Ever since I reinstalled W10 Pro from scratch, I've been noticing that c:\windows\explorer.exe has been calling out to an Azure server whenever
I turn on my cable modem and router.

After some searches of the internet, I found out that it was doing so in
order to update "News and interests". I had "New and interests" turned
off on my taskbar, but this was still happening.

Since I have Group Policy Editor, I was able to follow this direction
from (ironically) Copilot: ___________________________________________________________________________
If you’re comfortable with advanced settings, you can use the Local
Group Policy Editor to disable the "News and interests" feature more thoroughly. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative
Templates > Windows Components > News and Interests and set the policy
(Enable News and interests on the taskbar) to "Disabled" ___________________________________________________________________________

Reboot the computer. End of problem, News and interests dropdown is no
longer present on the taskbar and since I restarted my cable modem and
router, no listing of Explorer calling out in Nirsoft's LiveTcpUdpWatch program. At least, so far.

Fuckin' Microsoft. "We know what you need and want." No they don't.

--
John C.

Take back Microsoft from India.

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On 2/19/2025 7:45 AM, John C. wrote:

Ever since I reinstalled W10 Pro from scratch, I've been noticing that c:\windows\explorer.exe has been calling out to an Azure server whenever
I turn on my cable modem and router.

I recommend Simplewall. It's free and well designed.
When anything tries to go out it asks you if you want to
allow it. Once you allow browser, email, etc, most other
things are spyware. You'll be surprised at how many programs
try to call home and how many things on Windows are spyware.

A decent firewall is also handy to block incoming hack
attempts and to expose malware if you get any, since
most will try to call out. I've actually used a firewall
since Win98.

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On Wed, 2/19/2025 7:45 AM, John C. wrote:

Ever since I reinstalled W10 Pro from scratch, I've been noticing that c:\windows\explorer.exe has been calling out to an Azure server whenever
I turn on my cable modem and router.

After some searches of the internet, I found out that it was doing so in order to update "News and interests". I had "New and interests" turned
off on my taskbar, but this was still happening.

Since I have Group Policy Editor, I was able to follow this direction
from (ironically) Copilot: ___________________________________________________________________________ If you’re comfortable with advanced settings, you can use the Local
Group Policy Editor to disable the "News and interests" feature more thoroughly. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative
Templates > Windows Components > News and Interests and set the policy (Enable News and interests on the taskbar) to "Disabled" ___________________________________________________________________________

Reboot the computer. End of problem, News and interests dropdown is no
longer present on the taskbar and since I restarted my cable modem and router, no listing of Explorer calling out in Nirsoft's LiveTcpUdpWatch program. At least, so far.

Fuckin' Microsoft. "We know what you need and want." No they don't.

All it's doing is working out your exact grid coordinates (it pretends it
needs this for the weather widget).

Nothing to worry about :-)

*******

# Disable news and interests -- for people without GPEDIT.msc

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\NewsAndInterests\AllowNewsAndInterests]
"value"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Feeds] "EnableFeeds"=dword:00000000

# Enable news and interests

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\NewsAndInterests\AllowNewsAndInterests]
"value"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Feeds] "EnableFeeds"=dword:00000001

From: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/178178-how-enable-disable-news-interests-taskbar-windows-10-a.html

Paul

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John C. wrote:

Newyana2 wrote:

John C. wrote:

Ever since I reinstalled W10 Pro from scratch, I've been noticing that
c:\windows\explorer.exe has been calling out to an Azure server whenever >>> I turn on my cable modem and router.

    I recommend Simplewall. It's free and well designed.
When anything tries to go out it asks you if you want to
allow it. Once you allow browser, email, etc, most other
things are spyware. You'll be surprised at how many programs
try to call home and how many things on Windows are spyware.

 A decent firewall is also handy to block incoming hack
attempts and to expose malware if you get any, since
most will try to call out. I've actually used a firewall
since Win98.

Yeah, I used Kerio 2.1.5 for years. Can't remember why I quit using it.

Newyana2, were you talking about this?

https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall

--
John C.

Take back Microsoft from India.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 25/02/19 07:39 AM, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/19/2025 7:45 AM, John C. wrote:

Ever since I reinstalled W10 Pro from scratch, I've been noticing that
c:\windows\explorer.exe has been calling out to an Azure server whenever
I turn on my cable modem and router.

    I recommend Simplewall. It's free and well designed.
When anything tries to go out it asks you if you want to
allow it. Once you allow browser, email, etc, most other
things are spyware. You'll be surprised at how many programs
try to call home and how many things on Windows are spyware.

 A decent firewall is also handy to block incoming hack
attempts and to expose malware if you get any, since
most will try to call out. I've actually used a firewall
since Win98.

Yeah, I used Kerio 2.1.5 for years. Can't remember why I quit using it.

--
John C.

Take back Microsoft from India.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/20/2025 9:57 AM, John C. wrote:

Newyana2, were you talking about this?

https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall

Yes, that's it. I't very well designed You can just left click
the systray icon to show a list of what's allowed and not
allowed. There are also custom settings in the Blocklist menu
to restrict Microsoft.

I originally got AtGuard for Win98. It's good for restricting
calling home and also for blocking incoming attempts. Back
when I had AtGuard, I once saw an ad for Microsoft Visual
Studio. AG had a function that allowed it to learn. If an ad got
through I could drag it to a "trashcan". (It was ahead of its
time.)

I accidentally used the wrong mousebutton, clicking the ad.
A windows popped up from AG. "Do you want to allow DCOM to
go outbound?" At the time I've never heard of DCOM. Probably
Microsoft was trying to access my Registry to see who was
clicking the ad. I was amazed that such things were possible.
(Though MS were caught doing exactly that in 1999, with
people who visited the Windows Update site.)

Since then I'm never without a firewall. These days almost
every program I install tries to call home without asking. Some
firewalls are better than others. I like the way that Simplewall
tells me what's trying to go out and where they're trying to go.
It also has a log of attempts. I had a firewall in Win7 that would
just block anything that I hadn't configured to go out. That could
be confusing when I forgot and tried to use a new program.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Newyana2 wrote:

John C. wrote:

Newyana2, were you talking about this?

   https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall

   Yes, that's it. I't very well designed You can just left click
the systray icon to show a list of what's allowed and not
allowed. There are also custom settings in the Blocklist menu
to restrict Microsoft.

   I originally got AtGuard for Win98.

Haven't heard that name for a long time. AtGuard was the first firewall
I ever used. Worked well too.

It's good for restricting
calling home and also for blocking incoming attempts. Back
when I had AtGuard, I once saw an ad for Microsoft Visual
Studio. AG had a function that allowed it to learn. If an ad got
through I could drag it to a "trashcan". (It was ahead of its
time.)

  I accidentally used the wrong mousebutton, clicking the ad.
A windows popped up from AG. "Do you want to allow DCOM to
go outbound?" At the time I've never heard of DCOM. Probably
Microsoft was trying to access my Registry to see who was
clicking the ad. I was amazed that such things were possible.
(Though MS were caught doing exactly that in 1999, with
people who visited the Windows Update site.)

  Since then I'm never without a firewall. These days almost
every program I install tries to call home without asking. Some
firewalls are better than others. I like the way that Simplewall
tells me what's trying to go out and where they're trying to go.
It also has a log of attempts. I had a firewall in Win7 that would
just block anything that I hadn't configured to go out. That could
be confusing when I forgot and tried to use a new program.

Kerio 2.1.5 was my absolute favorite firewall. Many people in ACF used
it for a very long time. Then they came out with version 4.1.3 and (I
can't remember, maybe they got bought out maybe by GFI) I believe at
that point it became $ware.

Still have setup files in my archives for 2.1.5 and newer, but I don't
believe they work in W10.

Another good one I used to use is Tinywall:

https://tinywall.pados.hu/

Can't remember why I quit using it (at some point in W7.)

--
John C.

Take back Microsoft from India.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 2/21/2025 7:59 AM, John C. wrote:

Newyana2 wrote:

John C. wrote:

Newyana2, were you talking about this?

   https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall

   Yes, that's it. I't very well designed You can just left click
the systray icon to show a list of what's allowed and not
allowed. There are also custom settings in the Blocklist menu
to restrict Microsoft.

   I originally got AtGuard for Win98.

Haven't heard that name for a long time. AtGuard was the first firewall
I ever used. Worked well too.

The developers sold it to Symantec, who did their usual
routine: Strip the functionality, double the price and market
like crazy. I once read the Symantec firewall came with 700
defaults -- 700 domains whitelisted. So it must have been
very easy to use. :)

It seems like every time I find a good product that's worth
paying for, Symantec buys it and ruins it. Atguard. Drive Image.
Clean Sweep... And somehow they stay in business! I guess
that demonstrates the power of advertising.

Kerio 2.1.5 was my absolute favorite firewall.

Another good one I used to use is Tinywall:

I never tried Kerio. After AG it was Zone Alarm. Then
that one went south. I think I used Online Armor on XP. I
might be using Tiny, or maybe Personal, on 7. I've forgotten.

Oddly, it seems that people are using firewalls less instead
of more. Maybe that's because they have more backup and
Windows has more built-in security than it used to. Yet the
calling home by Windows spyware and malware generally
is actually worse than it used to be. Not long ago, the only
calling home was when a computer got taken into a bot herd.
These days, nearly every program I try attempts to call
home. In some cases it's only to report an install. Still, they
have no right. And they know that -- they invariably try to
do it secretly.

Most of my personal friends switched to Macs over the years.
They were attracted to the simplicity and relative safety. One
friend, last I heard, was paying a hefty sum for annual tech
support. No firewall. No privacy. The man just charged her to
set up a commercial, online backup called Aconite. Easy for
him.

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On 2/21/25 09:22 AM, Newyana2 wrote:

It seems like every time I find a good product that's worth
paying for, Symantec buys it and ruins it. Atguard. Drive Image.
Clean Sweep... And somehow they stay in business! I guess
that demonstrates the power of advertising.

Or the stupidity of the public. Or better yet, the lack of information to the 'general'
public. Yep, we know but...

--
Linux Mint 22.1, Cinnamon 6.4.7, Kernel 6.8.0-53-generic
Thunderbird 128.7.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 135.0
Alan K.

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On 2/21/2025 9:24 AM, Alan K. wrote:

On 2/21/25 09:22 AM, Newyana2 wrote:

It seems like every time I find a good product that's worth
paying for, Symantec buys it and ruins it. Atguard. Drive Image.
Clean Sweep... And somehow they stay in business! I guess
that demonstrates the power of advertising.

Or the stupidity of the public.  Or better yet, the lack of information
to the 'general' public.  Yep, we know but...

I can sympathize. With any given product, most people have
no idea how to assess it. So what do we do? We figure, "Well
this one was on TV. So at least it's not fly-by-night."

I've found similar with software in general. When I need something
I often spend a day or more hunting. Finally I come across some
little-known product that's better than everything else. But hardly
anyone knows about it. It's not slick, or the installer is slightly
funky.

One review or well placed ad can make all the difference. Firefox
and Libre Office have both suffered from not being widely marketed.
MS Office keeps a monopoly position by making sure they get into
colleges.

The other day someone was talking about a program called Nanazip,
raving about it. It's on the Windows Store. I got curious and found
it at github. (I have no MS account and would never get anything from
their store.)
It turns out that Nanazip is simply a "modern UI" skin over 7-Zip. Twice the size, twice the memory footprint. And the real kicker: They've done
nothing to improve 7-Zip's poor design. Just skinned it. So now there's
no menu. Just a row of cellphone-style outline icons. And they show in
black on my dark blue title bar. Modern. Yet I'm guessing a focus group
would vote overwhelmingly for Nanazip over 7-Zip.

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