 0, then apply.
First, download the Take Ownership tweak and enable it. Then, head to the Hosts File by going through C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc, take ownership of the hosts file, and add all of the IPs from this page into the file.
Up To You
Replace Microsoft Edge/Internet Explorer with Firefox, Chromium, or any forks/variations of them.
Replace Windows Media Player with VLC or MPC-HC
Replace Groove Music with Foobar2000, Winamp, or MusicBee.
Replace Photos/Windows Photo Viewer with ImageGlass or IrfanView.
Its bad...stupid microsh#t just updated my win 10 pc and all settings are fcked..
You can't do this anymore if you have the anniversary update. They have removed the toggle button. You have to create a new register called AllowCortana and set it's value to 0. Then sign out and sign in.
I have done it for one customer yesterday.
If this is true I'm looking forward to see the backlash.
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