Advanced Security oldschool's surfing laptop configuration

Last updated
Apr 10, 2024
How it's used?
For home and private use
Operating system
Windows 11
Other operating system
Windows Pro
On-device encryption
N/A
Log-in security
    • Biometrics (Windows Hello PIN, TouchID, Face, Iris, Fingerprint)
Security updates
Allow security updates
Update channels
Allow stable updates only
User Access Control
Always notify
Smart App Control
On
Network firewall
Enabled
About WiFi router
Provided by ISP
Real-time security
Windows Security | Configured via GPO
Firewall security
Microsoft Defender Firewall
About custom security
MS Defender - Block all unknown executables | ASR rules | Platform & Engine Beta channel updates
Smart App Control
Exploit Protection settings
SRP - basic disallowed setup
Firewall Hardening
RunBySmartscreen
Windows Spy Blocker
Periodic malware scanners
KVRT
Malware sample testing
I do not participate in malware testing
Environment for malware testing
N/A
Browser(s) and extensions
Firefox I µBO | Brave Search
Brave | Brave Search | My settings
Edge | Privacy Badger | JShelter | Brave
Secure DNS
Cloudfare Malware DNS
Desktop VPN
None
Password manager
Maintenance tools
Windows built-in
Mem Reduct
File and Photo backup
Copy/Paste
Active subscriptions
    • None
System recovery
Wiindows built-in | Aomei Backupper Pro Lifetime
Risk factors
    • Browsing to popular websites
    • Opening email attachments
    • Buying from online stores, entering banks card details
    • Downloading software and files from reputable sites
    • Streaming audio/video content from trusted sites or paid subscriptions
Computer specs
Lenovo L340 Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8145U CPU @ 2.10GHz 2.30 GHz 8.00 GB RAM 1TB HDD
Notable changes
22-12-5 Reverted to MS Defender.
23-1-21 Refreshed Windows with SAC in evaluation mode.
23-2-2 Clean Windows installation
23-2-18 SAC user-enabled on
27-2-23 Added Chrome for the lack of 'feature' bloat.
28-2-23 Changed default browser to Chrome
What I'm looking for?

Looking for minimum feedback.

brambedkar59

Level 29
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Apr 16, 2017
1,875
Taking Kaspersky Free for a test drive.
Don't forget to disable Kaspersky news, it keeps popping from time to time if you don't.
1709861120197.png
 

SHvFl

Level 35
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Nov 19, 2014
2,344
Switched to Bing in Edge after hearing @mlnevese 's report of improved search results.
Biggest issue with bing is you search for something; you scroll down and click a link and guess what. When you go back at search you are not at the spot you clicked but at the top of the page. People even made scripts for it, but MS is still sleeping on a fix. I bet they say it's a feature and not a bug.
 

LennyFox

Level 6
Jan 18, 2024
262
Installed the Moment 5 feature update without issue.

Edited security configuration for accuracy.
When I recall right (at least I thought I have read that, so apologize when wrong) you used to set software restriction policies and defender settings through Group Policy. In your current setup it is not mentioned, so either I am wrong or you have not mentioned that anymore?
 
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oldschool

Level 82
Thread author
Verified
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Well-known
Mar 29, 2018
7,102
When I recall right (at least I thought I have read that, so apologize when wrong) you used to set software restriction policies and defender settings through Group Policy. In your current setup it is not mentioned, so either I am wrong or you have not mentioned that anymore?
Yes, I use GPO to configure MS Defender. I had SRP configured but it didn't seem to work, i.e. I didn't have to whitelist anything, so I'm not using it.

Edited configuration details to include above info plus Cloudfare Malware DNS and Brave Search in Edge.
 
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Mar 10, 2024
265
Yes, I use GPO to configure MS Defender. I had SRP configured but it didn't seem to work, i.e. I didn't have to whitelist anything, so I'm not using it.

Edited configuration details to include above info plus Cloudfare Malware DNS and Brave Search in Edge.
Windows 11 no longer supports SRP.
 
Mar 10, 2024
265

There is this of course, right from the horses mouth. Although I have read that not only is it depreciated but gutted as well.

The Kanthak correction to restore SRP functionality on Windows 11 ver. 22H2, works only when Smart App Control is OFF. If it is in Evaluate or ON mode, then the invalid registry values are automatically restored after restarting Windows.
To restore SRP on all SAC modes, one should not delete registry values but simply set the "RuleCount" value to 0:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Srp\Gp]
"RuleCount"=dword:00000000

Windows restart is required.

Regards:
@Andy Ful (developer of Hard_Configurator)
 

Andy Ful

From Hard_Configurator Tools
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Honorary Member
Top Poster
Developer
Well-known
Dec 23, 2014
8,119
@Andy Ful

Windows Security is broken with my SRP setup. I whitelisted as below without success.

Where to add path * wildcards you mention below?
I am not sure what you want to whitelist and if you want to use H_C for something?
In H_C the below path is whitelisted:
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\system32
 
Last edited:
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