Aegis: Block all Windows 10 components on Windows 7 and 8

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 26, 2016
Updated • Jul 5, 2017
Windows, Windows 10
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63

Aegis is a powerful script for Windows 7 and Windows 8 devices that takes care of all components related to Microsoft's news operating system Windows 10.

In addition to that, it is performing additional operations such as adding a number of Microsoft hosts to the blocklist, setting Windows Update to check/notify, and more.

Since it is script-based, it is easy enough to check out what it does in detail, and even to add or remove commands from the script to adjust it accordingly as its author allows code modifications or the sharing of the code or components.

Update: Aegis is no longer maintained. Check out Ancile, a fork that is in active development.

Aegis in detail

Aegis is updated regularly to reflect changes that Microsoft makes, for instance by taking into account new updates or modified updates.

The application is offered via a Mega download currently. The package is offered as a zip file that you need to download to your system. Once you have unpacked it, you find several command files listed in the directory that you can edit directly using any plain text editor.

The file setacl.exe, in case you are wondering supports the managing of Windows permissions from the command line.

How to use it

All you need to do is right-click on the file aegis.cmd and select "run as administrator" to get started. Follow the on-screen instructions from that moment on to complete the process.

Note: It is highly recommended to create a system backup before the program is run on a machine as you may not have any options to undo the changes should things go wrong.

So what does it do in detail?

  • Disables or hides the Windows 10 download directory.
  • Disables GWX (Get Windows 10), OneDrive, Telemetry, Wifisense.
  • Uninstalls or hides 31 KB updates.
  • Disables 31 schedules tasks.
  • Uninstalls Diagtrack.
  • Disables Remote Registry.
  • Blocks 188 Microsoft Hosts on 221 IPs.
  • Change Windows Update settings to check/notify instead of download/install.

The Windows Updates that the program uninstalls or hides

kb update description
kb971033 update for windows activation technologies
kb2902907 description not available, update was pulled by microsoft
kb2922324 description not available, update was pulled by microsoft
kb2952664 update for upgrading windows 7
kb2976978 update for windows 8.1 and windows 8
kb2977759 update for windows 7 rtm
kb2990214 update that enables you to upgrade from windows 7 to a later version of windows
kb2999226 update that enables you to run windows 10 applications on earlier versions of windows
kb3012973 upgrade to windows 10
kb3014460 update for windows insider preview / upgrade to windows 10
kb3015249 update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
kb3021917 update for windows 7 sp1 for performance improvements
kb3022345 update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
kb3035583 update installs get windows 10 app in windows 8.1 and windows 7 sp1
kb3044374 update that enables you to upgrade from windows 8.1 to windows 10
kb3046480 update for migrating .net when upgrading to later version of windows
kb3050265 update for windows update client for windows 7 june 2015
kb3050267 update for windows update client for windows 8.1 june 2015
kb3065987 update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 july 2015
kb3065988 update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 july 2015
kb3068708 update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
kb3075249 update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in windows 8.1 and windows 7
kb3075851 update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 august 2015
kb3075853 update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 august 2015
kb3080149 update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
kb3083324 update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 september 2015
kb3083325 update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 september 2015
kb3083710 update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 october 2015
kb3083711 update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 october 2015
kb3112343 update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 december 2015
kb3112336 update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 december 2015

Closing Words

Aegis is a sophisticated program that is updated regularly to block Windows 10 components, updates designed solely for the promotion or installation of Windows 10, and other undesirable components on systems running Windows 7 or 8.

Summary
software image
Author Rating
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4.5 based on 46 votes
Software Name
Aegis
Operating System
Windows
Software Category
System
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Comments

  1. Scalar said on September 12, 2016 at 12:19 pm
    Reply

    Hi Martin,

    The project aegis-voat has been discontinued since Jul 2016 due to personal issue with the operator/owner of voat.co. Visit https://voat.co/v/technology/comments/853510 for more details.

    Fortunately Matthew Linton has picked it up and continue it as a fork & rework with a new project-name ‘Ancile’.
    https://bitbucket.org/matthewlinton/ancile and https://voat.co/v/Ancile

    I wonder if you could consider to make a review of the new Ancile?

    Many thanks for your attention.

    CU
    Scalar

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on September 12, 2016 at 2:00 pm
      Reply

      Thanks, I have published a review and updated this one.

      1. Scalar said on September 12, 2016 at 3:53 pm
        Reply

        Great, thanks :)

        CU Scalar

  2. Alessaa said on February 25, 2016 at 8:19 pm
    Reply

    Great work! But i have a question: with Aegis installed, can Microsoft still copy the content of your HDD or copy an

    index of all the files on your computer? or still save all the keystrokes you are typing, or record every program

    you are using and check it’s license? Or can we be certain that future software will really be able to block all

    Windows 10 spying and collecting..?

    Specially since i read that updates are mandatory on windows 10.. and the EULA is crazy..

    I want to buy a new computer..but now the new Skylake processors line (6700K..) will not recieve security updates on

    windows 7 after July 2017… MS is doing that to force everyone to change to windows 10, or stay with old outdated

    equippement..

    I would prefer to buy new Skylake processors and new DDR4 memory and run windows 10..

    But it seems is Windows 7 and old Processors are the last possible option for a Personal Computer?

    At least until jan 2020 when windows will not make any more security updates for System 7..

  3. User said on February 11, 2016 at 3:38 pm
    Reply

    For the first time and out of nowhere this month, my Windows 8.1 machine doesn’t let me run the aegis script and gives me a “Windows script host access is disabled on this machine” error. A little googling showed me the simple registry fix to switch it back on. A paranoid person might think MS is putting that in there attempting to block this new tool.

    1. Tom Hawack said on February 11, 2016 at 3:57 pm
      Reply

      Since we’re not paranoid we won’t think that :)

  4. Thane Ahrens said on February 10, 2016 at 10:36 pm
    Reply

    *web browser

    1. Thane Ahrens said on February 10, 2016 at 11:32 pm
      Reply

      Problem fixed. I got a reply from another place ( https://voat.co/v/technology/comments/459263/new ). If anyone else has an issue with this, here was the response and this fixed it:

      Hey, sorry you are having a problem. I checked on that and we aren’t blocking hotmail on purpose but it looks like one of the host blocks we are doing matches that host you mentioned.

      Here’s what you can do to fix it immediately, run this in an admin command prompt:

      route delete 204.79.197.200
      route delete 204.79.197.201
      route delete 204.79.197.202
      route delete 204.79.197.203
      route delete 204.79.197.204
      route delete 204.79.197.205
      route delete 204.79.197.206
      route delete 204.79.197.207
      route delete 204.79.197.208
      route delete 204.79.197.209
      route delete 204.79.197.210
      route delete 204.79.197.211
      I will go ahead and remove those host blocks so that it won’t happen again in the future. Give me a few minutes and I will push the update. You can grab the latest version here:

      https://github.com/th3power/aegis-voat/archive/master.zip

      Let me know if you have any other questions. :-)

      1. Hy said on February 11, 2016 at 7:19 am
        Reply

        Good to know. Thanks for posting this!

  5. Thane Ahrens said on February 10, 2016 at 10:34 pm
    Reply

    I have just run the Aegis script “aegis-voat-1.11”. Now I can’t access Hotmail. My we browser no longer connects to https://blu182.mail.live.com/default.aspx How can I fix this?

    1. Hy said on February 11, 2016 at 4:15 am
      Reply

      @Thane Ahrens: When I ran Aegis, it blocked connections from the computer to many Microsoft domains, including Hotmail, etc.. (See comments above.) As Martin suggested to you, you can see if the website you are no longer able to connect to is listed as being blocked in your HOSTS file, and then you could edit your HOSTS file and remove the entry or entries that are affecting you.

      Alternatively, you can also boot into Safe Mode and run System Restore, restoring your machine back to the time just before you ran Aegis. That’s the method I followed, because I could not find the websites being blocked in my HOSTS file.

    2. Martin Brinkmann said on February 10, 2016 at 10:37 pm
      Reply

      Check the hosts file and see if it lists the host. You find it in c:\windows\drivers\etc

      1. João Mendes said on March 3, 2016 at 9:09 pm
        Reply

        What lines of code in the HOSTS file do I need to erase exactly? A friend of mine (who’s more tech savy than me) recommended me Aegis because of the constant Windows 10 nagging message, but now I can’t access my e-mail because Hotmail seems to have been blocked… How do I re-enable this to be able to use all the functions of the e-mail?

      2. Martin Brinkmann said on March 3, 2016 at 9:48 pm
        Reply

        I’m not using hotmail, but start with live.com as this is the entry point and used when you open the web interface.

  6. Foo Nonymus said on February 5, 2016 at 5:03 am
    Reply

    I didn’t realise that before but the name gwx.exe seemed to be weird name to give to the Windows 10 updater. Now I finally realised what it stands for. It’s “Get Windows X”, or “Get Windows 10”!

    X = 10 in Roman numerals, that definition explains the name perfectly I think.

    1. Tom Hawack said on February 5, 2016 at 10:43 am
      Reply

      Now that you mention it… indeed.
      I’ll stick on WVII for the time being, which could lead to KWVII (Keep Windows 7) :)

  7. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 8:03 pm
    Reply

    Martin,

    Thanks for the mention. FYI a new version has been released with many improvements. Also we have moved the project to GitHub. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks. :-)

  8. Tom Hawack said on January 30, 2016 at 2:10 pm
    Reply

    You have to be careful with mistakes.

    Among the Windows Updates that the AEGIS program uninstalls or hides is :
    kb2999226 : update that enables you to run windows 10 applications on earlier versions of windows

    I haven’t run the AEGIS application (fortunately!) but I have removed the KB2999226 after reading their description about it.
    Then I ran a program which wouldn’t start anymore : ‘Simple DNSCrypt’ : a popup specified that file api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll was missing.

    I searched for information and found out that the file api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll was part of the KB2999226.
    Microsoft states KB2999226 as “Update for Universal C Runtime in Windows”
    AEGIS states KB2999226 as “update that enables you to run windows 10 applications on earlier versions of windows”
    -> Find the culprit.

    I followed advise found (done for the same file missing problem but for another app) at https://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/the-program-cant-start-because-api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0dll-is-missing-f2702.html

    That is, I reinstalled KB2999226, uninstalled then re-installed Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package 2015 for both x86 and x64 (I’m on Win7 x64), and all is fine again, api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll back in place and ‘Simple DNSCrypt’ running correctly.

    For whom this may concern : be aware of what a good intention can lead to if unskilled.

    1. thepower said on February 8, 2016 at 7:56 pm
      Reply

      Tom, this update has been removed from the latest version. Please let us know if you have any questions. https://github.com/th3power/aegis-voat

      1. Tom Hawack said on February 8, 2016 at 8:09 pm
        Reply

        Thanks, thepower, for bringing this public, and be thanked, you (and the Aegis Team) for your work, your commitment to a better Web. As in life, reasons to frown and reasons to smile :)

        I had forgotten to mention in my first posts that the KB2999226 update was the only one in your list that I had not already uninstalled and/or hidden from updates, this explains also why I focused on it (I was telling myself then “What, I’ve missed one, I still have an intruder on board?!” …

        All is well, keep up the good work.

    2. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 9:20 pm
      Reply

      Tom,

      I’m sorry this caused you a problem, and I want to thank you for your feedback. I appreciate what you are saying. When I say it was not a mistake I simply meant it in the context as it was not an accident that we blocked it – we did it on purpose. However I don’t necessarily claim it was a good choice.

      In any case I am always open to user feedback and I often change my mind after listening to what people have to say and learning new information. In this case it seemed prudent at the time and I was not aware that it was going to cause other problems so I will definitely take a look at that update and re-evaluate. :-)

      1. Tom Hawack said on February 4, 2016 at 9:35 pm
        Reply

        I’ve always focused on the intention, far more important to me than the result. I know you have good intentions and your work proves it. After that, opinions may diverge. My point was more to share a difficulty and its solution than to emphasize on what I call a mistake but which may be arguable even if, in this case, it doesn’t come to my understanding.

        No bigger problem than that. It wasn’t an issue for me (even if I’d dare not even imagine getting on a work such as yours with this application), so the comment was motivated — very frankly — at 49% by an immediate irritation and at 51% by a “good action” :)

        There are much bigger problems in life and even within the cyberworld.

        All the best, thepower (is with you!)

    3. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 8:01 pm
      Reply

      Hi Tom,

      This was an intentional choice rather than a ‘mistake’. Although you could argue it was not a good choice. We have so far only had one person report this to us as an issue – maybe that was you? :-)

      I am still on the fence about this, since we feel like it’s better to err on the side of caution, and a user can always comment out this one update in the code so that it won’t be blocked.

      1. Tom Hawack said on February 4, 2016 at 8:42 pm
        Reply

        Well, the fact is that applications requiring Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package 2015 may be blocked without the KB2999226 update. I haven’t found any relationship between this update and Windows 10, unless one argues that if Windows 10 has it natively then it is suspicious, in which case applications such as .Net Framework would be suspicious once they are built in the latest Windows version but require an install for previous versions…
        What I mean is that I can understand the awareness Microsoft’s aggressive Win10 upgrade policy has and continues to stir, and that I realize that this distrust can lead to automatism and the mistakes this can carry, as in “real” life. In this case, removing KB2999226 is a mistake.

        I wasn’t the one who reported as you mention it above. We are at least two then, hoping a plain user totally out of the computing basics will not have been a third, anonymous and maybe deeply annoyed. You have to be careful and I don’t understand how your choice might have been deliberate and not a mistake : this IS an authentic BIG mistake, sorry to say so.

  9. icy said on January 30, 2016 at 10:41 am
    Reply

    You can allways safely update windows 7 via Simplix UpdatePack7R2
    You can eliminate a lot of microsoft shit by using Winreducer for win7 to win 10
    icy

  10. Hy said on January 29, 2016 at 11:41 am
    Reply

    I ran Aegis and found it to be a little overly-aggressive in its blocking for my taste. It blocks Bing webpages and Skype login page, as well as Microsoft pages where I look up KB update info. I could learn to live without the occasional Bing image, video, map, and news search, but I have to be able to login to the Skype website to manage my account, so this is a dealbreaker for me.

    I reverted back to the system restore point I made and got rid of Aegis. I’m sticking with GWX Control Panel and its realtime monitoring protection for now.

    1. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 9:27 pm
      Reply

      Hy,

      At this point I would say it is a combination of at least 5 or 6 others scripts and utilities, including the 2 you mentioned. I try to watch out for anything it may be missing and add those bits. It would probably be redundant but I don’t see any reason why it would cause a problem to run it in combination with them. However if you have any problems please let us know.

    2. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 7:58 pm
      Reply

      Hy,

      Based on user feedback (including yours) we have removed the blocks for bing, hotmail, msn, outlook, and skype in v1.10. If you find anything else that you feel shouldn’t be blocked please let us know. And of course you can always modify the code and remove anything you like, it’s all open source and plain text.

      1. Hy said on February 4, 2016 at 8:42 pm
        Reply

        P.S. @thepower: Thanks for your important, invaluable work on this project to help people protect their privacy!

      2. Hy said on February 4, 2016 at 8:39 pm
        Reply

        @thepower: Thanks very much for the response and for letting me know! Sounds like a good decision to remove the blocks for those domains. I think I will give Aegis a try again.

        It sounds like Aegis is a cross/combination of Spybot Anti-Beacon (which blocks telemetry) and GWX Control Panel, which blocks forced Windows 10 upgrade. Would that be a fair characterization of Aegis–that it does both?

        Is Aegis fully compatible with both SAB and GWX CP? I am currently runing both, and wonder if Aegis is still necessary and if so, if it would work with both of them side-by-side with no problems.

        Thanks for letting me know!

  11. Hans van Aken said on January 27, 2016 at 8:32 pm
    Reply

    #
    Had to use Internet Explorer to download aegis v. 1.9. Irony?
    Suppose because of the new security settings in Firefox 44.
    Took a while until I had the idea.
    GWX Control Panel registered the changes and says
    “At least one hidden download folder was found”.
    Thanks, Martin, for another great article and thanks
    to the author of the script. Great work!

  12. Hans van Aken said on January 27, 2016 at 5:58 pm
    Reply

    Had to use Internet Explorer to download aegis v. 1.9. Irony?
    Suppose because of the new security settings in Firefox 44.
    Took a while until I had the idea.
    GWX Control Panel registered the changes and says
    “At least one hidden download folder was found”.
    Thanks, Martin, for another great article and thanks
    to the author of the script. Great work!

    1. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 7:57 pm
      Reply

      Sorry you had a problem, the project is now hosted on Github so hopefully that will make it easier for users to download the files. :-)

  13. Ann said on January 27, 2016 at 11:37 am
    Reply

    hey Martin,

    please check this. https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/
    I’m curious if uninstalling all those KB’s leaves still something on or not and if this kind of stufuW10 programs are still needed

    1. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 7:56 pm
      Reply

      Aegis does everything SAB does plus a lot more (note they use host blocking, we use persistent static null routes, but I checked our lists against theirs and we aren’t missing anything).

  14. David said on January 27, 2016 at 10:49 am
    Reply

    I thought there was no API to hide updates. Maybe that was incorrect. Does this uninstall and hide them?

    1. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 7:53 pm
      Reply

      We hide updates using a small vbs script that someone shared on serverfault. http://serverfault.com/a/341318

      It mostly works pretty well however Microsoft has been un-hiding and re-pushing certain updates lately so it is an ongoing battle.

    2. Corky said on January 27, 2016 at 12:47 pm
      Reply

      From the Windows update GUI, when it lists the available updates, right click the update you want to hide and click hide this update, that’s assuming you’ve set Windows update not to install updates automatically.

    3. meifter said on January 27, 2016 at 11:14 am
      Reply

      Details:

      Disable gwx/skydrive(aka onedrive)/spynet/telemetry/wifisense, disable/hide windows 10 download directory, uninstall/hide 31 kb updates (see list below), disable 31 scheduled tasks (optional components that phone home to microsoft), uninstall diagtrack, disable remote registry, block 188 microsoft hosts (221 ip’s), change windows update settings to check/notify but do not download/install

      Windows Update:

      This script will not block Windows Update, however it will change your Windows Update settings to check/notify but do not download/install.

  15. jasray said on January 27, 2016 at 1:03 am
    Reply

    Sooner or later, I think users will figure out that Microsoft techs, Mark Russinovich is one (and he has trained an elite core of experts), aren’t exactly “dumb” and the computers that are running such “blocking scripts and programs” will become completely “static” and, most likely, inoperable. In other words, the MS Techs will simply say, “If you are going to use Windows and want update M, O, and P, then, the settings on your computer will have to change in order for the update to come through [which it can’t do at this moment because you are blocking it with some silly toy a nerd made to showoff to his buddies], and we won’t tell you what settings those are–go back and undo everything–good luck.

    1. User said on January 27, 2016 at 2:28 pm
      Reply

      Well, in that case I will totally switch to Linux cause it’s intolerable to feel raped by any company that one support by buying their product. It is like being force fed by your local gyros restaurant.

  16. DaVinci said on January 26, 2016 at 11:23 pm
    Reply

    All of these are clones of the original, called Block Windows. It’s the first one of those, and features way more stuff. Check it out, works flawless.

    https://github.com/windowslies/blockwindows

    top Windows 7 through 10 Nagging and Spying updates, Tasks, IPs, and services. Works with Windows 7 through 10

    BlockWindows.bat – Right Click and “Run as Admin”
    hosts.bat – Works with Windows 7 and 8. Appends current hosts file. Run from your Downloads directory. Doesn’t work on Windows 10, copy hosts file to your router or firewall if using Windows 10
    hosts2.bat – Blocks M$ hosts with firewall BLOCKS most M$ sites OUTLOOK,HOTMAIL,ETC REM any you use
    hosts – DNS file of MS hosts to block
    hostlist – MS Hosts file to blocking for router or firewall use
    hosts-dnsmasq – Hosts file for dd-wrt and other routers
    HideWindowsUpdates.vbs – Hides blocked updates, to reinstall click ‘show hidden updates’
    DisableWiFiSense.reg – Adds registry to disable WiFi Sense, which steals your wifi password without your consent.
    unblock.bat – Unblocks hosts2.bat blocking

    1. John said on January 27, 2016 at 12:26 pm
      Reply

      that one is outdated by now. Doesn’t include latest updates etc.

      1. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 7:48 pm
        Reply

        Hi John,

        Aegis has been updated recently and now includes 48 kb updates among other improvements. :-)

    2. neal said on January 27, 2016 at 8:11 am
      Reply

      All the “clones” or dedicated Windows 10 anti spy programs do the same thing, and there is no “original.” In fact judging project start date it isn’t the first one, there were other user create bat files created doing similar things during the Windows 10 preview period.

      Anyways it is not too difficult to look at network logs and then create host file entries or look at Windows services and manually disable them, or create a bat file to do it.

      In fact I like the programs better, instead of running separate multiple bat files, they put everything in application and create a UI that does it all in one click including option to undue any changes if something inadvertently breaks.

      And sense the author was kind enough to put it on github, the only thing that I think is not included in the third party anti spy applications is the host files for routers.

  17. Stefan said on January 26, 2016 at 10:37 pm
    Reply

    There’s already a little program that works on 7, 8 and also 10.

    https://github.com/Nummer/Destroy-Windows-10-Spying/releases/

    On my machine, the above program didn’t hide the “updates”, but right click “Hide update”

    PS: source code is available

  18. Corky said on January 26, 2016 at 8:16 pm
    Reply

    If pro-Microsoft people are having problems understanding why there’s so much hate for Microsoft and Windows 10 you only have to look at the amount updates pushed onto peoples computers and the 31 scheduled tasks, while that maybe great if you want to take Microsoft up on their offer it’s not if you don’t.

    If you received 31 telemarketing phone calls in the last 6 months all from the same company and they continued calling even after you told them you’re not interested you would probably start getting a little annoyed, you would probably be wondering what you have to do or say to get them to leave you alone.

    1. Gary D said on January 27, 2016 at 12:31 am
      Reply

      @Corky

      Your comparison between MS and Telemarketers is the best summation of the Windows upgrade situation I’ve read.
      Simple analogy, easily understood even by Win 10 shills/trolls.
      Wish I’d thought of it ! :-(

  19. Unknown said on January 26, 2016 at 6:20 pm
    Reply

    And this is why I check every single update what the update contains before I install it, just to avoid getting any of the Windows 8+ crap.

    Windows 7 ftw!

  20. Henk van Setten said on January 26, 2016 at 5:58 pm
    Reply

    This looks good. Checking and if necessary uninstalling that complete list of KBs will certainly come in handy.

    Thanks for posting this, Martin!

  21. Grumpseasily said on January 26, 2016 at 5:33 pm
    Reply

    Just a “thank you, Martin” for another highly appreciated article.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 26, 2016 at 11:06 pm
      Reply

      You are welcome.

  22. Dukislav said on January 26, 2016 at 5:27 pm
    Reply
    1. thepower said on February 4, 2016 at 9:23 pm
      Reply

      Thanks for providing this link. I will go through the other programs and pull in any bits we may be missing.

  23. Valrobex said on January 26, 2016 at 4:31 pm
    Reply

    @ yoav – Yes it is pretty crazy but thankfully there are folks out there who are interested and technically proficient enough to offer solutions to those of us who are just “somewhat educated” users. That’s one of the terrific benefits offered by Martin through this blogsite. Thanks, once again, Martin.

  24. yoav said on January 26, 2016 at 3:32 pm
    Reply

    It’s pretty crazy that Windows users have to install software to protect themselves from Microsoft.

    1. Andrew said on January 26, 2016 at 6:18 pm
      Reply

      Says a guy who uses google services…

      1. Jeff said on January 26, 2016 at 9:52 pm
        Reply

        @Gary, no I think you’re right. If not him, then it’s always someone. I said then, and I say it now, that I think MS employs shills to find Win 10 articles on the web and comment in favor of Win 10. If that puts a tin foil hat on my head, so be it.

        The campaign seems to be to find people complaining about W10’s privacy issues, and paint them as being deranged lunatics or conspiracy theorists. From what we’ve seen from MS’ unprecedented level of aggression in forcing W10 on people, I wouldn’t put it past them.

      2. Gary D said on January 26, 2016 at 8:56 pm
        Reply

        @Andrew

        I remember your name appearing in the comments on other Win 10 articles regarding telemetry, forced botched upgrades, etc., written by Martin.
        From what I remember, you were extremely pro Win 10.
        You regarded anybody who did not want to update to Win 10 as tin foil hat wearing, paranoid, conspiracy freaks.
        Of course, I may be wrong and maybe I have remembered the comments made by a different Andrew……………….

        Thanks Martin for this article and the Aegis web site link.

      3. yoav said on January 26, 2016 at 7:43 pm
        Reply

        I never bought anything from Google, so my expectations are different. I did buy an operating system from MS and I expect to own it completely. MS is infringing on my ownership rights and I resent that.

    2. Jeff said on January 26, 2016 at 6:09 pm
      Reply

      @yoav — exactly my thoughts. That this needs to exist is sad & shameful.

      1. Corky said on January 26, 2016 at 8:08 pm
        Reply

        Do you know Jeff personally then Andrew?
        I only ask as it seems a rather large assumption to make that someone uses Google services, not that Google services are in any way, shape, or form comparable to Windows 10, in case you can’t work it out Windows 10 is an operating system and Google services are not.

      2. Anonymousfor Goodreason said on November 24, 2018 at 9:20 am
        Reply

        Uh——-Android, Chrome, Chromium Project——-um yeah. I can see why you might reach that conclusion. (Please pause for sarcasm to settle in. Thank you.)

        As far as both not being comparable somehow, that fact is that couldn’t be further from the truth.

        Between Google’s Forced Integration model and Microsoft’s Forced Win 10 upgrade debacle, both Google and Microsoft are two of the biggest offenders when it comes to corporate take-overs, hubris & manipulation.

        If silicon valley were a gangster’s paradise, Google & Microsoft would be the top 2 corporate thug families.

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