guide by abbodi86
originally published September 24, 2018 | rev 1.0
original sauce: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000012-neutralize-telemetry-sustain-win-7-8-1-monthly-rollup-model/


How To Neutralize Telemetry & Sustain Windows 7 and 8.1 Monthly Rollup Model

Background

Microsoft had backported two main parts of Windows 10 Telemetry system to Windows 7 and 8.1:

  • Unified Telemetry Client

    • introduced in updates KB3068708/KB3080149, and became part of the Monthly Rollup since October 2016 preview rollup
    • represented by the Diagnostics Tracking Service (DiagTrack) and the event trace session (AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener)
    • handles the diagnosis tracking and logging, and the online telemetry reporting endpoints
  • Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser

    • introduced in KB2952664/KB2976978, and now become part of the Monthly Rollup staring September 2018 preview rollup
    • represented by the “Application Experience” schedule tasks (Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser, ProgramDataUpdater, AitAgent)
    • the actual telemetry controller and runner, handles the compatibility evaluation and collecting, and device inventory

Neutralization

Despite the infamous reputation and some exaggeration, these telemetry components in Windows 7/8.1 updates are not deeply implemented into OS and can be easily disabled or eliminated.

This can be done officially with few manual steps, or a simple batch script (with extra little-aggressive setings):

W10Tel.cmd

  • Copy or download the contents from this paste bin, and save as .cmd file
    https://pastebin.com/zeJFe08G
  • Execute it after installing the Monthly Rollup and rebooting
    You only need to run it once, and to be safe, once after each new rollup installation.
  • You can also use Task Scheduler to run the script with each system startup, e.g.
    copy the script to C:\Windows directory, open command prompt as administrator, and execute:
    SCHTASKS /Create /F /RU "SYSTEM" /RL HIGHEST /SC ONSTART /TN W10Telemetry /TR "cmd /c %windir%\W10Tel.cmd"
    

Manual

The demonstration is done on Windows 7. Same steps apply for Windows 8.1 too.

  • DiagTrack service

    • Launch the Services program through Open Services from Task Manager\Services tab / services.msc from Search/Run / Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services
    • Find the Diagnostics Tracking Service, right-click and select Properties
    • Change the Startup type to Disabled, then click on the Stop button. Apply the changes.

    Disabling DiagTrack

  • WMI AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener

    • Right-click on the Computer icon and select Manage (This PC in Windows 8.1) or from Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management

    Opening Computer Management

    • Expand to the node Performance > Data Collector Sets

    • From Event Trace Sessions, right-click on AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener or Diagtrack-Listener and Stop it (you may also delete it afterwards)

    Deleting Diagtrack-Listener

    • From Startup Event Trace Sessions, right-click on AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener and select Properties, then clear the Enabled check from the Trace Session tab (you may also delete it afterwards)


    Clearing the check

    • You can also disable AITEventLog and SQMLogger too (those already exist in the system, not added by updates)
  • Compatibility Appraiser tasks

    • Launch Task Scheduler from Start Menu or from Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler

    Launching the Task Scheduler

    • Go to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience

    • Disable all tasks (you may also delete them too)

    • Do the same thing with tasks in Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Customer Experience Improvement Program

Closure

Deleting these scheduled tasks or the WMI loggers is totally safe, and serves to avoid being re-enabled unexpectedly. They don’t affect the OS functions in any way.

Except the show stopper bugs and errors, Monthly Rollup does not need to be avoided for the sake of telemetry hustle.

Edit
Pub: 01 Feb 2020 18:46 UTC
Edit: 02 Feb 2020 11:42 UTC
Views: 9484