Still working on a bigger post. Just wanted to say a couple of things:
-Using Linux is mandatory for having any kind of realistic privacy with technology. It has a steep learning curve, but once you're used to the way things work just about every task becomes simpler. Additionally, some of the things you need to do to run your own servers securely is objectively harder to do on windows. Learning and using Linux is the first step in unplugging yourself from the beast's network.
-If you aren't willing to risk screwing up your own data on a computer that already has windows on it, and don't want or can't afford to get a second computer to play around with (which I recommend highly) then maybe look into getting an SBC(single board computer) such as the raspberry pi. They're inexpensive, small, and low powered hobbyist computers that you can get for as low as $40. They can run nearly full featured variants of Linux that will have the same utilities as a full Linux desktop or server.
-Using Linux is mandatory for having any kind of realistic privacy with technology. It has a steep learning curve, but once you're used to the way things work just about every task becomes simpler. Additionally, some of the things you need to do to run your own servers securely is objectively harder to do on windows. Learning and using Linux is the first step in unplugging yourself from the beast's network.
-If you aren't willing to risk screwing up your own data on a computer that already has windows on it, and don't want or can't afford to get a second computer to play around with (which I recommend highly) then maybe look into getting an SBC(single board computer) such as the raspberry pi. They're inexpensive, small, and low powered hobbyist computers that you can get for as low as $40. They can run nearly full featured variants of Linux that will have the same utilities as a full Linux desktop or server.