Advice on cleaning bloatware off of a new PC - sh.itjust.works
sh.itjust.worksI 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:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-thinkbook-16-g6-abp-amd-in-16-touch-screen-notebook-amd-ryzen-5-with-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-gray/6565272.p?skuId=6565272
[https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-thinkbook-16-g6-abp-amd-in-16-touch-screen-notebook-amd-ryzen-5-with-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-gray/6565272.p?skuId=6565272]
(Forgive me if this is not the correct place to post)
I did a clean install of Windows 11, and have also used Chris Titus’s tools to the best of my ability. Wondering the best extensions to add on Firefox. Also, should I get her onto the Proton train, or try to make her iPhone and Windows play nice?
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I install Fedora Kinoite for grandma’s and think its great for them.
That looks interesting. I’ll put it on her old laptop and see how it looks.
Mx linux is another try if you want more flexibility installing programs and tinkering with it
Use Ublock Origin and be sure to select better filters, get her using Bitwarden the password manager, and use Quad9 DNS to block lots of bad websites and malware.
O&O Shutup is a nice Windows software to block lots of crap.
Use chris titus windows utility script it also has O&O incluced in the script iirc
Yep, bitwarden would help for phishing so she isn’t typing in passwords in different places. If you can, you can also get the fingerprint set up so it’s easy for her to scan. You can also get external ones for desktop, but I’m not sure how good the sensors are so YMMV
Besides ublock origin like the other posted stated your biggest scam threats would be coming from social media websites, Facebook or meta whatever its called and email being the biggest. Since I assume you can’t monitor her 24/7 and she’s an active user, setting up some kind of DNS solution and firewall on your network, you managing her passwords and 2fa via hardware, setting up a non admin local account for windows and maybe some kind of easy reference material like pictures with text in a booklet should be used also. Assuming she’s still sound of mind
Edit: as for the phone portion of the question it really depends on how much media do you want her exposed to? You can make a pretty dumb phone via grapheneos and install the games she plays normally (network access restricted of course) with automatic updates. But if she uses social media, messaging apps and other apps like that maybe an iPhone would be easier and simpler for her. At that point you will have to rely on your network solutions, you managing her account credentials, bank included, and the reference material to protect her from scams
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I second this.
Had to fix up mum’s laptop and she wanted Windows 10 with all the Microsoft Office gubbins (she had to settle for Libreoffice). Didn’t want a word of anything Linux because “it might not work with any of my stuff”. I don’t know of a single thing she does outside of web browsing and typing up word documents.
You just can’t change some people.
Would she notice if you gave her a Linux machine but with a Windows 10 bootsplash?
Probably, she uses Windows 10 at work.
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For firefox, just stick with UBO. Should be sufficient.
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