Long story short here: I tried making Linux my main OS on my PC. I had it dual booted with Win 11 on a separate SSD. Win 11 was going to be solely for work purposes since it was crucial.
However I noticed that I had begun to migrate slowly back to Win 11 because I’m a gamer and Linux just doesn’t get along with my graphics card, so games are almost impossible to play well.
I’ve succumbed to the idea that my PC will just solely run on Win 11. (I do use Linux on a laptop tho). So I got some debloat tools to shut off most of Microsoft’s annoying spy shit and manually uninstalled the rest like Cortana. I also have pihole running on my raspi5 so my PC is connected to that, plus I use ProtonVPN. I use Firefox with plugins like ublock, privacy badger, etc.
I want to try to make Windows as private and away from Microsoft’s prying eyes as much as possible. Got any other recommendations?
Here’s what I have done to Win10 Pro.
First thing I do I go through a new install and uninstall all nonessential apps and programs from MS. The only thing I want from MS is the bare essentials to start the OS. All of the rest of the crap has to go. No OneDrive, no Cortana, none of that.
Then I tackle telemetry, going through all the settings and turning off all notifications, etc. I don’t want apps talking to each other. Don’t need apps telling me something. A lot of the telemetry going on in the background can be eliminated with your host file. There are long lists of Windows telemetry ips, DNS addresses, and such that can go right into your host file. Don’t drop a gazillion of them in the host file all at once. Baby steps and monitor for issues. I use HostMan to edit the host file. I’ve used it for quite a while now and it’s just easier for me. There are plenty of ways to edit the host file.
Then I start in with the services and blow away all non-essential services. There are plenty of resources to help you, one of which is scripts forked from Dark Viper’s service configurations.. The info is a little dated, but then again, so is Win10 Pro.
I employ a stand alone pFsense firewall to also weed out a lot of unnecessary chatter. I also have a 3rd party firewall on my Win10 PC.
There are apps like WPD and privacy.sexy that can help you clean up Windows. These are great, tho manually doing these adjustments is recommended. However, understand first what it is you are turning off or blocking with these apps. Don’t get click happy. Do a little at a time and monitor the results.
Now, I know people will say ‘On the next update, Windows will reset everything.’ In all honesty, I haven’t found that to be the case. In fact, I just did an update yesterday, then checked all my settings, and nothing has changed. I’m not sure if it’s just the way I have it all set up, but no apps gets reinstalled, and changes to services etc don’t seem to happen. It’s something I monitor after every update. I’ll probably get the piss for saying that, but it is what it is. I believe that running Win10Pro has something to do with it. Win10 Enterprise also doesn’t seem to reset your changes either.
I see that Broken@lemmy.ml mentioned Ameliorated.io in this thread, and it is an option. Again tho, do your due dilligence in understanding what you are doing, rather than leaning heavily on what the app says. In this manner, if/when issues arise, you’ll be better equipped to pinpoint the problem area.
Once you have a clean windows install, image the drive so you don’t have to do all of that on reinstall. From this point there are so many ways to be as secure, private, and anonymous as one can be on the internet.
If you’d still like to hang on to Linux, and your PC can handle it, run a Linux distro in a VM. VmWare Workstation is free now, or there is always the solid option of Virtual Box.
Have fun in the rabbit hole.
Thank you so much for such a detailed response and providing resources! I appreciate your effort and help!
Before I do anything more I’m going to read over yours (and a few other comments) a few more times and do some research. But this gives me awesome guidance, thank you. Hopefully I can take control of whatever privacy I am able to with Microsoft while I still use it. I am hoping though to someday make a full switch to Linux with no issue.
No problem. I stress doing this in chunks. Don’t be like me. LOL I’m a ‘more is better’ and ‘one turn to many’ guy. So, I know the temptation is to sock it to your Windows install immediately and with vigor, and that can lead to issues in the future. Take notes. I use Notepad++ but regular Notepad will work. Just something you can review to see where you are in your progress and if you need to drop back and readdress something. If you’re older than Methuselah, like me, it helps out tremendously.