I helped my 77 year old mother purchase a new laptop, and I want to be sure to get all the bloatware off of it, and set her up with with some better privacy options. I am aMac guy at home so I haven’t done this kind of thing for many years. (I use Windows at work, so I’m quite familiar and capable, but obviously I have to rely on IT knowing what they are doing (they don’t)). I did make sure to get the pro version of Windows 11. I’m going to set her up with Proton mail I think. This is the computer that is coming:
(Forgive me if this is not the correct place to post)
Wipe the operating system entirely and reinstall it from scratch. That would do a lot of it. And if the only thing she’s really going to do is browse the internet, you might consider installing mint instead.
If you’re staying with windows and re-installing anyway (recommend this), make a ‘data’ partition, then link my documents, pictures etc. To identical folders on the data partition. Save user files on the data partition only.
That way, next time to reinstall it’s not a big deal at all, just relink the data folders. Your data is never touched and re installing is easy.
Or use Linux ;)
Edit: Something like this.
+1 pick Windows 10 / 11 Enterprise and/OR LTSB for a cleaner experience. Setting Windows as English (International) also seems to still get rid of a ton of garbage. https://www.w10privacy.de/english-home/ is also a great tool to mass disable telemetry and bullshit Windows components. Then set Windows to only security updates. You may also want to read this about what connections Windows makes and how to disable what you don’t need further.
This is the answer. If she is more comfortable with windows there are stripped down versions of 7 and 10, maybe even 11 that will have even less of the crap that msft throws in.
Unfortunately that stripped down versions are very unsafe because of removed antivirus features and sometimes they even include malware. I don’t recommend that for a casual user who doesn’t know what safety on the internet is
They aren’t actually that dangerous. You can always reinstall any thing you need. Plus you can create your own assuming OP is savvy enough.
Well yea that’s true. But viruses are still really hard to avoid on Windows
Oh contrare mon frare. They are extremely easy to avoid if you have any common sense. Don’t download and run just any old exe, use script blockers on browsers, etc. I used to run avast and malware bytes, etc but for at least a few years now windows built in protection has been enough.
If OP is asking these questions it means they are probably capable of getting her setup with a system that is a bit cleaner and stays clean assuming she doesn’t start downloading random weird porn shit or something.
I don’t think she understands how to define official/fake websites and that kind of stuff. That’s the thing. Linux will be a better choice here
Your making an assumption and your infantilizing someone you’ve never met. It’s entirely possible that she is old enough that even if she did have the ability to discern this stuff that she’s more likely to fall for shit, but it’s also possible that she can learn how to spot stuff and avoid it. It’s been awhile since I have played with Linux, is it really ready for prime time? Especially if someone had spent decades using windows?
Hahahaha
LTSC comes direct from Microsoft, and does NOT have defender removed.
Edit: just tested again, and an old version had Defender, but my newest download from MS doesn’t. Go figure.
LTSC is usually in a grey legal area on personal desktop PCs