Tech Channel

[ritualclarity]

I've created this channel to cover all tech related issues not covered elsewhere, from problems to questions, to complaints. You can discuss your tech related questions here. Feel free to discuss hardware, software and yes.. as below... operating systems. Please lets try to keep all the tech related *** stuff*** located here unless it is more appropriate  to have in another channel.

The below is moved from "THE CRINGE-WORTHY INTERNET THREAD".

-Ritual Clarity

On 6/18/2021 at 10:11 PM, endgameaddiction said:

I'll continue to use Win7 until it is obsolete. Then Find some other OS.

It is already obsolete. If I am not mistaken, (update, yes. January 2020) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-windows-7-support Microsoft has stopped all support for it. Meaning no more security updates. Lord knows MS programs have enough exploits in them already not to have them be fixed

However, I understand. I also hope you don't have any critical sensitive info on that computer. Use Linux for the serious stuff and leave the games and other bs to the Windows (operating system of choice)  Now with pass through (provided your hardware supports it.. good news more and more hardware is doing this) you can pass though your graphics card(s) to the OS and only have the MS on for the essentials that you can't or don't want to use Linux for. That combined with major inroads to making windows programs run on Linux.... hopefully in the future this won't be an issue.

Also, surprise, surprise.. Microsoft lied. maybe they learned that from Bethesda which they recently acquired. Doesn't fair well for future games if MS can outright lie. There is no dam reason to have a "7", "10" or "11" for that matter on the OS. Just a version number / code is all that is needed for anyone that actually gave a shit. Make it easy for total idiots to find.. and be done with it. It is just a fucking marketing ploy. They realized that they had a hard time moving people from 7 (meaning less sales) so they knew that people wouldn't move or get new OS (give them money for a refreshed gui and other bullshit that isn't needed) so they decided to go back on their words is what I suspected.

 

[bjornk]

Windows 10 is a malware itself. Not to mention that considering how they broke something with every untested patch since its release it's hard to say it's a more robust operating system either and Windows 11 isn't gonna be any different. Also, windows with rounded corners? I guess retarded millennials took over the UI design at M$.

12 hours ago, endgameaddiction said:

I'll continue to use Win7 until it is obsolete. Then Find some other OS.

I'm using Win 8 pro with classic shell and it's okay for browsing the web and playing games. I've either removed or turned off most unnecessary features of it and it's become pretty lightweight, in fact it's currently running with less processes (about 25 in total) than my Win 7. Still has some annoyances such as the "store" which you can turn off but cannot be removed entirely. As long as you know what you're doing you can even use Win 2000 or XP assuming you can find all the drivers and programs you need. In terms of functionality, even Win 95/98 would be enough for most people.
 

Spoiler

 

I would only use Win10, if the new laptop I bought came with it or if I had to buy a new PC or hardware to play a new PC game on Windows -which is super unlikely- and it didn't have drivers for Win 7/8.

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by bjornk
screenshot

[ritualclarity]

54 minutes ago, bjornk said:

Windows 10 is a malware itself. Not to mention that considering how they broke something with every untested patch since its release it's hard to say it's a more robust operating system either and Windows 11 isn't gonna be any different. Also, windows with rounded corners? I guess retarded millennials took over the UI design at M$.

I'm using Win 8 pro with classic shell and it's okay for browsing the web and playing games. I've either removed or turned off most unnecessary features of it and it's become pretty lightweight, in fact it's currently running with less processes (about 25 in total) than my Win 7. Still has some annoyances such as the "store" which you can turn off but cannot be removed entirely. As long as you know what you're doing you can even use Win 2000 or XP assuming you can find all the drivers and programs you need. In terms of functionality, even Win 95/98 would be enough for most people.

I would only use Win10, if the new laptop I bought came with it or if I had to buy a new PC or hardware to play a new PC game on Windows -which is super unlikely- and it didn't have drivers for Win 7/8.

 

I never said it wasn't horrible (or malware) When a computer does something against the owners wishes as a "feature" that alone is enough to give a thought as to if this is what you want to deal with.  When they have basic settings that benefit them (like all the spy ware that is on the computer that you have to go though and turn off .. also whatever they don't tell you) It is time to go elsewhere. The problem is currently is if you want to play any serious type of game, Windows is the easiest to use to do this.  Also it is difficult or you are at a disadvantage if you try to use Linux in a Business environment. You can't even use Mac easily either. Now even more. Previously you could at least run a Duel boot easy enough... but with their new hardware ... that won't be happening soon.

 

I have used Linux quite a bit the past year and a half and it isn't quite there for my day to day but pretty close. My machine I am running it on isn't capble of having a VM installed (with or without gpu pass through) so I can't move over as much as i want to Linux or another os. HOwever, I can tell you the time, even though I was a noob for much of it, using Linux was a breath of fresh air. It didn't reboot your OS in the  middle of a fucking project. It notified you of an update and let that be. One line of code and you can update pretty much everything. I got to the point I didn't even really use their installer program just used the code. Talk about installation of programs. For the most part on a used Linux system, it is seconds. On a new system due to it needing dependencies, it might take a few seconds longer but not terrible. It is extremely fast not using their GUI installer as well but the GUI installer isn't half bad. Not as bad as what is provided by Windows. The entire installation of a nicely loaded system of programs is much smaller than Windows as well.  There are alternates to programs you use in Windows.. some are better but most are bleg... That and not being able to run some programs (mostly games) is the only draw back and that is getting better every year.

I am currenlty migrating my system (main system) to a 2 tb drive. Instead of cloning I am doing fresh. Windows 10 pro. x64.  The SSD is much faster than my 6 or so year old SSD it was using for the main OS. time to retire that drive from main work.  Now I will be able to have some VMs on that machine. (not pass through though. My hardware is too old on that one to really set it up as I  understand but I haven't tried it. Even if I did.. Lilnux would be fine with it but it is only a quad core... Windows is so bloated and demands so much processing power along with ram. Can't split up that system and expect any decent functionality. Might experiment with it though. Maybe it might be enough.

[bjornk]

4 minutes ago, ritualclarity said:

I never said it wasn't horrible (or malware)

It wasn't in reply to your post, sorry if it sounded like that. Some people seem to have the mindset of "newer therefore better (or more secure)" which irritates me.

[bjornk]

I personally want my PC to remain the same and keep its current state and functionality, if I leave it on for a month or for a year. If the OS decides to update or modify something on its own and break something in the process, I don't want the headache of troubleshooting it. Operating systems should always be treated as "mission critical" software, should never be turned into a casual test ground for the sloppy work of incompetent programmers, by pushing forced, untested patches and updates like Microsoft does with Windows.

Edited June 19, 2021 by bjornk

[ritualclarity]

1 hour ago, bjornk said:

It wasn't in reply to your post, sorry if it sounded like that. Some people seem to have the mindset of "newer therefore better (or more secure)" which irritates me.

Not a problem. I wasn't sure if it was or not. I also agree with the newer therefore better comment.  I used a windows debloater and some manual work to clean up a ... what is suppose to be... a ... CLEAN INSTALL!    I actually now have a clean install (wanted to get rid of Edge but .. documentation indicates that might not be a good idea. Problems in the future. Did get rid of Explorer crap and the store, and games and all that other bullshit. Just windows core programs. Hell even got rid of some of those using an audit option before creating (OBBE) my account on the computer.   Had to use Powershell though. Never used it before. Had to search the web to figure out how that worked so that I could use the program properly. (needed admin rights etc)

Well, at least Windoze has streamlined their updates process more than it used to be in the past. That and I don't have to fucking put in a code to access something I purchased after it has been installed (and registered) to my hardware. No more calling India and being treated like a thief because I have to reinstall the OS because it starts to turn to crap after a few months to a year.  (On and their cmd file checker and other tools including reset resolved that. I will give them that. )  But Jesus, the bloat ware. WTF!   Ok, fine put your stupid store there. But there is no reason to load up the STORE in a fresh install. 

41 minutes ago, bjornk said:

I personally want my PC to remain the same and keep its current state and functionality, if I leave it on for a month or for a year. If the OS decides to update or modify something on its own and break something in the process, I don't want the headache of troubleshooting it. Operating systems should always be treated as "mission critical" software, should never be turned into a casual test ground for the sloppy work of incompetent programmers, by pushing forced, untested patches and updates like Microsoft does with Windows.

True that.

One reason I like Linux.  Have you checked SilverBlue? It is a Immutable Linux. (meaning not able to be change .. the core that is) Then you install "flatpacks".. The updates do download but you can just boot out and into the previous OS (still remains totally intact) and the flatbacks are designed to be modular and not dependent on the OS or such.  If you use Linix it sounds like something you might like. Not quite there IMO as there are programs I want that aren't flatpacks (and I don't know how to make one... yet. It is apparently easy with a few commands)  so not quite there. But for something to do day to day work on.. might be the trick. Don't believe me check some of the videos. There is one where the guy just goes to the previous OS version... if it was windows it would be the version before the 2H bullshit (eying you weather thang, taking up my precious task bar space) ) 

[Nessa]

My gaming machine recently went kaput (translated: I wanted a new one) and I was faced with the Windows debacle as well. Win 10 is a piece of literal garbage with so much crap that just wasn't going to happen. Soooo.... I went with Win 10 LTSB.

...

After a good 4 months of it, I of course can't say I like it (nobody with a brain likes Windows period) but it's "not too bad".

It will do until I finally get totally divorced from Windows and switch to Linux full time.

[ritualclarity]

15 minutes ago, Nessa said:

My gaming machine recently went kaput (translated: I wanted a new one) and I was faced with the Windows debacle as well. Win 10 is a piece of literal garbage with so much crap that just wasn't going to happen. Soooo.... I went with Win 10 LTSB.

...

After a good 4 months of it, I of course can't say I like it (nobody with a brain likes Windows period) but it's "not too bad".

It will do until I finally get totally divorced from Windows and switch to Linux full time.

Im not opening  my wallet to give them money each month.. I have used the debloter and it worked quite well. I removed most of all those itmes that are removed from the above mentioned version. I can (but actually shouldn't ) remove Edge but that is about it. My system is clean. No store. No games, no other bullshit. I had to maually go in to remove Explorer 11 (take it around back and shoot that .. shouldn't be in the system at all considering its age etc.. Hell it isn't even supported anymore. )

 

So basically, I did some work to turn Windows pro x64 into a clean system that you are currently using. .. Yea!  So far it works quite well. Might have to reset the OS if I made a mistake and need something or did something wrong. Have ran through about 3 updates to bring things back up to date from a clean install and none of that crap came back. (Oh, can't remove that Defender.. can, but from what I read, it isn't advised.)

 

[ritualclarity]

Created this channel to cover some tech issues. There are some discussions on other channels and recently got heated... Now we have a place for discussions of all things tech related (didn't see a previous thread)

End of the moved / split threads. Have fun

-Ritual Clarity

[Nessa]

12 hours ago, ritualclarity said:

Im not opening  my wallet to give them money each month.. I have used the debloter and it worked quite well. I removed most of all those itmes that are removed from the above mentioned version. I can (but actually shouldn't ) remove Edge but that is about it. My system is clean. No store. No games, no other bullshit. I had to maually go in to remove Explorer 11 (take it around back and shoot that .. shouldn't be in the system at all considering its age etc.. Hell it isn't even supported anymore. )

 

So basically, I did some work to turn Windows pro x64 into a clean system that you are currently using. .. Yea!  So far it works quite well. Might have to reset the OS if I made a mistake and need something or did something wrong. Have ran through about 3 updates to bring things back up to date from a clean install and none of that crap came back. (Oh, can't remove that Defender.. can, but from what I read, it isn't advised.)

 

Who said I paid them? Got LTSB from the job. (I guess it's hard to get a hold of otherwise? Or I suppose there is the method.)

About Defender, yes that is still an issue even on LTSB. No matter what I've done, from registry to security settings it will always turn itself back on at startup.  The current workaround I'm using now is a thing that disables it on login. The issue about Defender is it labels things that are perfectly safe and needed as "dangerous". It does this for a couple small utilities for Skyrim even! To say nothing of all the small utilities I've used for eons all the way back to XP.

As far as use is concerned, I've had no compatibility problems yet. (Which means I'll have a huge one now that I mentioned it! ) The only thing I really do with Windows is games and modding though. And even modding is somewhat limited. Modelling and texture work are all done on my work machine which is a Mac. About the only thing I do with Maya now on Windows is import the finished model and set it up for export. (The current exporter I use is only for Maya 2016. Work machine is 2020. And -of course- you can't just save to an older version. Oh no, that's not how Autodesk works. )

Though if we're talking what Windows version is best? I was happiest (or rather as "happy" as one can ever be with Windows) back on Win 2000.

Come to think of it, I was only on Win7 for the last 4ish years. Was XP before that and only switched due to getting a bunch of new SSDs. My only exposure to Win8 was a work laptop and that was short since we switched it to Linux. Reading about full Win 10 though? Yeah I can definitely understand never upgrading to that kind of mess. And the spyware crap! What. The. Hell!?

Even Macs are getting annoying too with the iCloud nonsense. (Can barely turn a new one on without it whining about "What's your account so we can spy???") It's definitely looking like the real future of decent computing will be flavors of Linux.

[ritualclarity]

18 minutes ago, Nessa said:

Who said I paid them?  

About Defender, yes that is still an issue even on LTSB. No matter what I've done, from registry to security settings it will always turn itself back on at startup.  The current workaround I'm using now is a thing that disables it on login. The issue about Defender is it labels things that are perfectly safe and needed as "dangerous". It does this for a couple small utilities for Skyrim even! To say nothing of all the small utilities I've used for eons all the way back to XP.

As far as use is concerned, I've had no compatibility problems yet.

Though if we're talking what Windows version is best? I was happiest (or rather as "happy" as one can ever be with Windows) back on Win 2000.

Even Macs are getting annoying too with the iCloud nonsense. (Can barely turn a new one on without it whining about "What's your account so we can spy???") It's definitely looking like the real future of decent computing will be flavors of Linux.

Sorry, I was mentioning that I would have to pay them. I don't get that through work, my work uses the standard Pro version for their computers. At least at my local. Possibly someone up higher or someone working on the servers have a version of that.

Sad that they still shove defender down our throats.  I have seen ways to manually remove it but updates still come and they seemto be hit and miss with the re-installation. Also some features might cause trouble if it isn't there. Way to go MS... I thought you were moving to more modular system for faster and more granular updates and support.  Must of been the lie like the lie that Windows 10 was the l,ast OS you would ever need ...  I still have Edge and apparently explorer 11 is still stuck in teh start up without any actual program to connect to. (using the debloat program and manual removal)  I am hopefull that they remove Explorer 11 from your version.

my happiest version was Vista 64bit. I did much the same with what I just did now with Windows 10.. Removed some of the bloat. (not much there) and then ran a script that optimized the system to be much like Windows xp but 64bit. yes, I know Windows xp had a 64bit system but there were all sorts of driver problems with that .. at least for me. 

all comercial os's are going that route. Even Linux ...Umbuntu has a cloud something  and such. But... due to the nature of Linux, so far ... you can cut that shit out and it is optional. I am fairly sure some commercially backed Linux .. Fedora, Umbuntu or whatever, will start to push that and push hard. Money is on the line and they are greedy. however, even then not bad for linux. There will always be some free version and whatever is brought to the commercial versions eventually will migrate to the free version provided that it is open source and not closed source code in these systems. I remember previous versions of Umbutu having some nasty dependency on their bullshit advertisement link to Amazon if I recall correctly. Was  called out by that ... person I forget his name that is one of the founders of the GUI linux. (Gentoo) for that very thing. Major black eye .. couldn't disable it and keep a feature (forget which one it was) that most wanted.  Dependency related.  Now that is gone.. (or at least last time I use it.. .that or I didn't need that feature... lol )

If you have a free VM space hanging around... give Silver Blue a try. Read about it .. interesting... Fixes some of the issues with updating a Linux version and not having the needed dependencies for programs you might want to use (not being updated that is to the newest system) which is a problem considering free and open often means someone working in their spare time (or group) which sometimes makes some of the less popular software not udpate as fast. Flat packs seem to be the solution. There is another type of package that does the same that is able to do the same. You can update your system and not worry about the dependencies of all your programs as much...

To everyone please forgive my typo's I am typing this on an older laptop, I am not used to typing on the laptop AND, the keyboard has some issues. just jumping in to give a quick comment. (instead of pulling out the wireless keyboard for this.  cheers!

[bjornk]

Windows Defender is a super useless service which slows down the system, consumes resources, wears out your drives for no good reason and it does a really poor job protecting your system. Turn it off if you can and while you're at it, turn off Windows Update as well.

[endgameaddiction]

8 minutes ago, bjornk said:

Windows Defender is a super useless service which slows down the system, consumes resources, wears out your drives for no good reason and it does a really poor job protecting your system. Turn it off if you can and while you're at it, turn off Windows Update as well.

Did both many years ago. And I've used quite a few protection software until I found IObit long ago.

[ritualclarity]

I have had Windows Defender turned off since it was first offered. Why the fuck would I trust a company that created opportunities due to poor coding to protect my computer? Also, what logically would someone first try to get around when trying to attack a Windoze computer? Yep.. Windows Defender.

I don't use IOBit.. but I use another that so far with various test has worked acceptably for my needs. I am just now the past 2 years starting to add various protections to my browsers.  Which brings me to something I thought I'd ask and contrubte to the discussion. lol

what is the best set of browser add on's for security?

[Nessa]

1 hour ago, ritualclarity said:

what is the best set of browser add on's for security?

Good question! I have like 40 browsers now. Probably not the best but here's my layout.

For Fatfox:

• Noscript
• uBlock (ad blocker)
• Cookie AutoDelete
• Anti-Adblock Blocker
• I Don't Care About Cookies (Ironic considering I have the cookie auto-delete thing. I think this is only for us EU suckers. Almost every damn website has an annoying popup reminding us about cookies. And of course they make it as hard as possible to "reject all". So I accept all automatically and then automatically delete them. )

Used to use Ghostery as well but I heard some negative rumblings about it. Just haven't installed it for now. (I haven't checked about it myself however so those rumors could be totally bogus!)

Safari:

• Adblock
• Ghostery
• Javascript Blacklist

Brave:

• Nothing here yet. The base adblocker seems to work very well so I haven't had a need to tweak it yet. I think Brave is based on Chromium so Chrome add-ons should work I think.

Of course, VPN always on.

And when I'm really wanting to be silent: TOR Browser + onion over VPN.

I have a heard a lot lately about browser isolation. Where you have a profile setup (with it's own separate set of settings and such) just for certain tasks so it's even harder to track you. Even with a VPN they can identify the browser to some extent. I'm all for making it as hard as possible for the spying twerps to do their job.

What does everyone else use? Any pros or cons anybody has heard of stuff in my list?

[ritualclarity]

adblock

adblock plus
adblocker for Youtube
Adblocker ultimate
(get the theme.. believe it or not, some still get through and show up on the other ad blockers for some reason. Not sure but until they don't show I'll use them)
ublock Origin (get the theme... )
Privacy Badger
HTTPS Everywhere
Ghostery
Facebook container (not really needed on this machine but on my other one I use for Face book)
Enhancer for Youtube (not sure what thta does lol Recomended so I tried it Not on my other machine)
ClearURLs
Will have to look into Cookie autodelete.
Dont use Java on this machine so not sure if I need that. At least not that I am aware. Most of my Browsers don't even support Java now. Isn't that dead?
Just added noscript. (forgot that one. Thanks for the reminder)
Finally I use the various containers available for Firefox. you can create custom containers to contain .. well whatever you need to contain. My security software has it's own browser without anything else in it and dumps the info( so far as I have seen) for sensitive banking info etc (not on this machine as well .. on another one that is used for more ... important aspects.
Oh, that brings me to using different computers for different task.. High security, Medium, and low (this one) Not sure profiles will be safe as if the computer gets infected it is likely the other profies will. As for just peeking in.. that should be enough
VPN and even VMs to round out that security
Which brings me to another OS for those that are particularly cautious.. Qubes .. It is basically nothing but a sandbox and as all the tools and more installed (can be installed) properly. Requires a dedicated machine ( and realistically a reasonably powerful one) that has Virtualization builtin to the hardware (most new computers do to various degrees)

 

 

https://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2020/05/26/qubes-os-security-oriented-operating-system-and-run-qubes-os-on-odyssey-x86j4105/

 

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by ritualclarity
some reason massive spaces were there.

[ritualclarity]

WTF is with the spacing on my previous post?

edit: Ah there a bit better, formatting is off but.. meh  

 

 

[bjornk]

Relying on 3rd party applications for security is never a good idea. You should instead try to minimize the number of potential security holes and flaws in your system by minimizing the usage of 3rd party applications such as browser add-ons or anti-virus/malware software, each of which is a potential cause of a security/privacy issue.

As for browser security in general, I'd first recommend using portable versions of whatever the browser you are using, which don't install anything on the system and simply runs from the directory you placed them into. If something goes wrong with the one you are currently using, you can easily extract a fresh copy of it and do a folder comparison (using WinMerge etc.) with the clean one to find out what files have changed. It would be a lot more difficult to do it with a browser you "installed" on your system as you won't be able to figure out what had changed in your system during the installation (such as registry entries).

Before you install any add-ons, first, make sure your browser is configured as securely as possible. You should decide on Network/DNS (e.g. make sure you use DNSSEC, secure DNS, encrypted SNI, TLS 1.3 etc), cookie, session, anti tracking/fingerprinting, update settings etc. behaviors that suit your needs. Some of these may require advanced configuration (e.g. about:config page on FF). I'd generally recommend turning off auto-updates for EVERYTHING except perhaps one adblocker. Adblocker updates, even filter list updates, are known to break things occasionally. It's often a trade-off between convenience and security and/or privacy, so it's basically up to the individual to decide how to configure things.

If you don't want to deal with these kinds of potential headaches, always remember, less is more, so try to turn off features that you'll never use. Also keep a log of all the changes you've made in your system (e.g. OS, browser) with the date of the changes as well as a short explanation of why you made them.

Edited June 22, 2021 by bjornk

[ritualclarity]