Disable telemetry in Visual Studio 2019

[StainlessS]

Found this on Github, "Disable telemetry in Visual Studio 2019",
https://gist.github.com/zeffy/f0fe4be391a2f1a4246d0482bbf57c1a

Last updated 7 days prior to this thread posting.
verbatim as here. [EDIT: NOT verbatim, I changed "Enterprise" to "Community" in this line(appears twice):- VS_INSTALL_DIR=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community" ]

@echo off

fltmc >nul 2>&1 || (
echo This batch script requires administrator privileges. Right-click on
echo the script and select "Run as administrator".
goto :die
)

rem Change this path if you are using Community or Professional editions
set "VS_INSTALL_DIR=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community"
if not defined ProgramFiles(x86) (
set "VS_INSTALL_DIR=%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community"
)

set "VS_POLICIES_KEY=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VisualStudio"
set "VS_POLICIES_FEEDBACK_KEY=%VS_POLICIES_KEY%\Feedback"
set "VS_POLICIES_SQM_KEY=%VS_POLICIES_KEY%\SQM"
set "VS_TELEMETRY_KEY=HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Telemetry"

rem Disable feedback in Visual Studio
reg add "%VS_POLICIES_FEEDBACK_KEY%" /v DisableFeedbackDialog /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "%VS_POLICIES_FEEDBACK_KEY%" /v DisableEmailInput /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "%VS_POLICIES_FEEDBACK_KEY%" /v DisableScreenshotCapture /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

rem Disable PerfWatson
reg add "%VS_POLICIES_SQM_KEY%" /v OptIn /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

rem Disable telemetry
reg add "%VS_TELEMETRY_KEY%" /v TurnOffSwitch /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

rem Also considering adding these hostnames to your C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
rem - vortex.data.microsoft.com
rem - dc.services.visualstudio.com
rem - visualstudio-devdiv-c2s.msedge.net
rem - az667904.vo.msecnd.net
rem - az700632.vo.msecnd.net
rem - sxpdata.microsoft.com
rem - sxp.microsoft.com

rem Delete telemetry directories
rmdir /s /q "%AppData%\vstelemetry" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VSApplicationInsights" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\VSApplicationInsights" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\Microsoft\VSApplicationInsights" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSFaultInfo" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSFeedbackIntelliCodeLogs" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSFeedbackPerfWatsonData" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSFeedbackVSRTCLogs" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSRemoteControl" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSTelem" 2>nul
rmdir /s /q "%Temp%\VSTelem.Out" 2>nul

rem For a noticable improvement in responsiveness, I also recommend disabling any
rem of the default extensions you don't actually use, for example I disabled:
rem - VS Live Share
rem - Dotnet Extensions for Test Explorer
rem - Microsoft Studio Test Platform
rem - Test Adapter for Google Tests
rem - Test Adapter for Boost.Test

:die
echo.
pause
exit

Not sure why they delete folders from TEMP, they [at least some] get added back when VS next runs.

Added to end of hosts file as per above recommendation [total block of access to these below sites]
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

################################
# Windows Customer experience telemetry
0.0.0.0 settings-win.data.microsoft.com
################################
# Visual Studio Community telemetry from:- https://gist.github.com/zeffy/f0fe4be391a2f1a4246d0482bbf57c1a
0.0.0.0 vortex.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 dc.services.visualstudio.com
0.0.0.0 visualstudio-devdiv-c2s.msedge.net
0.0.0.0 az667904.vo.msecnd.net
0.0.0.0 az700632.vo.msecnd.net
0.0.0.0 sxpdata.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 sxp.microsoft.com
################################
# More telemetry from:- https://www.reddit.com/r/pihole/comments/a12zwl/does_anyone_have_an_extensive_list_of_microsoft/
0.0.0.0 geo.settings-win.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 db5-eap.settings-win.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 db5.settings-win.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 db5.vortex.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 asimov-win.settings.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 v10-win.vortex.data.microsft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 v10.vortex-win.data.microsft.com
0.0.0.0 geo.vortex.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0 us.vortex-win.data.microsft.com
0.0.0.0 eu.vortex-win.data.microsft.com
0.0.0.0 vortex-win-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 alpha.telemetry.microsft.com
0.0.0.0 oca.telemetry.microsft.com
0.0.0.0 weus2watcab02.blob.core.windows.net
0.0.0.0 weus2watcab01.blob.core.windows.net
0.0.0.0 eaus2watcab02.blob.core.windows.net
0.0.0.0 eaus2watcab01.blob.core.windows.net
0.0.0.0 ceuswatcab02.blob.core.windows.net
0.0.0.0 ceuswatcab01.blob.core.windows.net

EDITED:

I added 1st one above, ie settings-win.data.microsoft.com, some kind of M$ customer experience statisfaction type thing.
EDIT: Added some more telemetry sites.

any other recommendations ?

I've used above for VS Community 2019.

[filler56789]

Added to hosts file as per above recommendation [total block of access to these below sites]
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

# Visual Studio Community telemetry
127.0.0.1 settings-win.data.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 vortex.data.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 dc.services.visualstudio.com
127.0.0.1 visualstudio-devdiv-c2s.msedge.net
127.0.0.1 az667904.vo.msecnd.net
127.0.0.1 az700632.vo.msecnd.net
127.0.0.1 sxpdata.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 sxp.microsoft.com

I added 1st one above, ie settings-win.data.microsoft.com, some kind of M$ customer experience statisfaction type thing.

any other recommendations ?

I've used above for VS Community 2019.

AFAIR, at least on Windows it's safe to replace "127.0.0.1" with "0.0.0.0" in the hosts file.

[StainlessS]

Thanks for that, I have used that in the past but forgot about it.
I'll change to 0.0.0.0.

EDIT: Done
Note, Reboot may be necessary after hosts edit (not sure - EDIT: or command line:- [B]IpConfig /flushdns).

EDIT: More possible telemetry sites:- https://www.reddit.com/r/pihole/comments/a12zwl/does_anyone_have_an_extensive_list_of_microsoft/


geo.settings-win.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
db5-eap.settings-win.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
db5.settings-win.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
db5.vortex.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
asimov-win.settings.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
v10-win.vortex.data.microsft.com.akadns.net
v10.vortex-win.data.microsft.com
geo.vortex.data.microsoft.com.akadns.net
us.vortex-win.data.microsft.com
eu.vortex-win.data.microsft.com
vortex-win-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
alpha.telemetry.microsft.com
oca.telemetry.microsft.com
weus2watcab02.blob.core.windows.net
weus2watcab01.blob.core.windows.net
eaus2watcab02.blob.core.windows.net
eaus2watcab01.blob.core.windows.net
ceuswatcab02.blob.core.windows.net
ceuswatcab01.blob.core.windows.net

[Sparktank]

AFAIR, at least on Windows it's safe to replace "127.0.0.1" with "0.0.0.0" in the hosts file.

Yes, mvps (host file blocking) does this, starting with Windows 8.1.

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Important Note: The HOSTS file now contains a change in the prefix in the HOSTS entries to "0.0.0.0" instead of the usual "127.0.0.1".
This was done to resolve a slowdown issue that occurs with the change Microsoft made in the "TCP loopback interface" in Win8.1.

[StainlessS]

Important Note: The HOSTS file now contains a change in the prefix in the HOSTS entries to "0.0.0.0" instead of the usual "127.0.0.1".
This was done to resolve a slowdown issue that occurs with the change Microsoft made in the "TCP loopback interface" in Win8.1.

So far as I remember, it was also faster in XP, I was using 0.0.0.0 about 5 or more years ago but forgot about it.

EDIT: That is one helluva hosts file, 423KB uncompressed (Mostly ad/tracker blocking, via Sparktank link).

EDIT: There seems to be a distinct pause with the adblock 423KB hosts addition on my BayTrail
Windows 10 32 bit tablet thingy, but I dont want to disable the DNS Client service [to speed up], as I
may on rare occasion require it, so I'll try for a while at least with the huge hosts file. [Seems to speed up a bit after first few web pages]