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Thread: Anyone know how to keep Microsoft OUT of my computer???

  1. #1

    Anyone know how to keep Microsoft OUT of my computer???

    The past few months I've painstakingly rebuilt 3 of my most used work computers that had turned into molasses-speed slugs and are now 2 lightning-fast Win7 Ultimate-64's and an almost equally as fast Win 8.1-64 of all things. I've also painstakingly done everything I know possible, short of no internet whatsoever, to keep Microsoft out of them.

    What I've done includes:
    Disabling Windows updates--
    updtdisabled.jpg

    No Windows AV's, I'm using AVG--
    defndr.jpg

    And most times I'm not online, I disable the internet in my router. All computers are offline from 1am to 9am...

    So yesterday I added a program to my 8.1 that required a restart, and I was greeted with the "update and restart" option-- UPDATE?
    Then last night my Dell T5400 started acting bonkers, my wireless mouse & keyboard's 'radio' driver quit working, and switching to it via remote desktop I found no access to any files, which are on drives connected to it that all the other computers COULD still access- It wouldn't even shut down normally, had to do a hard shutdown.

    So I boot up this morning, and go into the event viewer, and in the 'setup' log files I find 'information' logs as to successful program update installs--
    So in control panel/programs and features/view installed updates, I find these:
    msupdates.jpg
    Seems I've failed at keeping Microsoft out...
    At the moment I'm uninstalling all but the 12 year old one, which I'm assuming may be Service Pack 1...

    I 99% know for a fact (based on what I've been told by much smarter than me computer whiz's) that Microsoft is the reason all my computers turned into slugs--and the fact my fresh rebuilds worked better than I could've hoped for, seem to bear that out.

    So unless I can figure out what web addresses (or anything else that may work) to ban from my router, I guess I'm just doomed to spending a few minutes one morning a week uninstalling updates... banghead.gif

    If I could use newer computers, I would. My old machines and the programs that run them make that impossible...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  2. #2
    The only conceivable way I could think of would be to keep the computer offline 100% of the time.

    I do that with an older iMac I have with photoshop and some other valuable software; I don't want it to try to update or otherwise get gummed up. As cumbersome as it may seem, I transfer files via a flash drive. So far it has worked nicely.

  3. #3
    Linux? I don’t know much about it but I think you need to be a bit techy to use it.

  4. #4
    I do have one option I've been trying to avoid: One of my rebuilds, the best one IMO actually, is just sitting at the moment. Fast as hell, has zero files on it that I care about, I could use it as my sole "internet machine". It would take less than an hour to re-install Windows and have essentially a totally blank computer, just need to install Firefox and my OEClassic email program and good2go... even if it gets hit with ransomware and a dozen viruses, an hour of re-formatting and reinstalling and all's well.

    My worry with that setup is, how can I keep my other computers from getting attacked thru the network?
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  5. #5
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    How many times have you experienced attacks on your network? The only sure solution is pull the plug and physically remove what you don't want compromised from any internet connection. Even the most sophisticated computer networks are open to attack if the attacker has the knowledge and deems it worth the trouble.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  6. #6
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    I don't know about stopping Windows Updates because I am usually trying to make sure all of the servers and PCs I am responsible for have all of the latest updates. I am a bit surprised turning off the Windows Update service didn't work.

    I would highly suggest not exposing any of those PCs to the Internet if you are not going to run any updates. Also, isolate them from any devices that do have Internet access. If your PC used for Internet access gets infected it could spread malware or other nasty stuff to any PC on the same network.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by vince mastrosimone View Post
    Linux? I don’t know much about it but I think you need to be a bit techy to use it.
    A bit but not too much with distros designed to be 'easy'. Linux Mint and Zorin are pretty easy. I don't know how practical it would be for Kev to use virtual machines. Create the VM, install required software and save an image. If something unwanted finds its way in, delete that VM and restore the original or previous version. A question I would have using that arrangement would be things like required serial or parallel ports and dongles. I don't know how those would get along with virtual machines. In some cases I've read that USB can be a challenge.

    Edit: Another thought would be to block Microsoft IPs at the router firewall. I don't know how much of a moving target Microsoft IPs are or where to find a list.
    Last edited by Curt Harms; 04-18-2022 at 9:38 AM.

  8. #8
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    You should really keep any Win 7 machines off line permanently as they are no longer receiving all security updates. Not only are you putting your own data at risk, but your machine could be taken over and used to infect other peoples' computers.

  9. #9
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    As a fallback you might make a mirror copy of the machine after the clean rebuild and after installing the software you use. If some MS junk forces it's presence it should then be simpler to reset things. I use Macrium Reflect. With frequent auto-backups to removable drives the OS or data can be restored to any point.

  10. #10
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    If you have something that you can test on Linux compared to Windows, you can always use a Linux Boot Disk to see if things are running faster, but that is a far reach and not likely to be useful in your specific case.

    The best that I can recommend is to watch which things start and run (services) and what resources they use. I know that in the enterprise environment they are able to set policy to prevent certain things from running. I am uncertain if that works with Windows 7 (I also do not know how to do that on any Windows version).

    Might be called Group Policy.

  11. #11
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    Air gap em.

    Seriously, I wouldn't expose any OS that is EOS to the world.
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by mike stenson View Post
    Air gap em.

    Seriously, I wouldn't expose any OS that is EOS to the world.
    funny thing- My bank and credit card accounts have been hacked no less than 5 times since 2009, all thru what should be stellar security measures imposed by my bank, yet even with all the computers I have in play, the one and only actual virus infection I ever got,was the Happy99 virus just before Y2K. My lame (by many standards) anti-virus protections and firewalls have done their jobs, best I can tell... Up until less than a year ago, my Win98 and 3 XP computers were online 24/7 for YEARS without even an AV running on any of them. Go figure...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    funny thing- My bank and credit card accounts have been hacked no less than 5 times since 2009, all thru what should be stellar security measures imposed by my bank, yet even with all the computers I have in play, the one and only actual virus infection I ever got,was the Happy99 virus just before Y2K. My lame (by many standards) anti-virus protections and firewalls have done their jobs, best I can tell... Up until less than a year ago, my Win98 and 3 XP computers were online 24/7 for YEARS without even an AV running on any of them. Go figure...
    Did the bank's systems actually get hacked? Most issues with bank accounts and credit/debit cards come from sources outside of banks. A number of retailers had their card readers infiltrated before chip cards were a thing.

    Banks are much higher value targets than a small business with a couple of PCs.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    small business with a couple of PCs.
    These become bots to go after other things.

    There was a question, I actually gave a professional recommendation that was clearly not what was wanted to be heard.
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

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