Akolyte

I would check what the manufacturers says about the update, if its only something like " improved combability" and you dont have any problems i wouldnt... if its something that sound more important it might be a good idea. 

I work for a consultancy, and we all have MacBooks. Even though our IT department hates it, the number of Mac converts is growing.   They probably don't care about security or how easy it is for you to manage (in fact, they passively want to make it even more difficult), so you can't use security or management arguments to convince them. 
 
There will likely be a compromise to develop new standards and procedures regarding how you provision and manage their devices.  One of the reasons they like MacOS may be because they have more autonomy; they aren't restricted to a sluggish, latency-bound VDI or forced to have some invasive management software on their work machine. 
 
As one of these people who use a Mac, I think the conversation points need to change: 
 
The questions you should ask are:
What software do you use?  Why is it essential for you to use a Mac?  What are the barriers to switching to Windows?  Once you find these out, develop policies to accommodate them - you want the business to make revenue, after all, and not drive this team away.  
 
If they still refuse to switch, then you'll need to get executive sponsorship to perform a complete migration of the business's corporate IT management.  That would permit you to say, "Hey, this is a business project; we must migrate you by X date. Can you work with us so we can make it easy for you?"
 
Also, glad you're leaving the software engineers alone - if I got told I was being migrated to an Azure VDI, I'd immediately find a new position. 😄 

You didnt really have to specify that much yk
 
Linux still dont got as much market share as windows os wise so unlikely that youd be affected by any sort of virus since theyre mostly just windows viruses
 
Think you are still fine though cause again windows viruses but you are using linux and basically neutralising any viruses you may have downloaded
 
 
Also if you are gonna look at sus content problably a good idea to use a vpn or tor to mask your ip

I work for a consultancy, and we all have MacBooks. Even though our IT department hates it, the number of Mac converts is growing.   They probably don't care about security or how easy it is for you to manage (in fact, they passively want to make it even more difficult), so you can't use security or management arguments to convince them. 
 
There will likely be a compromise to develop new standards and procedures regarding how you provision and manage their devices.  One of the reasons they like MacOS may be because they have more autonomy; they aren't restricted to a sluggish, latency-bound VDI or forced to have some invasive management software on their work machine. 
 
As one of these people who use a Mac, I think the conversation points need to change: 
 
The questions you should ask are:
What software do you use?  Why is it essential for you to use a Mac?  What are the barriers to switching to Windows?  Once you find these out, develop policies to accommodate them - you want the business to make revenue, after all, and not drive this team away.  
 
If they still refuse to switch, then you'll need to get executive sponsorship to perform a complete migration of the business's corporate IT management.  That would permit you to say, "Hey, this is a business project; we must migrate you by X date. Can you work with us so we can make it easy for you?"
 
Also, glad you're leaving the software engineers alone - if I got told I was being migrated to an Azure VDI, I'd immediately find a new position. 😄 

Hey mate, I know you've got an excellent marked answer there - I want to expand on this and add some extra info. 
 
Avoid third-party antivirus if you can - it usually installs very deep modules in your system to analyse your files, giving them a lot of access to your personal data, even if Windows encrypt it. 
 
These modules can also make your system more vulnerable or even unstable as they usually aren't maintained as well as Microsoft's code, and so, for a bit more. malicious code detection capabilities, you're losing your privacy and confidence in your system's robustness. 
 
People will tell you otherwise, but don't trust third-party antivirus - stick with Defender.   
 
Just make sure you:
- Install Windows Updates
- Keep your browser up-to-date, check for updates every morning or afternoon if you can, 
- If anyone sends you any files, especially a document or an exe you don't trust - ask someone you know to review it or upload it to virustotal.com. 

actually it doesn't,  he repeatedly refuses to refute any arguments made and is accusing others of "bad faith arguments" ironically. 

Today I wanted to discuss one method of how to setup a GNU/Linux based Windows deployment server. This can be used to perform clean installs from extracted Windows.iso files or complete pre-compiled image files of a Windows instance for large scale deployment over a network. For this demonstration I'll be using Ubuntu Server 20.04.5 LTS but these services are openly available on other distributions including UNIX platforms such as FreeBSD if you rather use your preference. The general process is the same.
 
Index
 
1. Downloading Packages & Necessities
 
2. Configuring Network Services
 
3. Preparing OS for Deployment
 

I know this is probably a little bit different than what others are telling you, but I'd suggest just picking one language and building some demo applications with it.  You can find good courses online that guide you through building real-world applications. 
 
Any framework, any language - just pick one.  Whether it be javascript/node, C#/.NET, or Python/Flask/Django.  You need to stick to one thing, build some demo applications. 
 
Being a developer these days, languages and frameworks change so much that you need to continuously learn on the go anyway, and you'll use multiple languages on the job anyhow.  Make sure to learn the fundamentals of object oriented programming, and actually build something.
 
If you're interested in becoming a developer, then you'll want to learn about event-driven architectures as well.  You'll be expected to learn many different databases and how to optimise them, you'll be expected to learn how to integrate different authentication providers, design and build REST APIs, and completely decouple your services, making use of intermediary queues. Not to mention, many services utilise different languages and each need their own datastore. 
 
I'm not saying this to intimidate you, but to emphasise the fact that you should just pick a language and build some stuff, persist - no matter how lost you feel, keep persisting and you'll make it.  Pick a language, because in the end you'll be expected to learn multiple languages, databases, frameworks, and once you learn one it will get easier and easier. 
 
Good luck and hope you achieve it. 

I know this is probably a little bit different than what others are telling you, but I'd suggest just picking one language and building some demo applications with it.  You can find good courses online that guide you through building real-world applications. 
 
Any framework, any language - just pick one.  Whether it be javascript/node, C#/.NET, or Python/Flask/Django.  You need to stick to one thing, build some demo applications. 
 
Being a developer these days, languages and frameworks change so much that you need to continuously learn on the go anyway, and you'll use multiple languages on the job anyhow.  Make sure to learn the fundamentals of object oriented programming, and actually build something.
 
If you're interested in becoming a developer, then you'll want to learn about event-driven architectures as well.  You'll be expected to learn many different databases and how to optimise them, you'll be expected to learn how to integrate different authentication providers, design and build REST APIs, and completely decouple your services, making use of intermediary queues. Not to mention, many services utilise different languages and each need their own datastore. 
 
I'm not saying this to intimidate you, but to emphasise the fact that you should just pick a language and build some stuff, persist - no matter how lost you feel, keep persisting and you'll make it.  Pick a language, because in the end you'll be expected to learn multiple languages, databases, frameworks, and once you learn one it will get easier and easier. 
 
Good luck and hope you achieve it. 

Hey, so for context - here's how it works: 
 
You setup a mysql database or whatever database you're using.  This needs to be set-up as a server, and then you log into it and create a database.  You can create a user to access MySQL on the server you set up. 
 
The MySQL connector allows the Python application to access your MySQL database server and send queries to retrieve or post data.  
 
This makes the beginning of a 3-tier architecture to allow for scalability, it's quite old and probably won't be used outside of development but it's great to learn for sure as it leads onto more complex system decoupling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitier_architecture if you want to learn about it. 
 
Now, if you want to set-up the database - you have a couple of options:
Set up one yourself, this could be in a virtual-machine or a docker container. https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-mysql-on-ubuntu-20-04. You will need to set up a virtual machine using virtual box or something and connect to that btw, I wouldn't do this on your own machine unless it's in a container.  Rely on a Cloud Provider like AWS and set-up an RDS Database using the free-tier.   Remember that you'll have to make sure it falls within the free tier before you deploy it (I'm not responsible for any incurred costs of course), but if you're just creating your AWS account you should get 1 year of an RDS database running on a small EC2 instance for free. https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/free-tier-rds-launch/ Finally, make sure if you do opt to use the cloud option you secure your database by using strong credentials and setting your security group to only allow connections from your IP address (make sure /32 bit netmask). 
 
If this sounds complex to you, I'd take a course or follow a tutorial on setting up and using MySQL first so you can know what you're doing.   Taking a course on a cloud platform like AWS or GCP will be helpful as well so you can spin up development resources such as databases quickly. 
 
This site looks like a great starting point for the basics: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/mysql/index.htm if this does sound complex. 
 

I know this is probably a little bit different than what others are telling you, but I'd suggest just picking one language and building some demo applications with it.  You can find good courses online that guide you through building real-world applications. 
 
Any framework, any language - just pick one.  Whether it be javascript/node, C#/.NET, or Python/Flask/Django.  You need to stick to one thing, build some demo applications. 
 
Being a developer these days, languages and frameworks change so much that you need to continuously learn on the go anyway, and you'll use multiple languages on the job anyhow.  Make sure to learn the fundamentals of object oriented programming, and actually build something.
 
If you're interested in becoming a developer, then you'll want to learn about event-driven architectures as well.  You'll be expected to learn many different databases and how to optimise them, you'll be expected to learn how to integrate different authentication providers, design and build REST APIs, and completely decouple your services, making use of intermediary queues. Not to mention, many services utilise different languages and each need their own datastore. 
 
I'm not saying this to intimidate you, but to emphasise the fact that you should just pick a language and build some stuff, persist - no matter how lost you feel, keep persisting and you'll make it.  Pick a language, because in the end you'll be expected to learn multiple languages, databases, frameworks, and once you learn one it will get easier and easier. 
 
Good luck and hope you achieve it. 

If you're still using the same domain name and you've updated the DNS record, and you also haven't changed any of your configuration and ensured the same port-forwarding settings you used before still stand - and it works across your LAN network, then it must be an issue with your ISP as @LIGISTXhas suggested. 
 
Keep in mind even if the ISP is the same it doesn't mean you don't go through a NAT further upstream.  
 
- What if you run a traceroute? Are there any devices upstream that might be blocking your connectivity? 
 
Lastly, I'd suggest using a VPN for NextCloud anyway if you can since having it accessible on the public internet just seems a bit insecure.  You can use something like ZeroTier to bypass NATs, so it might help your security and give you access to your NextCloud away from home if you still can't get it to work. 

If you're still using the same domain name and you've updated the DNS record, and you also haven't changed any of your configuration and ensured the same port-forwarding settings you used before still stand - and it works across your LAN network, then it must be an issue with your ISP as @LIGISTXhas suggested. 
 
Keep in mind even if the ISP is the same it doesn't mean you don't go through a NAT further upstream.  
 
- What if you run a traceroute? Are there any devices upstream that might be blocking your connectivity? 
 
Lastly, I'd suggest using a VPN for NextCloud anyway if you can since having it accessible on the public internet just seems a bit insecure.  You can use something like ZeroTier to bypass NATs, so it might help your security and give you access to your NextCloud away from home if you still can't get it to work. 

My personal recommendation would be to look up blocklists for Microsoft's telemetry servers.  You could use something like pi-hole, and also blacklisting certain IP addresses in your firewall(s).  It's probably not a sure fire way, but in my opinion it's your safest and most effective bet. 
 
The issue with trying to block Microsoft spyware is that especially in newer versions of Windows, these features are integrated into the Operating Systems itself.  More and more, removing or changing these features requires configurations outside of Control Panel \ Settings, and can lead to potential risks.  This doesn't even include certain Microsoft features so deeply ingrained in the operating system they can't be disabled. 
 
I know this isn't the answer you want - but personally if you care this much about Microsoft's spyware, Windows probably isn't the operating system for you.  Perhaps in the next year or two you might manage, but you're just trying to patch a boat with a bunch of holes. 
 
Blogs are probably your best source of knowledge, as unless someone is an expert on how Windows is configured, built or has extensively researched this topic (probably on blogs) - they will probably recommend standard-type mitigations that are found within most blogs anyway.   
 
 
When it comes to things like this, fixes are usually only temporary and need to be applied on a regular basis - you're modifying the operating system configuration to something non-standard and as you know by now, Microsoft is pushing for more telemetry and data collection.  In my opinion, Linux might be an option worthwhile exploring. 

My personal recommendation would be to look up blocklists for Microsoft's telemetry servers.  You could use something like pi-hole, and also blacklisting certain IP addresses in your firewall(s).  It's probably not a sure fire way, but in my opinion it's your safest and most effective bet. 
 
The issue with trying to block Microsoft spyware is that especially in newer versions of Windows, these features are integrated into the Operating Systems itself.  More and more, removing or changing these features requires configurations outside of Control Panel \ Settings, and can lead to potential risks.  This doesn't even include certain Microsoft features so deeply ingrained in the operating system they can't be disabled. 
 
I know this isn't the answer you want - but personally if you care this much about Microsoft's spyware, Windows probably isn't the operating system for you.  Perhaps in the next year or two you might manage, but you're just trying to patch a boat with a bunch of holes. 
 
Blogs are probably your best source of knowledge, as unless someone is an expert on how Windows is configured, built or has extensively researched this topic (probably on blogs) - they will probably recommend standard-type mitigations that are found within most blogs anyway.   
 
 
When it comes to things like this, fixes are usually only temporary and need to be applied on a regular basis - you're modifying the operating system configuration to something non-standard and as you know by now, Microsoft is pushing for more telemetry and data collection.  In my opinion, Linux might be an option worthwhile exploring. 

It's just because it hasn't got bad enough yet.  Microsoft is slowly boiling the pot, and eventually as these changes are accepted it will eventually go too far.
 
Wait until Microsoft makes Windows Home free but charges a $30/month for the "gaming" extension pack to the next version of Windows that allows you to use a discrete GPU with over 4GB of memory on all your computers, and also provides you with a cloud gaming service that allows you to stream games from Azure.  Or a one-time full license fee of $350 to use GPU's with over 4GB of memory without the gaming service which is only valid on one computer.
 
It terrifies me a bit that I don't think that's far from where MS is heading. 

It seems you caught it so I don't think you need to be too worried.  I'd get a new flash drive, reboot into safe mode and run a full scan if you wanna cover all bases. But unless you see anything bad happening, I'd say Avast seems to be holding the fort down so far

I had an Asus 10 GiG NIC fail so hard it shut down the entire network.  It was installed in an HTPC, it was simply a client with a 10 Gig NIC added for future compatibility.  The entire network stopped.  It was plugged into a switch that was daisy chained into the 'main switch' but every switch failed.  Power cycling the switches did nothing.  I tried to ping one PC to another, not the afflicted PC, and the result was this:
 
C:\Windows\system32>ping 192.168.1.50 Pinging 192.168.1.50 with 32 bytes of data: PING: transmit failed. General failure. PING: transmit failed. General failure. PING: transmit failed. General failure. PING: transmit failed. General failure. The solution was to entirely shut down power to the PC with that NIC in it.

Too good to be true ✅
Redirects to a sketchy site ✅
Obvious scam.

I'm usually completely objective and play devils advocate when it comes to Microsoft - but honestly, on a personal level I really like where Microsoft is taking Windows 11. 
 
I don't mind the cloud-ificiation of Windows honestly, and I like the design and how they're trying to create one ecosystem that actually has an emphasis on the user experience now.  It was always about user experience before too for some of their desktop operating system versions, but it never felt like it was about the actual user. 
 
They've definitely taken some liberties with Windows 11, prodding some people's way of life - but at the same time, it's easy to see they've really focused a lot on ease-of-use, accessibility, and making things very uniform across their ecosystem.  Taking a page from Apple's book will pay off in the long run for them I think. 
 
Allowing Android apps is great too.  But I can't help feel like MS are conflicted still about what they want their ecosystem to be.  They see what Apple is doing, they see what future technology is going to look like.  But they aren't committing either way. 
 
People like iced coffee, and people like hot coffee - but room-temperature sucks. And I hope Microsoft makes up their mind and commits to a path soon before it's too late. 
 
I need to get my work laptop re-imaged to Windows, and I certainly hope to convince the team to allow me to install Windows 11 on it.  I'm keen to try it. 

I'm usually completely objective and play devils advocate when it comes to Microsoft - but honestly, on a personal level I really like where Microsoft is taking Windows 11. 
 
I don't mind the cloud-ificiation of Windows honestly, and I like the design and how they're trying to create one ecosystem that actually has an emphasis on the user experience now.  It was always about user experience before too for some of their desktop operating system versions, but it never felt like it was about the actual user. 
 
They've definitely taken some liberties with Windows 11, prodding some people's way of life - but at the same time, it's easy to see they've really focused a lot on ease-of-use, accessibility, and making things very uniform across their ecosystem.  Taking a page from Apple's book will pay off in the long run for them I think. 
 
Allowing Android apps is great too.  But I can't help feel like MS are conflicted still about what they want their ecosystem to be.  They see what Apple is doing, they see what future technology is going to look like.  But they aren't committing either way. 
 
People like iced coffee, and people like hot coffee - but room-temperature sucks. And I hope Microsoft makes up their mind and commits to a path soon before it's too late. 
 
I need to get my work laptop re-imaged to Windows, and I certainly hope to convince the team to allow me to install Windows 11 on it.  I'm keen to try it. 

how bad do you need it? i knew a guy who was in a similar situation, he made a dissension to sell his body, he ended up making more money then what he originally set out to do so he changed his career. he is now a gay for pay porn actor. you need to explain to your parents what your doing and what you need to do. tell em its an investment until that architect money comes in you will take care of them.

what kind of work do you do as an architect that an i7-10750H and 16GB of DDR4-3200 is not cut out for the job?

Is this for real? I don't know if I should be laughing or taking this thread seriously 😆

I would format both, yes.  
 
And they can still use that debit card information for identity theft, as well as social engineering.   Many legacy businesses still use 'confirming credit card digits', or 'confirm your address' as ways of authorising yourself.  
 
Take for example, calling your cell phone provider to transfer numbers (they'd get your 2FA keys), or calling your bank to authorise a transaction, or calling your ISP to downgrade your plan.  Some of these might be useless, but hacking is a means to get what you want - usually that means is information or some kind of leverage, demand.  
 
They can do the exact same thing by tormenting you by redirecting your phone number, taking off your car insurance without you knowing, changing your address on your subscriptions, ordering random pizzas to your house you need to pay for, etc.  All because you didn't take actions to mitigate that NOW. 
 
Besides, they might sign up to some services - use your debit card as proof of identity?  Such as Azure, or AWS - and then use those services to perform illegal activity.   When that account gets suspended or whatever - the authorities will come to you and ask you why you did it? 
 
It's highly insecure, but also very common.  Why would a criminal want to spend your money and raise suspicion directly like that?  when they could use your information to use your identity as a shield for their illegal endeavours. 
 
You can say your debit card got stolen, but usually there's a short period of time you have to actually report it to the bank to avoid any liability that comes from it being stolen.  If you wait for example, a few days to call your bank - they might not give you a refund for any bad transactions, and the law might hold you accountable to any misdeeds someone did with it.