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emma wrote (edited )

the key to owning a windows computer without the fuss is to uninstall all the bothersome updates and use Windows Defender with Advanced Security to block all outgoing traffic, except from the programs you use. although idk if windows 11 can be reverted to a "good" state, but it works on 10.

i've had this setup for several months now and it's been great. i don't have to worry about microsoft pushing updates that add an annoying malware-like bing ai search bar that keeps coming back after a while when you turn it off. i can put my computer to sleep and come back the next morning and find everything was exactly as i left it.

highly recommend if using linux just isn't an option for you

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flabberghaster wrote

This may help, but I don't use windows so I can't test:

https://winaero.com/just-a-json-file-in-windows-11-enables-edge-bing-and-search-ads-removal/amp/

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emma wrote

that might work, but they've been known to remove ways of deshittifying windows in updates. for instance, there's like a bunch of group policies that no longer have any effect on windows 10 version so-and-so or higher. so who knows how long it'll work? my solution avoids this problem by just blocking updates entirely.

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twovests OP wrote

crazy that (some) linux is the OS that Just Works now, and windows is the one that needs the user to configure to keep usable

IIRC a few years ago there was a "disable windows tracking" tool of high repute

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