• ByteJunk@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    Can someone enlighten me as to what is M$ doing this time?

    I had to install windows the other day on my kids laptop, and had to skip like 10 screens of Microsoft ads and then disable OneDrive, but saw nothing about Dropbox.

    • Turret3857@infosec.pub
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      3 hours ago

      No idea but here’s some tools you should look into

      BloatyNosy

      privacy.sexy

      Windows Spy Blocker

      and this one isnt a tool but more of a tip. When installing Win11, set the region to English (world). This will prevent bloat from being installed by default, then use the OOBE\bypassnro command at the M$ account screen to skip signing up for a M$ account.

      • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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        28 minutes ago

        OOBE\bypassnro no longer works on shipped computers. You have to have a old installer of 11 to use it. There are other ways. Mines a bit more hands on but I end up with a machine with a single local account. Those that tell you install linux and its fixed don’t really live in the real world. As much as I would like to never have to touch windows its not going anywhere soon.

      • lime!@feddit.nu
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        2 hours ago

        you can also break out of the installer like in windows 10, and the entire os is loaded in the background so it’s possible to open edge and download another os to a usb drive within the installer. very handy.

      • Cabbanis@lemmy.eco.br
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        2 hours ago

        You should be going for linux mint. It’s also good fo playing. I’m playing Silent Hill f on mine.

    • Zozano@aussie.zone
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      2 hours ago

      In the unfortunate event that you CANT uninstall Windows, at least replace it with AtlasOS.

      Basically, it reinstalls Windows but rips virtually everything which makes Windows a piece of shit. You’ll get better performance, no telemetry, and next to no bloatware.

      Learn Linux anyway.

      • Obi@sopuli.xyz
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        2 hours ago

        Wow this sounds too good to be true as someone that needs to keep windows for my work apps. What’s the catch and why haven’t I heard of it before?

        • Zozano@aussie.zone
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          47 minutes ago

          There’s not ‘catch’ other than having to reinstall windows.

          Another ‘catch’ might be that it strips out shit like one drive and the Microsoft Store.

          If you needed those, then you’d need to reinstall them with workarounds.

    • Whostosay@sh.itjust.works
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      5 hours ago

      J4k3, hope youre doing alright dude.

      Got a question you may be able to help me with. I have never changed my secure boot key on my motherboard after switching from windows. Do I need to worry about anything? If I don’t, what’s the pros and cons and what not.

      I remember reading that there’s some sort of potential issues with keys from windows if you’re a Linux user a few months back.

      • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@piefed.world
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        2 hours ago

        You can generate your own keys. Here are two PDF links I copied just now from a post I made 2 years ago here. I don’t keep these white listed, so I did not check them for connecting. The first is the official UEFI overview. The second is a great guide from the US government detailing exactly how to set the keys. If that link doesn’t work, pull out the document number from the link and search for it. Gentoo and Arch have guides on this. Fedora has the most advanced pre Linux init system in my opinion.

        https://uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/UEFI_Secure_Boot_in_Modern_Computer_Security_Solutions_2019.pdf

        https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/15/2002497594/-1/-1/0/CTR-UEFI-Secure-Boot-Customization-UOO168873-20.PDF

        If you have secure boot enabled, and you are using the shim from fedora or ubuntu, then yes you need to worry about it if you want to dual boot with w11.

      • lorentz@feddit.it
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        3 hours ago

        I remember reading a post on mastodon where it was explained that no mother board validates the secure boot keys expiration dates otherwise it wouldn’t boot the first time the BIOS battery gets empty and the internal clock gets reset. The post was written well and was citing some sources. But I didn’t try to verify these assertions.

      • mushroomman_toad@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 hours ago

        Pros and cons of disabling the default Microsoft key:

        (Assuming you have secure boot enabled, and want the security that comes from that)

        pros:

        • You control your own key and have full choice over what software can start up on your computer, software cannot be approved by anybody else.
        • Your secure boot security model is not vulnerable to the risk of booting 3rd party software with known security vulnerabilities.
        • Sophisticated attackers with physical access to your computer cannot carry out an evil maid attack on your computer and convince it to trick you or steal your data.

        cons:

        • You need to have software installed to manage the key. There is software available for Ubuntu and NixOS.
        • There are many buggy UEFI implementations out there that require the Microsoft key to load built-in oproms during standard boot, potentially bricking your computer.
        • Software that gains root access to your computer could steal your signing key, potentially negating the benefits of secure boot against non-evil maid attacks.
      • Turret3857@infosec.pub
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        3 hours ago

        not j4k3 but my understanding is that the default keys are expiring soon and need to be rotated, and the rotation is up to your Mobo OEM to push out (?). I am not entirely sure that is correct, but I think it is.

        Pros and cons of your own key: Pros: its your key, so youre responsible for your security

        Cons: its your key, so youre responsible for your security

        • Whostosay@sh.itjust.works
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          3 hours ago

          That was my understanding as well,

          I got a good chuckle out of the pros and cons list lol, ty for that.

          I’ll have to look into self owned boot keys now.

          Thanks for chiming in