Anyone using Blackbird?

[4wd]

In other words, does changing any elements in the path from blackbird version number and all that in the path (where it exists) to simply something like blackbird.ext affect the execution of the command?

-loninappleton (October 13, 2018, 04:17 PM)

What exactly do you mean here?

Are you renaming the executable to cater for multiple versions within the same folder?

If so, why?

Also in this process what is the 'repeat line command'  at cmd system?

Cursor up/down to cycle through command history.

My bad.  The error cited occurs during the initial Backup request which then says
completed successfully.

-loninappleton (October 13, 2018, 04:36 PM)

Blackbird is nothing more than a very complicated command/batch file, (~461kB, 8344 lines), the FindStr errors you're seeing likely come the backup section which starts at around line 5559 and contains quite a number of FindStr commands.  Without knowing precisely which lines are failing you have no way of knowing what is not being included in the backup so it's likely that you do not have a successful backup.

Unless the developers of the program respond and fix it, then the only real backup you can do is an image of the OS before you apply Blackbird, (at the very least a System Restore Point).

It also might pay to apply, (individually through command parameters), only those measures which pertain to Windows 7, (it's a good idea to mention your OS at the start, saves assumptions being made).

Something that may be more user-friendly is: Spybot Anti-Beacon

Download the portable version and run it to install it on a flash drive, then run the program (AntiBeaconLoaderPortable.exe).

It will scan the system and report exactly what it's found when you click on Blocked telemetry options or Customize:

Anyone using Blackbird?

Click on the *** areas to enable/disable what you want/don't want:

Anyone using Blackbird?

You don't need to buy it to use the Standard Immunizers but you do if there's something in the Plus Immunizers you want to block.

I'm running Win 10, things that show blocked blocked were done by OOSU (Win10 only):

Anyone using Blackbird?

However, since it will tell you what choices you have, you can then search the internet for relevant info to block them if you want to keep to a free solution, (or pay €7.99 and use it to setup all your computers).

As I said, it may be a more user-friendly option than Blackbird's scattergun approach.

[loninappleton]

Using the netsh commands described earlier got the Win10 PC to recognize other
elements of the homenet.  I only had one other PC on to test.  Both folders opened successfully.

However I got the old error when trying to open Win10 PC net folder from the Win7 PC.
I have not run the netsh commands on this one yet.

Other peculiar element is the shared folder on Win10 PC got misnamed as C--- just c lower case no colon on some typo or command error I made.  Now that c is the only showing shared element which is all of the Win10 disk.  A real botch.  Reinstalling  Win10 will be done eventually and I know of no solution since folder renaming does not appear to be allowed.

I can take that to TenForums to pusue it.

   That catches me up for now.  I hope these details may be beneficial to other blackbird novices.  I did not know much about how the Winkey+r could function previously as an
example.

[loninappleton]

In the Spybot Beacon post above,  the Winkey+r solved most of the
long command string I could not type in straight and I had  renamed some things.
Using the correct format at Winkey+r eliminated many errors

I will practice with curson up/down

And to Spybot,  I'll load that on the sandbox PC which is Win10 not Win7-- sorry about
confusing things or being unclear.  Win7 is not a test PC but needs to exchange
files I may have to the Win10 experimental setup on my homenet.

When the LAN is turned back on, is there message for that to verify-- as when Blackbird shows Updates are turned off when it loads?

[loninappleton]

I have run the netsh commands from the Win7 PC on the homenet.  This did not give access to the Win10 "Blackbird"  PC.  Is there another option in the apps etc to
allow acces to the Blackbird PC coming in from the LAN?

[4wd]

This did not give access to the Win10 "Blackbird"  PC.

-loninappleton (October 14, 2018, 12:11 PM)

More information:

• Do you mean that the Win10 PC is not seen in the workgroup it's associated with or on the network?
• Or, do you mean it can not be accessed, (any shares on it), from another PC?

If it's (1), there are settings that can prevent a PC from showing up on the network/workgroup but will still allow direct access via it's IP.

If it's (2), what method are you using to try and access it, just from File Explorer on another PC or do you type in it's host or IP address?

eg.
\\x.x.x.x        - fill in the appropriate IP
\\win10pc      - change as appropriate (this can also be blocked via some settings)

Which method:
Anyone using Blackbird?

Or did you mean you can access the Win10 PC but not access any shared folders, (ie. you get a list of folders when you connect to it but can not enter any)?

It can also be a firewall problem, it's blocking LAN related addresses/ports needed for access, you can look in the Event Log for anything like this.

IMHO, you may be better off reverting the Win10 PC to pre-Blackbird and using OOSU (it's free) instead, it will also nullify the telemetry but it gives you fine-grain control over what can be blocked, (it also has a description for each option).

Anyone using Blackbird?

It has a couple of pre-defined settings under the Actions menu, Apply only recommended settings and Recommended and somewhat recommended settings.

And then if you want to remove Win10 apps, use the appropriate section of Blackbird to remove unwanted ones.