Win8 without the store?

CharlieSummers

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I am not a huge fan of "stores," which I see only as a way for companies to track and monitor their users for profilling and marketing purposes. I refuse to use any iDevices for this reason. I have many Android devices, but do not maintain a Google account, do not use the Play Store, and indeed rip out most Google apps from the devices as well as firewall off all of the Google-controlled netblocks I know about. It is...difficult sometimes to sideload everything, but I have been able to keep my devices free of big-G snooping and install most things I've wanted, other than some commercial applications. (It is, after all, just linux with a pretty face.)

So now I am faced with installing Windows8 (actually plan to install as dual-boot at first since I don't want to commit until I'm comfortable), which of course contains Microsoft's catch-up tracking "store." I have no plans whatsoever for using the tablet/phone interface since I use my desktop computer for actual work (video and audio processing, etc.), uses for which these little "apps" would be effectively useless (I don't compress TS streams on my phone or tablet, either) and so won't be messing around with the Windows Store...but is it possible to (as with Android) completely firewall off the store? I'm concerned because seemingly the only way to upgrade to Windows 8.1 is through the store, which will of course leak personal information, something I am not particularly interested in doing. (Especially to a company I trust as little as I trust Microsoft.)

Is it possible, assuming installing only "real" Windows programs and not "apps," to completely firewall off the MS Store?
 

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I doubt it but you can disable the "active" Store tile which means it shouldn't nag you on a consistent basis:

tile.jpg

Hope this helps. Good luck.
 

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How to disable the Windows Store in Windows 8

That's for 8, don't know about 8.1. Tested it, works, but proceed at your own peril :D
(before experimenting, be sure to have some fresh disk image available, or as a minimum, make a fresh restore point)
 

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That's for 8, don't know about 8.1. Tested it, works

So what were the results of your test? Did the tile go away? Did it just turn it off permanently? If so, how do you know that it was permanent? Did the tile on/off still display but was greyed-out? Please tell us more so we can consider using it as well.
 

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Hello, this was some time ago (reinstated Store lately to prepare for some 8.1 update on my work laptops, only time I ever needed the store for anything lol), AFAICR the tile went away, and trying to start Store from a link in Classic Shell's Program menu just gave the 'Store not available'. Reinstated store by setting the 'disabling' back to the original 'Not configured' in Group Policy. Works fine, 8.1 download showing up. Turning store on\off has done no harm here on 2 different laptops.

And btw, this is posted from an 8.1 installation on my 'experimental laptop', seems 100% successful, to my amazement.
 

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Hello, this was some time ago (reinstated Store lately to prepare for some 8.1 update on my work laptops, only time I ever needed the store for anything lol), AFAICR the tile went away, and trying to start Store from a link in Classic Shell's Program menu just gave the 'Store not available'. Reinstated store by setting the 'disabling' back to the original 'Not configured' in Group Policy. Works fine, 8.1 download showing up. Turning store on\off has done no harm here on 2 different laptops.

And btw, this is posted from an 8.1 installation on my 'experimental laptop', seems 100% successful, to my amazement.

OK friend; thanks for that additional detail.

my2cents
 

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I think you all may have misunderstood the question.

The tile doesn't particularly bother me, since if I'm at the desktop and not the Metro UI, I won't see it if I understand how this works. And since I never plan on using the Metro interface at all (I mean, I use the desktop machine for real work, not the stuff I can do on my tablet) and never plan on using anything in the tablet interface, the cosmetics shouldn't be a problem. (Should they? Question to explore another day: is there a way to dump Metro completely and just use the thing as a faster Win7?)

I'm talking about discovering the IP blocks where the store resides (a little surprised they aren't already available on the Net) and firewalling them completely off at the router level so the computer can never touch the store and therefore never leak personal information to Microsoft. I mean I want no contact with the store at all. Is that possible?

(Edit and Snarky Side Comment: Why doesn't it surprise me that Microsoft is using the same third-party registrar, MarkMonitor ("the Global Leader in Online Brand Protection"), that the "big-six" are using to monitor their customer's Internet use searching for copyright violations in the "six-strike" system?)
 

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I think you all may have misunderstood the question.

The tile doesn't particularly bother me, since if I'm at the desktop and not the Metro UI, I won't see it if I understand how this works. And since I never plan on using the Metro interface at all (I mean, I use the desktop machine for real work, not the stuff I can do on my tablet) and never plan on using anything in the tablet interface, the cosmetics shouldn't be a problem. (Should they? Question to explore another day: is there a way to dump Metro completely and just use the thing as a faster Win7?)

I'm talking about discovering the IP blocks where the store resides (a little surprised they aren't already available on the Net) and firewalling them completely off at the router level so the computer can never touch the store and therefore never leak personal information to Microsoft. I mean I want no contact with the store at all. Is that possible?

Yes, I sure did misunderstand you because there is no way I could have possibly extracted your real intent from your original post and I certainly cannot help you with your second request so good luck to you.
 

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Yes, I sure did misunderstand you because there is no way I could have possibly extracted your real intent from your original post

Sorry; I thought saying, "Is it possible, assuming installing only "real" Windows programs and not "apps," to completely firewall off the MS Store?" in my original post made the intent pretty clear. Apologies for the misunderstanding.
 

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I installed Windows 8 without creating any account at the Windows Store. I am not planning to update to 8.1 for some time, but it appears you can do it without creating an account. It is my understanding that they use the account to track your internet usage.

That said if you have not installed Windows 8 or bought it, I would wait until the full version of 8.1 becomes available and do a clean install of it, and not bother with Windows 8.
 

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I installed Windows 8 without creating any account at the Windows Store.

Hum...still, I'm wondering if Windows8 contacts and transmits usage information to the store anyway. I'm equating this to Android, which (without some serious surgical intervention) is constantly transmitting data to Google even if one doesn't have a Google account. Seems sensible that when Microsoft determined to join the tracking party, they'd get really serious about it.

That said if you have not installed Windows 8 or bought it, I would wait until the full version of 8.1 becomes available and do a clean install of it, and not bother with Windows 8.

Not sure I can do that; I bought the upgrade at Win8 release. Like I said, haven't installed it yet, but pretty sure I can't use a full 8.1 installer and will need to use the Windows8_Upgrade_64-bit.iso then upgrade to Win8.1. Am somewhat hoping an 8.1 upgrade ISO will eventually appear; I mean, corporate installs wouldn't want to run a download upgrade on each manchine.

Maybe this explains why I haven't installed the thing yet. I don't mind missing the Start Menu, but some of this other stuff is a little too scary.
 

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Charlie. Maybe you are too intense over the problem. Almost since the birth of desktop computers/Windows, there have been several items which I had no use for, and have never used, almost to the extent that I forget they even exist. As you know, there are many legit ways on the market, now and, in 8.1 even, a Microsoft option, so you can buy pass the metro/modern screen. That is what we are, now, talking about, not the store.
If you install a third party start menu, say classic shell, which can block out the pop up corners and the Charms bar, you will not even be aware that the Metro screen even exists.
Your feelings of being tracked by Microsoft, through the store, are, imo, a little paranoid. If Microsoft want to go to that extent, with their millions of customers, I am sure they will do it anyway, with or without the store, through the normal and well established desktop additions.
But, of course, the Metro screen is designed as a touchscreen. This is the way tablet and other portable devices wish to operate, now and into the future until voice recognition becomes more perfected.
But, there is no way you can completely be rid of the Metro screen. The legacy desktop is, itself, an activated tile, so you would also be at a loss to use the computer at all.
 

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Charlie. Maybe you are too intense over the problem.

He, he...that would be nothing new.

Almost since the birth of desktop computers/Windows,

I might mention here I am an old guy; bought my first computer from England (a Sinclair ZX-81; had a massive 1K RAM, which required learning Z80a machine code if you wanted to do more than "Hello, World!") in the early 1980's, and have been working in the field ever since. I spent almost all of the 1990's working to make it easier for companies to perform data-mining, profiling their customers (and others) to learn as much about them as possible - I used to dream in dBase+/FoxBASE/FoxPro code. So yeah, I'm unusually sensitive to companies' invasions of personal privacy.

Face it; most privacy notices could be truthfully rephrased as, "We value your privacy, as we intend to make as much money as possible violating it."

so you can buy pass the metro/modern screen. That is what we are, now, talking about, not the store.

Agreed. And there are a bunch of methods for even Win8 to bypass Metro, let alone the ability in 8.1 to do it in a "sanctioned" way.

If you install a third party start menu, say classic shell, which can block out the pop up corners and the Charms bar, you will not even be aware that the Metro screen even exists.

Installed one of them on a client's Win8 laptop so he could go straight to desktop, although I did encourage him to play with the Charms bar. Personally, I didn't even like the widows jumping around when dragging them off-screen in Win7, but I try not to force those prejudices on others if I can help it.

Your feelings of being tracked by Microsoft, through the store, are, imo, a little paranoid.

Not the first time I've heard this. While this would be a fascinating debate over coffee and pastries where I would run my schtick about how terrifying Google is to the "common" web user without their knowledge, I'm not sure it really belongs here. I concede your point to eliminate that discussion - however, paranoid or not, I wish to firewall off the store completely. (I already firewall off a bunch of Microsoft netblocks, FWIW.) You may attribute my reasons to anything you'd like, so long as you accept the questions I pose as legitimate technical ones. I only detailed my longevity in the field to show my "paranoia" has some basis in personal experience.

If Microsoft want to go to that extent, with their millions of customers, I am sure they will do it anyway, with or without the store, through the normal and well established desktop additions.

But the store, like Apple's and Google's, gives them unique ways of acquiring data; credit card and other financial data, leading to personally identifying the user underneath the username, coupled with information from GPS devices (assuming phones and tablets, of course...not suggesting anyone carries a desktop machine around!), mail systems, web searches, all bound together in a single profile with no legal violations because the data is provided willingly by the mark...er...customer. No, the store is considerably different than, say, WindowsUpdate, as it is designed to eventually know every app installed on the machine, who owns the machine, where that person goes, who they see, who they talk to, where they spend, etc., etc. You can't compare the store to other known MS data-collection systems.

But, there is no way you can completely be rid of the Metro screen. The legacy desktop is, itself, an activated tile, so you would also be at a loss to use the computer at all.

Not really as there are other alternatives, I'm afraid where I am eventually heading (I first compiled linux decades ago on 386 machines watching it crank along for hours, and have a few linux machines in my office as well as VMs on my main Win7 box), but for the time being anyone who is serious about performing video processing and editing without spending hundreds-of-thousands on dedicated systems has little recourse but Windows...really not worth the hassle to me of trying to run something like Studio under Wine. On the other hand, as Windows is "dumbed-down" for the common browse-the-web-and-update-facelessbook user, these apps...er...sorry...applications will almost by necessity start to move to un*x - another irrelevant but fun discussion we might have someday over espresso.

I will try to remain more on-topic in the future. ;)
 

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I created a MS account just to install the 8.1 update "It kept asking ...and would't let me by pass that" ..
As soon as I got it working .... go to user account and disconnect it ... DONE .
 

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This is available, although it won't increase security. The best way to stay secure is to disconnect.

The "Microsoft Store" can be blocked and denied access to using the local group policy editor.

store3.jpg
 

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The "Microsoft Store" can be blocked and denied access to using the local group policy editor.

Already posted, and rejected by OP. Don't know why, this will stop the store from doing anything (AFAIK), which is what the OP seemingly try to achieve.
 

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It's interesting in the administrator account of server ...

sstore.jpg
 

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Oops 4wd, sorry, didn't notice the link on page 1.
 

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I don't know how you are getting around without using the default apps, some of these devices cannot be accessed any other way. Anyway, Droids do not connect to the Windows 8 store in any way, shape or form.

Do you have it rooted or something?
 

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I don't know how you are getting around without using the default apps, some of these devices cannot be accessed any other way.

While this isn't the place to discuss Android, many APKs are completely unnecessary if one doesn't have a Google account. I have ripped-out (or frozen using Titanium Backup) Gmail.apk, GmailProvider.apk, GoogleApps.apk, GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk, GoogleCheckin.apk, GoogleSearch.apk, Vending.apk, etc., etc. with no negative consequences. Yes, make backups, and yes, be prepared to use ADB to restore to /system/apps anything that causes issues, but if you don't have a Google account, why would you need Gmail.apk?

Anyway, Droids do not connect to the Windows 8 store in any way, shape or form.

Well, yeah, I know that; I was making legitimate comparisons between Google Play and Windows Store. Could make the same with the iTunes store as well, but I don't own any iDevices.

Do you have it rooted or something?

Well, yeah (and not "it," but "they" - last count, I had three phones, four tablets, and a quad-core Android-on-a-Stick, but they seem to procreate so there may be more), of course every Android device I have is rooted. Using an unrooted Android device is the equivalent of buying a Windows box and not being given the Administrative password, which means you paid for it but don't control it. Clearly the direction Microsoft is going as well, which I find frightening.

(So much for staying on-topic...apologies.)
 

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