Comment by nerdy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nerdy | Hacker News Reader

Be careful with this! From the README under the "HOSTS" section:

"Append known tracking domains to the HOSTS file located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc"

However there are other articles which suggest changing the hosts file can cause instability[1]:

"Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is disabling communication with these servers (by introducing the server into the hosts file and settings to 127.0.0.1 localhost), but as I tried, after disabling the Windows 10 start acting suspiciously otherwise. Error messages pop up, sometimes the message of "service failure", there are problems with Skype, it is not possible to maintain a stable connection. The problem is with VPN connections that fall. But it is possible that this is just some incompatibilities and nevyladěnost new OS. Apparently, it is necessary not to prohibit certain sites and have available to make things work, but I had no time to analyze them one by one, what causes them off in the long run in Windows 10"

Of course, there are a whole bunch of other potentially dangerous things the tool does like change services and edit the registry. Take care!

[1] https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=cs&tl=en&u=h...

This is a list of the domains added by the script to the hosts file:

adnxs.com, c.msn.com, g.msn.com, h1.msn.com, msedge.net, rad.msn.com, ads.msn.com, adnexus.net, ac3.msn.com, c.atdmt.com, m.adnxs.com, rad.msn.com, sO.2mdn.net, ads1.msn.com, ec.atdmt.com, flex.msn.com, rad.live.com, ui.skype.com, msftncsi.com, a-msedge.net, a.rad.msn.com, b.rad.msn.com, cdn.atdmt.com, m.hotmail.com, ads1.msads.net, a.ads1.msn.com, a.ads2.msn.com, apps.skype.com, b.ads1.msn.com, view.atdmt.com, watson.live.com, preview.msn.com, aidps.atdmt.com, preview.msn.com, static.2mdn.net, a.ads2.msads.net, b.ads2.msads.net, db3aqu.atdmt.com, secure.adnxs.com, www.msftncsi.com, cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net, live.rads.msn.com, ad.doubleclick.net, bs.serving-sys.com, a-0001.a-msedge.net, pricelist.skype.com, a-0001.a-msedge.net, a-0002.a-msedge.net, a-0003.a-msedge.net, a-0004.a-msedge.net, a-0005.a-msedge.net, a-0006.a-msedge.net, a-0007.a-msedge.net, a-0008.a-msedge.net, a-0009.a-msedge.net, choice.microsoft.com, watson.microsoft.com, feedback.windows.com, aka-cdn-ns.adtech.de, cds26.ams9.msecn.net, lb1.www.ms.akadns.net, corp.sts.microsoft.com, az361816.vo.msecnd.net, az512334.vo.msecnd.net, telemetry.microsoft.com, msntest.serving-sys.com, secure.flashtalking.com, telemetry.appex.bing.net, pre.footprintpredict.com, pre.footprintpredict.com, vortex.data.microsoft.com, statsfe2.ws.microsoft.com, statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com, df.telemetry.microsoft.com, oca.telemetry.microsoft.com, sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com, telemetry.urs.microsoft.com, survey.watson.microsoft.com, compatexchange.cloudapp.net, feedback.microsoft-hohm.com, s.gateway.messenger.live.com, vortex-win.data.microsoft.com, feedback.search.microsoft.com, schemas.microsoft.akadns.net , watson.telemetry.microsoft.com, choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net, wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com, sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com, settings-win.data.microsoft.com, redir.metaservices.microsoft.com, i1.services.social.microsoft.com, vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com, diagnostics.support.microsoft.com, watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com, msnbot-65-55-108-23.search.msn.com, telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com, settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com, sls.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net, fe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net, vortex-bn2.metron.live.com.nsatc.net, vortex-cy2.metron.live.com.nsatc.net, oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net, sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net, reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com, corpext.msitadfs.glbdns2.microsoft.com, services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com, watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net, statsfe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net, i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net, telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net

What puzzles me is why they use some completely different domains than the ones most people would instinctively trust more, like msn.com and microsoft.com.

I mean, if you see Windows communicating with a domain that ends in *.microsoft.com, that tends to arouse less suspicion than flashtalking.com, adnexus.net, 2mdn.net, and a-msedge.net - as a long-time Internet user, I'd suspect an infection if I suddenly started seeing these show up without having done anything that could lead to such, like visiting sites with ads in the browser.

Maybe it's because MS is sending that data directly to a third party. Have you tried to lookup those domains? They aren't registered by Microsoft.

I recognise many of those domains, because I'd blocked them in my HOSTS file due to ads (this is long before Windows 10, or even 7, came out.) That makes it all the more unsettling, because it's as if they're not even trying to hide the fact that their OS contains adware and trackers.

flashtalking.com: "Flashtalking is an independent ad serving, tracking and technology company"

I'm not surprised that MS is making it harder to disable these things. It should be possible to patch them out completely, but then you also have to deal with signing, system file protection, and updates which could re-enable them again... MS is putting up a much stronger fight now than they did with the previous versions of Windows.

if something is free, you are not the customer, you are the product

Windows 10 is not free, it's a free upgrade for customers that already payed for a previous version.

...which is unlike all the previous versions of Windows.

paid

Windows 10 is not free. The cost is built-in to the hardware you buy. They threw their users a bone to get some goodwill and hopefully entice some of them off old OSes, but the OS is not free, and this canard needs to stop.

Linux is free. Do you mean to imply that Linux is nothing more than an advertising/tracking platform? I pay for cable TV, so I guess I'm not the product there right? Oh wait, even though I pay the real money comes from being able to direct my eyeballs at ads. The world is not that simple, and I keep seeing people parrot this exact line at everything. It is applicable in some cases and not in others, so don't whip it to death.

That's comparing enterprised apples to open-sourced oranges.

Yes, but the comment above his simplifies both into "fruit" so it's valid to call it out on that.

119.99 for the Home version and 199.99 for the Pro version.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Windows-...

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Windows-...

Yep, my restore disk set had a bad disk (and I paid for them too which sucks) so since it was the Home version and I thought I might need stuff that Windows 10 Pro has I went for pro, cost me $200 bucks. I got my license on Amazon. I thought about getting an MSDN subscription but not sure how the licensing works these days for the OS's it includes (it used to be fairly complicated years ago).

Edit: I used smile.amazon.com so money is contributed to my charity, the American Heart Association.

FOSS?

???

Windows is not gratis and has tracking.

GNU is gratis and has no tracking.

MTV isn't free. Paying customers are still their product.

Blocking at the router level could work. I figure if you have multiple PCs on the network, it could also be easier to maintain.

The problem with this is that unless you're doing deep packet inspection, they can patch the system to route every call through the same frontend IP -- including services you actually want to use. It'll work for the short term, but probably not long term -- doubly so if they just route everything over HTTP.

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