Advanced Security oldschool's surfing laptop configuration

Last updated
Nov 20, 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
Off
Network firewall
Enabled
About WiFi router
Provided by ISP
Real-time security
Windows Security
Firewall security
Microsoft Defender Firewall
About custom security
MS Defender - Default | ASR rules | Platform & Engine Beta channel updates
All system-wide Exploit Protections enabled, plus these for Edge & Chrome.
Firewall Hardening
RunBySmartscreen
Windows Spy Blocker
Periodic malware scanners
NPE
Malware sample testing
I do not participate in malware testing
Environment for malware testing
N/A
Browser(s) and extensions
Chrome | Privacy Badger | Brave Search
Edge | Privacy Badger | Brave Search | Surf profile & secure profile
Chrome flags | Edge flags
Secure DNS
Quad9 DNS
Desktop VPN
None
Password manager
Maintenance tools
Windows built-in
File and Photo backup
Copy/Paste
Subscriptions
    • None
System recovery
Aomei Backupper Pro Lifetime - Primary
Wiindows Backup & Restore- Secondary image backup
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 16GB RAM 500GB SSD 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
24.2.24 Refreshed Windows and re-enabled Smart App Control
5.7.24 Performed a repair installation via Windows Update. Nice & easy!
6.10.24 Updated to 24H2 OS build 26100.1882
10.10.24 Rolled back to 23H2 due to bugs & performance
16.10.24 Added Chrome browser. Privacy Badger listed as main extension, but I also keep µBO, JShelter and Local CDN installed, not enabled.
What I'm looking for?

Looking for minimum feedback.

brambedkar59

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Apr 16, 2017
2,124
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

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Nov 19, 2014
2,350
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.
 
F

ForgottenSeer 107474

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

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Mar 29, 2018
7,698
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.
 
F

ForgottenSeer 109138

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.
 
F

ForgottenSeer 109138

There is a setting you can change to enable it again. Found it here on MT. I am running SRP on Windows 11

@oldschool better ask Andy Ful when you want to know what setting to change
Interesting because last I knew MS was no longer developing SRP in group policy but instead using applocker or WDAC.
 
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F

ForgottenSeer 109138


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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Dec 23, 2014
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@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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