dont forget, it used to be "My Computer', today its 'This Computer', tomorrow 'Subscription based Computer'... they try to be subtle, when its not subtle at all. we need to avoid companys who try to lead us into the slaughter house.
@@Insomnia74 there is so much wrong with this statement it's ridiculous. Let's start by compatibility issues (can't run Adobe apps as an example), Libre office doesn't do macros, gaming is getting better but still isn't there yet, drivers for peripherals are buggy etc.
I followed the instructions and was worriedly uncomfortable with the amount of data being harvested !!! I encourage everyone who has had enough of the constant gathering of our browser habits to delve into this. Thank you, Liron Segev
do no use this you won't get access to the internet just your local i just did it and have to do a system restore cuz i couldn't do anything just a heads up
Shutup10 is really what the new Windows settings menu should have been. It's incredible how worthless the Windows settings menu is, how hard it is to find different settings, and how little information you get in the settings menu. Shutup10 is one of the first programs I install on any machine.
dont use this nothing but your local stuff will show up i just did this and i could not get on the internet as I have internet i checked everything just does not work
that hosts lists has now got over 600 entries, was around 250 in this video lol also thank you so much, i've been looking how to make my system leaner. New Subscriber!
Block anything MS-related at an external firewall level. IMHO, trusting the OS to block all paths back to its maker, through host files, seems incredibly naïve in 2024.
A step you missed is flushing the cached DNS entries on your computer. The least technical way to do it is to reboot the computer once the host file is updated. Of course, you can flush the DNS for an ipconfig command in a command prompt.
DNS entries are cached with a TTL (time to live), I am pretty sure those DNS entries will be cached the moment the PC is on the internet. "ipconfig /flushdns" To flush the DNS cache.
Thank you so much my friend, I said so many times in the past that they want to control us. We must control them, and that is exactly what you taught us here. Best
Just found out your video. I started doing your recommendations, opening my task manager, my cpu from 90% went down to 5%, thanks man, one subscribe for you. You dont know how much I thank you for this
@@Corteum the way you put it make it sound like I run multiple heavy applications at once for years... I just stated the estimates. Before I follow his suggestions, my pc has many microsoft whatshit in task manager and running and uses my pc's resources. I cant end them all fearing errors or something bad might happen, it was high at 60% - 90% and I uses two browsers with multiple tabs and one vpn, I open the same applications after Im done with his suggestions (include restart) and voila it was now at the range of 5% to 20%.
I used to run a separate Pihole, but recently swithed to AdBlock-Lean running on my OpenWRT router. No need for all the traffic to hop through another device. Also, it's easier to administer and configure on a single device.. ;)
@@LironSegev - Hey Liron, at 6:55 you used "0_0_0_0" as a DNS "black-hole". A better option is to use local the host address "127_0_0_1" ("_" is a dot).
This was a step I completely forgot to do. Thanks for this! I noticed when I first did it Windows Security noticed and reverted it back, but it hasn't happened again.
Never mind the data, I will apply it to stop Microsoft using my computer and wasting my time. Computers are so slow today! I have to disconnect my new computer from the internet to have it respond to what I need it to do.
Excellent information. You did say one thing that was hilarious: quickly restart windows. Somehow the words quick and windows just don't seem to go together.
@@rawmaterials3909 dude, let's be honest. If you have to reinstall your operating system and it happens quite often, it's not the operating system's fault. The code hasn't been nearly that unstable since Windows 8, which was quickly countered with Windows 8.1 which was stable. You might want to look at the user who's screwing it up so bad, doesn't know the real answer to the problem and just simply reinstalls thinking that's going to solve their issue. Reinstalling is the same code you had before, so what's the difference? The difference lies in the screw-ups that people have wiped out by reinstalling. Another thing people don't seem to understand is that hard drives decay. That is, they get worse over time and people think that reinstalling is solving the base problem but the fact is the hard drive needs change out. It's likely you don't even know how to diagnose a condition based on an increasingly bad hard drive. Lastly, another easy tip is corrupt operating system files which can be fixed easily with an Administrator Command Prompt running the command "Sfc /scannow".
I've set up Linux Mint on a spare NVMe drive so I can choose between Mint and Win10 at boot time. So far, the only program I can't find a Mint equivalent for is Garmin Express, which sends the bike ride data from my Garmin 830 to the Garmin Connect website. Even Minecraft was pretty easy to set up in Mint. Getting back to this video - thanks for the thorough guidance!
I think you can put a Garmin app on your phone and have your Garmin sync with your phone which will automatically sync it with the Garmin db and with strava, if you wish.
I'm on a Linux PC ATM watching this. I'll definitely be revisiting this next time I login to my Windows machines. I just pulled up the MS blocklist suggestion from your link and WOW! I wouldn't have thought there was so many addresses that collect data and this is just from MS! However I have a couple of questions that if you block all of these domains, will - Windows updates still work? - The Outlook app still work? Will Outlook still work through a browser? - In the blocklist it specifically states - "Expires: 7 Days", so I gather you'd have to update your config file every 7 days?
The only real problem with using the hosts file is that some software, not Windows yet but probably soon, don't use DNS as the ip address is hard coded into the software.
Keep in mind that if you have "wrong" addresses in hosts file then Windows Defender wants to "liberate" you from "virus" so make sure make sure you do backup so you don't lose your effort and you could even start by adding exception for that file.
I have an all-in-one computer with Windows 7 and it's great. I don't remember what I did to it years ago but I go where I want to go and Microsoft doesn't pop up anywhere with their ads or anything. On the other hand I bought a used computer with Windows 10 which now it's Windows 11. It forced me to download Windows 11 or I couldn't shut it off. It's unbelievable how much junk is on that computer. It's loaded down with the weather, ads and a bunch of stuff that I have no use for. All I want is a system that I can go to Google, enter where I want to go, do what I need to do and shut down. That is exactly how the Windows 7 computer works. One of these days, on that Windows 11 I'm going to figure out how to get rid of all that junk.
PS; ...in addition, i meant to say i had been wanting to change it back to a windows 8 but i guessi have to buy windows 8 software again and then some browsers i like may not work with it either if i go back to the 8. it actually worked faster at times than the current ones. i havent had time to do rresearch on if doing it is feasible and what all i would need to change things to work right.
Awesome video. Thank you so much for all your helpful advice and for not telling us all to click lots of obscure folders and options that simply don't exist on our machines. (like so many other You Tube clips do)
@@kerynadcock2226 Where did you get this weird idea from ? What's true is that MS supports Linux by contributing to it. But they can't own anything since Linux is not something you can buy in whatever form. And they'll not be able to inject their spyware in Linux for the simple reason that Linux code is open source by definition, so that such an attempt "infecting" it will be very quickly detected. BTW chances are that their PR will not be merged.
@@kerynadcock2226 not as such. MS contributes to some of the code and different packages which gives them a voice in Linux. They would love to own Linux but fortunately it doesn't/won't work that way.
Linux sure. I just have to learn not use workplace critical programs. And discard most of my games library. Etc. But mac? Apple is no difderent than microsoft. Even worse i reckon.
Great video Liron! Could you also do a video on disabling Recall, Copilot and anything else AI related? I want no part of constant snapshots, keylogging capture, etc.
Note that some browsers use an internal dns server Bypassing hosts etc. also at a work environment gp settings can be stored on a server thus using it instead host. Reason why i use pihole with added dns from iblocklists and its across all devices on network free.
note that these apps don't use the browser - they do the DNS lookup and that uses the host file. I was just showing the browser so you can visually see what happens. Its not like Office opens up your browser first.
Superb information!!! Though I am a Linux user, and this does not apply to me directly, I do a lot of troubleshooting of Windows problems for my friends. This is quite helpful, as I utterly dislike Microsoft's snooping (or snooping by any entity for that matter). Thanks much!
Just found you (& subbed) as I'm very concerned about Microsoft. Not confident with tech, so taking first steps. Only got my first smartphone late last year, and I'm almost 60. Thinking of Linux, but need to do my research.
Ive been using a host file for years & also i have taken advantage of the web filter under parental controls in my router so this applies to all devices on my network.
I stopped using Windows years ago (Linux Rocks) but I still like watching your videos to see whats going on and to learn from them. Love your Linux videos by the way!
Not as long as you don't block the update site. I make sure to remove or look out for any sites that are like: windowsupdate.microsoft.com. You can do a google search to find those urls
The original HOST file came from the Unix OS. Think about it, in the seventies there were no DNS servers so everyone had to know the numerical address of every node on the network that they wanted to get to. I have over 16K servers that route to [0.0.0.0] in my HOST file, I don't see ads.
I started using Linux as a daily driver a few months ago because Windows was overheating my laptop all the time with lots of fan noise and a million things running on the background that you know nothing about. Occasionally go back to Microsoft for my steam games. Linux is really very advanced now. Very easy and convenient to use in general. With Linux, laptop is quieter and battery last longer. This privacy issue just adds some negative vibes to the mix. But I'll try the new snapdragon laptops and debloat Windows and follow this video to see if it helps, otherwise I'm done with Windows completely.
Very cool for the first part of the video. For the DNS part, couldn't you just run a Pi-hole instance on your local network and point the DNS settings to that? That would take care of all hosts on the network if they get their settings from DHCP.
Actually, the best way to stop microsoft, google etc from getting at your personal info is to get rid of your/our Computers and phones... don't use any of it. . But if you/I/we can't live without a Computer, then your information is excellent! 👍
I have been using Windows Firewall to block/deny the outbound telemetry from Windows 10. Britech has a video on how to do that and a link to a script to disable the dozens of Windows outbound telemetry services. Does this accomplish the same thing as changing the IP address in your second method? Thanks for the video
I just realised recently, in Notepad (Win 11) it has both Spellcheck and auto correction Enabled... ummmm when a word is misspelt, Where does the data/verification come from? I disabled both options. Keep up the good work, Cheers
Blocking DNS is a great start, i'm actually using pi.hole, so that list is automatically updated. I like the option to have the dns blocking done on a device that is NOT under the control of the OS. What happens when Microsoft just uses the IP address directly? do you have any suggestions that use the firewall to block IPs or has a whitelist feature?
thanks for this video, I was hankering to find out how to stop the DNS connections to Microsoft data collection, great simple to follow and informative video... I would switch to linux but app support isn't there for me.
What's crazy is switching to Linux will protect you to a great degree, but Microsoft Copilot Recall will mean that if you ever communicate with a Windows 11 machine that will be recorded, gisted, and sent home
Once ithis is done , how does this effect Windows update? does it still work normally? Do you know what this telemetry data shows about the computer you're on to justify what we're blocking to Microsoft?
Every time I see titles like this about security about either a PC or a phone, and then follow the instructions, it results in a device that is fundamentally broken, but with MANY ambiguous settings to try and remember and correlate with the "bad" behavior, it becomes an impossible problem to deal with.
The consensus seems to be that anytime you take action against Microsoft, they fix it with an update or when you reboot it overwrites the file you changed. What makes this method different?
@@LironSegev Lol. So I did this to my pc and it triggered windows defender, who gave me a warning about SettingsModifier:Win32/PossibleHostsFileHijack that it warns could make changes to the host files. Which sounds an awful lot like Windows taddling on itself.
I keep telling people that MS wants TOTAL control of THEIR Personal Computers! MS doesn't want you doing things for YOURSELF! Many Thanks Liron!
dont forget, it used to be "My Computer', today its 'This Computer', tomorrow 'Subscription based Computer'... they try to be subtle, when its not subtle at all. we need to avoid companys who try to lead us into the slaughter house.
@@gregvisioninfosoft Even I miss when it was called "my Computer".
Could also be said of the state of the world as well re ownership, so absolutely makes sense ms is going this way. But, another story.
Richard Stallman has been warning us against this for decades.
You're thinking of Apple.
I was an IT consultant and won a Microsoft Achievement Award and this is one of the most incredible security/privacy videos I have seen.
Appreciate you being here 🔥
@@LironSegev or, you can just get Linux mint. It's so easy that a child can do it.
@@Insomnia74 there is so much wrong with this statement it's ridiculous. Let's start by compatibility issues (can't run Adobe apps as an example), Libre office doesn't do macros, gaming is getting better but still isn't there yet, drivers for peripherals are buggy etc.
@@Insomnia74 yes it may be. Won't run apps that are crucial for me. So....
@@LironSegev Unrelated to the subject, it's all about getting Microsoft out the way.
I followed the instructions and was worriedly uncomfortable with the amount of data being harvested !!! I encourage everyone who has had enough of the constant gathering of our browser habits to delve into this. Thank you, Liron Segev
do no use this you won't get access to the internet just your local i just did it and have to do a system restore cuz i couldn't do anything just a heads up
@@vvorldnewsmedia Why did you have to do a System Restore? All you had to do was change the HOSTS file name back.
Shutup10 is really what the new Windows settings menu should have been. It's incredible how worthless the Windows settings menu is, how hard it is to find different settings, and how little information you get in the settings menu. Shutup10 is one of the first programs I install on any machine.
not to be pessimistic, but does it actually blocks Microsoft's telemetry completely?
dont use this nothing but your local stuff will show up i just did this and i could not get on the internet as I have internet i checked everything just does not work
And? Have you solved the Problem? Can you now to on the internet
He said it wasn't a program you had to install.
that hosts lists has now got over 600 entries, was around 250 in this video lol
also thank you so much, i've been looking how to make my system leaner.
New Subscriber!
Block anything MS-related at an external firewall level. IMHO, trusting the OS to block all paths back to its maker, through host files, seems incredibly naïve in 2024.
Yeah, Microsoft has been known for ignoring some specific hosts file settings for a long time now.
A step you missed is flushing the cached DNS entries on your computer. The least technical way to do it is to reboot the computer once the host file is updated. Of course, you can flush the DNS for an ipconfig command in a command prompt.
Not everyone can flush the toilet, What is the command?
@@eduardopekurned1505 OPen a command prompt.
Ctrl R
CMD
then type
ipconfig /flushdns
enter
This will delete all cached DNS entries
why would it matter? None of them are going anywhere after you set it up like he said. They are all blocked.
@@eduardopekurned1505lmao! Remember Google is your friend 🧡
DNS entries are cached with a TTL (time to live), I am pretty sure those DNS entries will be cached the moment the PC is on the internet. "ipconfig /flushdns" To flush the DNS cache.
I'm not even remotely saavy about computer stuff, but even I understood this video. Thank you for this excellent production.
Thank you so much my friend, I said so many times in the past that they want to control us. We must control them, and that is exactly what you taught us here. Best
Just found out your video. I started doing your recommendations, opening my task manager, my cpu from 90% went down to 5%, thanks man, one subscribe for you. You dont know how much I thank you for this
Wow, youve been running your cpu at 90% for years and now suddenly only in the last few hours you fixed it just as this video came out
@@Corteum the way you put it make it sound like I run multiple heavy applications at once for years... I just stated the estimates. Before I follow his suggestions, my pc has many microsoft whatshit in task manager and running and uses my pc's resources. I cant end them all fearing errors or something bad might happen, it was high at 60% - 90% and I uses two browsers with multiple tabs and one vpn, I open the same applications after Im done with his suggestions (include restart) and voila it was now at the range of 5% to 20%.
@@katokatokato4354 At least you found a solution that works. Many peoeple havnet got clues about any of this stuffs
Awesomeness
Just sounds like you had a terrible computer to begin with to be honest
Im so happy to run into this Channel. You know THE TRUTH and the vulnerability it exposes for us all.
Great info as usual, Liron. Also, kudos to Gerd hagezi who apparently took the time and effort to compile these lists.
I second that. 👍 Gerg Hagezi
Great video Liron. I've just added the list to my Pihole, that way it works across all devices on my network.
Perfect!
that may be a worthwhile video for Liron to cover. Making and setting up a Pihole.
I used to run a separate Pihole, but recently swithed to AdBlock-Lean running on my OpenWRT router. No need for all the traffic to hop through another device. Also, it's easier to administer and configure on a single device.. ;)
@@LironSegev - Hey Liron, at 6:55 you used "0_0_0_0" as a DNS "black-hole". A better option is to use local the host address "127_0_0_1" ("_" is a dot).
@@dotTom.c0m There are many tutorials out there. But it would be good to have one from Liron too 👍
This was a step I completely forgot to do. Thanks for this! I noticed when I first did it Windows Security noticed and reverted it back, but it hasn't happened again.
You can make an exception in Defender when it notices the modded host file
@@raincatchfire I forgot I did that to stop it from reverting. Also, widgets will not work.
I'm watching your videos and I i like it very much, straight to the point with no bs. Keep on going my man. Kind regards from Bogotá.
I migrated to Linux and never looked back, I don't regret it
Same, I don't get paid for them using my data, so no data for them.
Almost 700 as of 5 sept 2024. Thanks Mr.Liron, this is a huge help, not just for Microsoft, but for a lot of other sites like Amazon.
Never mind the data, I will apply it to stop Microsoft using my computer and wasting my time. Computers are so slow today! I have to disconnect my new computer from the internet to have it respond to what I need it to do.
I never expected those options to actually do anything.
Another great segment. Thank you as always, Liron!
Thanks again!
Excellent information. You did say one thing that was hilarious: quickly restart windows. Somehow the words quick and windows just don't seem to go together.
I stopped them about 5 years ago by installing Linux Mint on my machines. A bonus is they run faster, workflow is faster, and it's all totally free.
Jah!
Microsoft owns tens of thousands of patents on tech used in Linux. But they were nice and didn't sue anyone over them.
Thanks for this Liron. I have a question, doesn’t the second method interfere with the Microsoft 365 subscription?
For the really important data, windows is bypassing the hosts file and even dns (they have hardcoded ip addresses)
Now that you mention it, this makes sense. 😠
Now that you mention it, this makes sense. Firewalls? pfsense? What would you recommend for non it folks?
I recently watched somebody install Linux Mint. It was easy and it was fast.
Installing Wiindows is easy and it's fast. In fact, if you buy a new computer, it's already installed. So what's your point?
@@SpaceCadet4Jesus probably that microsoft doesnt own linux
@@SpaceCadet4Jesus until you have to reinstall it. Happens quite often.
@@rawmaterials3909 dude, let's be honest. If you have to reinstall your operating system and it happens quite often, it's not the operating system's fault. The code hasn't been nearly that unstable since Windows 8, which was quickly countered with Windows 8.1 which was stable.
You might want to look at the user who's screwing it up so bad, doesn't know the real answer to the problem and just simply reinstalls thinking that's going to solve their issue. Reinstalling is the same code you had before, so what's the difference?
The difference lies in the screw-ups that people have wiped out by reinstalling.
Another thing people don't seem to understand is that hard drives decay. That is, they get worse over time and people think that reinstalling is solving the base problem but the fact is the hard drive needs change out. It's likely you don't even know how to diagnose a condition based on an increasingly bad hard drive.
Lastly, another easy tip is corrupt operating system files which can be fixed easily with an Administrator Command Prompt running the command "Sfc /scannow".
@@SpaceCadet4JesusAnd pollute every time they are started
I've set up Linux Mint on a spare NVMe drive so I can choose between Mint and Win10 at boot time. So far, the only program I can't find a Mint equivalent for is Garmin Express, which sends the bike ride data from my Garmin 830 to the Garmin Connect website. Even Minecraft was pretty easy to set up in Mint. Getting back to this video - thanks for the thorough guidance!
I think you can put a Garmin app on your phone and have your Garmin sync with your phone which will automatically sync it with the Garmin db and with strava, if you wish.
Dual boot is a security risk, and kinda defeats the purpose of using Linux in the first place.
Virtual machines are better if you care about privacy.
Incredible sollution. Done. Thanks Liron.
Hmm... I wonder what kind of risks are when changing the DNS for Windows/Microsoft telemetry. Will I be unable to access certain apps?
Excellent video. I made the changes. Got my fingers crossed that I didn't block too many permissions and hosts.
I'm on a Linux PC ATM watching this. I'll definitely be revisiting this next time I login to my Windows machines. I just pulled up the MS blocklist suggestion from your link and WOW! I wouldn't have thought there was so many addresses that collect data and this is just from MS!
However I have a couple of questions that if you block all of these domains, will
- Windows updates still work?
- The Outlook app still work? Will Outlook still work through a browser?
- In the blocklist it specifically states - "Expires: 7 Days", so I gather you'd have to update your config file every 7 days?
This is why you have a well deserved 1m subs. Glad I am one of them. Thank you.
Appreciate you 🔥
The only real problem with using the hosts file is that some software, not Windows yet but probably soon, don't use DNS as the ip address is hard coded into the software.
Then it's firewall time to block access to those IPs via your home router, etc.
Sounds like some really weak software. Maybe find a better alternative.
@@beyondpc9421 it's more common in mobile apps than Windows software at the moment. UA-cam on android is one of them.
Thank you very much for this tip,i will use this when i get the laptop i ordered :) 👍
Awesome 👍
Keep in mind that if you have "wrong" addresses in hosts file then Windows Defender wants to "liberate" you from "virus" so make sure make sure you do backup so you don't lose your effort and you could even start by adding exception for that file.
it's "lose". not "loose"
Tnx, fixed.
Liron, always making helpful videos! 👍
Great video as always, Liron. This is priceless information. 👏
Much appreciated!
I have an all-in-one computer with Windows 7 and it's great.
I don't remember what I did to it years ago but I go where I want to go and Microsoft doesn't pop up anywhere with their ads or anything.
On the other hand I bought a used computer with Windows 10 which now it's Windows 11. It forced me to download Windows 11 or I couldn't shut it off.
It's unbelievable how much junk is on that computer.
It's loaded down with the weather, ads and a bunch of stuff that I have no use for.
All I want is a system that I can go to Google, enter where I want to go, do what I need to do and shut down. That is exactly how the Windows 7 computer works. One of these days, on that Windows 11 I'm going to figure out how to get rid of all that junk.
PS; ...in addition, i meant to say i had been wanting to change it back to a windows 8 but i guessi have to buy windows 8 software again and then some browsers i like may not work with it either if i go back to the 8.
it actually worked faster at times than the current ones.
i havent had time to do rresearch on if doing it is feasible and what all i would need to change things to work right.
okay... this is cool stuff 💕💕.... i have a question, in shutup10, once we make the changes, it is applied right? cause there is no save button ??
That's right. No save button, but make sure to export your settings so if windows updates ever reverts them, you will be able to quickly restore them.
Awesome video. Thank you so much for all your helpful advice and for not telling us all to click lots of obscure folders and options that simply don't exist on our machines. (like so many other You Tube clips do)
I found the best way to stop MS from getting my data. I switched to Linux in April.
👏
But Microsoft owns Linux now ...?
@@kerynadcock2226 no, they released their own Linux distro. Nobody owns Linux.
@@kerynadcock2226 Where did you get this weird idea from ? What's true is that MS supports Linux by contributing to it. But they can't own anything since Linux is not something you can buy in whatever form. And they'll not be able to inject their spyware in Linux for the simple reason that Linux code is open source by definition, so that such an attempt "infecting" it will be very quickly detected. BTW chances are that their PR will not be merged.
@@kerynadcock2226 not as such. MS contributes to some of the code and different packages which gives them a voice in Linux. They would love to own Linux but fortunately it doesn't/won't work that way.
The only way to keep MIcrosoft off of your data is not to use their products. There are always Mac and Linux.
Linux sure. I just have to learn not use workplace critical programs. And discard most of my games library. Etc.
But mac? Apple is no difderent than microsoft. Even worse i reckon.
Great video Liron! Could you also do a video on disabling Recall, Copilot and anything else AI related? I want no part of constant snapshots, keylogging capture, etc.
Note that some browsers use an internal dns server Bypassing hosts etc. also at a work environment gp settings can be stored on a server thus using it instead host. Reason why i use pihole with added dns from iblocklists and its across all devices on network free.
note that these apps don't use the browser - they do the DNS lookup and that uses the host file. I was just showing the browser so you can visually see what happens. Its not like Office opens up your browser first.
Superb information!!! Though I am a Linux user, and this does not apply to me directly, I do a lot of troubleshooting of Windows problems for my friends. This is quite helpful, as I utterly dislike Microsoft's snooping (or snooping by any entity for that matter). Thanks much!
You're awesome Mr. Liron 🤗 👍. Thank you.
The easiest way to stop Microsoft from taking whatever they want is to remove yourself from their ecosystem.. I switched to Linux last month.
Just found you (& subbed) as I'm very concerned about Microsoft. Not confident with tech, so taking first steps. Only got my first smartphone late last year, and I'm almost 60. Thinking of Linux, but need to do my research.
Ive been using a host file for years & also i have taken advantage of the web filter under parental controls in my router so this applies to all devices on my network.
Nice! 👍
Even as a computer Engineer, I am not above learning new things. Thanks Liron. 😅
We all are constantly learning
I stopped using Windows years ago (Linux Rocks) but I still like watching your videos to see whats going on and to learn from them. Love your Linux videos by the way!
I appreciate that!
What OS do you use?
@@Flytrap If your starting out with Linux, Zorin is a great choice. Mint is great as well and that is what I use now.
@@buckeyered9 I've used Linux-based OS's for around 20 years. I have never been impressed by them.
Going that direction myself now.
Wow! Brilliant! How good this make me feel to block data they shouldn't have in the first place.
Wow, great video!
Can i ask, will the last part cause any issues with windows updates?
Not as long as you don't block the update site. I make sure to remove or look out for any sites that are like: windowsupdate.microsoft.com. You can do a google search to find those urls
Great video sir
Thanks
Will Teams or Visual Studio have any problems if all MS is blocked?
The original HOST file came from the Unix OS. Think about it, in the seventies there were no DNS servers so everyone had to know the numerical address of every node on the network that they wanted to get to.
I have over 16K servers that route to [0.0.0.0] in my HOST file, I don't see ads.
Its might be my imagination but after doing the host stuff it really helped with computer speed issues when gaming online.
I started using Linux as a daily driver a few months ago because Windows was overheating my laptop all the time with lots of fan noise and a million things running on the background that you know nothing about. Occasionally go back to Microsoft for my steam games.
Linux is really very advanced now. Very easy and convenient to use in general.
With Linux, laptop is quieter and battery last longer.
This privacy issue just adds some negative vibes to the mix.
But I'll try the new snapdragon laptops and debloat Windows and follow this video to see if it helps, otherwise I'm done with Windows completely.
provided link takes user to o&o web page and it says "Microsoft Partner" ...what?
Love learning all these little tricks.
Thanks for the very informative video.... Does either of these methods for blocking telemetry have a negative impact on MS Flight Simulator 2020? 🙂
Very cool for the first part of the video. For the DNS part, couldn't you just run a Pi-hole instance on your local network and point the DNS settings to that? That would take care of all hosts on the network if they get their settings from DHCP.
Not everyone can just run pihole. You need technical skills to run Linux, change router settings etc.
Absolutely brilliant advice from 'The Man' himself. Cheers 👍. 🦉
The number of entries at 9:46 jumped to 681 as of July 5th.
Actually, the best way to stop microsoft, google etc from getting at your personal info is to get rid of your/our Computers and phones... don't use any of it. . But if you/I/we can't live without a Computer, then your information is excellent! 👍
I have been using Windows Firewall to block/deny the outbound telemetry from Windows 10. Britech has a video on how to do that and a link to a script to disable the dozens of Windows outbound telemetry services. Does this accomplish the same thing as changing the IP address in your second method? Thanks for the video
You're using a MS firewall to block MS sending data? Do you not see the problem with this?
@@beyondpc9421 Yes I do. That's why I use my Windows PC primarily as a gaming console now and do every thing else on my Linux PC.
Great info....that why I keep coming back, thanks!
Glad to hear it!
Great you showed us how to block the sending of data but how do we stop the collecting of data before it is sent?
been using windows since 3.11 and i didnt know about O&O and the github link so thank you
I actually very much LIKE the search bar, or "magnifying glass". Gets me what I want pronto.
You don't need the search bar visible, even when you hide it it is still there: Just open start menu and start typing.
I just realised recently, in Notepad (Win 11) it has both Spellcheck and auto correction Enabled... ummmm when a word is misspelt, Where does the data/verification come from? I disabled both options. Keep up the good work, Cheers
it seems these are kept locally on the computer which is why they work even when you don't have internet access.
Blocking DNS is a great start, i'm actually using pi.hole, so that list is automatically updated. I like the option to have the dns blocking done on a device that is NOT under the control of the OS. What happens when Microsoft just uses the IP address directly? do you have any suggestions that use the firewall to block IPs or has a whitelist feature?
thanks for this video, I was hankering to find out how to stop the DNS connections to Microsoft data collection, great simple to follow and informative video... I would switch to linux but app support isn't there for me.
One word on your information. Subscribed! Thanks
Thanks Liron, brilliant! 😅
Thanks so much for this advice. Do you thing MS is still bothering to do it on Win7 users? If so, is there an antidote?
Microsoft has already implemented Telemetry into the windows kernel via forced update many many months ago in Windows 7 so yeah it's just the same
Brilliant! Implemented.
Great info! I just added the entries to my host file. Thank You
You are awesome Liron! Thank-you !!!
What's crazy is switching to Linux will protect you to a great degree, but Microsoft Copilot Recall will mean that if you ever communicate with a Windows 11 machine that will be recorded, gisted, and sent home
What are your thoughts on 0patch? Would you recommend it for people who want to stay on W10 after October 2025?
Once ithis is done , how does this effect Windows update? does it still work normally?
Do you know what this telemetry data shows about the computer you're on to justify what we're blocking to Microsoft?
Thank you for a great explanation
great video, thanks for the research done. I added the blocklist to my hosts file.
Another great video from Liron. Thanks much!
Great video!
Hi Liron, does stopping Microsoft DNS's also prevent updating the OS?
Nope. You still get the security and windows updates
Great advice Thank you
Excellent!!! Thank you so much!
Thank you for this valuable information.
Thank you for sharing brother
Every time I see titles like this about security about either a PC or a phone, and then follow the instructions, it results in a device that is fundamentally broken, but with MANY ambiguous settings to try and remember and correlate with the "bad" behavior, it becomes an impossible problem to deal with.
No idea what you mean but the.host file has no impact on functionality.
But k
This is so cool; thank you!
You're very welcome!
The consensus seems to be that anytime you take action against Microsoft, they fix it with an update or when you reboot it overwrites the file you changed.
What makes this method different?
This has been around since the original Windows and so this isn't a feature but rather integral to how the system works.
@@LironSegev Lol. So I did this to my pc and it triggered windows defender, who gave me a warning about SettingsModifier:Win32/PossibleHostsFileHijack that it warns could make changes to the host files. Which sounds an awful lot like Windows taddling on itself.
Dual boot is your friend. The most OSes I got running besides my drivers and manu bios updater Win is 3 more. Haven't tried it with Win 11.😅
Can you please make a video explaining how to install linux on a old laptop with and without using a usb?
could that list be used at the router level to benefit all devices running windows and solve the problem with updates undoing your changes on a PC?
Makes me sick how these companies work
Iron, r u aware of any downsides of blocking Microsoft IP addresses?
Thanks for this video. Appreciate it. :)
No worries!
Microsoft can't make a profit with this one 🗣️🔥🔥🔥