Disable Windows 10 Telemetry and Data Collection (Collection of Methods & Tools)

[Jordan]

(Updated) O&O ShutUp 1.0.1344

Download:

http://dl5.oo-software.com/files/ooshutup10/OOSU10.zip

Version 1.0.1344

• Deactivation of WiFi Sense for contacts (pass on over facebook, Skype etc)
• Deactivation of error reports for handwriting input (Tablets)
• Advanced deactivation of location functionality
• Deactivation of script function in location
• Improved recognition of own settings
• Spelling and translation corrections
• Graphic display revamped

[PistalPete]

(Updated) O&O ShutUp 1.0.1344

Well I think it's time for the moderator to bring back some sort of order to the posts here. This is not a new release. It's an update for O&OShutup in this thread only. In the actual O&OShutup10 thread you will see a link to O&O ShutUp10 v1.0.1344.1 which I was able to download back on Aug28th, 6 days ago. This just makes it difficult and requires searching to try and figure out if it is an actual update or not. And in this case, it is not. Perhaps a link should be posted to the download page as well to more easily determine if this is an actual new release or not.

[Ripdevil]

Disable Windows 10 Tracking v2.3

Description:

An OPEN SOURCE automatic tool for removing Telemetry in Windows 10 (One click tool).

Homepage & Download:

https://github.com/10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking/releases/tag/v1.5'>https://github.com/10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking/releases/tag/v1.5

Please change the Homepage & Download Link to:

https://github.com/10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking/releases

btw. v.2.4 is broken....

Great collection....thanks :cheers:

[UpGrade]

Destroy Windows 10 Spying v1.5 Build 342 Released

OP Updated

Edited September 3, 2015 by UpGrade

[UpGrade]

Disable Windows 7/8/8.1 Telemetry (+Bonus Services)

Updated to v0.2.8

Edited September 3, 2015 by UpGrade

[UpGrade]

I Have an idea for a script to incorporate some of the tools together and it can also be used as setupcomplete.cmd so it can be cooked into an iso! I have coded all that part of it but i need someone who is good at writing batch files to help with the last part of my idea! if anyone can help please PM me and i will explain as i would like to release something i have been working on for everyone to use.

Ps. Does Anyone agree that we should have this thread pinned? If so please say so we can get a mod to pin it

Edited September 3, 2015 by UpGrade

[UpGrade]

O&O ShutUp10 1.0.1345 Released

Edited September 4, 2015 by UpGrade

[UpGrade]

Destroy Windows 10 Spying v1.5 Build 345 Released

Edited September 5, 2015 by UpGrade

[UpGrade]

Disable Windows 10 Tracking v2.4.1 Released

Edited September 6, 2015 by UpGrade

[molokos]

Disable Windows 10 Tracking v2.4.2 Pre-Released

Edited September 6, 2015 by molokos

[molokos]

Ashampoo Antispy for Windows 10 v1.0.0 release

home https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/pin/1004/security-software/Antispy-for-Windows-10

[UpGrade]

Ashampoo Antispy for Windows 10 1.0.0.15

Added to OP!

Edited September 7, 2015 by UpGrade

[ugurano]

thx for this thread

[eden2015]

Can someone tell what is the best please?

[UpGrade]

Can someone tell what is the best please?

There isnt a best i just use a few together

[jcvo]

NEW Disable Windows 10 Tracking v2.4.3

[UpGrade]

Spybot Anti-Beacon for Windows 10 v1.3.0.21 Updated!

[UpGrade]

UpGrade,

Excellent!

Well done, gathered all available

Keep it up

:cheers:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

forgot to write that I would add a method from CODYQX4 (mdl):

Windows Firewall Configuration - Truly Block EVERYTHING ...

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/64640-Windows-Firewall-Configuration-Truly-Block-EVERYTHING

Thanks! Link added to OP!

Edited September 9, 2015 by UpGrade

[Joker8787]

Is Microsoft Gathering Data From You in Windows 7 and 8 or say 10 also? Everything You Need to Know About Windows 10’s Privacy Issues

There is no denying it, the launch of Windows 10 has been a fantastic success and a massive win for Microsoft. It’s widely regarded as a huge upgrade on both Windows 7 and 8, and has been downloaded tens of millions of times since itslaunch on the 29th July.

Naturally, some people dislike certain aspects of the new look, and there are still a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out in forthcoming updates, but on the whole the experience for the vast majority users is overwhelmingly positive.

The only area of the launch that has gone less smoothly is concerning various issues around privacy. Perhaps it should come as no surprise – these days, eagle-eyed Internet users are on the lookout for the merest suggestion that a tech giant is committing privacy-based foul play and they descend like hawks.

While it’s true that Windows 10 does have some issues that users need to be aware of, some of the claims have been blown out of proportion. Here’s our guide to everything you need to know about Windows 10’s privacy issues.

Windows 10 is Stealing Your Bandwidth

The claim is that Windows 10 is using your Internet bandwidth (which you are obviously paying for) in order to deliver updates faster and more efficiently, and that the option is enabled by default.

Ads by Google

Although it sounds somewhat outrageous, this claim is actually true. The operating system makes use of the latest peer-to-peer technology to enable one computer to share its updates with other computers on its network, and potentially with any other computer in the world.

This is a double-edged sword. If you’re only sharing updates with other machines on your home network, it could reduce your bandwidth. On the other hand, sharing with machines across the World Wide Web could see usage increase.

To disable the option, head to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered, and setUpdates from more than one place to Off.

Browser History, Favorites, and Passwords are Synced with Microsoft’s Servers

This has been a feature since Windows 8, and the catch to this claim is that none of this synchronization is actually automatic. It will only happen if you a) sign-in with your Microsoft Account, and B) choose “Express Settings” when you set up Windows for the first time.

Even if you carelessly clicked on Express Settings when going through the initial setup, all the options are easily reversed. Just head to Start > Settings > Accounts > Sync your Settings, and choose what features you want to enable.

If you’re really uncomfortable with this feature, it’s best to just use a local account. You can change an existing Microsoft Account to a local account by clicking onStart > Settings > Accounts > Your account > Sign in with a local account instead, then following the onscreen instructions.

Of course, you need to keep in mind that one of the biggest advantages to actually using your Microsoft Account is that it does keep all this content synced; if you sign in on another PC or phone all your data and preferences will already be there waiting for you.

Wi-Fi Sense is Automatically Sharing Your Password

This is a lie. Firstly, it’s an opt-in feature, meaning you need to turn it on. Secondly, even if you enable the feature, your password is never shared.

Again, this isn’t actually a new feature. It was on Windows Phone 8.1 last year, but is only just debuting on the fully-blown Windows operating system. It essentially allows you to decide whether you want to share Wi-Fi login information with your contacts when you first log in to any given network.

Even if you turn it on, you can choose which friends to share the data with – it’s not a carte blanche invitation to everyone in your address book. Whoever you do share the details with never actually sees the password, they just get logged on to the selected network automatically.

Advertisers Will Be Able to Identify You with Ease

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Windows 10 was free, ergo, they must be doing something to recoup that money – right?

Well, yes and no. Windows 10 will generate a unique advertising ID for each user on each device (in exactly the same way as Windows 8 did). That ID can be used by app developers, advertising networks, Microsoft, and an array of third-party companies to profile you and send targeted ads to your screen.

This is turned on by default, but can be easily disabled. Head to Start > Settings > Privacy > General, and ensure that “Let apps use my advertising ID for experiences across apps” is disabled. As the option itself tells you onscreen, it’s worth noting that turning the option off will automatically reset your ID, instantly hiding yourself from those prying eyes.

If you are anti-advertising, you should also click on “Manage my Microsoft advertising and other personalization info” at the bottom of the screen. You’ll be taken to a website where you can opt out of both personalized ads in the browser you’re using, and personalized ads wherever you happen to be using your Microsoft Account.

Cortana is Watching You

“To enable Cortana to provide personalized experiences and relevant suggestions, Microsoft collects and uses various types of data, such as your device location, data from your calendar, the apps you use, data from your emails and text messages, who you call, your contacts and how often you interact with them on your device.

“Cortana also learns about you by collecting data about how you use your device and other Microsoft services, such as your music, alarm settings, whether the lock screen is on, what you view and purchase, your browse and Bing search history, and more.”

Cortana is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri and Google’s Google Now service. This personal assistant will help you find answers to questions, make your appointments on time, and keep you up-to-date with the latest news that you care about.

The terms of use above sound scary, but in order to help you to the fullest of its abilities, it’s only fair to assume that it needs to collect data about you.

The important thing to realize about the service is that it is disabled when you run Windows 10 for the first time (by default it’ll only search the Internet and your computer for any information you request), and Cortana won’t respond to voice commands until you enable the feature.

Are You Concerned About Microsoft’s Privacy Policies?

What is your opinion on Microsoft’s privacy policies? Are they fair? Are they in keeping with what we now expect from the other tech giants?

Should that have been more open about their data collection, or are naysayers just scaremongering?

You haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 because you’re worried about privacy and you’re using Windows 7 or 8? Microsoft has released a series of updates for your operating system that essentially replicate Windows 10’s diagnostics tracking. The good news, though, is that in Windows 7 and 8 you can control which updates are installed.

We have reviewed the updates in question and will show you how to get rid of them.

Diagnostics & Telemetry Tracking in Windows Isn’t New

This is how Microsoft describes its diagnostics tracking:

The diagnostics tracking service collects diagnostics about functional issues on Windows systems that participate in the

Customer Experience Improvement Program

(CEIP).”

CEIP is an opt-in program and it has been around since early 2009. Through CEIP, Microsoft receives “information about Microsoft products as well as limited information about third-party applications that interact with Microsoft products.” Microsoft uses the data to solve problems and improve popular products and features.

Since users cannot review which information is collected, “the CEIP program limits the type of information that can be collected and how that information can be used.” The details can be found in the CEIP Privacy Statement. To protect your privacy, no contact information or data that could be used to identify you is recorded.

Microsoft uses a globally unique identifier (GUID) to distinguish between anonymous individuals, which for example tells them whether 100 users have the same problem or whether 1 user has the same problem 100 times.

If you are still uncomfortable with Microsoft collecting any information, don’t participate in CEIP. Should you have joined the program in the past, Microsoft lets you opt out anytime. We’ll show you how below.

Which Updates Are We Talking About?

Since April, Microsoft has released four optional Windows updates that address customer experience and diagnostic telemetry. The affected operating systems are Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

These are Microsoft’s descriptions for each update:

KB3068708 (replaced KB3022345) – Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry

This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights.

The phrase “the latest version of Windows” appears to refer to Windows 10. Maybe Microsoft is planning to bring the Windows Feedback app to Windows 7 and 8.1 and is laying the groundwork by expanding the existing CEIP infrastructure, to support better data collection for error reports. This, however, is pure speculation on our part.

KB3075249 – Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7

This update adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels.

KB3080149 – Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry

This package updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights.

What Is the Problem?

According to Microsoft, the udpates are only offered to customers participating in CEIP. In the notes for the most recent update KB3080149, however, we found the following statement:

Reduces the network connections on a Windows system that doesn’t participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).

In other words, even if you did not opt into CEIP, you may see these updates and Microsoft will make network connections, which suggests they are sending or receiving data. This could be interpreted to mean that Microsoft may have collected data of users who didn’t opt into CEIP.

Since CEIP can not only be turned on system wide, but also for individual programs, data flow may occur if you’re using pre-release software. Microsoft writes:

Some pre-release products that are under development might require participation in CEIP to help ensure the final release of the product improves frequently used features and solves common problems that exist in the pre-release software.

For example, Microsoft Office per default signs you up for CEIP.

In the update description, Microsoft also lists two host names, which on Windows 7 and 8.1 apparently can be blocked using your firewall, even the default Windows Firewall:

• vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
• settings-win.data.microsoft.com

How Can You Get Rid of Updates & CEIP?

The first thing you should do is to opt out of CEIP. In Windows 7, 8.1, and even 10, press the Windows key or go to Start, type Customer Experience Improvement Program (alternatively: Control Panel > Action Center > Change Action Center settings > Customer Experience Improvement program settings), then select No, I don’t want to participate in the program, and clickSave Changes.

Microsoft adds:

Most programs make CEIP options available from the Help menu, although for some products, you might need to check settings, options, or preferences menus.

In the case of Microsoft Office, How-To Geek has outlined how you can opt out of CEIP.

To completely disable CEIP, head to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler. In the Task Scheduler’s Local pane, expand the Task Scheduler Library and open the folders Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience. Now right-click the AITAgent and ProgramDataUpdater tasks and select Disable.

Then head to the Customer Experience Improvement Program folder and disable the tasks Consolidator, KernelCeipTask, and UsbCeip.

Even though we never opted into CEIP, we still saw update KB3068708 installed on our Windows 8.1 system. That’s because we had agreed to automatically install updates classified as recommended, which automatically upgrades them toimportant. On Windows 7, where we chose not to treat recommended updates like important ones, KB3068708 was listed under optional updates. None of the other updates were offered to us, not even as optional.

If you have also see any of the updates listed above, you can manually remove and hide them. Briefly, head to Windows Update in the Control Panel, open Installed Updates from the bottom left of the sidebar, select the troublesome update/s, and click the Uninstall button.

Alternatively, you can run the following commands from an elevated command prompt:

wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart

wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /quiet /norestart

wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /quiet /norestart

wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /quiet /norestart

The update(s) should now re-appear in the list of Optional Updates. When Windows offers you updates to install, select X optional update/s is/are available, right-click each update in question and select Hide update.

Diagnostics & Telemetry Tracking Is a Service

By tracking application usage and errors, Microsoft learns how software is being used and what causes issues. If many users make the same “mistake” or cause the same error, it hints to (design) problems with the software. The data can help Microsoft improve software and reduce frustrating experiences.

It’s disappointing that a program promoted as optional appears to have activated itself. And it’s unfortunate that we don’t know what exactly certain updates will do and that we cannot monitor what kind of data is sent via diagnostics and telemetry tools. We have to trust Microsoft has good intentions or — if in doubt — we have to take action and protect our privacy.

What is your choice? Do you trust Microsoft on this, did you disable CEIP, or have you taken more drastic measures? We’re curious to hear your point of view!

Source,

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/microsoft-gathering-data-windows-7-8/

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/everything-need-know-windows-10s-privacy-issues/

[UpGrade]

Destroy Windows 10 Spying v1.5 Build 361

Released

OP Updated!

[UpGrade]

Windows 10 Lite v4.5.1

1. download Windows 10 Lite

2. extract, rename to Win10Lite (easier to call later)

3. put Win10Lite folder in root of Windows 10 ISO using UltraISO

4. burn to DVD

5. install Windows 10 as normal

6. press Shift + F10 at Personalization screen. (where it asks for User Account name, Time Zone, etc.)

7. a command prompt will appear

8. enter: cd x:\Win10Lite (replace x with your DVD drive letter)

9. enter: start rmApps.cmd

10. it will ask which features you'd like to remove (i recommend skipping Association tweaks)

11. close CMD window and continue with installation until complete

Homepage:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/windows-10-lite

Download:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/windows-10-lite/files/WinLite10V4.5.1.zip/download

OP UPDATED!

[UpGrade]

New App Added:

W10Privacy v1.5.3.6 - Link added

Updated App:

Windows Privacy Tweaker v1.2.5733 Build 33864

OP Updated!

Edited September 13, 2015 by UpGrade

[jinvidia]

I have used a couple of tools but don't remember their names, but Windows still keeps sending freezes or hangs which is evident in the problem reportreport.is there any tool which can block this problem reporting to Microsoft? Our host blocking taskhost.exe will do the job?

[UpGrade]

I have used a couple of tools but don't remember their names, but Windows still keeps sending freezes or hangs which is evident in the problem reportreport.is there any tool which can block this problem reporting to Microsoft? Our host blocking taskhost.exe will do the job?

Not 100% about this i will try to look into it when i have the time hopefully sometime this week and see what i can find out.

Destroy Windows 10 Spying v1.5 Build 409 Released

OP Updated!

Edited September 13, 2015 by UpGrade

[jinvidia]

I have used a couple of tools but don't remember their names, but Windows still keeps sending freezes or hangs which is evident in the problem reportreport.is there any tool which can block this problem reporting to Microsoft? Our host blocking taskhost.exe will do the job?

Not 100% about this i will try to look into it when i have the time hopefully sometime this week and see what i can find out.

Destroy Windows 10 Spying v1.5 Build 409 Released

OP Updated!

https://userscloud.com/fsto538mr3xa

Didnt use the latest build yet but this is what windows 10 LTSB does periodically with the previous build available during my last post. Will use the above build and report. Thanx

Edited September 14, 2015 by jinvidia