Sorry! Missed the link for the Ethernet guide from your previous post :)
Already tried the first option, which did not work :(
Will try the second option also (as soon as I get a chance to restart...

Thanks Brink for the suggestion! Unfortunately I'm using a USB-tethered internet connection (which is hence treated as a wired connection by windows); AFAIK Windows doesn't allow wired connections to...

Is there a way to exclude a registry entry through the exclusions mechanism?

I have disabled MsMpEng.exe from making outbound network requests via a firewall rule (don't worry, I disable the rule...