Windows 10 1909 Registry folder DOMAINS is a serious privacy issue.

From SimonFastEddy

Hello Bree and those that know me,

I have found a serious privacy issue in Windows 10 v 1909. There is a folder that can be deleted, without having to change permissions but it will not regenerate on reboot. The question is: Should it be deleted? Very top-shelf !!

I will tell you what you will find, and I will give you two of the least bad:

1-britney-spears-nude.com That is a fashion photo.
drunken-bitches.com I don't know where that came from.

There are hundreds of these items and it says more about you than American Express can or ever needed to...

Registry search:
Expand: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zone Map\Domains

The Domains folder can be deleted but the contents can't be selected for deletion, leaving the folder behind. It doesn't look like a user profile (ProfileList) and...

I looked into ProfileList (you will need a system image on Macrium with an ExtHDD) because deletion will prevent sign-in.

In: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList there are user profiles but deletion isn't effective. I don't believe this is the correct deletion site.

So:
Question: What is Domains about? Can it be safely deleted? PrivaZer doesn't seem to clean it, so is there software that will clear the entries in Domains?

Domains has a snoopers charter for Nosy Parkers wanting to know about their next-door-neighbour's, ex-wife's, vicar's dog.

Thoughts welcome, BUT not from Microsoft, NSA or GCHQ.

SimonFastEddy

SimonFastEddy said:

I will tell you what you will find, and I will give you two of the least bad:
1-britney-spears-nude.com That is a fashion photo.
drunken-bitches.com I don't know where that came from.

There are hundreds of these items and it says more about you than American Express can or ever needed to...

Mine are very boring....



These domains are web domain names that you have added to one of the security zones in Internet Explorer's Internet Options. Remove them from there and they are removed from the registry.

SimonFastEddy said:

There is a folder that can be deleted, without having to change permissions but it will not regenerate on reboot. The question is: Should it be deleted?

It seems to be safe to delete Domains. It's not recreated on reboot, but it will be recreated when you next add a site to an IE security zone (just tested that in a VM).

Hello Bree,

Thank you for the assistance. Solved:

My Domains folder was full of sites that were added without my knowledge and had accumulated automatically when I click on a website. There were bucket loads.

They appear dull at first:



Then they were more interesting:



How on Earth did maltayellowpages.com add to the list let alone male4free.com get there?

I deleted the Domains folder and added Home | Eddy Merckx Bikes to Internet Options > Security > Trusted sites list and reopened Registry Editor and as you said... the Domains folder was re-created with the old contents cleared.



Thank you Bree! Problem solved. I expect Britney Spears will be grateful for the reduced coverage.

Have a good Christmas, Bree.

From Simon.

SimonFastEddy said:

Thank you for the assistance. Solved:
My Domains folder was full of sites that were added without my knowledge and had accumulated automatically....

Maybe not entirely solved, there's the small question of how and why they were automatically added. Mine were only there because I deliberately added them, it should never be automatic.

With 'malware' in a lot of those names, there's a strong possibility that you have had some malware.on the machine. That may have added a lot of it's preferred sites to IE's list of Trusted sites! It may also have removed some of the restrictions in the zones. If so, the 'Reset all zones to default...' button will not be greyed out and you should click it.
I think a scan with AdwCleaner is called for.

Hello Bree,

You are thinking what I am thinking...

The "Reset all zones to default level" button was NOT greyed out, as you reasoned:



I changed the setting on the reset button as you suggested.

It is an interesting question: How and Why? I've been on Mozilla Firefox for ages (since Windows XP days)

I used to use AdwCleaner a lot; time to pay a visit. I have Malwarebytes and Tweaking.com - Windows Repair immediately available on my main machine (Dell 755), so I am going to run Malwarebytes in a moment.

I have found the same Domain contents on my standby machine (Dell 760) and I had the same Domain contents issues on a machine that I use for trials (GX620) ...

I am going to run the GX620 today with a system image of a clean installation which has had no subsequent Windows Updates or Programs installed. I also have an image (I believe) from a machine totally stripped out with Powershell leaving only Microsoft Edge and the Microsoft Store. It wasn't any quicker!

I am currently running the GX620 with CompatTelRunner.exe removed, suspecting telemetry, because of high CPU. The Dell 760 has Defender only and the other two PCs use Kaspersky. Nothing found.

Lots of time to see if it is a recent or ancient problem with Internet Explorer 11.

Thank you Bree.

From Simon.

Hi,
Real question is why are you using ie11

Hi ThrashZone,

From SimonFastEddy (We no longer have a problem, Houston).

Q: Why IE11 ?

That was the interesting clue... I haven't used IE since XP days. I use Firefox by choice. Just how the trash was loading into Domains is the puzzle, as well as trying to remember how I located Domains as the problem site; just lucky I suppose.

I had an idea that something was wrong when a defrag' showed a file "Britney Spears" and I chased it down. A bit disappointed with the image: I expected a woolly hat and scarf after an hour wool-gathering..

Repairs:
The Domains folder in Registry Editor has reset OK. AdwCleaner PUPs found were ASC, DriverBooster and Web Companion the last of which has left a remnant behind; none of which are problems. My W10-1903 Clean Installation is OK.

I picked up a catalogue of trash from somewhere... will have lots of fun over Christmas sifting through it all.

Have a good holiday; I am doing System Images for a few hours...

Have fun with the Atlas 5 rocket launch scheduled for the 20th.

From Simon.

Real question is why are you using ie11

That is a good question, and the ability to individually add website to specific security zones is the only reason I still occasionally use it.

Firefox is my browser of choice for 99% of the time, but I have one or two specific sites I visit where, for various reasons (none of then in any way due to them being a 'malicious' site) I need to adjust the security level to trust the site or to block all .js. None of my other browsers can do this on a site-by-site basis, only at the global level across all sites.