Why is running openvpn so DIFFICULT on Windows compared to Linux?

On 2015-12-26, Paul M. Cook wrote:
On Sat, 26 Dec 2015 07:06:21 +0000, William Unruh wrote:

Just because YOU feel you have to trust them does not mean that they are
trustworth. It might give you 50% more security (Ie a 50% chance that
the VPN is actually secure). But then we get people
worrying because the encryption used might go from
.000000000000000000000001% probability of being broken to
.000000000000000000001% and get all upset at how horrible that is.

If I were writing a syndicated news article on which is the best VPN to
use for privacy reasons, all I would do is ask each of the VPN providers
whether they keep logs or not, and for how long.

And they are all honest.


What else could I ask them?

Since they all will respect a subpoena, I'd have to expect them all to
tell me that they will rat you out to the police if asked.

None are gonna tell me that they're actually fronts for the NSA.
Neither are any gonna tell me they're fronts for criminal activity.

The fact they're free should be suspicious; but what about free
news servers? Free apps? Free web pages. etc.?

On Sat, 26 Dec 2015 20:14:18 +0000, William Unruh wrote:

If I were writing a syndicated news article on which is the best VPN to
use for privacy reasons, all I would do is ask each of the VPN providers
whether they keep logs or not, and for how long.

And they are all honest.

I have to agree with your sense of sarcasm.

I, for one, have researched *scores* of articles on what's the best VPN,
and, I'd have to say that 90% of the articles' writers seem to be either
dead wrong, certifiably stupid, or, more likely, simply shills for the VPN
providers.

100% of the articles' writers have no clue whether or not the VPN provider
is compromised by the NSA (probably 100% of the VPN providers are already
being tapped by the major state-sponsored adversaries anyway).

Plus, about 1/3 of the recommendations are so bad, you have to wonder
what the motive of the writer was. Are they just stupid? Or did they
have a motive? That's how bad some of their recommendations are.

In the end, you can't trust *anyone*, so, the rule of not doing anything
illegal or immoral (the definition of which depends on what country you're
in, of course) always applies, especially whenever using anything that
can be electrified.

If all you want is basic privacy, I personally don't see the problem with
the free VPN providers. You're not gonna be able to break the law and
get away with it, but, it will be harder for adversaries to figure out your
IP address, and for the adversaries who know you (for example, your neighbors
and spouse and your kids and your ISP, etc.) to know what you're doing.

With that huge caveat in mind, what do *you* see as the major *threat*
from the freeware VPN providers?

Mark Bannon écrivait news:n5idth$q52$4
@news.mixmin.net:

On Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:26:55 -0500, Nil wrote:

Right-clicking in Windows has been available to bring up context menus
since at least Windows 98. They didn't *just* change things, and it is
for the better.

Yes. But not to just get to the "Start Run cmd" terminal window.



FWIW In Win8, go to the METRO screen (the "touchscreen" tiles) and type
"CMD" (the mouse cursor position doesn't matter), no need to "RUN" or
whatever...

I suppose it's the same in Win10.

But I think your original problem is solved anyways.

Dominique wrote:
Mark Bannon écrivait news:n5idth$q52$4
@news.mixmin.net:

On Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:26:55 -0500, Nil wrote:

Right-clicking in Windows has been available to bring up context menus
since at least Windows 98. They didn't *just* change things, and it is
for the better.
Yes. But not to just get to the "Start Run cmd" terminal window.



FWIW In Win8, go to the METRO screen (the "touchscreen" tiles) and type
"CMD" (the mouse cursor position doesn't matter), no need to "RUN" or
whatever...

I suppose it's the same in Win10.

But I think your original problem is solved anyways.

The improvement in Win10, is some of the stuff you
used to have to type in Windows 7, is eliminated.

In Windows 10, you "right-click" the Start button,
to bring up the system tools items. Including
Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc),
and Administrator CMD as well as User CMD.

In Windows 7, you would type "devmgmt.msc"
to gain access to an item to run Device Manager.
In Windows 10, a few of your favorites are
already in the list. An example of one that
might not be there, is "perfmon.msc" for
the performance monitor.

Some of those would be hiding in Control Panels : Administrative Tools,
but it's a pain to navigate there to find them.

Paul

Windows 7 OpenVPN Setup

Download the OpenVPN Windows installer.
After downloading, right-click on the file and select Run as Administrator .
You may encounter a Security Warning screen: "Do you want to run this software?"
If you see the Security Warning screen, click Run to run the software.
The Setup Wizard prompt will appear. Click Next to continue.
The OpenVPN license agreement and terms appear. Click I Agree to continue.
The component selection dialog appears. Leave all components checked with their default settings and click Next.
Select your destination folder and click Install.
Note the Destination Folder location during install (usually C:Program FilesOpenVPN or C:Program Files (x86)OpenVPN)
When the installation is complete, click Next.
The wizard will notify you of the completion of the installation and prompt you to click Finish.

Download the desired OpenVPN configuration file saving to the config folder within the directory installed.
Click Continue in the "Destination Folder Access Denied" window to allow access.
Find the OpenVPN GUI icon on your desktop, right-click on it, and choose Properties from the context menu.
In the Properties window, click "Advanced..." then check "Run as administrator".
Click OK to close the "Advanced Properties" window.
Click OK to close the OpenVPN GUI Properties window.

How to Connect
Find the OpenVPN GUI icon on your desktop and double-click it to launch OpenVPN.
In the taskbar tray, right click on the OpenVPN GUI icon.
Find the site to connect to from the menu, and choose Connect from the site's submenu.
Enter SSL VPN Login Username and Password if and only if prompted and click OK.
The OpenVPN GUI icon in the tray will turn green once the secure connection is established.

How to Disconnect
Right click on the OpenVPN GUI icon in the taskbar.
Find the site you are connected to, and choose Disconnect from the site's submenu.
The OpenVPN GUI icon in the tray will turn red once the disconnection is complete.

On Thu, 24 Dec 2015 04:15:16 +0000, Mark Bannon wrote:

Why is running openvpn with a config file so dead simple with Linux yet
so dastardly complicated in Windows 10?

Here are openvpn installation instructions for all operating systems
http://www.vpnbook.com/howto/

Specifically review these win10 instructions
http://www.vpnbook.com/howto/setup-openvpn-on-windows10

Windows 10 is 7 steps.
Linux is 5 steps.
iOS is 8 steps.
Android is 9 steps.

So, Linux seems to be the simplest of all, as usual.