Windows 10 Tweaks and Fixes (Index post #1)

Yes, I figured that Mozilla/Firefox fanboys would be crying about it. Understandable, as it will only make it more difficult for their product to maintain relevance in a browser world already dominated by Chrome. I would go back to using IE before Firefox. I just do not like any browser except Chrome, but I like IE better than the other alternatives. But, this is more about personal preferences than something more important like the operating system. It's primarily the UI that forms the basis for my preference in browsers. It will be interesting to see if I prefer the new Chromium-based Edge browser over IE, Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, etc. While Chrome is my favorite and will likely stay that way, Edge (the UWP filth) is currently at the bottom of my list below Firefox, Opera and Vivaldi. I absolutely despise Edge in its current form.

But, whether or not Micro$lop screws it up is a BIG "IF" scenario. I have almost no confidence in them any more and I will be somewhat shocked if they do not. To be clear, I do not give them any credit for "listening" or "caring" what end users think based on the current news about Edge, as it is clear they don't care about anything except for what they want. But, I do give them credit for taking steps toward self-preservation in a space that is eroding due to their foolishness and incompetence. Even though they are mostly a bunch of retards, sooner or later they are going to get the message that too many people believe their UWP filth sucks.

 

LOL! My oh my! How opinions vary... Maybe I don't run in the same circles, but I'm not crying about Microsoft's decision. C'est la vie is how I look at it.

Now, I've used Firefox before Chrome was a twinkle in Google's eye. But there is no way in Hades I would switch to use Chrome (I would probably go to Opera first). Too much spying and layout presentation issues in that browser for my tastes.

 

Opinions are like belly buttons. Everyone has one, barring a birth defect or a surgical modification of some sort. Most of us like our own belly buttons, whether we will admit it or not. Some poke out, some are shallow, and others deep and collect lots of fuzz, LOL.

Yes, I used Firefox for years (from the very start, before the name was invented and it was just plain old Mozilla) and liked it A LOT until Chrome. And definitely, lots of spying... everywhere... sadly. But, I have been using Chrome too many years and appreciate all of the integration it offers. I use plug-ins with scripts (uBlock Origin, uBlock Origin Extra, Tampermonkey, etc.) and custom hosts file to block tons of stuff, but I am sure some things still get tracked. I tried switching back to Firefox and Opera and just couldn't deal with it. Too ingrained into Chrome and don't feel like being pestered with the inconvenience of moving everything over, like 12+ years worth of saved passwords and bookmarks (only the bookmarks gracefully export, passwords with some difficulty and greater risk), Google Payments, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive (I am grandfathered for life into the dirt cheap $1.99/month paid version of Google Drive with 1TB of storage and unlimited photos), etc. I use all of those things daily. Just way too easy to maintain status quo and not have to deal with any of the migration pain in the butt stuff. I'm sure Google has already harvested so much of my data that there's no point in making a big deal out of it 12+ years into the process, LOL. And, I'd end up still using all of the Google things that do not migrated (as mentioned above) so six of one, half dozen of the other.

I tried Opera and Vivaldi and literally forced myself to use both exclusively for more than a week and I was about ready to smash something by the time it was over. Hated the UI of both as much or more than Firefox. Change is good for the right reasons. I embrace it, and I am an advocate of change, but only when I actually derive something personally from it (money, pleasure, convenience and easy of use... something). Otherwise, you can keep the change. I am not a fan of change and will resist it when change takes place for nothing but the sake of change, or only for someone else's benefit. The idea of boycotting Google, Intel, NVIDIA and Micro$loth is enticing conceptually, (and, they certainly deserve it,) but I would ultimately be cutting off my nose to spite my face and homey don't play dat.

 

You like Firefox or not, they are right, it is bad for competition and lack of competition is bad for consumers, meaning us? But it is funny how MS themselves admitted to their incompetence so maybe this topic deserves it's own thread?
But going back to Win 10 fixes, every time i scroll down long list of files in file explorer and try staying there, looking at files, it would reset and jump back to the top in less than a minute. It drove me nuts, as it makes working on long list of files (sorting pictures for example) almost impossible. The fix I found is to turn off Automatic Accent Color pick from background and it works. But I like changing colors (it makes dreadful Win 10 little more appeasing), so anybody knows of more permanent fix and how come this wasn't fixed yet, since it seems to be a bug since 2015 I think.

 

Then why MSFT bothers to repackage Chrome with Edge icon and waste everyone's time?
Cortana,Edge,DX12 and few new features will be axed like always. I dunno why they invest money and resources in useless projects to be axed down the line.
Time to add Edge to my new list of MSFT's abandonware to be removed in my ISOs. Time to add FF to the mix.

 

Micro$lop seems to excel at abandoning, or destroying, almost everything they do well. Among those things done well and, therefore, abandoned are Windows 7 and Windows Phone OS.

This new thing with Edge being rebuilt on Chromium might actually be the first real example since the release of Windows 8 of their taking steps to fix one of their screwed up messes. Otherwise, Edge would be an example of something they suck at and should abandon, but don't.

If they want to get Edge right after rebuilding it based on Chromium, the first thing they need to do it fix the screwed up UI. A screwed up and unaesthetic UI is but one of the hallmark traits of UWP app filth. If they want people to like it and use it, it needs to no longer resemble Edge, and it should not have a wonky UI like the other goofy browsers most people don't want to use. It should look and feel like IE, Chrome and Firefox (all of which have aesthetic and functional similarities, and are palatable because of that).

 

IMO, they shouldn't touch Chromium's or Chrome UI at all, instead fix some regressions or new patches to Chromium/Chrome which can be pulled in by Chromium/chrome maintainers. I don't like another copy of chrome on my PCs if it does everything Chromium or Chrome does why not ship with Firefox or Google Chrome as default Browser and that way it won't waste their investor's time and money.

 

Yes, I agree with that. I think they might be posturing to plagariz or hijack it and pretend it belongs to them instead of Google. As always, what they cannot buy they will steal. Should that ever happen it would add insult to injury that their next steps would be to destroy and then discontinue.

Shipping Chrome as the default browser would make more sense than anything else. Shipping Firefox would simply result in the gigantic base of Chrome users installing Chrome as a replacement for Firefox, just as we do with Edge. I doubt it would increase the use of Firefox to a great degree. Only the noobs that do not know they have a choice would use it, which is probably the primary reason there are some people that use Edge today. They're just stupid noobs that use whatever they are given.

 

I actually have a couple medical sites I use that don't work in Chrome or Firefox... I have no idea what happens now when I need to check my doctors notes... Edge was only thing that worked for those specific sites for some reason. :/

Now we are down to two unique codes for browsing, I personally see this as a bad thing, Edge may have not had any noteworthy marketshare, but it did help a little in terms of forcing the competition to not get lazy... like Nvidia and Intel... - you really need 3 competing to keep things lively. 2 becomes stagnate in its creative development process

I do agree with you on UDP though, but sadly M$ will never let that one go. :/

 

I like Firefox much more than Chrome because that's the browser most linux distros ship with and I got used to it. I felt Chrome was too resource hungry on older devices since I don't buy new devices to keep on top of latest techs. Well, Chromium was a tad better than Chrome on Linux.
I still feel Chrome is somewhat intrusive with random services and task schedulers to keep it updated unlike Firefox.

Have you tried user agent switcher addon or extensions and spoof your browser as Edge or IE11?

 

The "Universal Windows Driver" canser continue... And why you never should enable your netwoork while install clean new OS.
PSA: "NVIDIA Installer cannot continue" on Windows October 2018 Update and How To Fix It Techpowerup.com | Dec 8th
For those doing a fresh install of Microsoft's latest Windows 10 operating system (version 1809 October 2018 Update), you may encounter an issue with NVIDIA graphics drivers. Namely, a message may pop up when you install the graphics driver, telling you "The standard NVIDIA graphics driver is not compatible with this version of Windows". The issue is caused by the operating system automatically installing the GeForce 398.36 DCH graphics driver through Windows Update, immediately after first log-on. DCH drivers are also known as "Universal Windows Driver", "UWD", "DCHU", and "Declarative, Componentized, Hardware Support App", and leverage the Windows UWP platform for driver control panels while promising simpler updates and maintainability.

If networking is available during the Windows 10 installation, the operating system will automatically look for a graphics driver on Windows Update, which is a good thing, as it simplifies the setup process for the majority of users. At this point, everything will appear to be fine, however, once you attempt to update from that driver to the newest version from NVIDIA's driver download page, the error will appear. This is highly frustrating for some users, who have been reporting the issue on several online forums, including NVIDIA's own, with little attention paid thus far from their developers. We encountered the problem ourselves today, during the setup of our 2019 SSD review benchmarking install and got motivated to investigate this further.

Sadly, it seems that issues such as this could become more common as a result of such a fragmented driver release program. A quick Google search of "NVIDIA DCH" brings up numerous forum posts and threads with disgruntled users wondering why drivers will not install, and typically end unresolved with no real reason or explanation given other than the fact it is not compatible, and that GeForce Experience is recommended.

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

The new Microsoft Edge - more details Deskmodder.com | December 08, 2018

It was probably the surprising topic of the last week, after the first rumors came up. The Microsoft Edge now switches the EdgeHTML engine and Chakra JavaScript now to Chromium and V8 (JavaScript). But there were some public announcements...

All existing UWP apps and PWAs (Progssive Web Apps) in the store will continue to use the EdgeHTML / Chakra. Because both will be further developed. Was also somehow to be expected, since both are integrated too deeply in the system and are also used elsewhere / must be.

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

It seems Google have hired/lending some employees from Microsoft's own engineering team Maybe they try to learn how Chrome should be adopted ( system integration) into Windoze X.

Google is flagging legitimate software as malicious Winaero.net | December 08, 2018

On November 29, 2018, some software developers started to notice that Google Safe Browsing was flagging their programs and sites as malicious.

Google Safe Browsing is implemented natively in Google Chrome and used in other web browsers such as Firefox or Safari. Safe Browsing is used by the vast majority of desktop browsers at the time of writing.

Long standing and respected software companies such as Greatis, Antibody Software, Scooter Software, or IBE Software had some of their programs flagged by Google Safe Browsing on December 1, 2018. The companies produce programs such as the excellent Bulk Image Downloader, Beyond Compare, Spambully, HelpNDoc, Rename Expert, or Unhackme.

Google flagged the programs or pages and notified webmasters that malware was detected on project websites via the company's Search Console provided that webmasters had added their sites to it.

 

Having networking enabled during Windows Setup is a terrible mistake. You should not enable networking until Windows Setup is finished, all drivers that you want to be installed are manually installed and Windows Update service has been manually disabled.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. No need for any updates unless or until something stops working... which could be never.

 

yep, I am very thankful for John at Obsidian, he gets all the latest drivers for my specific laptop model and keeps them all up to date quite frequently, i just download them right before i do a clean install, then do a manual install of all of them before i plug into the net. John rocks. i sort of want to buy an Obsidian laptop in 2-3 years just because I love his support and dedication. if i got my 8700k mobo driver page right now, the drivers are all like 1 year old, doesnt matter what manufacturer the company of the mobo is. I'm not sure how John gets his hands on the latest driver updates, sometimes I will google say the intel chipset driver number he has, and it takes to me to some very off the path websites. and any time i go to intel official site for chipset drivers, its dated like january 2017... :/ makes no sense to me, but hey thanks John!

 

Aero Glass 1.5.10 now available for Windows 10 1809 (October 2018 Update)
good Morning December 10, 2018 07:41
After having tested some versions of Aero Glass, Bigmuscle has now released a new version for download. The Aero Glass 1.5.10 can be used for the Windows 10 1809 (October 2018 Update), 1803, 1709 and 1703. In this version he had to change a lot, so that AeroGlass works well....

 

How to Make the Windows 10 Start Menu Look Like Windows 7:

1) Download OpenShell

2) Install it, while installing it, I only suggest choosing the Start Menu and the update portion, no need for the classic Explorer or classic IE (Internet Explorer) unless you really want them

3) Download my settings XML file

4) Click on the Start Menu, you will get the OpenSell Settings Window, select Load from the bottom, then navigate to where you downloaded my settings XML file and double click on that









This is how your start menu will look like:

 

Why you have that nasty Win Update button on top? You are a "seeker" ? Can you see my Pukedoll? The pict fits everywhere.

 

Because that's how the Windows 7 start menu was in the past Old habits never die

 

How to disable Activity History Permanently:

With the latest edition of Windows 10 (Redstone 5), it seems that even if you disable Activity History from PC Settings > Privacy > Activity History , Microsoft still collects activity history as it can be evident by checking your activity history on this page: Microsoft Privacy Dashboard

Using the below tweak, you can permanently disable Activity History:

1) Press the Windows + CTRL Key on your keyboard to pull up the Run Dialogue Box

2) Type regedit then hit Enter

3) Navigate to following key:

Code:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

4) If you find a key named " PublishUserActivities" then simply double click on it and change the value to 0 (hexadecimal) , if you don't see that key, then simply create it by right clicking in any blank area in that window and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value

5) Exit the registry editor then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Alternatively, you can simply download the Disable Activity History Registry file then double click on it and that will do the trick

 

I would like to gives my thumbs up and thanks to Phénix for this guide and the clean install one, was helpfull . Great guides.

 

Phoenix has decided to reincarnate as a Knight called Ultra Male.

 

I got a 768p 15.6" laptop for school, running latest windows 10, etc. In PC Settings, it only lets me go as low as 100% on screen size, I really want a 90% or so... anyway to force this? Everything looks so big... ugh... stupid cheap school laptops.

 

@Ultra Male Hi Pheonix,
I know you are super busy but is there any way you could help me get my new non HIDevolution computer setup? I read your posts but to be honest I am so busy with work that I don't have the time. I am leaving for Germany this weekend for business and need my new system up and running at peak performance.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

@bigmuscle has fixed the aesthetically emasculated UI of Windows 10 1809 just as he has every version of Windows since 8.X and restored what the Redmond Retards have taken from us.

AeroGlass in all of its crystal clear glory is back for RS5. Now I don't feel like I need to puke every time I use the filthy, nasty, butt-ugly, pastel-colored cartoon vomit Windoze OS X 1809 stock UI.

https://msfn.org/board/topic/178014-thank-you-big-muscle-for-new-aero-glass-build-1510/

http://www.glass8.eu/


@j95

 

The first time I saw that new user name I thought it was a prophylactic (male birth control product) or a testosterone-boosting herbal formula...

But, it is a fitting description of the contributions he makes to this community and others. He is always giving more than he gets back... awesome man he is.

 

I thought it was a bug especially that transparency!
You can achieve that restarting Windows explorer twice and see those absurd transparency where you can't even see the Title bar and text.
The bug is present on v1803 and above.

 

How to install it without the watermark?

 

I always enjoy your various descripion's of W10 Mr Fox and couldn't possibly agree more.

 

Very easy. Run the installer. Then, make a donation (if you have not already). Copy and paste the machine ID that pops up on your screen into the web page for generating a key. Download that key to the installation folder (C:\Aeroglass). Logoff/logon and the water mark is gone. After it installs, you may see a command window open to download symbols one time. Close it after it finishes and you won't see it again.

Thank you. Glad you enjoy my comments. Life has to be fun to get the most out of it.

 

@Mr. Fox

So I installed Aero Glass and activated it but my transparency doesn't look like yours.

What shall I do

 

It's pretty easy, but not easy to explain in a few minutes in a post. I should make a video for this over the holidays. Are you available on Skype so I can show you how? If so, I will have to re-enable Skype plug-ins in my browser because I have removed it from Windows Prosumer and LTSC doesn't have it.

 

I am going to sign off for the evening, bro. I can help you on Friday evening if you cannot figure it out playing with this tool.



Download it here:

• Testing version of GUI application to modify Aero Glass parameters

 

How to disable Game DVR in Windows 10:

If you've ever run Steam, you may have gotten a notice that Windows Game DVR is enabled which may hamper performance. To disable it, follow the below instructions:

For Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise users:

1) Press the Windows Key + R to launch the " Run dialogue box"

2) Type gpedit.msc and hit enter to launch the Group Policy Editor

3) Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Game Recording and Broadcasting > then double click on the rule which says " Enables or disables Windows Game Recording and Broadcasting" and set the rule to Disabled then hit Apply followed by Ok



For Windows 10 Home or other editions which do not have the Group Policy Editor Users:

Copy/Paste the following command in a blank Notepad TXT file then save it with the following name ensuring to make the extension .reg instead of .txt then double click on it to merge it with the registry then reboot:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\ApplicationManagement\AllowGameDVR]
"value"=dword:00000000

Or simply download the ready-made reg file: Disable Game DVR.reg

 

Is there a way to permanently apply priority usage setting to a specific application every time I start a application or game?

 

Usually its not recommended but you can use a Priority and scheduling tweak from Chef Koch's regtweaks at github https://github.com/CHEF-KOCH/regtweaks/blob/master/OS independent/Speed/Windows Priority tweak.reg
Otherwise you can use Winaero with Priority tweak in context menu. I noticed Ultra Male posted a screenie for you.

 

How to disable Power Throttling in Windows 10:

Windows 10 can limit your computer's CPU performance in favor of more battery life by throttling the CPU speed especially if you're not plugged in to the AC Power (using your laptop's battery). If you don't care much about battery life and would rather prevent this nuisance to restore your CPU's performance back to full capacity, here's how to disable Power Throttling.
===============================================================================

How to disable Power Throttling using the Group Policy Editor:

1) Press the Windows + R Key on your keyboard to pull up the Run Dialogue Box.

2) Type gpedit.msc then hit Enter

3) Browse to the following path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Throttling Settings

4) Double-click the Turn off Power Throttling policy.



5) Select the Enabled option



6) Click Apply then Ok
===============================================================================
How to disable Power Throttling using the registry:

1) Press the Windows + R Key on your keyboard to pull up the Run Dialogue Box.

2) Type regedit then hit Enter

3) Navigate to the following patch:

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power

4) Right-click the Power (folder) key, select New, and click on Key.



5) Name the key PowerThrottling and press Enter.

6) Right-click the newly created key, select New, and click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.



7) Name the key PowerThrottlingOff and press Enter.

8) Double-click the newly created DWORD and set the value from 0 to 1.



9) Click Ok.

Or you can simply download the ready made registry file(s) and double click on them to merge them with the registry:

Disable Power Throttling
Enable Power Throttling

Once you've completed the steps, Windows will no longer limit power usage on any application, regardless of which power source you're using (AC Power or Battery).

 

I just thought to share this hear as it is considered as a tweaks performance and best of all.. it can do it all of it with a single click maybe if you don't mind to consider it and put on the main OP

I use it personally every week through task scheduler keeps my laptop optimized and clean specially the OWTAS it provides performance boost as it makes windows to use the CPU much better
https://github.com/jebofponderworthy/windows-tools

Spoiler: Information about what it does

GETREDISTS.CMD: Get and update Microsoft VC++ redistributables using GetRedists.ps1
Lots of software uses Microsoft VC++ redistributables. They get updated fairly often and almost never automatically. To bring all of yours up to date and install all the newers which Microsoft supports, run GETREDISTS.CMD to call GetRedists.ps1. Requires PowerShell 5.1, and automatically pulls in the VcRedist module.

RunDevNodeClean
DevNodeClean is a Microsoft-provided utility which clears certain registry items, ones which are created when USB flash drives are plugged in and removed, when machines are virtualized or devirtualized, and many other operations. These registry items pile up over time, we have seen some older Windows 7 desktops with hundreds of them, and they slow down Windows File Explorer and file management in general quite a bit. RunDevNodeClean downloads the utility from Microsoft, unpacks it, runs the appropriate (32-bit or 64-bit) binary, and then cleans up after itself.

TweakNTFS: Tweak NTFS for Performance and Reliability
FSUTIL is a Windows command with amazing abilities. In TweakNTFS we have it used programmatically within PowerShell to produce a fairly well-balanced approach, performance increase with reliability increase too, for all NTFS volumes currently mounted.

CATE: (C)lean (A)ll system and user profile (T)emp folders, (E)tcetera
For quite a while I had been curious as to why a simple method to do this was not available. CCLEANER and others do not reach into every user profile, and on many machines this is crucial, e.g., terminal servers. CATE was originated as a .VBS by the excellent David Barrett ( http://www.cedit.biz ) and has been rewritten thoroughly by yours truly (JEB of Ponderworthy). The current VBS is here. But the most recent version is a PowerShell script, which adds removal of Ask Partner Network folders from user profiles, and a good bit of speed and clean running; future development will be in PowerShell.

One thing discovered along the way, is even in XP there was a user profile called the “System Profile” — XP had it in C:\WINDOWS\System32\config\systemprofile — and some malware dumps junk into it, and sometimes many gigs of unwanted files can be found in its temporary storage. CATE cleans all user profiles including those, as well as the Windows Error Reporting cache, and the system TEMP folders, and in recent versions, many Windows log files which are often found in many thousands of fragments.

The tool is designed for Windows 10 down through XP. It is self-elevating if run non-administratively.

OWTAS: Optimize Service Work Items and Additional/Delayed Worker Threads
This tool sets a number of additional critical and delayed worker threads, plus service work items. The changes are autocalculated according to a combination of RAM and OS bit-width (32 vs. 64). Performance will increase, more so with more RAM.

Documentation on these settings has ranged from sparse to none over many years. The early Microsoft documents used in the calculations appear completely gone, there are some new ones. The settings produced by OWTAS have undergone testing over the last ten years, on a wide variety of Wintelamd platforms, and appear to work well on all.

OWTAS is available as VBS and as PowerShell. Future development will be in PowerShell.

The tool is designed for Windows 10 down through XP. As of 2017-10-10, it is self-elevating if run non-administratively.

TOSC: Turn Off Share Caching
By default in Windows since XP/2003, if a folder is shared to the network via SMB, so-called "caching" is turned on. This actually means that the Offline Files service on other machines accessing the share, are allowed to retrieve and store copies of files and folders on the machine acting as server. Turning this off for all shares gives a speed bump for the server machine, and also improves reliability overall, dependence on Offline Files can lead to all sorts of issues including data loss when the server is not available or suddenly becomes available et cetera. TOSC does this very well, for all file shares extant on the machine on which it is run.

OVSS: Optimize VSS
By default, on Windows client OS systems, VSS is active on all VSS-aware volumes, but it is not optimized, which in this case means, there is an "association" or preallocation, of zero space. On Windows server OS systems, VSS is likewise active, but there is no association/preallocation, at all, on any VSS-aware volumes. Many different (e.g., StorageCraft, Carbonite, others) Windows tools make the same recommendation concerning this, stating that every volume to be backed up should have 20% of its space "associated" or preallocated for VSS. OVSS does this, and also, removes all orphan shadows. Orphan shadows are VSS snapshots existing uselessly because of old aborted backups, adding OS volume-related overhead. The manual steps of this script, with one additional optional step very useful in some server configurations, are documented here.

wt_removeGhosts: remove ghost devices from Windows
Over time, Windows accumulates 'ghost devices', devices which can show up in Device Manager as transparent because they aren't actually there, but things are set up if they are plugged in again. This applies to anything and everything, including motherboard device objects replaced during driver updates, VSS items, USB sticks inserted and removed, really anything at all. This contributes greatly to slowdown of an old OS install image. And removeGhosts removes them all. This is not Ponderworthy code, but it's great stuff, found on several web sites. No author cited within, but thanks are deserved!

 

Add or Remove 'Look for an app in the Microsoft Store' in Open with in Windows 10

When you try to run a file which does not have any program associated to open with its extension, you'd get a popup with an option telling you if you want to browse for a program on your computer but also a rather annoying "Look for an app in the Microsoft Store" option which often I have clicked on by mistake only to open up the Microsoft Store which I don't like.

Simply download these registry files and double click on one of them to either add or remove that entry from the open with menu.

Remove Look for an app in the Store

Add Look for an app in the Store

 

How to add "Extract All" context menu for MSI setup files:

If you have a file that is an MSI setup files, say a driver for example, you can actually extract the contents of the MSI file just like you would normally extract a ZIP or RAR file.

To do this, simply download one of the below files to either add or remove the "Extract All" context menu for MSI files:

Add Extract All to context menu of MSI files

Remove Extract All from context menu of MSI files

 

If I try to run the PowerShell scripts they error out and say they cannot run because they are not signed. I had to enable running unsigned scripts by entering: set-executionpolicy remotesigned

 

Didn't encounter this issues really... have you tried this run optimize-1.2.exe file?
It can be found here.. https://github.com/jebofponderworthy/windows-tools/tree/master/RUN

One of the users here in NBR forums pm'ed me for the same problem and I gave him this link that I gave it to you above.. and everything is working

 

How to Stop Windows 10 From Reinstalling Apps After a Feature Update

Most of us uninstall many of the built in Windows Store apps that we don't use (ie. Feedback Hub, Photos, Windows Mixed Reality, etc.); but after a feature update which happens twice per year (ie. from Redstone 4 to Redstone 5 for example), Windows will reinstall all those apps that you have previously uninstalled.

To prevent this from happening, create a Notepad Text file and copy/paste the below code then save it as Stop Windows 10 From Reinstalling Apps After a Feature Update.reg

Be sure to delete any lines of apps that you actually do want (ie. Calculator)

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.BingWeather_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.GetHelp_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Getstarted_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Messaging_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MSPaint_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Office.OneNote_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.OneConnect_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.People_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Print3D_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.ScreenSketch_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Wallet_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsCamera_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsMaps_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.XboxApp_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.YourPhone_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.ZuneVideo_8wekyb3d8bbwe]

That's the full list of apps but here's my recommended list which keeps Calculator, Sticky Notes, and Xbox (The Xbox app is required for the Windows Game Mode to function properly)

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.BingWeather_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.GetHelp_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Messaging_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.MSPaint_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Office.OneNote_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.OneConnect_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.People_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Print3D_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.ScreenSketch_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Wallet_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsCamera_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsMaps_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.YourPhone_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Deprovisioned\Microsoft.ZuneVideo_8wekyb3d8bbwe]

After you've created the reg file, simply double click on it to merge it with your registry.

Do note that this only applies to first-party apps that shipped with Windows 10 and doesn’t apply to third-party apps

 

• How to disable privacy invasion/unwanted tasks in Windows 10

has been updated as some tasks have from previous Windows 10 builds have been added/removed

 

You might wanna exclude Get started UWP otherwise pressing F1 key or running in safe mode you'll get a pop-up saying ms:get started is missing and file association stays resident in memory. I always never figured out why there's a zombie process that eats cpu and RAM eventhough I hit Esc key or closed it, until recently I installed get started app. Now, hitting esc forces the file association app to be closed. You get that bug or zombie process when you accidentally try to open dll files instead of exe files.
Only remaining issue is elimination of Cortana and edge UWPs w/o breaking MS search. If MSFT decouples that then its good.

 

How to disable SmartScreen:

Highly recommended if you are using a 3rd party Antivirus/Security Solution

Microsoft Instructions on how to disable SmartScreen

Even if you disable SmartScreen from the registry or the Group Policy Editor, you will notice that the SmartScreen process always run in the background. To completely disable it and prevent it from ever running, follow the below instructions:

1) Go to PC Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > App & browser control , then turn check the radio boxes as shown below to disable SmartScreen:







2) After we've disable SmartScreen from PC Settings, now we need to disable it either through the registry editor or the Group Policy Editor if you have a Windows edition that has the Group Policy Editor.

To disable SmartScreen from the registry, simply download this file then double click on it to merge it with your registry: Disable SmartScreen

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"SmartScreenEnabled"="Off"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge\PhishingFilter]
"EnabledV9"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppHost]
"EnableWebContentEvaluation"=dword:00000000

To disable SmartScreen from the Group Policy Editor:

Hit CTRL + R on your keyboard to launch the " Run" Dialogue box then type gpedit.msc

Navigate to:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender Smart Screen > Explorer

Now disable the 2 rules as shown below:



Then go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender Smart Screen > Microsoft Edge

Disable the 2 rules as shown below:



All of the above steps although will disable SmartScreen from functioning, the SmartScreen.exe process will still run in the background. To disable it completely, follow the below instructions:

1) Download NSudo, make sure you unblock the file after downloading it before you extract its contents by right clicking on the ZIP file, go to properties, then tick the UNBLOCK box from the bottom right then hit Apply then OK otherwise all the contents of the ZIP file will have a BLOCKED status since this was a file downloaded from the internet.

2) From the extracted files, go to the x64 folder then right click on NSudo.exe and select Run as Administrator

3) After NSudo launches, make sure the user is set to TrustedInstaller then hit the browse button and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe then hit Run

4) The command prompt window should now open and will be running with TrustedInstaller privileges. Copy/Paste the following commands, one at a time and hit enter:

Code:

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer" /v "SmartScreenEnabled" /t REG_SZ /d "Off" /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge\PhishingFilter" /v "EnabledV9" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppHost" /v "EnableWebContentEvaluation" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System" /v "EnableSmartScreen" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\SmartScreen" /v "ConfigureAppInstallControl" /t REG_SZ /d "Anywhere" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\SmartScreen" /v "ConfigureAppInstallControlEnabled" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "0" /f
takeown /s %computername% /u %username% /f "%WinDir%\System32\smartscreen.exe"
icacls "%WinDir%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /grant:r %username%:F
taskkill /im smartscreen.exe /f
del "%WinDir%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /s /f /q

5) The SmartScreen process will not run anymore after doing this. To re-enable it if for any reason you decide that you want it back later one, here are the command lines to re-enable it:

Code:

takeown /f "%systemroot%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /a
icacls "%systemroot%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /reset
icacls "%systemroot%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /setowner *S-1-5-80-956008885-3418522649-1831038044-1853292631-2271478464

 

You might wanna add a Spoiler alert saying Recommended if you're using 3rd party AV/IS/TS solutions.

 

Done

 

Well, I didn't see that, it took 30 sec to refresh even with 20Mb/s mobile data.

 

Because this is how Ultra Male operates, make a comment, blink your eye, and it's DONE >>>

 

I might have to get a bigger table to keep operating two laptops at once! Only then I can compete with your taptop. Team up to defeat UltraMale. I have to find my older zombie Vaio and Zenith PCs to strengthen my taptop army!

 

Count me in!