In coordination with the Unit 3.5 Information Security of the TU Dresden, the following security settings for the Windows 10 distribution from the MS Downloads Portal have been incorporated:

• No transmission of Windows usage data to Microsoft
• Disable access to microphone and camera for all applications
  (This prevents accidental or third-party activation of these components, so that they cannot be seen or heard in your room via the computer).

Note: Similar settings may have been made for other versions of Windows during installation by your local IT administration.

Concerned Windows versions

• Windows 10 LTSC
• Windows 10 Education 1909 or older

Prerequisite

• You need administrative access to your computer.

Otherwise, please contact your local IT administration, which can also perform the necessary steps via remote access to your computer. For this purpose, ZIH offers ISL Light, which must be used in administrative mode by your contact person in the process.

Activating microphone and camera

Script for enabling

In the attachment of the article you will find the script "enable_devices.cmd". Execute this by double-clicking on it. The microphone and camera are now ready for use. It is not necessary to restart the computer.

Manual instruction

The activation is done by a change in the Windows registry (registry entries). It is important to distinguish whether you work with the left or right mouse button. The required key is indicated in square brackets with capital letters [L] and [R].

1. Click on Windows icon (Start) [L] → Windows System [L] → Command prompt [R] → More [L] →Run as administrator [L]
2. Usually the administrator password is now requested. Enter the password. If your account already has the necessary rights, confirm the appearing query with "YES".
3. A black window appears:

   

    

4. Enter here the command lines from the box below (5) one by one. For this purpose
   1. select the text after a dash completely
   2. copyx it to the Windows clipboard (CTRL+C)
   3. switch to command prompt (the black window is active)
   4. paste the content from the Windows clipboard (CTRL+V)
   5. compare text line (search for Microphone, Camera or Apps)
   6. confirm input (press Enter or Return)
5. If the desired text is not in the windows, delete the line (backspace key) and try again with the desired line.
   1. reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppPrivacy /v LetAppsAccessMicrophone /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1 /f
   2. reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppPrivacy /v LetAppsAccessCamera /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1 /f
   3. reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsStore /v DisableStoreApps /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0 /f

6. Now close the command prompt.

7. Microphone and camera are now ready for use. A restart of the computer is not necessary.