from Hacker News

Disable Windows 10 Tracking

by SoMuchToGrok on 8/13/15, 12:34 PM with 141 comments

• by nathanaldensr on 8/13/15, 4:30 PM

  I wrote a PowerShell script that enables or disables various Windows 10 tracking components.

  https://github.com/nathan-alden/windows-10-tracking

  I based the script on the https://github.com/10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking repository, but the code in that repository is Python and compiles to a Windows executable. I much prefer PowerShell so that the code can be more easily changed and deployed in automated environments. Additionally, that Python code doesn't undo changes, whereas my PowerShell script does.

  I'd appreciate any feedback (probably as a GitHub issue).

• by andrewmcwatters on 8/13/15, 3:24 PM

  This is really crudely put together, completely disregards recent findings from news articles proving you cannot completely disable W10 telemetrics, and the author acknowledges he doesn't want to support reversing destructive processes with it.

  You shouldn't bother using this.

• by pilif on 8/13/15, 3:02 PM

  > Set the AllowTelemetry string in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection to 0

  AFAIK, setting this to 0 only has meaning in the Enterprise edition. In the consumer edition, 0 has the same meaning as 1.

  Here's a screenshot from the group policy editor of my Windows 10 VM:

  http://i.imgur.com/3s3AT9p.png

  as you can see, 0 only does something in Enterprise builds.

• by nerdy on 8/13/15, 1:25 PM

  Be careful with this! From the README under the "HOSTS" section:

  "Append known tracking domains to the HOSTS file located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc"

  However there are other articles which suggest changing the hosts file can cause instability[1]:

  "Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is disabling communication with these servers (by introducing the server into the hosts file and settings to 127.0.0.1 localhost), but as I tried, after disabling the Windows 10 start acting suspiciously otherwise. Error messages pop up, sometimes the message of "service failure", there are problems with Skype, it is not possible to maintain a stable connection. The problem is with VPN connections that fall. But it is possible that this is just some incompatibilities and nevyladěnost new OS. Apparently, it is necessary not to prohibit certain sites and have available to make things work, but I had no time to analyze them one by one, what causes them off in the long run in Windows 10"

  Of course, there are a whole bunch of other potentially dangerous things the tool does like change services and edit the registry. Take care!

  [1] https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=cs&tl=en&u=h...

• by kozukumi on 8/13/15, 2:35 PM

  Far better is to not use Windows 10 and tell Microsoft why.

• by mtgx on 8/13/15, 2:41 PM

  Yeah, so I've been using that since a few days ago along with DoNotSpy10, and disabled almost everything. Then I installed a traffic monitoring tool and I still found Cortana to be calling home, even though I checked and both web searches (search box) and Cortana were disabled.

  I think this article is right - you can't fully stop Windows 10 from calling home, no matter what you do or how many thing you disable.

  http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/even-w...

  And according to this article, Microsoft has an OS-level keylogger that catches all of your typed characters (all passwords, all "secure" communications) even from the virtual keyboard, for "no good reason".

  http://localghost.org/posts/a-traffic-analysis-of-windows-10

• by davexunit on 8/13/15, 3:01 PM

  Best way to disable Windows 10 tracking: Switch to GNU/Linux.

• by huhtenberg on 8/13/15, 3:17 PM

  Keep in mind that Windows filters the contents of etc/hosts and basically ignores (some) entries for its own domains. For example, you cannot null-route Windows Update servers this way.

• by blackbeard on 8/13/15, 2:24 PM

  One KB or sfc run later and that'll all be turned back on again...

• by nly on 8/13/15, 2:44 PM

  Checked my parents PC on a visit this morning to find the latest Patch Tuesday set of updates hadn't installed automatically because Windows Update was too busy advertising Windows 10. I was also greeted with a balloon popup rather than just the subtle GWX icon in the tray nagging me to install it.

  Microsoft are pushing this OS fervently and, given their aggressive service integration, I've recently been musing about whether the Microsoft of today are really 'better' just because they've become more open with their software, or whether they're actually just a different, possibly nastier, kind monopolistic threat.

  We could look back in 5 years and see the majority using Bing (via the Start Menu), Cortana, IE, OneDrive, and syncing all their devices through MS servers and cringe. Microsoft can't win on the strength of their brand when it comes to consumer facing services (except for Xbox), so maybe integration will see them break through and muscle out the likes of Chrome, Google, Gmail, Android, and Dropbox.... if W10 on mobile takes off that is.

  Oddly, despite not owning and having never owned any Apple product, I find myself comforted these days that they are there with an almost bottomless pile of money.

• by mesozoic on 8/13/15, 3:22 PM

  Apparently you can't fully disable it so it looks like it's Windows 7 for me for another 5 years or so.

• by thescrewdriver on 8/13/15, 3:42 PM

  You have to know that your privacy defaults are batshit crazy when people start developing tools to automate correcting them.

• by EugeneOZ on 8/13/15, 6:39 PM

  With such "open" system don't even think about large or government companies, especially non-US.

• by Spearchucker on 8/13/15, 3:13 PM

  Is the tracking limited to Home edition, or does this also apply to Pro and Enterprise? Nothing I've read definitively confirms which versions are affected to what extent. Knowing this is useful in that I'd happily pay to not have the spying. Paying is also preferable to downloading an .exe that disables tracking that has dependencies I haven't installed (Python, for example). I'm more likely to trust a PowerShell script, but(for now) haven't the time to invest to create my own.

• by kn9 on 8/13/15, 5:11 PM

  Can anyone please share the list of GPO's to block in enterprise environment

• by talles on 8/13/15, 3:20 PM

  Kudos for stating on the README what it does.

• by juliangregorian on 8/13/15, 3:19 PM

  Personally, I'd rather fuzz their servers with terabyte after terabyte of garbage, but to each his own.

• by crystalgiver on 8/13/15, 4:13 PM

  I run Windows as a guest with vga passthrough and completely disable networking (though a very strict firewall could also work, e.g. For online games).