Stop Windows Telemetry/Tracking/Upgrading to Win10

This has been going around on the ‘Net the past few days. It has been found that Windows 10 uploads data to its servers even when every “feature” and app that normally might be expected to do that is disabled/uninstalled. For example, even if you don’t use the Cortana voice-command feature or Bing search, stuff is still being uploaded to Microsoft servers related to this. And even when users choose to not participate in any sort of customer improvement options and disable any kind of tracking, it is still tracking and uploading things.

Not only is this a big privacy issue, there is also a system performance issue, as extra CPU cycles must be run and disk and network activity must occur to process these telemetry-related tasks.

And it is also the case that Windows 8.1 and 7 also are now doing this. Microsoft has been adding all these telemetry and tracking aspects to them lately through Windows Update, making them closer to Windows 10.

The advice from many experts now is to not go near Windows 10. Do not install it. Retain your privacy and control over your systems.

Below are instructions for disabling the unwanted telemetry/tracking in Windows 7 and 8.1 and removing all updates associated with upgrading to Windows 10:

Below is the list of Windows updates to remove. Before uninstalling them and rebooting make sure that you have Windows Update set to not automatically install updates:

KB2902907 MS Security Essentials/Windows Defender related update [no description/information available]
KB2952664 Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7 more info
KB2976978 Compatibility update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 more info
KB2990214 Update that enables you to upgrade from Windows 7 to a later version of Windows more info
KB3021917 Update to Windows 7 SP1 for performance improvements more info
KB3022345 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry more info
KB3035583 Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 more info
KB3044374 Update that enables you to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to a later version of Windows more info
KB3046480 Update helps to determine whether to migrate the .NET Framework 1.1 when you upgrade Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 more info
KB3050265 Windows Update Client for Windows 7: June 2015 more info
KB3050267 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1: June 2015 more info
KB3065987 Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: July 2015 more info
KB3065988 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: July 2015 more info
KB3068708 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry more info
KB3075249 Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 more info
KB3075851 Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: August 2015 more info
KB3075853 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: August 2015 more info
KB3080149 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry more info
KB3083324 Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: September 2015 more info
KB3083325 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: September 2015 more info
KB3083710 Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: October 2015 more info
KB3083711 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: October 2015 more info
KB3112336 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: December 2015 more info

They can be uninstalled manually via elevated command prompt with the following commands:
wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:2976978 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:2990214 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3021917 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3044374 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3046480 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3050265 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3050267 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3065987 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3065988 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3075851 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3075853 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3083324 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3083710 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3083711 /quiet /norestart wusa /uninstall /kb:3112336 /quiet /norestart

Alternately, here is a .bat file to run the above commands. It must be run in an elevated command prompt. (Don’t forget to reboot afterwards. You can proceed to finish the next steps before rebooting.)

For the following two updates, it is recommended to install them (see one of the comments below) but to modify the registry with following procedure after installing them:

KB3065988 Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: July 2015 more info
KB3065987 Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: July 2015 more info

After installing either of the above updates, open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> Policies -> Microsoft -> Windows. Right-click on Windows and select option to create a new key and name it “WindowsUpdate”. Now right-click on the WindowsUpdate key you just created and select option to create new 32-bit DWORD and name it “DisableOSUpgrade”. Right-click on DisableOSUpgrade and select modify option and change value from 0 to 1.

The following services should be removed:

In an elevated command prompt run the following:
sc stop DiagTrack sc stop dmwappushservice sc delete DiagTrack sc delete dmwappushservice echo "" > C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Diagnosis\ETLLogs\AutoLogger\AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener.etl

Open the Task Scheduler (Win key then type “sched”). Under Task Scheduler Library -> Microsoft delete the following items:

Everything under “Application Experience”
Everything under “Autochk”
Everything under “Customer Experience Improvement Program”
Under “Disk Diagnostic” delete only the “Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector”
Under “Maintenance” “WinSAT”
“Media Center” and click the “status” column, then select all non-disabled entries and disable them.

Now you can reboot. When you open Windows Update again it will ask to install whichever updates above were removed. Right-click on each one and select “hide”.

Finally, log in to your broadband router and look for an option like “content filtering” or “block sites”. Add the following hosts to be blocked. On my Netgear router each host is a keyword that must be added.

134.170.30.202 137.116.81.24 204.79.197.200 23.218.212.69 65.39.117.230 65.55.108.23 a-0001.a-msedge.net choice.microsoft.com choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net compatexchange.cloudapp.net corp.sts.microsoft.com corpext.msitadfs.glbdns2.microsoft.com cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net df.telemetry.microsoft.com diagnostics.support.microsoft.com fe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net feedback.microsoft-hohm.com feedback.search.microsoft.com feedback.windows.com i1.services.social.microsoft.com i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net oca.telemetry.microsoft.com oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net pre.footprintpredict.com redir.metaservices.microsoft.com reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com sls.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com statsfe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net statsfe2.ws.microsoft.com survey.watson.microsoft.com telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net telemetry.appex.bing.net telemetry.appex.bing.net:443 telemetry.microsoft.com telemetry.urs.microsoft.com vortex.data.microsoft.com vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com vortex-win.data.microsoft.com watson.live.com watson.microsoft.com watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com watson.telemetry.microsoft.com watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com