Reinstalling Windows 7 Without Surveillance Patches, Etc.

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Hello –

Next week I’m planning to install Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit onto a new hard drive. I hope to avoid any updates related to surveillance or telemetry, so I’m inclined to use my Windows 7 DVD, which pre-dates service pack 1. (Yes, I know up-to-date ISOs are available.)

Could you all offer any advice or up-to-date information on specific “updates” to ignore?

With appreciation and thanks,
Brian

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W7 patches are now monthly roll-ups and there are some bugs in individual patches that are fixed in the roll-ups, so you may as well just let W7 do it for you.
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/quickest-way-to-get-windows-7-sp1-fully-patched/

There are plenty of resources showing how to disable telemetry. Here is a sample.
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000012-neutralize-telemetry-sustain-win-7-8-1-monthly-rollup-model/

cheers, Paul

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Wheel_D

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@Wheel-D –

The real answer for you lies in the first link in @Paul-T ‘s post above.

Although the thread’s title says it’s for SP1, it’s actually for all Win7 installs/reinstalls. Just read the four posts below the initial one, starting with the first post (#114111) from @PKCano . In those four posts you’ll get your answer, AND if you keep reading the rest of the thread, you’ll see instructions from PK on how to avoid the worst of the surveillance/telemetry.

However, please read through the thread and take notes before starting your reinstall routine, that way you will have all the downloads ready on a thumb drive (or other media) that can be used by a computer without internet access.

There’s some very good advice in the second link in @Paul-T ‘s post above for how to maintain the surveillance/telemetry-free setup you just made.

Hope this helps! 🙂

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Wheel_D

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Please note: The post referenced by the anonymous poster above is 1 1/2 years old. You will find two incidences of KB3177467 in the Catalog. The one you need is dated in October 2018, not the 2016 version.
Edit: Typo

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Wheel_D

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Thanks for the reminder, I’d forgotten that important detail while composing my post just above. (Insert “embarrassed”emoticon here).

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Wheel_D

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Hello @Wheel D-

Last summer I did just what you are planning to do, and have been satisfied with the results.

I have no DiagTrack or CompaTel to be found, and my system has not had any problems. I followed @CanadianTech’s recommendations. He discussed this on AskWoody, and has posted an updated and more thorough step by step set of instructions here.

@Canadian Tech suggests stopping all updating at May 2017, but if you want to continue updating until Win 7’s end of life, you will need follow Group B.

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Wheel_D

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My thanks to all who’ve responded so far. I’ll investigate every suggestion when I have time.

@Elly, per your suggestion, I’ve looked at @CanadianTech’s detailed article. Here are the questions I posted at the end:

Which anti-virus software would you recommend? Is it pure anti-virus or a package that detects other types of threats?

You mentioned that your Windows 7 PCs have been trouble-free for months. What methods have you used to verify their condition? What about the longer-term situation–how confident are you that the “no-patch” approach will continue to be viable?

What about you all–what do you think?

Best regards,

Brian

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I use separate AV and AM products (Panda and Malwarebytes). AV is always on, MBAM is run manually.

I see no reason that W7 won’t continue to work post EOL. There is a possibility that a major exploit will surface, but you always need to be vigilant regardless of the patch status of whatever OS you run. (AskWoody will keep you up to date.)

cheers, Paul

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Wheel_D

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Yes, I’ve previously used both MBAM and the free version of Panda. I also recommended Panda “Free” to friends, although I stopped doing so when I found that it caused certain conflicts.

Canadian Tech responded that he uses BitDefender Plus “exclusively”; I’ll be sure to give it a look.

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