Windows 10 - Overall Review and Modding

[z929669]

I may test drive Win 10 for kicks (after imaging my win7 setup, of course) ... what I gather is that I have to upgrade to get it for free. Then I can use the tool to create a bootable USB and Belarc Advisor to grab my Win10 product key, then do a fresh install (I refuse OS upgrades).

 

Found a good guide that I plan to shadow.

[alt3rn1ty]

Reference guides : Keep an eye on the following page for a Win 10 specific guide

 

https://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

 

They are usually very good, even just the Regular text only versions.

 

------------

 

Anyone out there got problems with Windows 10 Search Box ?

 

.. or rather, problems getting to its settings to switch it off ?

 

Normally ( and this worked for three of the machines in our house ) - Click the Search Bar ( or Icon depending on what you have set it to in the right click menu ), and the big window which opens up to show search results has a Gear icon on the left hand side

 

 

The Gear icon opens up search settings where you can switch off :

 

But we had one machine which just did nothing when clicking on the Gear Icon

 

Because it windows 10 premium ( not professional ), we did not have access to the Group Policy Editor ( gpedit.msc )

 

So could not get around the lack of a settings menu with that method either

 

 

Solution : A Registry hack

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search]
"DisableWebSearch"=dword:00000001
"ConnectedSearchUseWeb"=dword:00000000
"ConnectedSearchUseWebOverMeteredConnections"=dword:00000000

Put the above in a file called Win10SwitchOffWebSearch.reg

 

And then double click it to install the registry keys.

 

Sign out of windows, log back in and have a look at your search bar which will no longer say "Search the Web and Windows", it will just say "Search Windows"

 

Heres the file already made, and it worked for our multi-user setup desktop which was the problem machine for us.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/86040572/Win10RegKeysHacks.7z

 

Extract the archive with 7Zip or WinRAR, and just double click the files, say yes to the windows prompt

 

 

There are a couple more reg keys in the zip too, Win 10 has a Dark and Light theme for App backgrounds ( Like the Windows 10 Calculator, or the background on the new look Settings screen )

 

Double click the Dark one to set it to Dark, and the other one to put it back to the default normal colour

[GSDFan]

Anyone out there got problems with Windows 10 Search Box ?

 

.. or rather, problems getting to its settings to switch it off ?

All I did was right click the task bar to open the menu, went to Cortana and selected hidden. That big search box is no gone.

[alt3rn1ty]

All I did was right click the task bar to open the menu, went to Cortana and selected hidden. That big search box is no gone.

Yes, but see the thing with the search box is, by default it searches the Web ( instead of the old expected behaviour of just searching the machine ) ..

 

So to set that so it does not search the web ( yeah I know I didnt make that clear in my last post ), you should be able to access the Gear Icon in the big box ..

 

.. In some cases ( as explained it happened on just one of our machines out of the four we have ) you cant.

 

My last post is for the benefit of anyone else with the same problems as described ( not able to access the Gear Icon and also not able to use gpedit.msc - So Registry hack provided to do the same job of turning off the web search ).

 

It will be of no use for most people

Edited August 10, 2015 by alt3rn1ty

[GSDFan]

I bet that it is something that will never be turned off completely as Bing is tightly woven into the OS. On my Win 10 if you click in the search bos and click the notebook icon I get access to a lot of quick switch settings. there is also a link to more advanced settings also.

[GSDFan]

I just found how to do this. Click in the search box and click on the notepad icon. Click on the settings option and turn Cortana off. A new option will appear to turn off online and web suggestions. When you do this the search box changes to "Search Windows" and when you click in the search box the gear icon appears on the left instead of the notebook icon.

[alt3rn1ty]

^^ Yes that is what should happen - But there is a bug with Win 10 that sometimes prevents anything from responding when you click the gear icon

Then you are left with the option of turning off Web Search via GPedit.msc ( because you cannot use the settings dialogue you need to find another route to switch it off )

And then if you do not have Professional edition of windows ... You cannot use GPedit either ( GPedit is not in Home or Premium editions of windows )

 

Thats where the Registry Keys come into play, for people unfortunate enough to find themselves in that predicament I was in with the family desktop - Once you set the registry keys as admin, Web Search is turned off across the board for anyone using the same computer ( all Local Accounts )

 

Anyone with the problem will understand the value of those registry keys back in post #197 as an aid to get rid of web search :) ( it will be their only option )

[GrantSP]

That's going to be a real shame if that option can't be disabled. Although I can sympathize with MS wanting to point all user queries to the one online search engine so they can improve it based on real life queries, I don't see why we ALL should be shackled to that sort of thing. My offline searches for things on my system shouldn't need to be sent half way round the globe to aid me.

 

As it is now I use the tool 'Everything' to do most of my computer searches, very fast and can be streamlined with RegEx to finetune it.

[alt3rn1ty]

Just been having a good look at the How-To-Geek site, and see what he has covered so far ..

.. Its pretty good : Going to add this lot to the OP

 

A lot of the following is about privacy, but dont go to sleep yet ..

 

Performance of your machine benefits greatly imho.

 

 

When installing Windows 10

 

Highly recommend NOT accepting windows Express settings when Win 10 installs, use Custom instead

What’s the Difference Between Windows 10’s Express or Custom Setup?

 

Dont enter or create a Microsoft account, you will be offered to use a Local account instead

It's strongly recommended to use a local account with Windows 10.

You can do it while the "Make it yours" screen appears by clicking "Skip this step". After that it's safe to follow instructions.

For creating Local accounts after installation ( for other users of the same machine ) :

How to Set Up and Configure User Accounts on Windows 10

 

Something many people never look into, but with the new OS you are well advised to

Digging into and Understanding Windows 10’s Privacy Settings

30 Ways Your Windows 10 Computer Phones Home to Microsoft

 

Maybe you have noticed your internet slowed down a little since installing Win 10

A lot of the above are going to affect that, but also ...

How to Stop Windows 10 From Uploading Updates to Other PCs Over the Internet

 

A few more tips along the same lines as the above :

 

Right click your Start Button

Now you can select the old Control Panel which has a lot more options to look into especially in classic mode

Such as the new Flash Player settings manager ( and I think going through the old control panel is the only way you will be able to access this )

 

Theres a whole heap of stuff the Right click menu opens, have fun being nosy

 

The following will stop cloud services .. And it would have to be restarted via the Services manager ( type Services.msc in Start Menu / All Apps / Windows System / Run ) - If you are happy with that :

In the SysTray ( bottom righ hand side of windows near the clock ) click the arrow to open up the hidden systray Apps

OneDrive - Right click it, choose settings, go to the first tab and untick it from starting up with windows. Apply and Close the settings.

Then right click the OneDrive systray App again and choose exit

 

Also - Those flip-flopping start menu Apps, like weather and news etc - They are using bandwidth too - Right click it, "Turn Live Tile Off", then right click and "Unpin from Start" to remove it. Rinse and repeat for all of them and then go to All Apps and drag n drop some useful programs onto the tiles instead like Calculator, Run and Task Manager for example.

How To Add Remove Customize Tiles in Start

 

Lastly keep an eye on developments here https://github.com/10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking

 

 

All of the above settings are reversible - My advice is to set everything to off, initially so that the horse does not bolt through the gate as soon as windows gets internet connection ( pretty much straight after installation ) .. Then you can allow things at your leisure as required and after you have had time to think about them.

People who upgraded from Win 7 or 8 will be worst affected by the data grab initially, because all of your accumulated data from the old OS including all your documents, internet history, email content etc will be uploaded to the cloud and scrutinised for advertising purposes gathering information about you, your habits, and your friends associations / influences with you. Nothing we havent seen before with various other things like facebook, but now its at the OS level so potentially a lot more personal.

 

 

If you are admin, on a machine with multiple users - Rinse and repeat all the above for each account .. Yes I know its a huge PITA, I just had to do the same on our family machine.

 

But performance of the machine seriously benefits from taking the above steps.

( Yes, even in comparison to Windows 7 which I thought was pretty good, get Win 10 tamed and it performs really well )

 

Dont forget to install Win 10 compatible graphics drivers, more than likely your old ones became disabled and a generic windows one will be in use instead.

 

Another site with a lot of the above, but a few more details too such as edge configuration https://fix10.isleaked.com/

Edited August 13, 2015 by alt3rn1ty

[GrantSP]

Thanks, that peer-to-peer update "feature" is a real eye opener. How dare they use my bandwidth to fix their issues!

 

Upgraded over the course of last night and looking at this P2P feature I actually will use the local PCs option. For those on limited internet the ability to upgrade/update ALL the PCs in the house with just one set of downloads makes a lot of sense.

[z929669]

I just imaged my Win7 to test drive Win10 (update version). The good thing about the update version is that you are able to see Win10 in the context of your preferred-environment setup --with some exceptions. UAC was back on, so disabling it was annoying, due to my initial lack of understanding at how to get to Control Panel ... and then finding that it is buried now inside User Settings.
 
My initial impressions:

• I like the GUI changes with default 'desktop', icons, layouts, etc.
• I hate that Windows 10 assumes I have a Win tablet or phone ... a great many features attempt to integrate my non-existent Win mobile devices
• I don't like that 'privacy' elements include so much more to monitor and tame ... and that they do not 'stick' between updates as alt3rn1ty mentions
• I wish that the group-alphabetized "All Apps" menu moved to the group I want by just typing the letter (as in Explorer)
• Like the Xbox app, but still need to determine its efficacy and invasiveness, given my disabling of other ancillary 'convenience' services

I have much more to explore though, so my first stop now is to decent websites that admonish Win 10, so that I can uncover all of the invasive and inconvenient 'convenience' aspects of this OS. Once I determine all of what I hate about Win 10, I will find Win 10 advocate info and try to reconcile the good with the bad and report back.

---

 
EDIT: After reading more and playing more with the OS, I am not too excited about Win 10 ... Generally, there are too many over-steps of my personal preferences, especially since this is an upgrade that should at the very least retain all of my compatible personal preferences (security related or not).

• UAC - This was back on after upgrade, even though I had disabled it under Win 7. At lease Defender remained disabled.
• Forced updates - They will be a problem in the future at some point. I want to choose one way or the other. many updates under Win 7 were a total imposition that either hampered functionality, imposed restrictions, or added bloat. I don't trust MS to be "big brother"
• MS Account - I was initially signing in with my local account, but after launching and linking my Xbox Live account via the Xbox app, I was suddenly required to sign in with my MS account. Just setting up this app integrates my account into the OS (and the reverse, I assume ... not nice without advanced notification and details about this integration).
• MS Edge - lackluster and featureless. What's more, it cannot access the internet. FireFox works fine, and I have connectivity ... Edge just does not work for whatever reason. Maybe a driver issue, but only with respect to Edge. Nothing to Google on this topic that I found.
• Bloatware - Lots of useless/feature-poor junk installed (e.g., MS Mail). Lots of inherent software clearly not appropriate for a desktop env with no obvious way to remove this software.
• Privacy - This OS invites MS into your personal life. Major infringement of your personal information for the bad side of the dark web (as well as MS and its affiliates).
• Default software - Even the upgraded OS did not retain my default programs. I have to affirm each app that I prefer over the junk that MS offers at first launch.
• Settings/Control Panel/Computer Management - total mess.  hodgepodge of needless nonsense mixed with hard-to-access basics. Very little customizability options.

Perhaps some of these issues are related to the upgrade method. I will next try a clean install and really determine the strengths and weaknesses of this OS now that I have my proper Activation Key.
 
Incidentally, for those wanting a clean install, here is a method:

1. Allow the key updates if hidden according to this post then restart and click the taskbar icon to upgrade Windows ... alternatively download the upgrade for "another PC" (bootable media or ISO options available that work for both upgrade or clean install).
2. Install the upgrade.
3. Determine your new product key
4. Whipe your drive and install again with a clean OS using the new product key.

[DoubleYou]

Get WinAero tweaker. Since you disable UAC, you will find a number of problems with "disabling" it, as it doesn't completely disable itself (at least last I tried it). You will want to disable it and enable the Admin account and use it.

[hishutup]

I immediately disabled UAC because it annoys the ____ outta me.

The forced updates is unwanted and should be toggle-able because I get really tired when programs suddenly break for no apparent reason.

 

As for the bloatware, I am totally with you, Im on a PC, I have no need for an app to handle mail.

There is a way to delete those apps in powershell IDE, even though this is specifically for xbox app there is a line that lists all the current apps

 

 

 

• Settings/Control Panel/Computer Management - total mess.  hodgepodge of needless nonsense mixed with hard-to-access basics. Very little customizability options.

Control panel is still a thing, they just made it super hard to find.

[GrantSP]

 

 

• MS Account - I was initially signing in with my local account, but after launching and linking my Xbox Live account via the Xbox app, I was suddenly required to sign in with my MS account. Just setting up this app integrates my account into the OS (and the reverse, I assume ... not nice without advanced notification and details about this integration).

Start button -- Settings -- Accounts -- "Sign in with a local account instead"

[TechAngel85]

Right-clicking on the start button and selecting "Control Panel" should be the fastest way to get to the CP. Unless they took this away.