What is Win 10 Telemetry, and Why and How Should I Turn it Off?

[AWRon]

I need a new, fast laptop, but I can’t get one that doesn’t have Windows 10 on it.

I’m new to Windows 10, and already dislike it intensely.  I plan on permanently disabling ALL Windows Updates (I have other ways of protecting the machine).

But to add insult to injury, I read about this thing called “telemetry,” which seems to be tantamount to giving Microsoft full access to everything I do on my machine (slight overstatement, but close).

In that case, I’d like to completely block that too.
Ideas?  Links?

Thanks

Reply | Quote

[Alex5723]

AWRon wrote:

I need a new, fast laptop, but I can’t get one that doesn’t have Windows 10 on it.

Yes, you can.

You can buy Laptops with DOS preinstalled and decide what OS to install : Linux, Windows 7, Windows 8.1…
You can buy laptops with Linux preinstalled.

You can buy laptops with Windows 10 and clean install Linux, Windows 7, Windows 8.1..and demand Microsoft for refund (~50) for Windows 10.

Telemetry is Microsoft’s way to harvest data on anything you do “for your benefit”.
You can block all Telemetry with 3rd party tools like WPD…

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Alex5723.

Reply | Quote

[Paul T]

Alex5723 wrote:

You can buy Laptops with DOS preinstalled

Where? DOS has not been produced for over 20 years.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

[Paul T]

AWRon wrote:

“telemetry,” which seems to be tantamount to giving Microsoft full access to everything I do on my machine

Telemetry does nothing of the sort. It provides details about how the machine is performing and problems that occur. There is some additional data sent to MS if you use voice control or Edge, but using Google to search does the same.

Patching your machine is sensible. 0day exploits are a reality.

ShutUp10 is another telemetry disabler.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

[Alex5723]

Paul T wrote:

Alex5723 wrote:

You can buy Laptops with DOS preinstalled

Where? DOS has not been produced for over 20 years.

cheers, Paul

There are versions of “DOS” still preinstalled on new laptops. Example FreeDOS.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Alex5723.

Reply | Quote

[Alex5723]

Paul T wrote:

Telemetry does nothing of the sort.

You are downplaying Microsoft’s Telemetry harvesting.
Just look and the hundred privacy settings in WPD.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to access attached files.

Reply | Quote

[doriel]

Simply put:
Disable every possible thing in Windows 10 that pops up and promises some improvement!

Complicated explanation:
I would say, that the disabling telemetry can speedup your PC – no background processes calling ma. And disabling telemtry can also free your network speed, when less data are sent home.

And even if you bougth PC with Windows, whats the problem of installing Linux? I know you payed for your license approx 100USD, but that does not mean you are slave and you must stick to it. I think it is even possible to sell yuor right to use your license. Not sure in US, but in Europe definatelly. Its wasted money to swipe your PC with Linux or Win7 (dont know your preferences and I dont think Win7 is fater than Win10). You need solid HW and best would be NVMe SSD.

I need a new, fast laptop, but I can’t get one that doesn’t have Windows 10 on it.

Here in Czech republic, I would do it that way – I would build custom PC on e-shop and do not add any OS to shopping cart. The company builds it for you. And then Linux.

Bottom line: You can make your PC with Win10 fast, in the end, its quite fast system, but it takes a lot of effort. And definatelly do not enter any Insider ring or any other subscription, that is betatesting new Win10 versions amongst the public. You seem to need reliable system. And the less updates are installed, the less likely your system will crash.

Dell Latitude E6530, Intel Core i5 @ 2.6 GHz, 4GB RAM, W10 1809 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by doriel.

Reply | Quote

[Bundaburra]

Two useful tools for blocking telemetry have already been mentioned – Windows Privacy Dashboard and Shut Up 10.  Here’s another one, which will add a ton of blocks to the Windows Firewall:

http://winaero.com/blog/stop-windows-10-spying-on-you-using-just-windows-firewall/

Windows 10 Pro 64 bit 20H2

2 users thanked author for this post.

doriel, DriftyDonN

Reply | Quote

[anonymous]

Windows 10 Telemetry is machine and system diagnostics, reporting back to M$, their failings in providing a stable, reliable OS and has been for the last FIVE YEARS!
its a pointless exercise attempting to prevent telemetry, as once the next feature update comes along, it’ll only cluster up the system with errors so simple things become more complex and reliability falls lower than a mac :)/

Reply | Quote

[AWRon]

Thank you to all who replied to this thread, as well as my other one at

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/permanently-blocking-win-10-updates/.

Since that one is for some reason closed, I will reply to it here, then proceed to respond to this thread itself.

Regarding permanently shutting off Windowd Update, here is my source:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10

It says that either via group policy or a registry edit, all windows updating can be shut off permanently.

Anonymous raises an interesting question as to whether in fact there ARE other hidden mechanisms that update Windows 10 in some way beyond the user’s normal control, completely bypassing Windows Update — essentially a Microsoft back door.

I would love to hear from experts here whether this is so, and if so what we can do about it.

— AWRon

 

Reply | Quote

[AWRon]

Regarding the above Telemetry thread, first let me thank all those who took the trouble to reply and offer suggestions.

The background for my interest is as follows: Windows is the most widely used platform, for which the widest variety of software applications is written.  I want to be able to choose to use any software available, the latest version of which is always written for the latest version of Windows.

Also, there is no point buying the latest hardware, such as a Dell XPS 17 with an i9 Processor with a GeForce RTX 2060 and 3840×2400 touch screen, and trying to go back to Windows 7, because there will be no drivers for it.  Linux is also a non-starter for me as I know nothing about it.  And so is any build-it-myself because I want a laptop, not a desktop.

So like a lot of people, I’m stuck with Windows 10.

And I don’t want Microsoft messing with it in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, because whenever they do, they eventually break it.  Not interested in “feature updates.”  Not interested in the latest “vulnerability patches.”  Certainly not interested in ongoing Microsoft “Version updates.”  I just want to start off with a solid, stable machine that only I control thereafter.

Sounds like Telemetry is of no direct value to me.  It only serves Microsoft’s purposes, and potentially slows down my machine, my network connection, and who knows what else.  So thank you all for the three telemetry blockers already mentioned, which I will look into.

All further thoughts on how to keep total control over one’s machine will be most welcome!

 

— AWRon

1 user thanked author for this post.

doriel

Reply | Quote

[doriel]

When installing Windows, say “No” to everything that pops up on the end of installation. same when logging in new user. These questions will raise for him too. Set Target Release Version adn defer updates in control panel as much as the system offers – it depends on Home/Pro. Do not click “Check for upadtes” button. Thats the least you can do without much effort.

Yeah, thats the dilema that lot of us have. Stick with Windows or not? You can live with it, but also you dont need to. If you agree to Windows EULA, you basically create sandbox for microsoft. And im not talking about Insider program, thats the worst case.

I think that it depend on the user, if he wants to try something else or not, if you can live without some apps, or you if you will learn something new. If you are not satisfied with something in your life, do you stick with it? Why would you do otherwise in virtual world?
Please notice, that lot of SW is developped for multiple platforms. When downloading SW, you can often see “choose your OS” query, but I do not know your exact needs. Instead of trying to bend Windows the way you want, you can spend your time more effectively without anger (thats my case).
Linux is not “just-for-gurus” anymore. Its meant to be used everywhere. Its fear and conformity that holds you down. My opinion, you may not agree or like it, Im just trying to be honest here.

Askwoody has forum on other operating systems. Also it has some advices where to begin

best linux distros for beginners 2020

Dell Latitude E6530, Intel Core i5 @ 2.6 GHz, 4GB RAM, W10 1809 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by doriel.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by doriel. Reason: link to forum

Attachments:

You must be logged in to access attached files.

Reply | Quote

[anonymous]

I’m a Windows performance nut.  So I actively disable and when possible, remove anything and everything that I consider useless on my desktop computer as well as my laptop.

Among the first things I disabled was telemetry.  Why should Microsoft want to harvest my data of what applications I run, sites I access, etc.  It’s like the infamous ‘Big Brother’ in my opinion.

But then, Mozilla is in the same data harvesting business as well.  I use Firefox 100% of the time except when I encounter a site or two that doesn’t fully deal with Firefox.  In particular, Firefox keeps a cache of sites you’ve visited in your /users/<userid/Appdata/Local/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/<gobbledygook/cache2/entries has over 600K of data in about 100 files in it.  I clean it out every night before I shut down.  Same path from <gobbledygook/datareporting/archived/<calendar month> also gets cleaned out nightly.  There’s other Mozilla files I clean out too.  The FBI might call it destruction of evidence, but there’s nothing illegal going on in my computer.

Microsoft collects other information, too.  A big one of these is …/Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent which is a shortcut to every non-application file you’ve accessed.  Presumably, it enhances performance.  I call it spying.  I’ve also disabled a couple of other Windows ‘performance enhancing’ tools, namely Systemindex and Prefetch folders.

How far one goes with cutting out the useless baggage is individual choices.  Right now, I have more than 50 services disabled, and about the same number of entries in the registry via the ‘Autoruns’ tool (free download) disabled as well.  Needless to say, I get incredibly fast power on to desktop speed as well as pretty much instantaneous response in every application, including Lightroom and Photoshop, which are CPU hogs.

3 users thanked author for this post.

oldfry, doriel, DriftyDonN

Reply | Quote

[DriftyDonN]

Appreciate the info you provided. But FYI, as far as deleting the files in firefox, if you simply set delete history upon closing firefox, all those files are deleted. Just to check this, I went to the location ending in cache2/entries in file manager while having FF open- as soon as I closed ff, all entries in that folder were deleted immediately. I didn’t check the other path re: month, but I would guess they are gone too.

Yes, Big Brother IS STILL watching after all these years! Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they are not watching! <grin>

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by DriftyDonN. Reason: spelling fix

Reply | Quote

[AWRon]

1.   I share your perspective generally, and think it would be incredibly helpful to like-minded folk here and elsewhere if you could make available a list of the services you have disabled in Windows 10, as well as the entries from the Registry you killed with Autoruns.

I am familiar with the services snapin as well as with Autoruns, but the lists are so large as to glaze one’s eyes over.  So consolidated guidance as to which are “superfluous” from “our” viewpoint would be immensely valuable.

2.  How did you disable telemetry?

3.  You don’t mention it, but I assume you also disabled AutoUpdate?  How did you do that?

4.  Finally, where I differ from you slightly is, I don’t object to programs storing “history” as long as it’s on my local machine ONLY.  If you tell me that Firefox or any other program ALSO phones that information home, that’s another story.  (But I find browser history very useful in re-finding previously visited useful sites)

— AWRon

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

KP

Reply | Quote

[AusJohn]

All good questions; I’d certainly be interested to see the answers.

Reply | Quote

[Paul T]

The 3 apps mentioned at the top will do all the disabling / fixing you need without manual intervention.

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

doriel

Reply | Quote

[cmar6]

Which of the three applications do you recommend to a non-techie:

WPD, Shutup10, or the Winaero method?

 

Thanks, cma

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by cmar6.

Reply | Quote

[Paul T]

All are reported to work so I would have a look at their web pages and then test to see which you like best.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

[bratkinson]

For AWRon – You asked for it, you GOT it!

DISCLAIMER:

As with ANY Windows updates or other tweaks, make backups & more backups BEFORE you start!  In developing my changes, there’s been more than a few failure to boot results.  I have only Windows 10 (20H2 since last week, direct from 1909) and My Documents on the SSD C: drive.  I also have a ‘double’ slide-in/slide-out bay that the first spot is C: and the 2nd is not used except when making backups.  I do ONLY full drive backups, not partitions using EaseUS Backup software.  So if something goes south, power off/swap drives/power up/reboot….all in less than a minute!  I should note that I’m running an AMD FX-8370 8-processor computer overclocked to 4.7, but usually idles down to 1.4 or so most of the time.

To block Windows updates, I use WUMgr free software.  Of SPECIAL NOTE: When I -DO- an update, especially the upgrade to 20H2, a number of services went back to automatic or manual(delayed), a fair number of Autoruns got ‘checked’ or simply duplicated with a check mark, and many of the garbage entries in the registry that I had deleted such as XBOX, Weather, Narrator, One Note, One Connect, Speech, Groove, Print3D, Skype, Narrator, Gaming and more reappeared!  RegMagik seems to work a bit differently under 20H2 as well.

Again, I repeat:  backup, backup, backup!  IF YOU BREAK IT, YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN!

I’ve attached 3 screen prints of my Services that are disabled.  Note the number of Adobe items.  I have the $10/mo plan for Photoshop & Lightroom, plus Photshop Elements 15 installed.  All work flawlessly with all these items disabled.  Sometimes when I start one up, it displays that an update is available, blah blah blah.

Here’s the sorted list of things I’ve blanked out using Autoruns.  I assume NO liability for screwing up your computer!  When in doubt, don’t blank it.  Use Google to figure out what it does, then decide.  It’s probably easiest to start with  the ‘anything with xxx’ entries then go from there.

\Adobe Acrobat Update Task (unless they change how PDFs are made, I don’t care)
\AdobeAAMUpdater-<my account information>
\Microsoft\Windows\ApplID\EDP Policy Manager
\Microsoft\Windows\ApplID\VerifiedPublisherCertStoreCheck
\Microsoft\Windows\Clip\License Validataion
\Microsoft\Windows\Defrag\ScheduledDefragWnything with ‘Defrag’ in it (I have other defrag software)
\Microsoft\Windows\File Classification Infrastructure\Property Definition Sync (File Server I problaby don’t need)
\Microsoft\Windows\InstallService\WakeUpAndContinueUpdates
\Microsoft\Windows\InstallService\WakeUpAndScanForUpdates
\Microsoft\Windows\Management\Provisioning\Cellular
\Microsoft\Windows\Management\Provisioning\Retry
\Microsoft\Windows\Management\Provisioning\RunOnReboot
\Microsoft\Windows\PushToInstal\LoginCheck (for cellphones and tablets only I suspect)
\Microsoft\Windows\PushToInstal\Registration (for cellphones and tablets only I suspect)
\Microsoft\Windows\SharedPC\Account Cleanup (I don’t share my PC)
\Microsoft\Windows\UNP\RunUpdateNotificationMgr
\Microsoft\Windows\WOF\WIM-Hash-Management
\Microsoft\Windows\WOF\WIM-Hash-Validation
\OfficeSoftwareProtrectionPlatform\SvcRestartTask (I don’t want any updates to Office 2010 on my machine!)
\Windows\Microsoft\UpdateOrchestrator\Reboot_AC
\Windows\Microsoft\UpdateOrchestrator\Reboot_Battery
\Windows\Microsoft\UpdateOrchestrator\Schedule Scan
\Windows\Microsoft\UpdateOrchestrator\Schedule Wake To Work
\Windows\Microsoft\UpdateOrchestrator\Schedule\Work
\WuMgrNoUAC (I think this is the new name for Windows Update Manager)
AdobeAAMUpdate-1.0
AdobeGCInvoker-1.0
AGMService (another waste of time from Adobe)
AGSService (another waste of time from Adobe)
Anything and everything with ‘Bluetooth’ in it (use binoculars search tool)
Anything ‘Broadband’
Anything ‘Hello’ in it
Anything ‘Mobile’ (required for my laptop)
Anything with ‘Appx’ in it
Anything with ‘Cloud’ in it
Anything with ‘ConnectUX’ in it
Anything with ‘Experience’ in it
Anything with ‘floppy’ in it (no floppies here, but they’re on my XP box!)
anything with ‘Game’ in it to put XBOX and King.com out of its misery]
Anything with ‘HomeGroup’ in it
Anything with ‘Hyper-v’ in it (no virtual machines here!)
-SOME- things with ‘Virtual’ in it (use exteme caution! I don’t do virtual machines)
Anything with ‘Language’ in it (Only English on my computers)
Anything with ‘miniport’ in it
Anything with ‘Miracast’ in it
Anything with ‘Offline Files’ in it
Anything with ‘OneDrive’ in it
Anything with ‘Remote’ in it except Remote Procedure Call
Anything with ‘smartcard’ in it (Smartcards in laptops went bye-bye in the 1990s)
Anything with ‘Social’ in it
Anything with ‘Speech’ in it
Anything with ‘Telemetry’ in it
Anything with ‘Touch’ in it
Anything with ‘WiFi’ in it
Anything with ‘Workplace’ in it
arcsas (I don’t do RAID, either)
CaptureService (the only screen captures I do is <ctl><prtsc> and it works fine
Closed Captions Analysis Filter (I use K-Lite CODEC package)
edgeupdate
edgeupdatem
Epson Sylus R380
FaceCredintialProvider
IEToEdge BHO (I don’t use Edge unless forced to do so)
IrisCredentialProvider
LanmanWorkstation (I didn’t uncheck LanmanServer, maybe I need it?)
MessagingService (required on a cell phone)
Most things with Bth in it (short for Bluetooth)
NeroFilterCheck
Netman
OneSyncSvc (I don’t use ANY cloud services!)
PostBootReminder Object

I should also add that I’ve deleted THOUSANDS of ‘language dictionary’ values such as those with ar-ar, en-gb, etc in application program folders and extensively in the Windows folder.  I always leave en-us versions.  It’s tedious and time consuming, and wouldn’t be possible without Takeownership Pro.exe.  Another free product.  Even though my computer runs light years faster than the 360s and 370s et al I used to program, time is wasted spinning through directory entries.  So I figure I’ve saved countless 0.1 seconds with every boot up and mouse click.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by bratkinson.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by bratkinson.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by bratkinson.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to access attached files.

8 users thanked author for this post.

KP, jamesmhebert, gwt10, David F, cmar6, DriftyDonN, doriel, AWRon

Reply | Quote

[AWRon]

Dear Bratkinson, thank you so much for this detailed post.

This list and your attachments are an absolute goldmine!  What a wonderful place to start from upon receipt of a preinstalled Windows 10 laptop!

I take under full advisement all  your disclaimers and warnings regarding backups and being on my own if anything breaks.  Not afraid of that.

The machine I ordered comes with two SSD bays, and I too do only full drive image backups, using Acronis or similar, so we are on the same page.  Done this for years.

I also noted the other programs you mentioned, RegMagik and TakeOwnershipPro, and will research those as well.

I look forward to comments and / or additional suggestions from the community when they see this fabulous post of yours!

— AWRon

 

Reply | Quote

[DriftyDonN]

is email cloud based (of a sort)? Serious question here. I have been using Thunderbird for a PAID email account (fastmail)am rethinking t’bird as updates delete local archive folders!! -I can also access thru web- In addition I have web based Proton Mail. I had my google removed months ago- I feel so much better!

Sadly, Quicken is cloud based and I cannot find a way around it- I’ve used it since DOS days so I’m kinda attached. I do not like cloud based anything but I suspect there is no getting away from some usage behind the scenes.

Thank you for your very informative post!!! Yea image image image and verify verify verify and then do it again!

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by DriftyDonN. Reason: additional info

Reply | Quote

[cmar6]

Hi Bratkinson:

Great list but didn’t understand this part:

Here’s the sorted list of things I’ve blanked out using Autoruns.  I assume NO liability for screwing up your computer!  When in doubt, don’t blank it.  Use Google to figure out what it does, then decide.  It’s probably easiest to start with  the ‘anything with xxx’ entries then go from there.

What are these things: tasks or what?

And how does one use Autorun to blank out these things?

Thanks, CMA

 

 

 

 

Reply | Quote

[Susan Bradley]

What exactly do you not like about Windows 10?  (betcha someone has an app that takes what you hate and removes it)

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

1 user thanked author for this post.

doriel

Reply | Quote

[doriel]

Windows 10 is unpredictable. I (personally) want sytem that is not deciding by its own (or Redmond or whatever).

Dell Latitude E6530, Intel Core i5 @ 2.6 GHz, 4GB RAM, W10 1809 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

1 user thanked author for this post.

Kirsty

Reply | Quote

[Susan Bradley]

I can make it predictable with the use of deferral settings.  Are you just talking about patching?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

Reply | Quote

[doriel]

Yes, I recommended deferal above. There is unnescessary ammount of changes going on every week. Just my opinion.

Dell Latitude E6530, Intel Core i5 @ 2.6 GHz, 4GB RAM, W10 1809 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

Reply | Quote

[AWRon]

Hi Susan:

Nice to hear from you personally, after our last exchange nearly 20 years ago on Windows Secrets!

I’d love to tell you all the things I hate about Windows 10, but it would take this thread off topic, and detract from possible additional answers to Bratkinson’s wonderful post above.

However, if you direct me to a more appropriate place (without closing this thread!), I’d be glad to give you an earful!

Best,

— AWRon

Reply | Quote

[DriftyDonN]

patch tuesdays to start, feature updates 2x a year (so far) the chance of the os becoming a service based product.

Reply | Quote

[rebop2020]

Alex5723 wrote:

Paul T wrote:

Telemetry does nothing of the sort.

You are downplaying Microsoft’s Telemetry harvesting.
Just look and the hundred privacy settings in WPD.

First I have heard of WPD. Intriguing. Tell me, if I have already set a GP policy and run WPD, does it see that it has been configured? Reset to default? I would hate to lose any work I have done or have WPD report inaccurately on first run. Their documentation seems scant.

Reply | Quote

[Michael Austin]

I’ve run Windows 10 for just over two years on a very fast, then-new box, capable of VR. 8 cores, 32 GB RAM, and a fast 8GB Nvidia graphics card to two monitors. I migrated from my very stable, pretty reliable Windows 7 rig. Windows 10 is a bottleneck for everything. If I knew then what I know now about Windows 10, I would have bought a used or new Mac, and put a dual-bootish system on it, and have Windows 10 sandboxed so it can’t do its now customary, unacceptable sneakinesses.

I run O&O ShutUp10, and also periodically run other utilities to protect me from Microsoft’s studious indifference to my privacies, as well as their consistently chump code which can easily promote games of Whac-A-Mole with patches to their patches. These observations from someone who (back in the day) built and ran a clever, 25-user Windows 2K network for a very special gallery of animation fine art, served with DHCP, with both Windows and Mac clients.

If you can find a local Mac person near you they could guide you in this. I have one near me who’s amazing, and who has become a personal friend. These days I’m very close to selling my fairly expensive Windows rig to someone who’s willing to pay me half of what I paid.

Finance, social and tech founder. Co-founder of a global, gamified, crowd-sourced ESG advertising platform, and managing director of new crowd sourced games, both in pre-release development. My planet-wide talk show for people craving new stories by which to live is Casual Saints.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Michael Austin.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Michael Austin.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Michael Austin.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Michael Austin.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DriftyDonN

Reply | Quote

[Alex5723]

rebop2020 wrote:

Alex5723 wrote:

Paul T wrote:

Telemetry does nothing of the sort.

You are downplaying Microsoft’s Telemetry harvesting.
Just look and the hundred privacy settings in WPD.

First I have heard of WPD. Intriguing. Tell me, if I have already set a GP policy and run WPD, does it see that it has been configured? Reset to default? I would hate to lose any work I have done or have WPD report inaccurately on first run. Their documentation seems scant.

WPD is privacy settings app and has nothing to do GP Windows updates settings.

Reply | Quote

[Slowpoke47]

New to this thread, got here via the weekly AskWoody newsletter…

To the OP, who said:

AWRon wrote:

Linux is also a non-starter for me as I know nothing about it.

As a former satisfied W7 user with zero interest in the ongoing train wreck called W10, I switched to Linux Mint about a year+ ago when MS threw 7 under the bus, and it has been a revelation.  Mint is faster and more intuitive, and updates are almost a non-event.  I am by no means a tech expert but Mint suits my purposes perfectly.  The Mint OS just plain works.

AND- there is no telemetry- Linux isn’t marketing anything.

There is knowledgeable Linux support on this forum as well as here: Linux Mint Forums – Index page

Best computer move I ever made.

 

Linux Mint Mate 19.2

3 users thanked author for this post.

David F, Microfix, AWRon

Reply | Quote

[msun12000]

I tried O&O ShutUp10 and found that it could make changes which are not reversible without resorting to RegEdit. In my case it set Edge (Chromium) to “Your browser is managed by your organization” i.e. it added a policy setting “BackgroundModeEnabled” which I then was unable to alter.

So I’d say be wary of similar 3rd party tools as they can yield undesirable results. Also Microsoft updates will sometimes revert any settings changed by 3rd party privacy tools.

1 user thanked author for this post.

AWRon

Reply | Quote

[Peepers]

DriftyDonN wrote:

Sadly, Quicken is cloud based and I cannot find a way around it-

I’ve been using Quicken since 3.1 days, but I haven’t and don’t pay bills or download data with it.

I pay bills via my bank website, most are on Autopay, so easy-peasy.

I don’t download data at all. I visit the websites of my banks/credit cards/investments to copy/paste the data I haven’t already entered, which is very little. Yes, it is more time-consuming, but well worth keeping my business out of the cloud.

Of course, I seldom update Quicken versions. I’m currently using 2013 Deluxe and find it sufficient for my needs.

You might also want to look at Moneydance. I may be going there soon.

Reply | Quote

[Author]

Posts