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Software » System Tools
Windows 10 Privacy Guide screenshot
after another windows update i was searching for a way to disable gamedvr service and found this insanely useful, treasure-like article about manually disabling most of the crap that windows has. i hope you don't care about it, but for me it's just incessantly irritating.

Windows 10 has raised several concerns about privacy due to the fact that it has a lot of telemetry and online features. In response to these concerns, Microsoft released a document explaining exactly what data they collect, and now Windows 10 even has a Diagnostic Data Viewer. Most of it seems pretty legit stuff when telemetry is set to basic, but still, if you don't trust them, here's how to prevent Windows 10 from sending your data to Microsoft.
Last update: January 28, 2019

Important: This procedure cannot be reversed without reinstalling Windows. Do not follow this guide if:
You are not an experienced user
You need to use a Microsoft Account for any reason (outside of your web browser)
You need to download anything from the Windows Store (including distros for the Linux subsystem if you want to use it)
You need to add/remove user accounts to your PC (new accounts will not work properly)

You're doing this at your own risk, I am not responsible for any data loss or damage that may occur.

Let's start!

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comments

  Member 16.11.2013 260
+76
I liked Win 7. Stable. BUT the FLS in the coming update because I have tried it, leaves no room for doubt that unless Win 7 or a third party has some kind of better plugin memory management, no serious PC DAW user will have Win 7 ever again very soon.
115 grunty plugins all in inserts with 32 tracks and it did not blink.
If Win 7 had it sure, no problem, but it doesn't. No competition.
It also treats VSTi's as plugins. All the Spectrasonics, Kontakt slots filled, All the Ozone plugins can be loaded simultaneously with the VSTI's, any large convolution reverb on every track with a different setting if desired, without freezing anything or dumping audio or disabling something - at the same time.
It won't speed up the 3rd party loading times, much of that is proprietary, but the plugins themselves, a new memory space is allocated.

Let me be clear- I love WIN 7 but this new memory management coming in WIN 10 changes the playing field.

- NOTE: I have 32GB RAM so the above probably will be noticeable on less.
  Member 16.11.2013 260
+76
P.S - You can disable 98% of the tracking settings safely with Auslogics BoostSpeed.
You could always buy legitimate versions then there would be no cause for any concern.
  Resident 20.07.2013 4 1652
+967
Some questions BaSsDuDe, seeing you seem well informed:
what versions of win10 will be updated? (LTSB as well?)
"You could always buy legitimate versions"....What do you mean?

Finally: the biggest issue is not if win 10 is better or not, but soon all the main applications will be bespoken for it....or something similar
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving
  Member 16.11.2013 260
+76
Update 1903 will have the FLS.
If you have not done the other updates and have set your Win 10 to select what you want to install, it will be a cumulative update when it is fully released.

In theory, each person should be able to choose the environment that works best for them. Unfortunately this is not how O/S's work. The version which allows technically unlimited third party DLL's to load is something that nobody with a DAW can seriously overlook no matter their personal preference.
  Resident 25.12.2017 6 1898
+704
Haha, first, yes; 32GB of RAM will clear up many an issue.
Seriously? I am still running Win7Ult. and even with the benefits of the new memory management, Win10 is still *way* too much of a nightmare to be worth it. (Quick Disclaimer: I'm not some noob who has never switched to a new OS before, or who can't adjust to the bright lights of advancements. )
Honestly, I'd be surprised if a third-party company didn't touch the memory management on Win7; it's been discussed before, as Win10 had that planned for a while.
Also? I only have 4GB of RAM and I have never had any serious workload issues, even with savage plugin workloads on 24+ track projects. My PC isn't always happy, but even with my mad un-pimped-out PC that is some years old (yes, I'm looking to upgrade but am $$$-deficient,) I've never had any serious issues.
Despite that, nice post; a well-presented opinion with information to boot.
"Rap is a gimmick, but I'm for the Hip Hop, The Culture." ~ Method Man ~
  Resident 25.12.2015 5 318
+133
quote by wickedmonkeyIf you really believe what Microsoft is telling you or their "promises" than you're very, very naive.

They spy, track and collect incredible amount of your sensitive data.
Jerks!


Yep, that was very mildly put but its the truth. The term "naive" doesnt even come close. We are under attack. Spiritual attack that is. Whoever thinks Microsoft is your friend, is beyond naive. They are into enslaving you. They work hand in hand with the government. Call me a conspiracy nut if you want but that information is out there. There are actual official government patents out there of mind control techniques using frequencies. Registered patents guys. Hive mind coming. Sorry, wasn't my intention to take it this far but since this post is about telemetry and spying, i think im allowed to make such a comment here. If not, my bad.
"And now i'm like a major threat because i remind you of the things you were made to forget."
  Resident 22.08.2013 54 272
+1616
quote by Gatekeeper432It might be a very good tool, no doubt, but whether you guys want to believe this or not, there is unfortunetely no way to turn off telemetry completely. There is a hidden OS in all newer Intel chips that works completely independent from whatever main OS you choose to install. Data being send even when your computer is turned off. This is REAL privacy invasion. Again, there is hidden OS in all newer Intel chips that nobody has access to. I have yet to find an article where someone actually managed to get access to it. Nada, apparently impossible. You think Microsoft is stupid? They are 100 times smarter than we are. They give you the illusion that you can turn off telemetry. This hidden OS apparently has existed in all Intel chips for years, as far back as 2003, if not prior. It was discovered by accident. With these tools we can trim down the telemetry on the main OS only, but we will never be able to turn it off completely due to the hidden OS on Intel chips directly, nobody has access to. This hidden OS is not on your harddrive, cant wipe it out, its part of the actual Intel chips. Those are the facts, dont believe me, research it for yourself.


Show proof that it is used if you have already blocked telemetry etc. I believe it when I see proof. Its easy to find out if your machine is sending anything to MS if you blocked. Its called a real external firewall. Also blocking security updates is a extremely bad choice if you use your machine on the Internet.
Apple is doing the same thing btw.
Win7 will be out of support next year. New Win10 1903 will have updates fixing threading issues and also the FLS problem!
I also run Win7 but will never use it after support is gone. New hardware wont be supported in Win7. So.. good luck buying a 64 core system next year and running it in Win7. :)
  Member 16.11.2013 260
+76
For anyone to control or turn your computer on when it is off you need a DRAC card installed. The capacitors charge down over time and without battery backed RAM no transmissions can be sent. Who told you this???
Wireless might be the in thing but it will never beat ethernet for stability, security and reliability.
Auslogics BoostSpeed turns telemetry completely off other than in Task Scheduler and you can manually disable that as an administrator.
Even if you were correct, if a person turns their broadband off when they go to sleep please enlighten everyone how it is done. If you are using a wireless laptop then sure, you have a walking security hazard and it should not be the main DAW anyway, only useful for portable outdoors recording.
  Banned 25.02.2019 26
+11
Not true. Ever heard of Wake-On-Lan?
  Resident 19.11.2013 1 1613
+1342
quote by BaSsDuDeif a person turns their broadband off when they go to sleep please enlighten everyone how it is done.

quote by LIGuitar77Not true. Ever heard of Wake-On-Lan?

How does Wake-On-Lan work if the power point for the cpu and modem is switched off?
  Member 16.11.2013 260
+76
Yes also a DRAC, also wake on mouse, wake on keyboard and more. But you have to turn them on in BIOS and the DRAC needs to be installed in a slot. So what is your point?
There is no default on unless someone chooses to enable it.
  Resident 25.12.2015 5 318
+133
@itence You didn't read all comments, nor did you understand a word i was saying. Do you know the difference between a hidden OS that is part of the actual Intel chip and an OS of your choice that you install on a harddrive? The hidden OS operates completely independent from the OS of your choice that you install on your harddrive or SSD. Proof of the hidden OS here:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/minix-intels-hidden-in-chip-operating-system/

Yes there is proof out there for everything i pointed out.

https://thehackernews.com/2016/02/microsoft-windows10-privacy.html

http://virtualcustoms.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=70730&d=1440864194

https://itsfoss.com/fact-intel-minix-case/

Quote from the above:

"That supplemental unit is part of the chipset and is NOT on the main CPU die. Being independent, that means Intel ME is not affected by the various sleep state of the main CPU and will remain active even when you put your computer in sleep mode or when you shut it down."

Why are you so ignorant? Why dont you search for this stuff yourself? Its out there. I mean no offense in any way, shape or form but im not your nanny and frankly what you believe and dont believe is none of my concern. There is something far more superiour, its called "knowing". People who don't even bother to look something up for themselves suffer from ignorance. You dont want it to be true, waiting for others to bring the evidence to you. Well thats not how it works. If you want to know the truth about something, you must dig for it yourself. That way you cannot be deceived either, if research is done properly in addition with experimentation. That eliminates all possible doubt. No need to believe, now you know.

Again, you didnt read all comments. Im using an AMD Ryzen 1600x with a modified win 7 version, offline machine. Blocking security updates is perfectly fine on an offline machine. In fact i killed everything alltogether because my Ryzen has never seen the internet before and never will. With my current system im set for the next 10 years. I dont need more power, everything works flawless and smooth for me. Up until 2 years ago i was on a mediocre dual core 2.2 ghz with 4gb ram (Sony Vaio Laptop). So my current Ryzen 1600x (6 core @ 4.0 ghz) is HEAVEN for me. If i was able to make bangers with an old mediocre vaio laptop, what do you think i will be able to accomplish with my new Ryzen baby? Im in heaven.

Now in regards to "hardware wont be supported" is a semi-lie, its not entirely true. Its certain security updates which give you the incompatibility messages. Manually remove those certain updates that are responsible for giving you incompatibility messages and voila, win 7 is very compatible and runs smooth as butter on new hardware.

What exactly do i need a 64 core system for when my DAW (FL Studio) can't even utilize that many cores? Im good with my AMD Ryzen 1600x (6 core at 4.0 ghz) for the next 10 years. I dont need the best of the best, im good and perfectly happy with what i got now. Are you into making music or into staying up to date with technology? People back in the day made music with far less cpu power. Ever thought about that? Im set for the next 10 years. Dont need the newest of the newest. Some food for thought.

For internet purposes, yes i wont have a choice, but as far as my main music computer machine is concerned (offline machine), i will stick with Win 7 for the next 10 years if not for life. I literally have everything i could possibly dream of (1600+ plugins installed). I have yet to encounter a plugin i cannot install and use on Win 7. These "no compatibility blockages" are superficial and man made. You can easily circumvent that if you have the "know how". At first i got the same incompatibility messages but once i manually removed the updates that were responsible for it, voila, very compatible. You can even install software that doesnt officially support Win 7, if you know how. Those blockages are all man made and its possible to circumvent it all. Good day Sir.

PS: By the way, there are also people who make music without a computer at all. MPC style. All these legendary boom bap bangers from the 90's etc. Those people didnt have any of the plugins we have today and yet they were able to make timeless bangers. Ever thought about that? Its not what you have that counts, but your actual creativity. Food for thought.
"And now i'm like a major threat because i remind you of the things you were made to forget."
  Resident 30.12.2017 1 1739
+795
I remember you, great post, thank you for taking the time to write allt his.

I'm someone who has very low knowledge and skill when it comes to assmebling computers and installing OSes on them. How would I go about doing this?

I think on the sister forum I read someone who claimed that you could theoretically install Windows 7 SP1 from the old ISO without any updates at all and, if you use it offline, get a perfectly stable machine for audio production, as long as you don't go online with it, because supposedly neither of those updates is needed for system stability that would be important for audio related work. Is that true? Because if it is, that would be an easy way to not install those incompatibility inducing updates.

So the easiest way would be to buy a mainboard that has PS2 inputs for mouse and keyboard, install Windows 7 with that, not install any updates, stay offline, and everything just works, even with a Ryzen. Is that about it?
  Resident 25.12.2015 5 318
+133
@EpicShowDown Yes it is true. I installed Win 7 on my Ryzen many times now, lol. Its easier than you think. Sometimes they make it sound so damn complicated when it isnt, lol. Main problem is missing USB drivers during Win 7 installation. That's all. There are basically two ways to do this.

All you need is a motherboard with at least one PS:2 input due to mouse or keyboard not being recognized during Win 7 installation because of missing USB drivers in Win 7 ISO's, so you either need one of those old PS:2 keyboards in order to be able to navigate through the Win 7 installation process OR the other / better way is, you inject USB drivers into the Win 7 ISO via Rufus or MSI Smart Tool and basically create a bootable Win 7 USB drive. Personally since i have the MSI Tomahawk B350 i use the MSI Smart Tool that you will get for free on the MSI website. With just a few clicks (tutorials all over the net) it injects the needed drivers for you. You simply open the tool, select your Win 7 ISO (November 2017, no further) and then you choose from a list inside the tool itself what drivers you want to inject, either only USB drivers or drivers for SSD's too in case you want to use SSD's. That takes a few minutes (around 15 mins for me) and voila you dont even need a PS:2 keyboard now. Now you created a bootable Win 7 USB stick and you can install Win 7 normally without the need of a PS:2 keyboard because now you injected the needed USB drivers to enable you to navigate through the Win 7 installation process. That's my preferred method. Easy peasy.

And that's it. After a successful Win 7 installation you go about your business as you normally would and install everything normally. Now you can install your graphics driver or whatever you want to install. Obviously you need to install all Restributables from 2013, 2015, 2017 and so on. Just make sure you never connect to the internet and in regards to security updates you never go above November 2017. Your Win 7 will be as stable as it can be. No issues whatsoever. In fact there are many gamers who report that Win 7 is so much more stable than Win 10, lol. There are so many step by step tutorials out there.

Find yourself a Win 7 SP1 ISO with updates only up till November 2017, NOT FURTHER and no incompatibility messages will pop up EVER. Its later updates that give you the incompatibility nag screens / issues. All newer updates that came after November 2017 have absolutely nothing to do with Win 7 stability. NOTHING. Its just security updates which you dont need on a offline machine. My Win 7 is as stable as it can be, in fact most stable OS ever. No issues, ZERO. Smooth as butter. The only disadvantage is that you cannot ever connect to the internet due to the fact that you only have security updates up till November 2017. No internet allowed. That's literally the only disadvantage. On the bright side however, because its an offline machine, now you can completely kill / turn off windows firewall, win updates, no need for an anti-virus software whatsoever = more rescources = nothing running in the background which is awesome and exactly what you want Now you can easily kill Win Services that run in the background and so on. There are complete step by step guides on what Win Services you can safely kill / turn off in order to free even more resources.

My Rig:

- AMD Ryzen 5 (1600x) 6 core @ 4.0 ghz (factory clock is @ 3.7 ghz with 2 cores occationally boosting to 3.9 ghz with boost turned on if you have a good cooling system).
- 16GB RAM (2 x 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 2400mhz) - Yea not the best RAM out there but still good enough for me. There is faster RAM at 3200mhz.
- MSI Tomahawk B350 Motherboard
- Watercooling for CPU, which allows Ryzen CPU's to boost to 3.9ghz on 2 cores occationally or more often than with no watercooling. So you may want to get at least watercooling for your CPU. Highly recommended for Ryzen CPU.
-RX 580 Graphics Card - Yea not the best either, AMD is behind Intel when it comes to graphics cards but still good enough for me. Not big of a gamer.
- WD harddrives (Dont even have any SSD's yet, LMAO)

Smooth as butter. At least good enough for me. I will most likely step up my RAM sticks to 32GB only because of wanting to use many Kontakt banks and thats all i need. Coming from a shitty Dual Core 2.2ghz with only 4ghz RAM, this Ryzen upgrade is HEAVEN for me, LOL. Besides, most DAW's cant even utilize more than i think 2-4 cores. Same goes formany games. Unless you are into heavy video editing, 64 core CPU's will serve you nothing until they actually develop software and games that are able to utilize that many cores (i could be wrong about this).

And for all you Intel fan boys out there. Here EAT THIS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xama-Np0yKo

As you can see on some occations, a Ryzen 1800x @ 4.0ghz beats an Intel I7 7700K @ 4.5ghz, LMAO. But oh well, haters gonna hate.

Who needs to run that many instances of plugins anyway? More than enough power for the next 10 years. And you can still bounce to audio if you should reach the limit of your CPU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq7u-agaxlM

So there you go, and AMD Ryzen is cheaper too and more friendly, so its a no brainer, at least it was for me. AMD is catching up with Intel (CPU-wise), however to be fair, if you are a gamer, you may want to get an Intel graphics card. When it comes to graphic cards, AMD is still behind unless you get one of those top tier graphic cards that cost a lot. My RX580 (8GB Video RAM) is comparable to an Intel card with 4-6GB Video RAM. Other than that, AMD is not much behind anymore. AMD is breathing down Intel's neck, lmao. Very close, on some occations even slightly better.

There are step by step tutorials out there for pretty much everything friend ;)
Just takes a few days or so reading up on it. Its not that difficult. If i can do it, everybody can. Im not very tech-savy either, but i took the time to read up on it, there you go
"And now i'm like a major threat because i remind you of the things you were made to forget."
  Resident 25.12.2015 5 318
+133
I have no clue how to assemble desktop PC's either, lol. I ordered mine online pre-built with no pre-installed OS of course. Prior to that i've never installed an OS for myself ever in my life, lol. So if i can do it, everybody can

Then i spent like a week reading up on what windows services are safe to disable and so on. Learned how to unpark cores etc. Basically to free up even more resources.

Just takes some "reading up" on things and finding step by step tutorials, plenty out there on the net and even youtube videos. Nowadays, there are tutorials for everything, literally. Once you get the hang of it, its easy peasy. The MSI Smart Tool does everything for you, just a few clicks to inject the needed drivers needed for the Win 7 installation process and thats it. Dont even need a PS:2 keyboard ;)

PS: None of the win updates that came after November 2017 have anything to do with stability or anything that improves your DAW or music making experience, Win 7 at that time was already flawless and at its peak, its mostly just security updates which you dont need on a completely offline machine and guess what? People were making beats in 2017 too without all the newer updates ;)
Did they have any issues? Nope, all these damn win updates are 99.9% security updates, nothing else, even worse they secretely install telemetry on your machine. So called security updates you cant even uninstall anymore after having installed them. How lovely is that? And people think microsoft is their friend, lol.
"And now i'm like a major threat because i remind you of the things you were made to forget."
  Member 23.06.2014 5 326
+206
  Resident 25.12.2015 5 318
+133
quote by pegheadI've recently upscaled my PC. New MB, new CPU and more RAM. I re-installed Win7 since everything with it work just fine BUT...
I soon was greeted with all sort of "incompatibility issues" between the new MB and Win7 which led to the DAW (Samnplitude) to go crazy, projects corrupted and plugins not installing,


Yep, Win updates older than November 2017 will give you those incompatibility issues. Gotta remove them manually, there are guides out there that tell you which updates are responsible for giving you the incompatibility messages which is actually a lie. It is very compatible but newer win updates will interfere. Without them everything works as smooth as butter. On my Ryzen i have Win 7 installed with updates only up to November 2017. You dont need newer updates if its a completely offline machine. Everything works perfectly for me. I have yet to install a plugin that actually doesnt work on my Win 7 (Ryzen 5 1600x) offline machine.

If you find a Win 7 (November 2017) ISO on the net and if you kill Win updates completely, you good ;)

Very compatible ;)
"And now i'm like a major threat because i remind you of the things you were made to forget."
  Resident 21.10.2011 12 794
+289
Talking about "Big Brother"... There you go, here's your big brother!
And you allow him to enter your most private space willingly. Unfortunately.

MS, Facebook, Twiter, Nvidia, YouTube and lots more....all these F..... companies are under one roof of spying, personal date collection, public manipulation, etc.

Striping away every possible privacy that you want to keep. Truly disgusting.

This is just the tip, in the near future you would really need to brace yourself.
  Resident 19.10.2014 176
+27
Just the tip. Just to see how it feels.


Sorry, couldn't resist.
  Resident 16.11.2013 455
+127
https://www.safer-networking.org/products/spybot-anti-beacon/
  Resident 30.12.2017 1 1739
+795
Argh there are so many different tools to choose from! I guess it boils down to, who updates their program more frequently to adapt to Microsoft's frequent changes, and how many features do they all have? I also guess not one of these programs can actually prevent updates, right? I'm torn between this and O&O shutup10.
  Resident 28.09.2016 121
+10
What bothers me is that Sylenth does not work with WIN 10 anymore.
  Member 11.11.2014 11 102
+462
Windows and Privacy are two words from two different worlds.
  Resident 24.05.2015 1 455
+187
the Comment has been Removed
  Resident 30.12.2017 1 1739
+795
Hell yeah, and then I'll fire up my fully working and functional Linux version of Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase or Studio One, install Serum, Sylenth, Kontakt, Omnisphere, Fabfilter plugins and many other top of the line plugins that are used by top producers all around the world, and just get going, it's basically smooth sailing from that point
  Resident 24.05.2015 1 455
+187
the Comment has been Removed
  Resident 24.05.2015 1 455
+187
the Comment has been Removed
  Resident 24.05.2015 1 455
+187
trying to find something nice to say about that level of ignorance.
but I don't believe it deserves any

fine, stay ignorant of the 21st century, DONT google or learn anything, just stay spoonfed and keep wining that you don't like what the manufacturers are doing to you

do you really believe"
quote by EpicShowdownHell yeah, and then I'll fire up my fully working and functional Linux version of Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase or Studio One, install Serum, Sylenth, Kontakt, Omnisphere, Fabfilter plugins and many other top of the line plugins that are used by top producers all around the world, and just get going, it's basically smooth sailing from that point


that you cannot learn how to dual boot a machine?
  Resident 24.05.2015 1 455
+187
I think by his comment, there might actually be some folks out there who don't know that its possible to have two OS's on one machine (mostly guitar players, who have lived under the same rock since 1972)

google dual boot (your OS) + Linux. there are several advantages two of which being some increased security from spying and peace of mind. and if you have a separate drive or a flash drive its normally done without affecting your "fully working and functional versions of …. all that stuff"

btw, I removed my original suggestion of dual boot. because if mr bigshow doesn't like it, then... well... nobody else needs to learn anything either (HINT< don't use google)
  Banned 16.02.2012 705
+74
quote by Daskeladdenno, it is the best Operating System ever created. Even if it's bloated. So you are completely wrong

Or you're just naive Lemming?

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