3 ms·

Fresh install? Hit it with Blackbird and enjoy. https://www.getblackbird.net/screenshots/ https://www.getblackbird.net/screenshots/

by 1970-01-01 2y ago

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
The documentation page of that website is pretty interesting. Can disabling all those things break Windows in some way, like making updates not work or something like that?
- 1970-01-01 2y ago
  Of course, that's the entire point of having 'admin' power over the OS.. blackbird -d = Enable/Disable Windows Defender. blackbird -u = Enable/Disable auto-installation of Windows updates / Sets to manual download and install only. blackbird -m = Enable/Disable auto-installation of Malicious Removal Tool updates.
  - blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
    Well what I mean is, if you disable Cortana or the gaming services or whatever, can it cause functionality like windows update to stop working properly?
    - 1970-01-01 2y ago
      no
      - out-of-ideas 2y ago
        what an awesome handle; also caught this as it reads: 1970-01-01 10 hours ago
    - hnuser123456 2y ago
      No, there are thousands of pieces of random cruft in Windows that can removed without breaking updates or core functionality. There's only 12 or so processes that are actually critical to keeping Windows running.
    - Krssst 2y ago
      Windows Server exists and must not include any of Cortana/OneDrive/online accounts/... So as long as the base for Server is the same it should at least be theoretically possible to remove unwanted components without breaking things too badly. (of course non-Server editions could hardcode something that breaks when some component is not present but I assume this is not how Windows editions work?) Not sure how Windows Update behaves if some expected component is removed; not having it working would be pretty bad.
exceptione 2y ago
That looks daring! But any update can undo privacy measures. I think the safest option is to not allow windows any network access. But that can be a pain in a dev vm, something like visual studio needs to talk with a trillion domains for installing. An MS does not provide static ip-lists for anything azure. The whole Windows ecosystem experience is such a backwardness, each time I can shut down a win vm I feel relief.
out-of-ideas 2y ago
last updated 2022 though; i'd assume it is outdated for win11 though im unsure if it syncs its actions against something more recently maintained

Fresh install? Hit it with Blackbird and enjoy. https://www.getblackbird.net/screenshots/ https://www.getblackbird.net/screenshots/

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

The documentation page of that website is pretty interesting. Can disabling all those things break Windows in some way, like making updates not work or something like that?

1970-01-01 2y ago
Of course, that's the entire point of having 'admin' power over the OS.. blackbird -d = Enable/Disable Windows Defender. blackbird -u = Enable/Disable auto-installation of Windows updates / Sets to manual download and install only. blackbird -m = Enable/Disable auto-installation of Malicious Removal Tool updates.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
  Well what I mean is, if you disable Cortana or the gaming services or whatever, can it cause functionality like windows update to stop working properly?
  - 1970-01-01 2y ago
    no
    - out-of-ideas 2y ago
      what an awesome handle; also caught this as it reads: 1970-01-01 10 hours ago
  - hnuser123456 2y ago
    No, there are thousands of pieces of random cruft in Windows that can removed without breaking updates or core functionality. There's only 12 or so processes that are actually critical to keeping Windows running.
  - Krssst 2y ago
    Windows Server exists and must not include any of Cortana/OneDrive/online accounts/... So as long as the base for Server is the same it should at least be theoretically possible to remove unwanted components without breaking things too badly. (of course non-Server editions could hardcode something that breaks when some component is not present but I assume this is not how Windows editions work?) Not sure how Windows Update behaves if some expected component is removed; not having it working would be pretty bad.

exceptione 2y ago

That looks daring! But any update can undo privacy measures. I think the safest option is to not allow windows any network access. But that can be a pain in a dev vm, something like visual studio needs to talk with a trillion domains for installing. An MS does not provide static ip-lists for anything azure. The whole Windows ecosystem experience is such a backwardness, each time I can shut down a win vm I feel relief.

out-of-ideas 2y ago

last updated 2022 though; i'd assume it is outdated for win11 though im unsure if it syncs its actions against something more recently maintained