I am getting really cheesed off with Windows Defender identifying Nirsoft
ProduKey as malware, every time I do a fresh install, and it's been lots
recently, I have to fight Defender to leave it alone.

I try hard to keep a list of what Office & Windows keys I have used on
which machine but occasionally I need to check. I can't see it can cause
me harm, it's just protecting Microsoft (although I think all antivirus
apps treat it as malware now).

Is there a thumbdrive that I can put it on the lock so Defender can't
touch it? If not could I burn it to a CD or would Windows try and delete
it from that??

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
640k ought to be enough for anyone.
(Bill Gates, 1981)

On 13/08/2021 10:34, Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
> I am getting really cheesed off with Windows Defender identifying
> Nirsoft ProduKey as malware, every time I do a fresh install, and it's
> been lots recently, I have to fight Defender to leave it alone.
>
> I try hard to keep a list of what Office & Windows keys I have used on
> which machine but occasionally I need to check. I can't see it can cause
> me harm, it's just protecting Microsoft (although I think all antivirus
> apps treat it as malware now).
>
> Is there a thumbdrive that I can put it on the lock so Defender can't
> touch it? If not could I burn it to a CD or would Windows try and delete
> it from that??
>
Windows Defender or Microsoft Security Essentials?

If Security Essentials you should be able to tell it to ignore certain
files, folders or drives.

"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:xn0n1l0onnl81000@news.individual.net...
>
> I am getting really cheesed off with Windows Defender identifying Nirsoft
> ProduKey as malware, every time I do a fresh install, and it's been lots
> recently, I have to fight Defender to leave it alone.
>
> I try hard to keep a list of what Office & Windows keys I have used on
> which machine but occasionally I need to check. I can't see it can cause
> me harm, it's just protecting Microsoft (although I think all antivirus
> apps treat it as malware now).
>
> Is there a thumbdrive that I can put it on the lock so Defender can't
> touch it? If not could I burn it to a CD or would Windows try and delete
> it from that??
>

Windows defender/Settings tab/Excluded files & locations.

Why not keep the product key in a text file.

--
Regards
wasbit

On 14/08/2021 in message <sf7uv8$bso$1@dont-email.me> wasbit wrote:

>"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:xn0n1l0onnl81000@news.individual.net...
>>
>>I am getting really cheesed off with Windows Defender identifying Nirsoft
>>ProduKey as malware, every time I do a fresh install, and it's been lots
>>recently, I have to fight Defender to leave it alone.
>>
>>I try hard to keep a list of what Office & Windows keys I have used on
>>which machine but occasionally I need to check. I can't see it can cause
>>me harm, it's just protecting Microsoft (although I think all antivirus
>>apps treat it as malware now).
>>
>>Is there a thumbdrive that I can put it on the lock so Defender can't
>>touch it? If not could I burn it to a CD or would Windows try and delete
>>it from that??
>>
>
>Windows defender/Settings tab/Excluded files & locations.
>
>Why not keep the product key in a text file.

Many thanks Pent & wasbit :-)

I keep all my keys in an excel spreadsheet and in KeePassX. The issue is
when I need to find out which key I have used where.

I do have it as an exclusion for defender but obviously that doesn't
happen after a fresh install!

I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
You can't tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks

On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mfn61gnshb00b@news.individual.net> Jeff
Gaines wrote:

>I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.

Or even read only :-)

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
Remember, the Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe.

Jeff Gaines <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mfn61gnshb00b@news.individual.net> Jeff
> Gaines wrote:
>
> >I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.
>
> Or even read only :-)

Not sure this would work, but you could try making a .iso image and writing
that to a thumb drive (using a raw image tool like 'dd' or Etcher). It
might be enough to trick Windows into thinking it's a DVD (that can't be
written to in the normal way), while not needing a physical DVD drive to
hold it.

This is roughly how Windows install images work - they're .iso but can be
booted off a thumb drive and read in Windows. In that case they're UDF
images which can in theory be written to, but if it wasn't made as UDF (just
vanilla ISO9660 with Joliet extensions for long filenames) then they aren't.

Theo

On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mhao1iwp4s00c@news.individual.net> Jeff
Gaines wrote:

>On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mfn61gnshb00b@news.individual.net> Jeff
>Gaines wrote:
>
>>I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.
>
>Or even read only :-)

Wow they're hard to find, I got a "Netac" - only one at a reasonable price.

I downloaded the Nirsoft complete pack to the Thumbdrive, tried to
download the network pack but Brave wouldn't let me. Turned off security
in Brave and downloaded.

Disconnected from the network, turned off Windows Defender, unzipped them,
pushed the switch to locked, turned on Windows Defender.

It really cheeses me off because these tools are perfectly safe and I
don't think it's me they are trying to protect me but MSFT.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation

On 16/08/2021 10:42, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mhao1iwp4s00c@news.individual.net> Jeff
> Gaines wrote:
>
>> On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mfn61gnshb00b@news.individual.net> Jeff
>> Gaines wrote:
>>
>>> I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.
>>
>> Or even read only :-)
>
> Wow they're hard to find, I got a "Netac" - only one at a reasonable price.
>
> I downloaded the Nirsoft complete pack to the Thumbdrive, tried to
> download the network pack but Brave wouldn't let me. Turned off security
> in Brave and downloaded.
>
> Disconnected from the network, turned off Windows Defender, unzipped
> them, pushed the switch to locked, turned on Windows Defender.
>
> It really cheeses me off because these tools are perfectly safe and I
> don't think it's me they are trying to protect me but MSFT.
>

Tools that can be used by hackers it the reason I heard why a lot of
scanners will flag them.

To make a USB stick read only you can use USB Flash Drives Control from
Binsoft, but if you're reinstalling windows often it might not be suitable.

https://www.binisoft.org/usbc

On 17/08/2021 in message <sfflku$fbe$1@dont-email.me> Pent wrote:

>Tools that can be used by hackers it the reason I heard why a lot of
>scanners will flag them.
>
>To make a USB stick read only you can use USB Flash Drives Control from
>Binsoft, but if you're reinstalling windows often it might not be suitable.
>
>https://www.binisoft.org/usbc

Many thanks, have bookmarked it :-)

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
By the time you can make ends meet they move the ends

"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:xn0n1p8kj1p8yh000@news.individual.net...
> On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mhao1iwp4s00c@news.individual.net> Jeff
> Gaines wrote:
>
>>On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mfn61gnshb00b@news.individual.net> Jeff
>>Gaines wrote:
>>
>>>I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.
>>
>>Or even read only :-)
>
> Wow they're hard to find, I got a "Netac" - only one at a reasonable
> price.
>
> I downloaded the Nirsoft complete pack to the Thumbdrive, tried to
> download the network pack but Brave wouldn't let me. Turned off security
> in Brave and downloaded.
>
> Disconnected from the network, turned off Windows Defender, unzipped them,
> pushed the switch to locked, turned on Windows Defender.
>
> It really cheeses me off because these tools are perfectly safe and I
> don't think it's me they are trying to protect me but MSFT.
>

Another option is WSCC (Windows System Control Center) which is free for
personal use & portable.
- http://www.kls-soft.com/wscc/index.php

A suite of tools from :
Sysinternals (including support for "Sysinternals Live" service)
NirSoft Utilities - http://www.nirsoft.net
Gibson Research Corporation - http://www.grc.com
Krzysztof Kowalczyk - http://www.kowalczyk.info (Sumatra PDF)
Simon Tatham - https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham (PuTTY)
David Carpenter - https://voidtools.com (Everything)
Michal Mutl - http://mitec.cz

--
Regards
wasbit

On 17/08/2021 in message <sffr17$f1e$1@dont-email.me> wasbit wrote:

>"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:xn0n1p8kj1p8yh000@news.individual.net...
>>On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mhao1iwp4s00c@news.individual.net> Jeff
>>Gaines wrote:
>>
>>>On 14/08/2021 in message <xn0n1mfn61gnshb00b@news.individual.net> Jeff
>>>Gaines wrote:
>>>
>>>>I'll have to look for a ThumbDrive with a write only switch I think.
>>>
>>>Or even read only :-)
>>
>>Wow they're hard to find, I got a "Netac" - only one at a reasonable
>>price.
>>
>>I downloaded the Nirsoft complete pack to the Thumbdrive, tried to
>>download the network pack but Brave wouldn't let me. Turned off security
>>in Brave and downloaded.
>>
>>Disconnected from the network, turned off Windows Defender, unzipped them,
>> pushed the switch to locked, turned on Windows Defender.
>>
>>It really cheeses me off because these tools are perfectly safe and I
>>don't think it's me they are trying to protect me but MSFT.
>>
>
>Another option is WSCC (Windows System Control Center) which is free for
>personal use & portable.
>- http://www.kls-soft.com/wscc/index.php
>
>A suite of tools from :
>Sysinternals (including support for "Sysinternals Live" service)
>NirSoft Utilities - http://www.nirsoft.net
>Gibson Research Corporation - http://www.grc.com
>Krzysztof Kowalczyk - http://www.kowalczyk.info (Sumatra PDF)
>Simon Tatham - https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham (PuTTY)
>David Carpenter - https://voidtools.com (Everything)
>Michal Mutl - http://mitec.cz

Thank you, I reckon I could do a lot of damage with those :-)

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
Remember, the Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe.