Does this still count?

[Mia Chloe]

Of course one of the most important things to understand as a newbie in the crypto space is how to secure your digital assets. Therefore I decided to give air gapping a try In other to understand air gapping I tried air gapping an old windows PC today  since I didn't know a lot of technical stuff about the internal components of the computer I decided to uninstall all network drivers on the computer I tried doing this from my windows control panel.
Will this still count as an air gapped device or do I still have to remove the hard ware  networking components from the PC board?
And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

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[ABCbits]

Of course one of the most important things to understand as a newbie in the crypto space is how to secure your digital assets. Therefore I decided to give air gapping a try In other to understand air gapping I tried air gapping an old windows PC today  since I didn't know a lot of technical stuff about the internal components of the computer I decided to uninstall all network drivers on the computer I tried doing this from my windows control panel.
Will this still count as an air gapped device or do I still have to remove the hard ware  networking components from the PC board?

Since you said "old windows PC", does that mean the current OS has been installed long time ago and already connected to internet many times? If yes, people usually don't count it as airgapped PC. At least, you should format the storage, reinstall the OS and install other necessary software (such as wallet software) and never connect to internet again. And it's recommended to remove networking component if it's possible.

And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

No, in first place the hacker must connected to your PC.

[Mikky.Crypto]

Air gapping is a good move, but uninstalling network drivers alone won't cut it. You've got to physically remove the hardware components for a true air-gapped setup. And yeah, hackers can't install drivers remotely if there's no hardware to work with.

[BlackBoss_]

[Guide] Secure air-gapped crypto wallet storage method
How to setup a Bitcoin Air-Gap Computer?
Many DON'T you should know to set up a Bitcoin air-gap computer, read above please.

You can set up a cold storage with Electrum wallet.
Cold storage
Creating a cold storage wallet in Electrum

[Mia Chloe]

At least, you should format the storage, reinstall the OS and install other necessary software (such as wallet software) and never connect to internet again

Alright I will uninstall the windows software and re install it now.

And it's recommended to remove networking component if it's possible.

This I may not do yet since I currently don't have Bitcoin hodlings But I will later on when I have some hodlings to use on the hard wallet.

[michellee]

There's no need to be that paranoid @OP. You simply secure your digital assets in a place that only you know. You can buy a hardware wallet that is widely sold or use your old computer and install the asset wallet on that computer. And don't connect that computer to the internet.

You can uninstall the OS on your computer and install it with a new one, and not connect it to the internet or intranet network. It will keep your computer safe from any hacking.

You may also need to remove any hardware network components on your PC board. But it's not easy because some PC boards are integrated with hardware networking components so you need to look for a PC board that really doesn't have them. Hackers need a gap to enter and plant a backdoor into your computer. And if your computer is not connected to the internet, hackers cannot get into your computer.

If you install a crypto wallet on your old computer, just use easy methods so that hackers will never guess that you only used the easiest method to secure your digital wallet.

[AbuBhakar]

Will this still count as an air gapped device or do I still have to remove the hard ware  networking components from the PC board?
And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

This count as air gapped device but why not just invest on a hardwaware that is 100% air gapped like Keystone and Elipal instead of relying on an old PC that has the tendency of being not functional in future? You will need to import your seed phrase once your computer broke so why not invest earlier on much reliable air gapped wallet.

You can use this website https://wallets.thebitcoinhole.com/ to check hardware wallet specs comparison to easily decide what to buy.

[Charles-Tim]

This count as air gapped device but why not just invest on a hardwaware that is 100% air gapped like Keystone and Elipal instead of relying on an old PC that has the tendency of being not functional in future? You will need to import your seed phrase once your computer broke so why not invest earlier on much reliable air gapped wallet.

If you buy a hardware wallet, there is also tendency that the wallet can be damaged at anytime. He has an old computer that is not useful, I do not see anything bad if he makes it useful by turning it to an airgapped device and install a bitcoin wallet on it.

[Yamane_Keto]

At least, you should format the storage, reinstall the OS and install other necessary software (such as wallet software) and never connect to internet again

Alright I will uninstall the windows software and re install it now.

And it's recommended to remove networking component if it's possible.

This I may not do yet since I currently don't have Bitcoin hodlings But I will later on when I have some hodlings to use on the hard wallet.

You did not mention the version of Windows that you are using, but since you describe your device as old, I assume that it is Windows 7. Reinstalling the versions of Windows here may not solve the problem, as there may be vulnerabilities that allow access to your device. You can work with any open source operating system or tails that do not require much experience.

It will only work with Bitcoin/Ethereum/Ethereum based tokens, but if you are planning to airgapped more altcoins, I think it is better to buy a hardware wallet.

[franky1]

Since you said "old windows PC", does that mean the current OS has been installed long time ago and already connected to internet many times? If yes, people usually don't count it as airgapped PC. At least, you should format the storage, reinstall the OS and install other necessary software (such as wallet software) and never connect to internet again. And it's recommended to remove networking component if it's possible.

And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

No, in first place the hacker must connected to your PC.

the victim could have downloaded a dodgy wallet.. (meaning no need for hacker to connect) before the victim removed network card/drivers.

whereby the dodgy wallet signs transactions but to a known set of a scammers addresses. so when the victim transfers the signed tx in hex/byte format. the victim wont know the receiver address is the scammer. and the scammer didnt need to connect to the victim

tip: only use open source, verified, clean tx creators.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Alright I will uninstall the windows software and re install it now.

Even better - install a good Linux distro which will be more secure and more private than any Windows system (as well as being open source). You might also find that lots of modern wallet software won't run properly on old versions of Windows.

This count as air gapped device but why not just invest on a hardwaware that is 100% air gapped like Keystone and Elipal instead of relying on an old PC that has the tendency of being not functional in future?

Why would an old PC not be functional? I have computers which are 20+ years old and still run just fine, whereas you can find reports of hardware wallets having their screens die after just a few years.

[Furious 7]

And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

As long as the hackers don't have access to your computer, the things that you are overly concerned about like installing drivers or something like that won't happen because they also have to have initial access in order to be free with our computer so when we don't do anything that threatens our computer then I don't think it will be a problem.

Actually the steps you take are very good, but I agree with some people in this case we don't need to be too paranoid. because in the end the worries we do actually make us careless.
Just do what you have to do, like securing your wallet, securing your seeds and never store anything valuable like seeds on a PC or in the cloud which is vulnerable to hacking.
Being cautious is important because anticipation is much better but don't be too worried about what you're doing because paranoia can make us more stupid and make us easily infiltrated by hackers.

[BlackHatCoiner]

I would be more concerned about using Windows if I were you. Sure, removing everything that's going to connect your computer to any network is critical, but it's even more concerning to use closed-source OS that is known to having the most vulnerabilities: https://www.beyondtrust.com/blog/entry/microsoft-vulnerabilities-report

Installing a Live OS like Tails would be preferable.

the victim could have downloaded a dodgy wallet..

You should obviously only install peer-reviewed, tested wallet software, and verify their binaries.

[SamReomo]

Will this still count as an air gapped device or do I still have to remove the hard ware  networking components from the PC board?
And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

I would not consider it as 100% air gapped device because only removing of networking components may not be sufficient. You might have an hidden malware in your system that you aren't aware of and that could be something troublesome. If you really want your device to be 100% air gapped then surely you'll need to format the drives and install a new operating system into it because sometimes networking components aren't disabled from bios settings and the hardware is also present in that system and due to a wrong step it can still connect to internet. I would suggest you to install a Linux based operating system instead of Windows OS because Linux is much secure and completely open-source. You should also learn about networking hardware of your system and if it's detachable then you should completely remove it from your system. You should never ever use any wifi internet dongle on that device.

And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

The hackers won't be able to install the drivers remotely if they aren't close to your device but if the device has Bluetooth connectivity and the hacker is in close distance from your device then in theory that person may be able to connect to your device and install those drivers remotely. However, you really don't have to be worried about that thing if your pc doesn't have any Bluetooth connectivity built into it.

Alright I will uninstall the windows software and re install it now.

Even better - install a good Linux distro which will be more secure and more private than any Windows system (as well as being open source). You might also find that lots of modern wallet software won't run properly on old versions of Windows.

That's what I was going to say. Another good thing about Linux distros is that they are light weight and can be installed on any system even with low ram. I personally used Lubuntu on my low end desktop and it was pretty good in performance. The Linux is much safer than Windows OS especially from that decade old Windows OS's. The best thing about Linux distros is that they have support for each wallet and whatever is open-source can be compiled for it and it will work flawlessly.

This count as air gapped device but why not just invest on a hardwaware that is 100% air gapped like Keystone and Elipal instead of relying on an old PC that has the tendency of being not functional in future?

Why would an old PC not be functional? I have computers which are 20+ years old and still run just fine, whereas you can find reports of hardware wallets having their screens die after just a few years.

I'm not a fan of hardware wallets because they aren't necessary for the ones who are technically good. I agree with you the old PC's won't have any issue as long as they are running a Linux distro and they really aren't that bad for wallets but yes the user must have to be careful about the hard drives as they are mechanical in nature and can stop working anytime. An old pc with SATA SSD would work like a charm as an air gapped device, and the users don't really need to update that pc whatsoever.

[Faisal2202]

Air gap device should not be connected to the outer world, I don't think you have to actually uninstall the drivers but simply you have to disconnect all the ports that could be used to connect your PC to the outer world, and I prefer to not to use windows OS use Ubuntu (Linux) OS for such purposes. I never made an air-gapped device in my life but in my recent time here I have heard a lot about it and just to clear things up for you I'm not an expert but sharing the slightest knowledge I have.

You should not connect your device to the internet and will not even connect any external device with your PC (peripheral device). That's what most people advise.

The point is, why did you want to make your old computer air-gapped, I mean if you think you can make it air-gapped and can use it for wallet purposes and think that for making transactions you can connect it to the Internet for a short time and it will still be count as air-gapped. But no it will not count as air gapped. I know your question is not this but I'm adding useful knowledge for you so you can get familiar with the possibilities and mistakes that people make. Here is a useful topic that you should read for air gaping devices:

If you have an old personal computer, you format it and reinstall the operating system. You remove the WiFi card and the Bluetooth. You have made it airgapped already.

You should start reading it from the start.

PS: I think this topic belongs to the Beginners and Help section.

[bhadz]

instead of relying on an old PC that has the tendency of being not functional in future?

IMHO, they're even more perfect to use when they're older since most of the potential threats are even trying to cope up with updated systems although the older once have the tendency to malfunction and becomes more of a target. This is common for most computers and based on how you use it. And if it's your personal computer and you know the history of it and it's still working flawlessly, that shouldn't be a problem.

[Ucy]

Of course one of the most important things to understand as a newbie in the crypto space is how to secure your digital assets. Therefore I decided to give air gapping a try In other to understand air gapping I tried air gapping an old windows PC today  since I didn't know a lot of technical stuff about the internal components of the computer I decided to uninstall all network drivers on the computer I tried doing this from my windows control panel.
Will this still count as an air gapped device or do I still have to remove the hard ware  networking components from the PC board?
And will it be possible for an hacker to install those drivers remotely?

That could count as an air-gapped device if your aim is to disable anything that makes it possible to communicate wirelessly especially with the internet, but you can't be sure what is going on behind your back though since the hardware and software are trade secret and closed source. However it's better than openening it up to the world yourself. If somehow it gets hacked after a thorough airgapping you could narrow things down to the manufacturer and software makers. But I doubt they would go that route if they know you are knowledgeable in stuff like that as it would  expose what their device and software are capable of doing secretly after thoroughly airgapping it.

[GbitG]

Of course one of the most important things to understand as a newbie in the crypto space is how to secure your digital assets. Therefore I decided to give air gapping a try In other to understand air gapping I tried air gapping an old Windows PC today since I didn't know a lot of technical stuff about the internal components of the computer I decided to uninstall all network drivers on the computer I tried doing this from my windows control panel.
Will this still count as an air-gapped device or do I still have to remove the hardware networking components from the PC board?
And will it be possible for a hacker to install those drivers remotely?

Yes, if you disconnect your PC from the outer world then it will become air-gapped. According to the definition of an air gap device, it should not be connected to the outer world, directly or indirectly. So, you have to make that PC air-gapped but if you were using the same PC while connecting it to the internet then I prefer you to uninstall this window or maybe buy a new HDD or SDD but that's not compulsory.
After that, install a new operating system. Try not to install Windows OS as it is vulnerable to scams and hacks. And I don't think the deletion of network drivers is necessary but that is a good practice to do, just in case. I am also not a technical dude who works at geekforgeeks but after learning from some tutorials you will be able to make an airgap device at home easily. But according to my knowledge, the hard part is to keep that air gap device disconnected from the outside world.

[pooya87]

I would be more concerned about using Windows if I were you. Sure, removing everything that's going to connect your computer to any network is critical, but it's even more concerning to use closed-source OS that is known to having the most vulnerabilities: https://www.beyondtrust.com/blog/entry/microsoft-vulnerabilities-report

Installing a Live OS like Tails would be preferable.

This. Funny seeing this topic as I just installed Windows 10 and the nightmare is fresh! My Firewall list is already filled with two dozen rules trying to manage what I allow connecting to the internet and what I don't. It's as if it's designed to be a spyware lol.

[Pmalek]

Just do what you have to do, like securing your wallet, securing your seeds and never store anything valuable like seeds on a PC or in the cloud which is vulnerable to hacking.

A properly airgapped computer shouldn't have the hardware components to connect to the internet. So, even if you wanted to store your seed in the cloud using that machine, you wouldn't be able to. If, on the other hand, you import that seed to a hot wallet, it stops being an airgapped cold storage.

Removing connectivity hardware is also a protection against yourself. If you have had your software wallet on your airgapped device for a few years and you feel it's time for an update, you might get lazy and say it doesn't hurt to connect my computer to the internet just once to update it directly on my machine. You can do that if you have the needed hardware. But if you don't, you can't. 

Yes, if you disconnect your PC from the outer world then it will become air-gapped. According to the definition of an air gap device, it should not be connected to the outer world, directly or indirectly. So, you have to make that PC air-gapped but if you were using the same PC while connecting it to the internet then I prefer you to uninstall this window or maybe buy a new HDD or SDD but that's not compulsory.

It's not that common nowadays to find a PC that hasn't been regularly connected to the internet. Reinstalling the OS is therefore recommended regardless of how you used it in the past. The fact that you aren't going to connect a non-reformatted PC to the internet in the future isn't enough. You could have been infected with a clipboard malware, for example. It will be able to replace your copied address even without internet connection. So, don't do it.