Hard to say without tests. It may be due to disabling clipboard history or background permissions for UWP apps. But I am not sure, whether I could meet all users needs. People here are asking about Windows Store and store UWP apps and they are still talking about privacy focused and slim Windows. It may be hard to achieve both these goals. I have focused on creating classic Windows (like Windows 7) for classic Win32/Win64 applications, not for UWP apps or cloud based services. If someone wants the latter, original Windows 10 should be used. I don't think that ISO language has any meaning. The script is language neutral by design. DISM crashes are most often related to the host OS issues (antivirus, blocking by security software, lack of resources, etc).
Perhaps the first thing that most of users (especially younger ones) do, after all the cleanup, is to install chrome, then open it to log on on google services, then facebook, then tiktok, then istagram. Which is something like catching the AIDS as the first thing to do after healing from syphilis...
You can still use more than one browser. You can use Chrome for cloud services and only for that, and any other browser for everything else. Operating system is different, it will track you all the time and such things like Clipboard History with Cloud Clipboard ruins your privacy completely. It is comparable to cloud camera with cloud recordings in your home. Why (in Europe) have we such laws like GDPR and cookies notification enforcement (completely pointless) on one hand and permanent invigilation on the other is beyond me. Maybe we must just feel that our privacy is respected even if it is obvious lie.
I use it on Android with F-Droid AdAway which automatically includes it. But on Windows 10, Windows Defender treat modified hosts as a malware and some antivirus software can even modify it without your consent. Also Windows 10 could simply bypass some of your host entries for particular Microsoft domains.
In which DLL are those hosts encoded ? Something like dnshosts.dll if such a file exists or something to that effect Mr. Keller ?
FDQNs are hardcoded in the following DLL %WINDIR%\system32\dnsapi.dll but Windows 10/11 changes frequently. Also hosts method prevents sending tracking effects to Microsoft, but it doesn't prevent tracking itself.
Indeed that's what I use as well, no single list is perfect, AdAway merges multiple entries to get a more complete one.
So what if that file is removed from the system ? DNS service won't work ? But that's alright too. What does that service do apart from caching entries?
hosts file has nothing to DNS system itself. hosts file is used historically from early Unixes and ported to Windows too. But it is addition to DNS not the integral part of it.
Actually I was talking about dnsapi.dll as your script disables most of the tracking anyways and whatever little is left is in dnsapi.dll as you pointed out could be tackled by removing that binary from the system. I'm not sure but I'm speculating it won't break anything perhaps the DNS service at the most but that's about it and I can totally live with that. In fact I keep DNS service disabled all the time.
I do not want to remove system files that are integral part of the OS, because: - it could break something from functioning, - Windows Update could restore it. Sorry, I will never go that way. It is experiment, not method to create stable, working OS. Tracking could be disabled without resorting to DNS or hosts, and that is what I am doing. If something is left by my script it is left intentionally, so services like Windows Update, Drivers Update, Windows Linux Subsystems, etc are usable. But someone can disable everything, no hosts/DNS hacking is needed. PS. Anyway I want DNS service working and functional, and vast majority of users want it too.
It's alright. I wasn't asking you to remove it through your script. I was just asking where those entries that bypasses the HOSTS file comes from and what happens if that particular binary is removed from the system altogether. And my query is satisfied. Thank you for the insights, help and discussion. Pleasure to have you here on the forum.
I have edited my previous reply. hosts/DNS method is a bad method. Because everything in Windows 10 can be disabled without even touching it. And hosts/DNS method doesn't stop tracking, but just prevents sending tracks to Microsoft. Some Windows version could try to send your tracks directly to specific IP addresses (as a fallback), you cannot exclude this. So your hosts/DNS method will be completely useless in that case.