I have been using Windows Firewall Control (WFC)(https://www.binisoft.org/wfc.php) for some years now. I have the same laptop since 2015, it runs Win8.1, and WFC is always running in alert/block mode. If you remember ZoneAlarm from 20y ago, imagine something like that. WFC hooks on the Windows firewall but has a super-enhanced UI. I usually leave only Firefox, Outlook, and Windows Updates passing through, and my Outlook only to the mail server (no need to download all the crappy stuff that people link on their emails).
I could also never understand why explorer.exe (or wordpad.exe, or WinZip or solitaire, or majority of apps on a PC.. need to tell anyone on the internet what I am doing with my PC.
In the same spirit, I always suggest it to friends who ask me to help them setup a new W10 machine. I block almost everything that moves and this solves any ad problem and telemetry that W10 is running.
I could also never understand why explorer.exe (or wordpad.exe, or WinZip or solitaire, or majority of apps on a PC.. need to tell anyone on the internet what I am doing with my PC.
In the same spirit, I always suggest it to friends who ask me to help them setup a new W10 machine. I block almost everything that moves and this solves any ad problem and telemetry that W10 is running.