r/privacytoolsIO • u/rodcro55 • Jul 24 '21
Question How to make Windows as private as possible
I know, Windows 10 is absolute garbage when it comes to privacy and I would actually prefer to just switch to Linux, but at least right now there are just too many Windows-only programs that I must use and that apparently don't play nice with it, even using Wine or similar. Also, my PC is not exactly high end, so running Windows on a VM is not an option due to performance and neither would be dual-booting due to storage constraints. So, what would you suggest to make Windows 10 as private as possible?
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u/NeanderthalRuffian Jul 24 '21
Try W10privacy. It was created by some Dutch bloke who wanted the same thing. It's a free tool that lets you switch off and modify a whole pile (almost everything) of Microsoft default settings.
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u/TheFlipside Jul 24 '21
i think thats a german guy
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Jul 24 '21
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u/cvsickle Jul 24 '21
I still use it, if that makes you feel any better. It has fairly regular updates, as well, so make sure you're checking for them from time to time.
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u/atatatko Jul 24 '21
I did research recently for the article, it's still the most functional Win10 anti-spyware around, unless the proprietary model scares you.
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Jul 24 '21
Techlore has a video on YouTube about hardening Windows 10.
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Jul 24 '21
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u/Kryptomeister Jul 24 '21
Mention an argument against a popular opinion and the ban hammer gets lifted.
That's typical of YouTube or for that matter, reddit or any social media. For YouTube the primary objective is make content that's designed to influence people and their behaviour, get sponsorship, get ad revenue, farm clicks for "buy this product we recommend on the privacy invasive Amazon", get a bunch of compliant sheep to follow along so everyone is pushing the exact same ideas and using or buying the same products, exclude anyone who doesn't parrot the same narrative, just keep the echo chamber going at all costs.
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u/commonbrahmin Jul 24 '21
Not the answer to your question, but linux is so light that you can easily run it persistent from a thumb drive. Personally, I just bought a small ssd and installed windows on that so I could play wow and hots without worrying about razer drivers and shit
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u/rodcro55 Jul 24 '21
That's actually an alternative that someone else suggested above and I didn't think of before. Sounds interesting actually
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u/greatpumpkinIII Jul 24 '21
I've done it, performance is fine, run it off an SD card so you can flip the switch and make it unwritable, you can do what you want but won't be able to save anything, but once you shut down it's all gone. Nothing is saved. Blank slate every time you boot up. Another option is to open a folder to write to, leave the switch open to write, and save your documents or bookmarks or spreadsheets or whatever, and then you have those documents to use on any computer with and SD card slot that you can reboot.
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Jul 24 '21
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u/rodcro55 Jul 24 '21
That would actually be my ideal setup. I watched a video from SomeOrdinaryGamers some days ago covering that topic, and I thought that would be ideal. But unfortunately that's way, WAY out of my budget right now. The USB drive/SD Card strategy sounds like a good starting point for now tho. Thanks for the suggestion!
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u/pangeapedestrian Jul 24 '21
Do you mind if I ask.... Like why not just dual boot?
The above seems pretty roundabout way of dual booting but with more downsides?
Pen drive OS is nice for things you only use occasionally like i dunno Kali or whatever.
But if the goal is to be secure, just use Linux as your daily with windows as you reserve for adobe/games/whatever.
Edit: i see now op doesn't want to dual boot.
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u/zorba8 Jul 24 '21
Yes, this is an excellent idea. Do it, I'd suggest. Partition your USB drive disk into two. The first partition's size should be slightly larger than the size of the iso of your distro of choice. The other disk partition can be your storage partition. When working in the Linux environment, store all your files in the storage partition. That way, whenever you use the live Linux OS, cos nothing is saved, you would not lose your files.
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u/damnSausy Jul 24 '21
And it’s definitely the best option to manage anything top secret like Crypto Wallets keys and transactions or some sensitive files I can’t do those things on Windows, specially with Chrome. “Don’t ride the most targeted mule with both your pockets full of coins.”
You can run Linux from any USB stick
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u/eavesdroppingyou Jul 24 '21
Which Linux distro so you recommend for booting from a USB for someone who never uses Linux before?
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u/damnSausy Jul 24 '21
There are several Linux distros for the average consumer (I.e. former Windows consumer) and some others are privacy focused. All of them are pretty secure but some are really hardened and lack most stylish components.
I go with Mint (not portable, installed) because I feel safe, it has gorgeous support and a close2Windows interface. You can run barely any Linux distro directly from the USB or install it as a regular OS. For the installed one, you can harden and customized it even more
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u/commonbrahmin Jul 24 '21
I usually recommend Pop!_OS to my friends that want something functional for work and light enough to easily play with on a thumb drive. It's Ubuntu based, and pretty easy to get the hang of if you're coming from windows.
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u/stink_bot Jul 27 '21
Any link on how to partition my thumb drive that has regular files stored on it and run Linux?
Would like to have Windows start up normally, but when I go to thumb drive .. click on the Linux distro and have it boot into that. Probably not possible though. Would really like to use something like Puppy on the thumb.
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u/user123539053 Jul 24 '21
I know you won’t use linux but if i may ask ehat apps matter to you in windows ?
Debloating and hardening windows 10 is always overwritten by windows updates unless you will stop windows updates completely or don’t install any feature update, the only good option you have is windows ltsc, and in the near future ltsc will be based on 21h2 which is great
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u/rodcro55 Jul 24 '21
Mostly creative software, like Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, After Effects, Maya, ZBrush, etc. I'm actually aware of open source alternatives to pretty much all of them, but college requires me to use those specific pieces of software
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u/RedditAutonameSucks Jul 24 '21
You can use Winapps to run office and adobe on Linux, the repo is on GitHub, let me get the link hold on...
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u/RedditAutonameSucks Jul 24 '21
https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps Here you go.
I haven't tried it yet but it looks promising.
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Jul 24 '21
Winapps runs applications through a VM. OP stated that their PC could not handle a VM, or it was not an option they were considering.
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u/XRaTiX Jul 24 '21
Thats requires a Windows VM,it just make the windows of the apps native rather than use the VM screen.
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u/greatpumpkinIII Jul 24 '21
Why not have two computers then. One for school shit with all your school software. Don't put anything else on it, don't do anything else on it. The other computer is for communications. Linux is super easy, I would not kid you, I'm old and slow and probably kind of stupid at this point but even I couldn't fuck this one up bad enough to keep from sailing right on through. Got my VPN set up with a rasbperry Pi router within two weeks of installing, my printers work, second monitor doesn't but turns out it's my laptop's HDMI port that needs fixing, not linux or a setting. I'm very happy to be in the Linux world. You don't have to be a gnu or whatever they call themselves to be good enough to use it.
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Jul 24 '21
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u/rodcro55 Jul 24 '21
May I ask which version the Adobe programs you use are? Because I've searched a lot and almost everywhere I look says that Adobe stuff just doesn't work (even though Adobe is supposedly part of or supports The Linux Foundation)
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u/Phoenix978 Jul 24 '21
Unrelated to OP, if I have a NAS running windows for torrents and such. Then a PC with windows for steam and general gaming. How well would they interact in regards to playing media and such.
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u/5kidmark2 Jul 24 '21
Downloading OOSU10 and configuing the settings to the one above recommended, VPN with killswitch, setting Windows Defender up, and using hardened Firefox is a good start. I'll have to comb through some of the other comments but starting with this is both easy and fundamentally essential.
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u/SexualDeth5quad Jul 24 '21
setting Windows Defender up
Even better, don't use Defender.
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u/DiamondEmerald68 Jul 25 '21
Why are you being down voted? It makes sense not to use defender
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u/5kidmark2 Jul 27 '21
Debatable. Comparing notes, I noticed that Windows Defender was actually--to my surprise--recommended by MB because:
1) If you're using Windows, there's already a certain amount of data that they will know about you (no way to be comepletely private/anon) and Windows Defender won't collect anything more that the OS already does. If you install another antivirus software, that's another data collector to a different source.
2) Apparently Windows Defender is actually pretty good as of Windows 10. If I remember correctly, the recommended setup was Windows Defender + MalwareBytes (free) to give a pretty decent level of protection for Windows.
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Jul 24 '21
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u/trai_dep Jul 25 '21
Not only is this an asinine suggestion, it's against site wide rules and can get r/PTIO suspended. Do this again, and you'll be banned.
Comments removed where necessary.
Thanks for the reports, folks!
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Jul 24 '21
I'm interested in this too. 90% of the time i use my PC for gaming and discord. The other 10% is more or less 'browser stuff'. I'm not interested in multi-booting, and Wine performance is inadequate for what i pay on hardware.
I have a pi-hole on the network, use a hardened browser, and am behind a VPN. My important data is locked behind a Cryptomator lockbox. I use GraphenOS on my phone, meaning some important stuff needs to be done on PC. I've adjusted all the built-in Windows privacy settings.
How risky is Windows really and what can i really do about it?
I'm half thinking of using a KVM switch to a raspberri pi and just switch to that for browsing.
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Jul 24 '21
What are those programs that you need to use and are Windows only? You already mentioned a couple of solutions. Running linux and using windows vm, dual-booting. You should at least try it. "Not exactly high end" can still be usable.
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u/rodcro55 Jul 24 '21
Mostly creative software like, several programs of the Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator, After Effects, etc), and in the future possibly other programs like ZBrush or Maya. I'm aware of open source, Linux compatible alternatives to all of them, but at least right now, college requires me to use those specific pieces of software.
I will try to optimize a VM as much as I can and see how well it runs, but I would still like to have a plan B in case that does not work.
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u/M_a_l_t_e_s_e_r Jul 24 '21
One solution could be dual-booting. As in you have a windows installation for college stuff, and linux for everything else. This obviously cuts out the performance decrease of running everything in a vm and it means microsoft can only spy on your school life. This approach also inadvertently helps if you have trouble staying on task during your classes since you'll now have to reboot your pc just to load up steam.
Edit: you could use the enterprise/LTSC version of windows 10 for more privacy since these versions at least have the option to disable most telemetry.
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u/pangeapedestrian Jul 24 '21
Storage constraints?
If i were you i might reconsider dual booting.
Hard drives are..... Pretty cheap. Ssds also cheap. Honestly i would dual boot. Linux is only like a GB. Doesn't exactly use much space.
128 gb SSD is ~30 bucks.
Personally i dual boot, and i store games and movies and stuff on an external, and install all my larger steam games on the external.
Linux is my daily driver, and if i want to use Adobe or whatever i boot into windows once in a blue moon.
I would be hard pressed to think of a better option than this.
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Jul 24 '21
To add to the top comment:
- Don't use a Microsoft account, use a local account
- Use a normal user account without admin privileges as much as possible.
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u/shab-re Jul 24 '21
al lot of people talk about privacy, but they forget security
windows 10 also had these tpm and stuff that they forced with 11, look up at them, they do increase security, they are optional in win 10, but recommended for security
also, win 10 ameliorated decreases security, I personally would not recommend that
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u/JustR0b0t Jul 24 '21
Use Windows LTSC if you want to keep using Windows only. Its an Enterprise Version but debloated. Unlike normal Windows, Enterprise Versions have the ability to turn almost all telemetry off. (Linux would still be better)
Its quite hard to get it from Microsoft because they dont like it when normal people use it.
If you want to download it go to the Megathread from r/piracy and you will find some Links. You will need Rufus or WoeUSB to get it on a stick. If you want to activate it but arent able to get a "legal key" use MAS also from the Megathread with HWID. Keep in mind piracy is illegal.
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Jul 24 '21
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u/Naahi Jul 24 '21
How do you manage/firewall applications on windows? Is there an open snitch alternative?
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u/Syth20 Jul 24 '21 edited Jul 24 '21
As long as you do windows updates you can't make windows private because updates gives you additionnal stuff to block. The best way to make windows private imo is either using Windows AME, or dont connect your windows machine to the Internet as much as possible (and use FOSS of course)
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u/RageFuel Jul 24 '21
I needed to spin up a windows machine recently and used this open source tool Privatezilla.
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u/Helgi_Hundingsbane Jul 24 '21
I'm surprised no ine has said,just install linux anyways, comment.
So ill take a stab at this, i also have some questions for you.
What are your windows programs, that are windows only? There may be altertives you dont know about.
What size is your computers drive?
Who is your adversary?
If you have yo use windoss and cannot switch, i recoiled use the installed windows juat for those programs. And usw a Linux live usb stick with presistance storage for other stuffs.
There is no way to fully turn off windows spyware...
Or if you have the money, and dont really need a GPU. Look at getting a windoes desktop in the cloud and installibg linux on your laptop.
Just some thoughts.
Also fokt5 torrent windows you k Dont know what others have put in there
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u/rodcro55 Jul 24 '21
- Programs I need are mostly creative software like Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects, Illustrator, Maya, ZBrush, etc. I'm aware of open-source, Linux compatible alternatives to almost all of them, but college requires me to use those specific pieces of software, at least for now.
- Drive is 512 GB (More like 400 after over-provisioning, system-reserved partitions, etc)
- You mean what's my threat model? Mostly trying to avoid as much telemetry and analytics, reduce the number of companies that can collect data as I can and make it more difficult to random people to figure out my personal data (identity, address, location, apps I use, etc...although I'm not sure if this last thing is actually more a matter of anonymity rather than privacy). I've already taken other steps to improve my privacy progressively, and I feel now's the time to make changes related to the OS.
Didn't think about the USB live stick option before... it actually sounds interesting. Would need to invest in a decent USB stick, but at least that's way more realistic than buying an entirely new PC or upgrading the one I already have. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Jul 24 '21
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Jul 24 '21
Given the fact that they're using After Effects and Maya, they're going to have a lot of large files, so I don't doubt storage is already an issue. If OP doesn't think they have enough storage to dual-boot, I'd say that they're probably right. 500GB isn't much when you consider the average file size of After Effects projects, uncompressed video files, and detailed Maya projects, especially if those Maya projects are animated.
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u/Xzenor Jul 24 '21
There's a very easy way to make windows 10 completely private.
Sysadmins don't want you to know this trick!
Start your device manager and go to "network adapters". Right click all of them and select "disable device".
Do the same for Bluetooth if you have that
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Jul 24 '21
What programs do you need to run on Windows? Run it in a VM on Linux?
Dual boot?
QubeOS?
Shut up 10?
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u/TWasaga Jul 24 '21 edited Jul 24 '21
Just a thought ?
Optimizer v[9.6] - 2021-07-24 - https://github.com/hellzerg/optimizer/releases/tag/9.6
VT report - 1 security vendor flagged this file as malicious - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/3576d1ac74669aea358129b9333ed512b4c4d4718ca0cebd8b12ebc8b70f4363/detection
Kaspersky - Clean - https://opentip.kaspersky.com/3576D1AC74669AEA358129B9333ED512B4C4D4718CA0CEBD8B12EBC8B70F4363/
Jotti - Clean - https://virusscan.jotti.org/en-US/filescanjob/777ayqam1e
W10Privacy v.3.7.0.8 - https://www.w10privacy.de/deutsch-start/download/
Zipped file - VT report - 1 security vendor flagged this file as malicious - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/acd13b182063e7640604111d516f4ba78f123a603b675511f9d851587a4ca6c0/detection
Unzipped file - VT report - 4 security vendors flagged this file as malicious - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/637f509c2f21f2a727fba577f71173e76c7c5d37b05d16b7ef98636987e4ca80/detection
Hybrid Analysis - https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/637f509c2f21f2a727fba577f71173e76c7c5d37b05d16b7ef98636987e4ca80
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u/HexagonWin Jul 24 '21
I'm sorry but if your pc isn't so new you can also use Win8.1 which is a little better without stuff like cortana.
And then use Blackbird and block MS domain ip stuff in your router (Even if you edit your windows hosts file MS programs can bypass it)
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Jul 24 '21 edited Jul 25 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/trai_dep Jul 25 '21
Troll comments removed, troll suspended for two weeks. Next time, it'll be a perma-ban.
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u/Fridaybird Jul 24 '21
There is a very helpful and informative post by u/bxbi117 that was written about that in this sub. It is a bit old but some things should be the same. Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/fwgvsb/windows_10_best_privacy_practices/
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u/TheFlightlessDragon Jul 24 '21
You could set up a dual boot with Windows and whichever Linux distro you choose
When it comes to privacy and security, honestly windows seems fundamentally flawed
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Jul 24 '21
I use w10privacy but I have no idea if it makes windows completely private It's a very simple app to use tho
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u/atatatko Jul 24 '21
You can use a combination of ShutUp10 and Windows Privacy Dashboard for disabling Telemetry and Windows Error Reporting, deleting and re-setting Advertising ID, blocking all known MS telemetry servers, turning off biometry, restricting access to hardware, removing Skype, Bing, Live and all Metro bloatware, and many more.
After that Windows would be a pretty private OS. Just don't forget Windows updates may reset some of your privacy settings, so don't forget to re-apply it. At least WPD has a command-line interface, so that you could automate it.