2

My pc was infected with viruses and malware. I had to reinstall Windows 10 and would like to completely disable the microphone (paranoid about people hearing in). I don't just want to right-click the sound options and disable it there, I want to completely remove the recording capabilities completely.

Is this possible?

Are there any system files which controls the microphone in Windows 10 which can be removed so that no sound can ever be heard?

Improve this question
9
  • 4
    Remove the microphone from your system. That means physically disconnect it. That's the only way you will be sure it can't record.
    – Seth
    Commented Apr 25, 2018 at 9:34
  • 1
    For a slightly less paranoid approach, disable it in Device Manager.
    – gronostaj
    Commented Apr 25, 2018 at 9:38
  • Thanks @Seth but i would like to avoid doing anything physical at the moment.
    – infected
    Commented Apr 25, 2018 at 9:39
  • 3
    Depend on how you share every step you take can be easily reversed with the exception of physically disconnecting the microphone.
    – Seth
    Commented Apr 25, 2018 at 10:35
  • 1
    @infected If the PC is shared the only 100% method is to disconnect the microphone
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 25, 2018 at 11:27

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
2

The only way to reliably stop a microphone from being operational is to physically disconnect it. A more ideal solution would be to disconnect it and remove it (take it away).

If you have malware on your computer, then that software could potentially do anything - including poke your sound card directly and extract audio samples.

It's all about your threat model...

  • If you just don't really want someone recording audio using a microphone, then fine, disable it with software. And bear in mind that a software (non-physical) method to disable a microphone can generally be trivially reversed.
  • If you are genuinely concerned that someone might be able to record and extract audio from your computer, then remove it.
  • If you're a valuable enough target, then stay away from windows and surfaces - bugs and laser microphones are real things that you might need to consider in your threat model...

The paranoia continues... there has also been interesting research into using other things such as the I/O latency of hard disks as rudimentary microphones...

Improve this answer
0

There are no absolutes but the following will get you very far:

  • Disable it in the BIOS / UEFI firmware if that's possible and password protect it, if not possible, disable the hardware under Windows 10 Device Manager
  • Uninstall the device driver
  • Open up the PC and physically remove the microphone
  • Pour the holes where it connects to the Mother Board (MoBo) full of Super Glue.

All of the above would thwart me trying to reconnect it, but one of my buddies would probably still be able to solder on 2 new wires on the opposite side of the MoBo, and the other one could write a device driver to turn your speakers into a microphone so whenever they're around:

  • Lock the computer in a safe and don't power it on

;-)

Improve this answer
0

I don't know if Windows 10 had these options when this question was posted or these answers, but I found this in Windows 10 version 10.0.18362 Build 18362. Just open search and type "sound settings":

enter image description here

Then select "Microphone privacy settings":

enter image description here

Then click "Change" at the top and switch it to "Off":

enter image description here

You can even see which apps recently used your microphone by scrolling down:

enter image description here

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .