Char Jackson wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jun 2018 15:51:08 -0400, Paul wrote:

Arlen Holder wrote:
I just installed Windows 10 1803.

I like Cortana for finding things on my computer.
But I never want Cortana to run a Bing web search.

I don't want to use Cortana for finding things on the net.

For that, I can use my own browser set to my choice of search engine.

How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
At the same time keeping Cortana's searches on my computer?
If you use TCPView, you'll find connections to raw IP
addresses (the OS didn't get those by using DNS lookup,
the IP numbers were recorded in the OS). Doing a
reverse translation on one of those, by using a DNS lookup
web site, you'll notice the node name on the Internet is
"Vortex", which is the Microsoft information collection server.

You may deny Bing access to the search string, but Vortex
is going to be receiving all sorts of text strings you've
been typing. Think of it, as you've patching two holes
in a bucket with twenty holes in it, and are congratulating
yourself on the great quantity of water you're saving :-/
There are eighteen more holes to go.

Everything you type into Cortana, no matter where it's
destined, is going to get logged and transmitted to MSFT.

Disconnecting the network cable... assures a great
deal of privacy.

It's the one toggle switch that really works on Windows 10.

Microsoft has rigged the HOSTS file. You cannot stop Vortex,
because no DNS translation is required to get there. And
even if they did use a symbolic address that needed translation,
Microsoft has also hard wired the HOSTS so that certain
microsoft.com domain addresses cannot be blocked (you enter
the values in HOSTS file and they will be ignored). They've
put holes in your bucket, everywhere you turn. Good luck
in your mission to deny Microsoft their information stream.

An easy way to stop that traffic, or any traffic that you don't want, is
to use an external (to that PC) firewall or proxy. For a free firewall,
I like pfSense. For a proxy, I'd just use a virtual edition of the
enterprise gear that I work with every day, but most people won't have
access to that or know how to use it. The firewall approach always
works, though. At least as long as it's not on the system you're trying
to protect.


We don't know where the bottom of the bottomless well is.

They could use malware techniques like algorithmically
generated IP addresses, and you'd have a hard time
blocking all of that.

We don't really know what their "Plan C" is.

Paul