Windows 10: the Privacy settings you MUST know

[Chrisax]

First read, for introduction: Windows 10: How to Install WITHOUT a Microsoft account http://www.athenpaladins.org/forums/vie ... =45&t=9539


I started to write about the main privacy and security points you should DECIDE on, and not let Windows install agree on automatically for you.

This is not about paranoia or conspiracy theories: it's only about the fact you, and only you, should decide on what you want to share, what you want to keep private, and what level of risk (of various kinds) you want to accept.

But, while looking for some details I was unsure about, I ran into a French article which is by far the best one at the moment on this topic. I don't have the time to translate it ATM but Google Translate did a very acceptable work (and added a few graphical glitches), so here it is:


Windows 10 and your private life: the options you shouldn't forget
Original in French

Other articles currently available (English):
Windows 10: Here are the privacy issues you should know about

Windows 10 Shares Your Wi-Fi With Contacts

[Chrisax]

Additional links:

The Complete Guide to Avoiding (and Removing) Windows Crapware
http://lifehacker.com/the-complete-guid ... 1630577558

How to Configure Windows 10 to Protect Your Privacy
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-configure- ... 1716204024

[GUIDE] How to disable data logging in W10. : Windows10
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comm ... ng_in_w10/

Windows 10’s default privacy settings and controls leave much to be desired | ExtremeTech
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/2112 ... be-desired

Windows 10 and Privacy - gHacks Tech News
http://www.ghacks.net/2015/07/30/window ... d-privacy/

Firefox for Windows 10: How to Restore or Choose Firefox as Your Default Browser | Future Releases
https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases ... t-browser/

Windows 10 is spying on almost everything you do – here’s how to opt out | BGR
http://bgr.com/2015/07/31/windows-10-up ... o-opt-out/

Windows 10 Upgrade: First 5 things to do after Windows 10 download | BGR
http://bgr.com/2015/07/30/windows-10-up ... -settings/

Windows 10 Start Menu: How to customize Windows 10 Start Menu | BGR
http://bgr.com/2015/07/29/windows-10-st ... customize/

Telemetry privacy issue Screenshot by Lightshot
http://prntscr.com/7ykzbh


Also:
Review: Windows 10 is the best version yet—once the bugs get fixed | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/ ... get-fixed/

How to do a clean install of Windows 10 (from Windows 7 and 8) | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/ ... s-7-and-8/

[Reapermann]

Awesome links Chris, thank you.

[Reapermann]

I need a mod to approve my post here? Weird

[Chrisax]

I need a mod to approve my post here? Weird

No sorry, I was working on forums and this caused posts to be put in a queue and released later. All OK now.

[Nic]

Thanks Chris.

I am running new engine but not upgraded to 10 yet, but if in a moment of madness i do, how easy is it to then go back to using win7 and any pointers on how i do that?

Thanks

[Malosar]

It's under Recovery Options and takes less than 5 minutes to get back to 7. Very easy.

[Chrisax]

But the option to come back easily to Win7 is only valid for one month, as far as I know. (To free space on the system disk.)

[Reapermann]

I am sure am not only one getting the popup to upgrade to win 10 for free, I delay and delay should I do it?

[Chrisax]

I am sure am not only one getting the popup to upgrade to win 10 for free, I delay and delay should I do it?

The important thing is to upgrade before the 29th of July 2016 because you have ONE year since the release of Win10 (July 29, 2015) to get a free lifetime license for Windows 10 by simply upgrading. If you wait like 3-4 months MS should have improved Windows 10 again with features that Win7 users consider lacking or hard to find compared to their current system..

It doesn't matter if you use or not Win10 after upgrading though (you can automatically go back to Win7 or 8.x in a few clicks), because you will have the lifetime license number, and so you can install Windows 10 again anytime.

As for now, if you want to upgrade, I'd say to wait a few days as there was an update on November 25 and they already fixed a little issue in that patch since then. So just wait a few more days and it should be fine.

Now what to do?

Prior to upgrading / reinstalling:

• 1) backup your most important data files, because you never know. Make sure you have all your usernames and passwords saved somewhere.
  
  2) Please read the links above about privacy*. Especially note that you do NOT have to create a Microsoft account to make Windows 10 work, nor you have to declare an existing Windows account. (And, anyhow, you can always create one later). You can just pick LOCAL account.
  See here the walk-through to create a local account: http://www.athenpaladins.org/forums/vie ... 660#p70660
  
  3) Have your previous Windows license number ("Product key" at hand): you will need it to get your Windows 10 license (you'll be asked for it during the install). This number should be either in or on the package of your previous Windows, or on the Windows disk itself. If you can't find it, you can still get it from your current Windows itself by using a (free) key finder software; see here for a choice:
  http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productke ... finder.htm

Installing (upgrading) with Windows Update:

• 4) Go to Windows update on your computer and the Windows 10 upgrade option should be there. (If you don't know where Windows Update is, you can simply type "windows update" in the zone "search program or file" in the Start menu in Win7, and Search in Win8)
  
  5) Accept the upgrade and let Windows do the job. You may have to answer some questions or make some choices (all should be modifiable later) during the process.
  
  6) You'll be in Windows 10

OR

Making a full new install from a downloaded Windows 10:

• 3) Go there https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... /windows10
  and read the section "Need to create a USB, DVD or ISO?"
  
  4) Download the Media Creation Tool and run it.
  
  - If you choose "Upgrade that PC now", the tool will do a fresh install if the appropriate Windows 10 for your system.
  
  - If you choose "create installation media for another PC", the tool will create an installation Disk or USB stick (so you need to have an empty stick or disk , of course). With this stick or disk, you will boot your PC on it, and install Windows 10

Final:

- Please read AGAIN the links above about privacy and act accordingly, depending on what you want or not. *

- Please note that if you change your hardware a lot after getting Windows 10, you'll maybe have to give a phone call to Microsoft to get a new activation key. This is the case with any Windows version, but it's very rare now.


IF you want to go back to your previous Windows (you won't lose your license for Windows 10):

Go to "Recovery Options" in your new Windows 10 and choose to revert your system to your previous Windows. It's fast and normally safe.

Attention: you can do that during ONE month ONLY. After that, the backup files will be deleted.


Feel free to ask any question you want


* Free software to fix privacy settings in Windows 10:
If you feel uncomfortable reviewing and setting Windows 10 privacy options by hand, a free software can do it for you.

You can look here:

O&O ShutUp10 Free antispy tool for Windows 10
http://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

And you also have a list of other software of the same type here:
6 free tools that stop Windows 10 from spying on everything you do

More technical:
Comparison of Windows 10 Privacy tools

[Nic]

have the kinks been worked out with Win 10 yet? is it safe to download, install and use?

[Chrisax]

What kinks are you thinking of?

What can be said, at the moment, is that, for most users, by far, the system works and is reliable but as I said to Reaper, you don't need to rush. You still have 7 months or so. If you are not in a hurry, I'd say that you still wait like 3-4 months and MS should have improved Windows 10 again.

Now, if we go a bit more into the details...

First, after installing, IMHO you must consider the privacy issues with the defaults settings and change them (unless you don't care at all about various data being collected and also possibly shared with "trusted third parties" you don't know). No need to get paranoid either. See my answer to reaper about how to deal with that easily.

Some people report issues, inevitably, like slowness or some things not working anymore as always with a new system.

Also, the new browser coming with Windows 10, Edge, will perhaps be great in the future but, for the time being, you can forget it unless your needs are very basic (and, once again, mind privacy settings).

You can get Firefox (which is now also available in a 64 bits Windows version but only on the FTP server of Mozilla.org, not yet on the public download page; it should be by the end of the year). Or Google Chrome (privacy to set correctly!), or some other like Opera.

On the other hand, keep in mind that the Windows Media Center doesn't exist anymore in Windows 10 and if you used it, you will need an equivalent free or paid. (There is no exact equivalent though.)

You can get the free, open-source VLC to play almost any media and many streamed sources (it will not play all Blu-Rays though due to possible DRM copy protections that are incompatible with open-source software, and you'll need a specific Blu-Ray player, paid, if you hit this issue.)
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

VLC is not pretty because it's made to use skins that totally transform it, here http://www.videolan.org/vlc/skins.php

Also, the interface structure is not always friendly (and sometimes awkward TBH if you need to go deep into some features) and some users dislike it. In this case, you have several alternatives, not necessarily as powerful. Like SMPlayer, DiVx,...

Now, for more information about possible issues (that you may also never encounter), this article is not bad at all :
12 irritating Windows 10 installation issues, and how to fix them
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2990812/ ... -them.html

This article originally published on Infoworld.comn which explains why a PCworld article looks better than usual.

[Chrisax]

More information on how to play Blu-Ray disks in Windows 10 (including technical stuff about VLC and Blu-Ray)

Blu-Ray Player for Windows 10: How to Play Blu-Ray in Windows 10
http://www.techisky.com/software/play-b ... ws-10.html

[Chrisax]

How to create a local account when installing Windows 10

Microsoft really, really wants you to use a Microsoft account. Over the years, the company has made it increasingly difficult to create a local account—one that isn’t hooked into Microsoft’s stuff in the sky. (It’s an open point of debate as to whether using a local account also curtails Microsoft’s snooping, given the ever-present Advertising ID, but that’s another story.)

Here’s how to create a new local account:

- Click Start, Settings, Family & other users, Add someone else to this PC. (Note that you can’t “Add a family member” with a local account. Presumably that is tied in to parental controls.)
- In the box marked “How will this person sign in?” down at the bottom, click “The person I want to add doesn’t have an email address.”
- In the “Let’s create your account” dialog, at the bottom, click “Add a user without a Microsoft account.”
- At that point, finally, you can type in a user name, password and password hint. Click Next and you suddenly have a local account ready to use on your machine.

And you thought creating a local account would be easy.

From the link already quoted above
12 irritating Windows 10 installation issues, and how to fix them
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2990812/ ... -them.html

[Caedence]

TL;DR in bold at bottom.

I just want to point out how "license keys" and the activation process works for Windows 10 (As a free upgrade currently).

As of right now during the period of the "Free Upgrade(? I dunno if actually just free for a year or you HAVE to upgrade)" Microsoft is activating Windows differently.

For more than a decade, one of the keys that Microsoft's activation servers have relied on is a unique ID, which is based on a hash of your hardware. That hash is reportedly not reversible and not tied to any other Microsoft services. So although it defines your device, it doesn't identify you.

Here's how that ID works with Windows 7 or Windows 8:

When you activate for the first time, that hashed value (let's call it your installation ID) is recorded in the activation database alongside the product key you entered with the installation. Later, when you reinstall the same edition of Windows on the same hardware, with the same product key, it's activated automatically. (Conversely, if you try to use that product key on a different machine with a different hardware ID, you'll probably be denied activation.)

When you upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, the Windows 10 setup program checks your current activation status and reports the result to the activation servers. If you're "genuine" (that is, properly activated), the Windows activation server generates a Windows 10 license certificate (Microsoft calls it a "digital entitlement") and stores it in conjunction with your installation ID and the version you just activated (Home or Pro).

In short: You won't get a product key. It takes a unique ID made from what Windows knows about your hardware and sends it to an activation server from Microsoft.

So what happens if you make a major change to your computer?

In the comments, several people have asked what happens if you make changes to hardware. As I noted earlier, Microsoft doesn't provide details of how it calculates that hardware hash, but upgrades of system components such as a video card or a hard drive won't normally trigger a reactivation. If that happens, a quick call to the activation line will resolve the issue, often without any human contact required, in minutes.

The one exception is a motherboard replacement, which will inevitably cause the Software Licensing Management utility to recognize the device as a new PC and require reactivation, typically over the phone. A motherboard upgrade, even if you reuse storage, video, memory, and a case, is considered a new PC. In that case, if the underlying Windows license is from a retail copy, that license can be transferred. If you are upgrading (and not replacing) a motherboard on an OEM PC that was sold with Windows preinstalled, the license agreement prevents the license from being transferred.

TL;DR: Windows takes a unique ID based on your hardware to activate Windows. No key needed. Changing the motherboard (Possible the CPU too) could affect your activation.

Source 1: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft- ... indows-10/

Edit: Forgot to add source.