You don't need to jump from Windows to TAILS for torrents, try mint that is basically the same user experience as windows xp.
this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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Privacy
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Ig? Not really like win xp for any of the desktop environments I've seen.
If you care about privacy and wanna use Windows... God help you...
You want Linux my friend
...and if you want to torrent then you need a respectable peer-to-peer VPN service like ProtonVPN
Mullvad
Mullvad is no longer ideal for torrenting because they discontinued port forwarding. Airvpn is a good alternative that still provides port forwarding.
The topic is privacy, torrents are not very private to begin with, and Mullvad uses disk-less servers and you can pay with cash.
i want to get into things like torrenting
The second line of the original post. The topic is privacy and torrenting
ok ill give linux a try then but is there a certain version of linux you would suggest? one person suggest mint btw. if i go with Linux do i need a vpn or am i good without one?
You need VPN to hide your traffic from your internet provider, your OS will not help with that. Use Mullvad, nothing else.
If you want more secure OS, that will respect your privacy, your only options are Linux or BSD. If you only have experience with Windows, go with Linux Mint. Keep in mind that it is a fork of Ubuntu, so guides and packages for Ubuntu will work for Mint almost always.
Mint is more suited for newcomers.
AirVPN is better option for torrenting since Mullvad stopped offering port forwarding.
The topic is privacy, torrents are not very private to begin with, and Mullvad uses disk-less servers and you can pay with cash.
I use Ubuntu Budgie and that works perfect for me, but I hear Mint is good for beginners too.
And if you live in the US, always use a VPN when torrenting. But if you live in a country where you know no one will give a shit about you downloading a movie, then have at it.
In terms of digital security best practices, though, you should pretty much always use a VPN anyway. And follow this guide if you feel like you do need a VPN when torrenting.
Mint was designed to be easy for windows users. Learn some stuff about the package manager (software manager for GUI, and either apt or apt-get) and you should be alright. Fyi Linux Mint is basically Ubuntu (but with some good changes) so find what Ubuntu version you are running (using cat /etc/upstream-release/lsb-release in the terminal) and thats what software is compatable. I'd avoid full drive encryption because Timeshift (system snapshot app) doesn't work with ZFS drive partitions.
Also configure UFW (firewall service).
There's a lot of helpful comments here and being your age is a great time to start tinkering with computers! Just start by installing them into a VirtualBox because if you don't have the knowledge it's very easy to break things and anyone else that has to use the computer isn't going to be very happy with you.
However, I want to point out something that actually address your concerns.
- If you are concerned about getting "caught" for torrenting then Windows vs any other OS makes zero difference.
- If you are concerned about viruses, Linux is more secure based on the fact that most viruses target Windows. However, this does not mean it is impossible. Learning basic security practices will help you on Windows and much as any other OS.
Tails isn't really designed for daily driving. I'd go for a user friendly distro like Ubuntu if you an on switching from windows.
It is possible to make windows a little more private if you didn't want to switch. Here's a pretty good guide in modifying the the iso before installing: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/create-custom-windows-11-install-disk
Modifying window does help users gain more control and privacy, but windows is proprietary so a person can only do so much. Be careful on what you remove if you GI this route, windows relies on weird apps to function.
Another note, I wouldn't be afraid of torrenting. The inky person that would care that your getting free movies and such is your ISP, and you can just flip on a VPN to clear their radar.
Ameliorate your Windows 10 and Windows 11 installation.
Can recommend this, too!
I used their script several years ago to debloat my win10. It needed to boot into linux to fully get rid of certain files and features, but this worked fine.
They now have different scripts used as playbooks to get win to the desired state. Haven't tried yet.
If all you want to do is torrent just use a vpn, as it sounds like all you really want is to avoid DMCA notices.
This is a good lesson in understanding your threat model.
A "just works" distribution like Linux Mint is miles ahead compared to Windows and Tails OS is a step even further as it is only Live and routes everything through TOR.
Linux is not hard to be honest. Your main concern in difficulty is third-party software support. (Creative cloud and office 365 does not work for instance.)
If you want to try out any of these, just ask me if you need any help
office 365 does not work for instance.
Well that's not true
O365 via the browser works perfectly fine and has done for years. You can't install windows executable apps if that's what you meant
Yeah, the executable is what I meant. Sorry for being unclear
pirates don't use windows.
Linux mint is easy, transmission is a great torrent client, if you remove all trackers from each torrent your ISP never knows what you're doing
Download whatever distro seems interesting, if tails is something you want to try then try it I actually had a similar introduction to Linux but I doubt youd stick with tails as its not a daily not to say tails doesn't have its place. I personal like arch distros and if your moving from windows you'd probably like KDE plasma. Using Linux won't instantly net you privacy, this is something that you'd need to pro actively aim to be private, like what is the URL for the pirate bay, 1337x, can I trust this torrent? Which browser do you use and search engine, what torrent client can be trusted.
I'd recommend using transmission, qbittorrent or anything Foss with half decent user base. VPN you've got proton free, mullvad costs but I'd say its worth it or you can tunnel through tor network. Distros you've got lots of options, recommend you look at distrowatch or youtubers like distrotube. Find a small pall of trust worthy torrent sites and names of trust worthy repackere, fitgirl, dodi, jc141 to name a few.
But most importantly. Make sure to seed 🙃
Just... Don't torrent over Tor. It is not only slower, but also making it worse for other users.
Google Linux Mint. Install. Enjoy having your computer back again.
As a lover of Linux, this type of comment is non constructive
Yeah, I have to agree. No explanation, no information, just vague instructions and a promise of “your computer back” without actually saying what that means.
One thing I have done more of, of late, is using an external drive plugged in to the fastest usb port I've got (thunderbolt, in my case), and installing Mint on there. I've got an NVME enclosure with Linux Mint Debian Edition on it, and it has a USB A or C cable, so I can boot into it from several different computers. It's also great for rescuing files off of non-booting Windows machines. You take a bit of a speed hit, but it's not as bad as you'd think, and it fits in my pocket. (Good party trick, too.)
The German government has an ongoing investigation into achieving this: https://www.bsi.bund.de/EN/Service-Navi/Publikationen/Studien/SiSyPHuS_Win10/SiSyPHuS.html
I'm mostly posting this to say that it's a lot of work. They dubbed it "SiSyPHuS", not because that acronym just came naturally from the study's title...
If Windows is the only thing you know how to use, don't use tails. Use something that has a KDE desktop environment which is like Windows. Suggestions for distros in these comments are pretty good. It'll look and operate like windows, except you install apps from app stores like you do on your phone.
No. You can use things like: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10 to turn off some of the telemetry, but it’s still fundamental Windows. MS will harvest whatever they can regardless of your settings.
You’re sleeping on a nuclear bomb.
It's possible but will never be 100%. O&O Shutup is a good start. Just be careful with it. Do just the recommended settings and revert anything that breaks as you go.
if you wanna stick to windows don't use over windows 7
Windows 7 is EOL, don't do this...
well yea but windows 8 to 11 aren't better in privacy and it isn't gonna get much better so a limbo state i guess
well yea but windows 8 to 11 aren't better in privacy and it isn't gonna get much better so a limbo state i guess