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#16
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On 06/02/2018 02:51 PM, Paul wrote:
[snip] 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. Â*Â* Paul Your router may be able to block such requests, and as long as you disable UPnP, Windows can't change that. -- Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.us/ "No being is so important that he can usurp the rights of another" -- Picard to Data/Graves "The Schizoid Man" |
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#17
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On 06/02/2018 03:05 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
On Sat, 2 Jun 2018 14:43:05 -0400, Wolf K wrote: Use your browser and choice of search engine to find "disconnect cortana from bing." I had already done that and it didn't work. It should work to set your router to block access to Bing, then use a different search engine. -- Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.us/ "No being is so important that he can usurp the rights of another" -- Picard to Data/Graves "The Schizoid Man" |
#18
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On Sun, 03 Jun 2018 03:35:46 -0400, Paul wrote:
What hope do you think they have, against a determined adversary ? Microsoft is a determined adversary, with the resources to counter anything they throw at Windows. I haven't posted because it took me DAYS to recover from using Spybot Anti-Beacon because I couldn't log into my system after I tweaked the settings in my attempt to disable Cortana-to-net access. So I won't be touching Spybot Anti-Beacon ever again. I'm sure it's good stuff - but it's like using a chainsaw in the registry. Microsoft could also be "data mining" social media, including USENET. So if you "discovered a way to block X", keep it to yourself until you can hand it off to someone who can apply the info. One thing I learned from all my attempts is that it seems you are correct that Microsoft is blocking, one by one, all the methods it knows about to disable the Cortana-to-Internet search. |
#19
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On Sat, 2 Jun 2018 18:31:53 -0000 (UTC), 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? While I may try again, when I turned off Cortana's connection to Bing, it bricked my system such that it wouldn't boot. I had to re-install Windows and Ubuntu dual boot, which caused a different set up completely unrelated problems since I moved to the newer Ubuntu 18.04 from 17.10 (which handled the dual-boot differently). Gory details he Why doesn't Ubuntu 18.04 ask to install next to Windows 10 Pro single HDD as a dual boot? https://groups.google.com/forum/#!to...ux/D7E7FQ1NLNk[1-25] Where the main point is that I'm going to temporarily give up on trying to disable Cortana's connection to Bing (even though Wolf K. seems to be the only one who knows the answer to everything as he implied in this thread) because Microsoft seems to have made it just too dangerous to do. |
#20
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
Arlen Holder wrote:
On Sat, 2 Jun 2018 18:31:53 -0000 (UTC), 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? While I may try again, when I turned off Cortana's connection to Bing, it bricked my system such that it wouldn't boot. I had to re-install Windows and Ubuntu dual boot, which caused a different set up completely unrelated problems since I moved to the newer Ubuntu 18.04 from 17.10 (which handled the dual-boot differently). Gory details he Why doesn't Ubuntu 18.04 ask to install next to Windows 10 Pro single HDD as a dual boot? https://groups.google.com/forum/#!to...ux/D7E7FQ1NLNk[1-25] Where the main point is that I'm going to temporarily give up on trying to disable Cortana's connection to Bing (even though Wolf K. seems to be the only one who knows the answer to everything as he implied in this thread) because Microsoft seems to have made it just too dangerous to do. https://www.howtogeek.com/226638/mak...stead-of-bing/ Paul |
#21
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On Thu, 21 Jun 2018 06:46:39 -0400, Paul wrote:
https://www.howtogeek.com/226638/mak...stead-of-bing/ Hi Paul, The original quest was to kill *all* the Internet searches from Cortana. If I wanted to search, I'd search using a web browser of my choice. I guess you're indicating that we *can* use a web browser of our choice, where I'd choose Epic or Opera since they're already enabled with so-called VPN (really a glorified proxy) which at least obfuscates the IP address, and, where Epic uses an epic-specific search and where Opera can be told to use DuckDuckGo as opposed to Google (which is as bad as Bing on privacy). So if I ran that sequence, it would be to make Cortana go to Opera and DuckDuckGo, or to Epic and Epicsearch if Opera didn't work out. 1) Download EdgeDeflector from here https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector/releases Specifically: https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector/releases/download/v1.1.3.0/EdgeDeflector_install.exe I saved it to C:\software\browser\http\ms_based\edge\edge_deflec tor\. 2) Doubleclick on the installer executable It will want to go into C:\Program Files (x86)\EdgeDeflector\ I put it in C:\app\browser\http\ms_based\edge\edge_deflector\ Contrary to the instructions (why are instructions always wrong?) it asks: "How do you want to open this?" where you're supposed to Choose EdgeDeflector from the list and check "Always use this app." But if you skip that popup, you'll get it again when you run a Cortana search. 3) I ran a Cortana search for "snafu" which brought up Opera to Bing. At least that's half the victory, where it is very clear that Opera is normally set to search using DuckDuckGo. So we're halfway there... The article says we can redirect Bing searches to use Google instead with an extension called Chrometana for Chrome or Bing-Google for Firefox. Chrometana: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrometana-redirect-bing/kaicbfmipfpfpjmlbpejaoaflfdnabnc?hl=en Bing-Google: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bing-google-1/ Since Opera is "chrome like", I tried that, but I couldn't get Chrometana to install on Opera. The *only* options for the default browser are Opera or Epic (due to the inherent built-in proxy), so I tried Epic next. But Chrometana wouldn't install on Edge either. So that's a bust. Nonetheless, at least now Edge is out of the picture on Cortana searches. When I search with Cortana for "snafu", Opera comes up with the horridly descriptive URL: https://www.bing.com/search?q=snafu&form=YHBGYO&qs=SW&cvid=db79a3670dae 4fd0ae7ad819828956df&pq=snafu&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=D6C76A80D5D19F03A43A998DD7E7BC4A&ts=15299 82513744&nclidts=1529982513&tsms=744 Which I'm sure carries with it a load of privacy-related personal information. I guess it's a separate thread to decode that privacy information. |
#22
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
Arlen Holder wrote:
On Thu, 21 Jun 2018 06:46:39 -0400, Paul wrote: https://www.howtogeek.com/226638/mak...stead-of-bing/ Hi Paul, The original quest was to kill *all* the Internet searches from Cortana. If I wanted to search, I'd search using a web browser of my choice. I guess you're indicating that we *can* use a web browser of our choice, where I'd choose Epic or Opera since they're already enabled with so-called VPN (really a glorified proxy) which at least obfuscates the IP address, and, where Epic uses an epic-specific search and where Opera can be told to use DuckDuckGo as opposed to Google (which is as bad as Bing on privacy). So if I ran that sequence, it would be to make Cortana go to Opera and DuckDuckGo, or to Epic and Epicsearch if Opera didn't work out. 1) Download EdgeDeflector from here https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector/releases Specifically: https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector/releases/download/v1.1.3.0/EdgeDeflector_install.exe I saved it to C:\software\browser\http\ms_based\edge\edge_deflec tor\. 2) Doubleclick on the installer executable It will want to go into C:\Program Files (x86)\EdgeDeflector\ I put it in C:\app\browser\http\ms_based\edge\edge_deflector\ Contrary to the instructions (why are instructions always wrong?) it asks: "How do you want to open this?" where you're supposed to Choose EdgeDeflector from the list and check "Always use this app." But if you skip that popup, you'll get it again when you run a Cortana search. 3) I ran a Cortana search for "snafu" which brought up Opera to Bing. At least that's half the victory, where it is very clear that Opera is normally set to search using DuckDuckGo. So we're halfway there... The article says we can redirect Bing searches to use Google instead with an extension called Chrometana for Chrome or Bing-Google for Firefox. Chrometana: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrometana-redirect-bing/kaicbfmipfpfpjmlbpejaoaflfdnabnc?hl=en Bing-Google: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bing-google-1/ Since Opera is "chrome like", I tried that, but I couldn't get Chrometana to install on Opera. The *only* options for the default browser are Opera or Epic (due to the inherent built-in proxy), so I tried Epic next. But Chrometana wouldn't install on Edge either. So that's a bust. Nonetheless, at least now Edge is out of the picture on Cortana searches. When I search with Cortana for "snafu", Opera comes up with the horridly descriptive URL: https://www.bing.com/search?q=snafu&form=YHBGYO&qs=SW&cvid=db79a3670dae 4fd0ae7ad819828956df&pq=snafu&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=D6C76A80D5D19F03A43A998DD7E7BC4A&ts=15299 82513744&nclidts=1529982513&tsms=744 Which I'm sure carries with it a load of privacy-related personal information. I guess it's a separate thread to decode that privacy information. The closest thing to local info on the machine, is the "Diagnostic Data Viewer". That installs from the Store, and required time (a few days) to collect a trace. The events in there, a tossed salad of junk nobody cares about, labels some of them with a "cv" number. Which might be similar to the "cvid" in the Bing search. Needless to say, anything typed in Cortana, can be labeled and sent to Bing, as well as labeled and sent to Vortex, so it could conceivably be recorded more than once. But don't expect to find a web page explaining the (varied on purpose) identifier strings they use. It's not like you will find an "SSN-like" identifier stamped on everything. That would be... too simple. Paul |
#23
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 00:03:48 -0400, Paul wrote:
Needless to say, anything typed in Cortana, can be labeled and sent to Bing, as well as labeled and sent to Vortex, so it could conceivably be recorded more than once. But don't expect to find a web page explaining the (varied on purpose) identifier strings they use. It's not like you will find an "SSN-like" identifier stamped on everything. That would be... too simple. Hi Paul, Whatever that URL encodes, it's scary enough to want to eliminate it. I ran a few Cortana searches, where *some* of the numbers are repeated. https://www.bing.com/search?q=snafu &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=e2aa5a29f880494bad8d5252d1 6927ac&pq=snafu&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 38877237&nclidts=1529638877&tsms=158 &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=55ba37aea02e455285a1a4fb64 14844e&pq=abcde&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 38939480&nclidts=1529638939&tsms=567 &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=38c8ea81879748c6bc6ecd8a84 1028f2&pq=fghij&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 38980492&nclidts=1529638980&tsms=386 &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=d1df059135a84a4cb4542a8edd 409a60&pq=klmno&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 42409972&nclidts=1529642409&tsms=897 Notice that the WNSGPH is some kind of browser keyword https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1094852 https://pastebin.com/REGm8FyV And notice that the xxx'd-out identifier is the *same* on every search! (My guess is that's a unique fingerprint for every single machine!) |
#24
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
Arlen Holder wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 00:03:48 -0400, Paul wrote: Needless to say, anything typed in Cortana, can be labeled and sent to Bing, as well as labeled and sent to Vortex, so it could conceivably be recorded more than once. But don't expect to find a web page explaining the (varied on purpose) identifier strings they use. It's not like you will find an "SSN-like" identifier stamped on everything. That would be... too simple. Hi Paul, Whatever that URL encodes, it's scary enough to want to eliminate it. I ran a few Cortana searches, where *some* of the numbers are repeated. https://www.bing.com/search?q=snafu &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=e2aa5a29f880494bad8d5252d1 6927ac&pq=snafu&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 38877237&nclidts=1529638877&tsms=158 &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=55ba37aea02e455285a1a4fb64 14844e&pq=abcde&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 38939480&nclidts=1529638939&tsms=567 &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=38c8ea81879748c6bc6ecd8a84 1028f2&pq=fghij&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 38980492&nclidts=1529638980&tsms=386 &form=WNSGPH&qs=SW&cvid=d1df059135a84a4cb4542a8edd 409a60&pq=klmno&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&ts=15296 42409972&nclidts=1529642409&tsms=897 Notice that the WNSGPH is some kind of browser keyword https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1094852 https://pastebin.com/REGm8FyV And notice that the xxx'd-out identifier is the *same* on every search! (My guess is that's a unique fingerprint for every single machine!) If you like numbers, in an Administrator Command Prompt try slmgr /dlv which gives the OS license status. In it, is a UniqueID for the installation itself. And for at least some of that info, they obfuscate the format to make registry searches harder. For example, the OS license key, isn't stored as 25 letters. There's a kind of string compression scheme. Someone of course figured it out, which is why there is MagicJellyBean and so on. There was no crypto on that one. So while you could try searching for some of those strings in the /dlv output, don't be surprised if you can't find them in Regedit. Paul |
#25
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 01:02:30 -0400, Paul wrote:
If you like numbers, in an Administrator Command Prompt try slmgr /dlv which gives the OS license status. In it, is a UniqueID for the installation itself. Hi Paul, Now why didn't you tell me this earlier! You know I'm writing scores of tutorials for setting up a system, where this should be part of the "snapshotting" step! http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_setup002.jpg I need to add this wonderful command to that snapshot repertoire! * Software licensing service version: 10.0.17134.112 * Name: Windows(R), Professional edition * Description: Windows(R) Operating System, RETAIL channel * Activation ID: xxx * Application ID: xxx * Extended PID: xxx * Product Key Channel: Retail * Installation ID: xxx * Use License URL: https://activation-v2.sls.microsoft....tension=Retail * Validation URL: https://validation-v2.sls.microsoft....WGA/slwga.asmx * Partial Product Key: 3V66T * License Status: Licensed * Remaining Windows rearm count: 1001 * Remaining SKU rearm count: 1001 * Trusted time: 6/22/2018 12:00:00 AM So while you could try searching for some of those strings in the /dlv output, don't be surprised if you can't find them in Regedit. I checked with the Bing URL and none of those numbers are exact matches. https://www.bing.com/search?q=snafu&...s=xxx&tsms=090 |
#26
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How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net?
On Sat, 2 Jun 2018 18:31:53 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
How do I turn off Cortana's connection to Bing on the net? For the tribal record archives, Paul suggested a workaround which disconnects Edge but not Bing for me, but if you use more common browsers like Chrome & Firefox, Pauls solution should adequately disconnect your Cortana searches from Bing and Edge. For everyone to benefit, here's a replay of the information posted in another thread yesterday. On Thu, 21 Jun 2018 06:46:39 -0400, Paul wrote: https://www.howtogeek.com/226638/mak...stead-of-bing/ Hi Paul, The original quest was to kill *all* the Internet searches from Cortana. If I wanted to search, I'd search using a web browser of my choice. I guess you're indicating that we *can* use a web browser of our choice, where I'd choose Epic or Opera since they're already enabled with so-called VPN (really a glorified proxy) which at least obfuscates the IP address, and, where Epic uses an epic-specific search and where Opera can be told to use DuckDuckGo as opposed to Google (which is as bad as Bing on privacy). So if I ran that sequence, it would be to make Cortana go to Opera and DuckDuckGo, or to Epic and Epicsearch if Opera didn't work out. 1) Download EdgeDeflector from here https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector/releases Specifically: https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector/releases/download/v1.1.3.0/EdgeDeflector_install.exe I saved it to C:\software\browser\http\ms_based\edge\edge_deflec tor\. 2) Doubleclick on the installer executable It will want to go into C:\Program Files (x86)\EdgeDeflector\ I put it in C:\app\browser\http\ms_based\edge\edge_deflector\ Contrary to the instructions (why are instructions always wrong?) it asks: "How do you want to open this?" where you're supposed to Choose EdgeDeflector from the list and check "Always use this app." But if you skip that popup, you'll get it again when you run a Cortana search. 3) I ran a Cortana search for "snafu" which brought up Opera to Bing. At least that's half the victory, where it is very clear that Opera is normally set to search using DuckDuckGo. So we're halfway there... The article says we can redirect Bing searches to use Google instead with an extension called Chrometana for Chrome or Bing-Google for Firefox. Chrometana: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrometana-redirect-bing/kaicbfmipfpfpjmlbpejaoaflfdnabnc?hl=en Bing-Google: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bing-google-1/ Since Opera is "chrome like", I tried that, but I couldn't get Chrometana to install on Opera. The *only* options for the default browser are Opera or Epic (due to the inherent built-in proxy), so I tried Epic next. But Chrometana wouldn't install on Edge either. So that's a bust. Nonetheless, at least now Edge is out of the picture on Cortana searches. When I search with Cortana for "snafu", Opera comes up with a horridly descriptive URL with fingerprinting numbers involved. Which I'm sure carries with it a load of privacy-related personal information. I guess it's a separate thread to decode that privacy information. |
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