How To Set Up Windows For Less Tech-savvy Family Members

Now that we have the basics set up, it's time to get rid of most of Microsoft's spyware, because we're not giving them Grandma's secret cookie recipies! DisableWinTracking will disable Windows tracking services. Just disable them; don't delete them in case they end up blocking more than the user would have liked. Personally, I have not noticed any problems caused by this software, and because it can easily restore back to the default state, it's pretty harmless.

Unchecky will automatically deselect adware from software installations. Installing this will make sure that the user won't get a bonus "system optimizer" or other junk when installing software.

SysHardener will, well, harden your Windows installation to protect it from threats like malware. Similar software like Hardentools and Hard_Configurator offer very similar functionality, so if you feel like one of their feature sets fits you better, then go for that one instead. Just make sure that it's easy to restore system settings back to the defaults using the software you choose and that you have some understanding of what changes the selected settings in the software has on your system. Hard_Configurator's interface is a bit complicated, so I'd probably go with SysHardener or hardentools, which are more user-friendly. There's also SBGuard Anti-Ransomware, but that software doesn't have all the features that the previously mentioned software have.

OSArmor will monitor the processes on the computer and block suspicious processes. There is other software - which you can find via OSArmor's AlternativeTo page - which is more in-depth and offers more protection, but they are harder to administrate and not as much of a discrete and "set and forget" software as OSArmor.

Avira Free Antivirus offers good protection for free; however, it has a daily pop-up to get you to upgrade. There used to be a workaround using a software called BgPKiller which blocked the pop-ups, but it seems like some pop-ups are slipping through now. It's really not that bad though: you can close it with one click. There's also paid options like Avira Antivirus Pro and Avira Internet Security which include a built-in firewall (the main difference between Avira Antivirus Pro and Avira Internet Security is that Avira Internet Security includes a software and driver updater and a vulnerability patcher). When you have Avira installed you should uninstall the pretty useless Avira Browser Safety extension.

You can check stats from lab tests between different antivirus software on FatSecurity.com. If you're wondering why I didn't mention Kaspersky, it's because there are some pretty serious security and privacy concerns. As for why I didn't mention Bitdefender, in my own and many others' experience it's a mess performance-wise and too buggy for me to recommend to anyone.

In addition of being a firewall, Comodo Free Firewall also offers HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention System) and sandboxing, making it the most secure option of the free firewalls that I know of. Comodo Free Firewall will change your default home page and search engine, so make sure to disable that setting on the first screen of the installer.

If you have Avira Antivirus Pro or Avira Internet Security you don't need Comodo Free Firewall since the paid versions of Avira already have a firewall included in them.

I recommend Firefox above Chrome because it's open source and easier to customize thanks to its about:config. Speaking of about:config, start by setting network.IDN_show_punycode from false to true. This will make phishing attempts using unicode domain names that look identical to the original detectable to the human eye. If you decide to go with Chrome, there is currently no known way of fixing this. Like I said, Firefox is a lot easier to customize. Firefox is also more or less equal to Chrome when it comes to performance and speed since Firefox entered the WebExtensions era.

The add-ons listed below are those security and privacy add-ons that you can just "set and forget" without having them cause too many website breakages. That is not a 100% guarantee, as there will always be trade-offs between convenience and security/privacy, but they're stable enough to not have to worry about it. Just make sure that there's a backup browser on the system in case uBlock Origin blocks too much of a website or any of the other add-ons causes website breakages.

Using uBlock Origin in combination with the FilterLists website, you will be able to block malware (including crypto-miners), ads, tracking, and even credit card skimming scripts. The surfing will be much safer since malware infested ads, also known as malvertising, is the source of 80% of malware infections. It will also be faster and use less data (up to 30% less on some sites) and also less battery power.

Download Virus Checker will upload all downloaded binary files to VirusTotal where it will be analyzed by 68 different anti-virus engines. By default, the uploaded file has to get hits from three of the anti-virus engines in order for the user to be notified, so I recommend setting the threshold to one instead in order to protect from newer, less detected threats.

HTTPS Everywhere is an add-on developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and The Tor Project that will enforce SSL encryption on larger (and some smaller) sites that entirely or partially support SSL. This will help the user's data stay encrypted while in transit, assuming that the website supports SSL and has had a HTTPS Everywhere ruleset written for it. Tor Browser uses HTTPS Everywhere as an integral part.

Decentraleyes prevents tracking from major content delivery networks by blocking requests to those CDNs and replacing the files with local files to keep sites from breaking.

Cookie AutoDelete is an add-on that automatically clears a site's cookies after the site has been closed, which helps prevent user tracking via tracking cookies. Go to the settings and deselect "Show Notification After Cookie Cleanup" or the add-on will annoy pretty much anyone and everyone using it.

Privacy Settings has two different modes of browser settings that improves the user's privacy: "Full Privacy" and "Enhanced Privacy". Set it to the "Enhanced Privacy" mode in order to ensure full compatibility and functionality with websites. Privacy Settings also has a "Reset to Defaults" button, which makes it easy to undo any changes.

Google search link fix will clean the URLs of Google and Yandex search results, giving the user tracking free direct links instead of annoying and privacy invasive redirect links.

Link Cleaner will remove tracking parameters from links. It also skips redirect pages on Facebook, Reddit, and Steam.

CanvasBlocker blocks a fingerprinting technique known as canvas fingerprinting. The default "fake readout API" setting is the best option as it prevents tracking while ensuring compatibility and functionality.