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O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

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Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#81

Post by squarefoot »

m0guz wrote: post #79

I don't trust these tools as any Windows Update can override the setting, or Microsoft can add a new "feature" and continue collecting telemetry data from that. For example; Disk Space Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) tool has been trying to connect to internet since last year's Windows 20H2 updates. I use Binisoft's Windows Firewall Control (wfc)[0], set level to Moderate and check logs regularly. There is also simplewall too…

Agreed. I would use them to avoid ads and annoyances, but Windows, as a closed system, to me remains untrustworthy. I'd never ever use it for banking, communications or store personal data. But if I'm using music software or games, those utilities would make the experience less annoying.

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#82

Post by nazgulsenpai »

squareof wrote: post #75
entropie wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used that a few years ago and liked it: https://www.lineageos.org/

One can even take it a step further and use microg.org to get lineagos with optional google services. Has worked great for me last year or so.

Seconding this. LineageOS with microG has been great, combined with Aurora Store's anonymous Play Store for the singular app I require that doesn't have an FOSS alternative.

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#84

Post by kosasbest »

unicornporn wrote: post #26
LinuxBender wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've not done any in-depth analysis of this app, but have used it on a machine that required windows 10 at the time. My family and friends have also used it. I can say that after they use it, the DNS activity to the Microsoft tracking endpoints appears to stop and other DNS activity is reduced but I am no windows expert so I can not say for sure if 100% of telemetry is truly nullfied. The real time dependencies on th…

> I can not say for sure if 100% of telemetry is truly nullfied. I'll leave this here: https://ameliorated.info/ No Windows Update for you, so security is debatable.

I prefer the script[0] instead of the hacked ISO since you can install the script in later versions of W10 using your own preferred ISO.

Only caveat: There's no way of telling what versions of W10 it's compatible with (I imagine it breaks some versions). I have an old VM with AME installed and manually enabled updates by hacking the registry. (You could also alter the .BAT script to enable updates, but you have to know what to remove).

This project is cute, but I only ever used it for an offline sandbox for running low resource games and cracked versions of Photoshop. I am scared as shit to connect this thing to the Internet. I only connect to receive updates.

[0] https://wiki.ameliorated.info/doku.php?id=documentation_20H2

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#85

Post by glenneroo »

wellan741 wrote: post #83

For Windows 10 i préfère w10privacy, open source and plenty of options

It's definitely not open source. In their FAQ (which is only in German):

> Wieso ist die Software nicht Open-Source? "Die Community" könnte mithelfen, die Software weiterzuentwickeln etc. …

"Why is this software not Open-Source?"

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#87

Post by glenneroo »

Wurstmann wrote: post #86

I'd rather use group policies to disable telemetry etc.

Congratulations professional Windows administrator. You are definitely not their target audience. And using group policies to disable the 100 different things this tool disables would be a ton of work... and I'm not even sure you can disable everything this tool does via group policies?

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#88

Post by dominojab »

nazgulsenpai wrote: post #82
squareof wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One can even take it a step further and use microg.org to get lineagos with optional google services. Has worked great for me last year or so.

Seconding this. LineageOS with microG has been great, combined with Aurora Store's anonymous Play Store for the singular app I require that doesn't have an FOSS alternative.

the main problem nowadays is Google Services SafetyNet, you cant get banking , and other apps working. they want security in exchange for freedom.

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#89

Post by MauranKilom »

marcodiego wrote: post #77
breakfastduck wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have no way to check if this app is sending network requests back 'home'? That doesn't seem correct at all.

For such an intrusive application there are many ways to hide it. Not saying they do it, but I see no way to check it unless looking at the source code.

Well, two possibilities that come to my mind:

- Run it in a Windows VM. The program could detect this and not phone home in this case, of course.

- Monitoring on network level (wireshark on same network, Pi-hole, router itself...). This is virtually impossible for the program to circumvent.

You could also audit the changes it made to the system (resorting to stuff like diffing disk images before/after if you really want zero trust) to verify that nothing sneaky was left after running the program once.

Re: O&O ShutUp10++ – Free anti-spy tool for Windows 10, 11

#90

Post by jmnicolas »

jeffbee wrote: post #72
dannyw wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telemetry isn't just a tool for product managers, but it's also a goldmine for national security agencies (more than just the NSA; Bing is unblocked in China for a reason). Anti-government meme made with GIMP at a specific timestamp? One search through the telemetry logs to find who exported a file at that exact moment. Any data collection is also government surveillance unless proven otherwise.

Imagine believing that Windows telemetry contains such data.

Imagine trusting Microsoft.
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