New Windows 10 HP Notebook

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I will be receiving a new HP AMD Ryzen 7 notebook computer with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed.  It will be my first experience with Windows 10.  I’ve been using Windows since Windows 3.1 in the early 1990s, but have been avoiding Windows 10 up until now due to all of the telemetry and forced updates, etc.  I’ve been using Windows 8.1 Pro for the past five years.

The first thing I plan to do when the notebook arrives is to nuke the adware-infested Windows 10 Pro installation from orbit and do a clean re-install of Windows 10 Pro 1909.   I have licenses for ESET NOD32 anti-virus and Sophos HitManPro.alert anti-malware, so I should be good on that front.  Is there anything I should be made aware of in regards to hardening Windows 10 Pro for privacy and security?  Any effective tools I should be made aware of?

Also, in relation to privacy and security, I plan to use a local account (if that’s even still an option for Windows 10 Pro 1909).  Would it be possible to use a local account but still use the Microsoft Store if needed?

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DO NOT connect your computer to the Internet until you have it set up and have gone through ALL the settings in both the Settings App and the Control Panel.
If you connect to a network you will have very little chance of creating a Local account. There have been several articles on Account creation lately, including this one.
Also, you will avoid forced patching during the installation and the download of bloatware like Candy Crush (providing the OEM didn’t include them in the loadset).

As far as setting up Windows Update to have some control, here are my suggestions and why I chose them.

If you maintain a Local Account, you can log into the Store (or any other app that requires an MS account) on an individual basis. You do not have to log in to your computer with an MS Account!!

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areader, Apparition, Microfix

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Didn’t see this until I had started up my new Win 10 Pro laptop and created an MS account.  

However, in Settings, I am seeing a “Sign in with local account instead” option… Does that mean I can create and use a local account?

When I clicked the option, it gave this stern warning that not using MS login might make some apps and settings unavailable, but what do I care since I am just setting this laptop up.

Also, if I refresh (see my other post on question whether to reset or refresh), will I be able to do the laptop startup/setup offline like you suggest? e.g., do I get a do-over to avoid the MS account creation?

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You can switch to a Local account. If you do, in the account settings, uncheck the box that allows the computer to be pre-setup by your account. Disregard the MS warning. It just means if your choose to use the UWP Apps that require MS login, you won’t be able to do so without using the MS Account.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid you computer’s digital entitlement is tied to that Microsoft Account you created. And MS has it’s hooks in from the beginning. If you want to use any of the built-in Apps, you can log in with the MS Account individually for each App, and run everything else on the Local Account (if you choose to create it).

If you haven’t installed a bunch of programs or data, you could do a Factory Restore (new computers have a Restore partition that you can access usually by an F-key on startup). Redo the initial setup offline and create a Local Account. Hopefully it will activate without MS login. I would try that instead of a reset or refresh, b/c both or the latter will put the same ID/association back on the machine.

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PKCano wrote:

You can switch to a Local account. If you do, in the account settings, uncheck the box that allows the computer to be pre-setup by your account.

Which box is that?

PKCano wrote:

I would try that instead of a reset or refresh, b/c both or the latter will put the same ID/association back on the machine.

Reset will delete user accounts.

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this was a Dell purchase.

would you agree with my take on the information Dell states here https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln313192/requirements-for-dell-windows-10-activation?lang=en that Dell installed their own OEM version of Win 10 Pro on my laptop and it can only be activated (or reactivated) by being online and associated with an MS account (which i assume is what happened when i started the laptop the first time)?

if i go the ISO reinstall route, am i going to need a new activation code/key?  can i trust the codes/keys available on ebay for $5-10?

i certainly feel ripped off by Dell not making it clear up front that I was getting their version of Win 10 Pro, and them not providing a valid key so I could reinstall Win 10 Pro from an ISO directly from MS.

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In addition to @pkcano’s helpful hints above, I would strongly recommend – as soon as you go online – going into Microsoft Store’s settings. There you can set Background Updating of Apps to disabled, which prevents installation and updates of various additional apps you probably don’t automatically want installed and updated. This must be done when online, or the Store app won’t open.

If you delay this, you will probably see a number of apps appear in your Reliability History, which is the only place that shows when and how your apps appeared as if my magic.

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areader, Apparition

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One thing I always do before even turning on a new machine is to have an external hard disk and a Macrium Reflect Free boot USB drive ready to go.

Then I plug them both in and use what ever key (for Dell computers it’s usually F12) to get the boot menu and boot from the USB key and do an image backup of the computer’s drive.

This gives me a failsafe position for two reasons:

1. If the machine is not to my liking I can return it to it’s original configuration and return it easily claiming I never turned it on…LOL!
2. Should I mess up the installation it’s very easy to start over from scratch.

As always YMMV!

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Microfix, jburk07, Kirsty, wavy, Apparition, CADesertRat

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anonymous wrote:

Dell installed their own OEM version of Win 10 Pro on my laptop and it can only be activated (or reactivated) by being online and associated with an MS account (which i assume is what happened when i started the laptop the first time)?

if i go the ISO reinstall route, am i going to need a new activation code/key?

No to both. The activation key in installed on the motherboard by DELL and is valid only for this laptop. There is no need to re-activate even after full disk wipe.

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