Windows 11 Tweaks and Fixes (Index post #1)

Index

General:

• Winaero Tweaker
• How to make sure every file you download is NOT blocked and can run properly/with full privileges
  
• How to stop the Photos app from adjusting picture brightness on Windows 11
• Prevent Windows from downloading recommended apps in the background
• Disable Driver updates via Windows Update
• How to sign-in to Windows 11 automatically
• How to restore the Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 11
• How to enable the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home
• How to set up a Local Account on Windows 11 Home
• How to uninstall Microsoft Edge
• Reset Windows Update in Windows 11

Start Menu/Taskbar/Context Menus:

• Restore the Windows 10 Start Menu in Windows 11
• Change Size of Taskbar Icons in Windows 11
  
• Add "Open Command Prompt Here" To Context Menus
  
• Remove Cast To Device From Context Menus Of Media Files
• Disable Teams Chat Icon On The Taskbar
• Remove/Restore Rotate Right/Left From Image File types Context Menu
• Disable Web Search From Windows 11 Start Menu
• Restore Classic Context Menus
• Add "Install" option to .CAB files in the right-click context menu
• Restore classic Windows 7 or Windows 10 Start Menu
• Uncombine tab groups to display each app or file explorer window separately
• How to fix the left navigation pane from automatically expanding the drive contents every time you access a folder

Windows Defender:

• Disable Windows Defender
• Defender Control

 

Winaero Tweaker

 

Change Size of Taskbar Icons in Windows 11

 

Restore the Windows 10 Start Menu in Windows 11

 

How to Get the Black Screen of Death in Windows 11 @Mr. Fox


Of course, you won't actually see the black screen right away, unless you deliberately cause your computer to crash. If you really want to do that, make sure everything is saved. Then go into Task Manager, click More details, navigate to the Details tab, select an instance of svchost.exe, right-click and select End Process Tree. Then click the Shutdown button when warned.

 

That looks much nicer than blue. Micro$lop should roll that out as a special new feature when W11 goes to RTM status.

 

Yep, when Windows 11 RTM discover "not allowed Cpu's" when the Win update start run right after you installed it with some unwanted tweaks, LOOL

 

How to Get Windows 10's File Explorer in Windows 11

The Windows 11 File Explorer has no ribbon and worse context menus.

 

EVERYTHING is a downgrade in Windows 11. It is the latest Micro$lop Fisher-Price OS for preschool children.

 

Lies, lies and more lies. How dare consumers try to change the behavior, look or feel of their Windows turdbox?

 

Where did you see that?

 

When I downloaded WinAeroTweaker using Chrome. I had not yet disabled that crappy "security feature" because it was a new W11 installation.

 

We need a Taskbar Corner Overflow Icons "always show" tweak. It is super-stupid and annoying to have to manually select tray icons that show individually with no option available to always show all (my preference). I hate having them hidden in a collapsible menu.

 

Is there a easy/simple way to tweak the rounded corners over to the much nicer square corners? I see some stupid want the ugly round corners look for Win 10 https://news.softpedia.com/news/how...rs-ui-in-windows-10-version-1903-526546.shtml

It goes without saying that at this point, this UI makeover is still in its early days, so it could take a while until Microsoft readies it for production devices. Given that the 19H2 update is likely to be just a minor update, there’s a big chance that the spring 2020 feature update for Windows 10 would introduce this highly-anticipated UI facelift downgrade.

 

I don't think so. Not that I have found. I suspect it will come soon. I prefer the square corners myself. They look much better. Same was true of Chrome browser tabs. Although, the rounded corners is not as ugly as some of the other elements of the UI that need attention, like the minimal options for coloring and transparency. They need to stop being control freaks and give us what we want, not what they want for us. This never should have been released without AeroGlass features. The absence of transparency controls makes it feel so cheap and smartphonish.

It seems obvious the people that designed it didn't plan to use a real computer, but probably some chintzy touch-screen pile of crap. Maybe it was their way of pushing Windows X anyway, even though it was supposed to be dead. They just called it "11" instead of "X" and hoped nobody would notice?

I will say it is not as horrible as I expected it to be. It's certainly not great, but I find that it is better than 20H2 and 21H1. I know it is not saying much, since anything 19XX or later is trash and 10 times zero is still zero. I would stick with this before going back to any version after LTSC.

 

I intentionally selected LTSC in the deathmatch comparison because LTSC performance has to be matched or beaten before any replacement for it can be considered. 19XX and laters OSes perform poorly compared to LTSC, so we automatically know that since W11 is almost identical to LTSC performance there is no reason to bother testing it against the versions that came after LTSC. That would be a total waste of time and electricity.

Coincidentally, that is the only way a performance boost for W11 to be claimed. If you compare it to something that is horrible, doing better is not an accomplishment as much as it is less horrible.

 

The changes is so bad that I think I never will accept this new OS even if the Redmond morons are able to change Win 11 to perform a bit better than any Win 10 version. All too much I don't like with it. I won't change to Win 11 before I see major UI changes with tweaks.

Windows 11 taskbar is a downgrade, but it’ll eventually get better windowslatest.com - July 6, 2021

If you're lucky enough to meet the requirements for Windows 11, you'll be losing some taskbar features when you upgrade to the new operating system. The new version of Windows 11 is based on modern WinUI, XAML and UWP components. It will sport a new File Explorer, Start Menu, Action Center, enhancements to Windows desktop apps interface, rounded corners, new context menus, faster performance, hardened security, and a centered taskbar.

 

The nice part about all this is that I am still the god of my PCs and I can and will do whatever I want to, whenever I want to, as often as I want to. I can and will use alternatives, including Windows 7 and Linux. Windows 10/11 are not necessary, so any versions that suck I can scratch off my list as soon as I am done picking it to pieces.

I do pity the fools that think that it is necessary to downgrade to whatever the newest piece of garbage happens to be simply because it is newer. It is sad that anyone would feel compelled or feel that doing so is required. Truth be told, there are very few things that the average person does that can't be done just as effectively using Linux or an older version of Windows.

 

StopUpdates10 v3.6.2021.705 (Date: 07/06/2021 - July 6 2021)

Version 3.6.2021.705
Compatibility with Windows 11 (Build:22000), Windows 10 (21H1).
New: block feature updates using TargetReleaseVersionInfo Windows policy.
Fixed the bug in SU10Guard service: "A timeout was reached while waiting for the SU10Guard service to connect". Now SU10Guard will start its starts as delayed. But pay attention that the status of StopUpdates Guard in the main program will be shown as "disabled" until the service starts. Usually, the service starts within two minutes after boot.
Command-line option: "/disable" is available only in the Premium version because of using it by malware.
New Premium option: Hide Promo. It hides the promo offers.

 

My dad's Lenovo laptop with Windows 10 Home went bonkers after an update. Thankfully he listened to me when I suggested he start keeping a backup of his files on external media. I put Linux Mint on it for him, installed a few apps, showed him around the OS, and he has been happy as a clam. He's been running Linux since over the winter and I've not had to remote in to the machine to fix anything once. Life is good

 

lol microslop...you guys are funny....i actually liked windows 10 hated 8..im not a power user and dont really tweak anything besides the wallpaper and I feel your pain.....hard to believe I used to be a hacker and actually gave a damn, but when I realised the cia/mi5/mossad/ectera were running the show basically the 4 eyes quality control I lost interest too many people(scrubs)...windows 11 looks like its designed for a 10 yearold autistic kid though I really hope they dont dumb it down more and I hope that autistic kid is a computer genius lol...

 

I am starting to wonder if it is designed by a twisted and sadistic "team" that enjoys seeing how much absurd rubbish their irrationable fanboys are willing to put up with. Otherwise, it is really hard to believe that anyone that participated in the development could actually be proud of Windows 8, 10, or 11 and view their work as an accomplishment. They seem to have mastered the art of extreme stupidity and have the following sheeple herd to prove it.

 

You can be a genius in many ways, clever in coding, fantastic UI designer, good in many things but still be dumb as a bread and can't see own limits.

 

yeah I just gave up, serious jail time if caught now its been 15 or so years and i'm not worried....however there was alot of what hackers like to call sniffing..anywho nice quote.....I have my strengths and weaknesses I try but have always struggled with conversation.

 

This will fix enough of the Windows 11 disgusting GUI issues that I am thinking it is better than 190x through current. Not as good as LTSC, but almost. It makes it very tolerable. Only thing left to fix is the icons if you do not like the Fisher-Price icons that ship with Windows 11.

 

Several ways to Heaven.... Win 11 UI is disgusting! Third-party utilities is a must if you want to be the guinea pig for this Apple copy cat OS.

How to Replace the Start Menu in Windows 11 tomshardware.com

Get a more compact Start menu with greater information density.

Windows 11 has some interesting new features, but its UI is polarizing. If you're like me, you downloaded a Windows 11 ISO and did a clean install on a test machine, but don't like the new version of the Start menu because it takes much more screen real estate. In the first preview build of Windows 11, you were able to tweak a registry setting and get back Windows 10's Start menu, but Microsoft killed that option with the first major update.

 

This is long overdue... a UWP App to undo UWP crApp

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/taskbarx/9pcmz6bxk8gh?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

 

Hey Mr. Fox - LTNS. Hope you're doing well.

Are you giving serious thought to migrating to Linux (whether Mint / Ubuntu / Fedora) as your daily driver?


- Trev

ps - for me (now one day shy of August, 2021), i try to keep a little perspective: i just consider Windows 10/11 to be apps launchers, and that's it. Fugly as they may look & feel.

 

Winaero Tweaker 1.30 is here, allows you to move Windows 11 taskbar, and more! winaro.com | July 31, 2021

 

Hey bro. Good to see you again, friend. All is well. Thanks for asking. I hope the same is true for you.

Yes, I started this process over a year ago, maybe two. I have been a casual Linux user for years, but I began to recognize that my tolerance for stupid bull crap would soon be depleted, and Windows keeps getting crappier.

Linux is unquestionably superior to Windows as far as I am concerned. Sadly, Windows software is superior to Linux software. Otherwise, I would no longer waste any drive space on Windows. Windows 11 is making me seriously question whether or not the software that has kept me using Windows is important enough to continue putting up with the OS.

 

I still come back to Windows just to use specific SW such as Adobe reader or MS Office etc which frankly has no alternative in Linux or any distro's store. The situation might improve in a decade once all infrastructure is cloud based or web based instead of proprietary solutions requiring specifically PC or mobile device rather than being platform/device agnostic.

 

Agreed -

The Windows party is long over. Childhood's End, as it were (with a nod to Sir Arthur C. Clarke).

- Trev

 

Vasudev, you might want to consider running LibreOffice in Linux. It has close to 100% M$ Office functionality, and is 100% free. In some ways it is functionally superior to M$ Office.


-Trev

 

I like LibreOffice a lot. It really is great. Some of the things I do for work using Excel and Word do not work with LibreOffice, but most things work fine. The part of Micro$lop Office that is the most difficult to cope without has no substitute; and that is Outlook. Nothing else I have found works as well for me. Truth be told, if there were one specific software application that would keep me using Windows with a grudge, it would be Outlook.

 

Winaero Tweaker 1.31 is out with a couple of useful options

 

There's always Codeweavers. I ran a dedicated Linux laptop for work several years ago, Crossover (which isn't free, unfortunately, but is relatively inexpensive) had MS Office working just fine on my Ubuntu machine.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I may have to check that out.

 

https://www.codeweavers.com/

 

One of the dozen or more things about Windows 11 and its dumbed-down UI that severely chaps my butt is the idiotic "Taskbar Corner Overflow" thing they have implemented in their quest to make the OS less likable. For some stupid reason they removed the option to "always show icons" that I have turned on for years, on every version of Windows. The only thing I am aware of that is even more stupid and extremely inconvenient that they have done is bastardized setting file associations in an effort to force people to use their crappy software (Edge and multimedia UWP filth apps).

A solution to the latter doesn't exist yet for tweaking file associations by application rather than file extension. Hopefully that will be forthcoming. But, I maybe have found a solution for the former ridiculously agitating design flaw.

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/hide-or-show-icons-in-taskbar-corner-overflow-menu-in-windows-11.415/

Turn On or Off "Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar" in Control Panel

If this option is turned on, you will not be able to hide icons in the taskbar corner overflow menu. <<< awesome... exactly what I want

1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, copy and paste the shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9} command into Run, and click/tap on OK to open the "Notification Area Icons" Control Panel item.

2 Check (on) or uncheck (off - default) Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar for what you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

---

I am not certain if this is going to fix the issue with icons I have already selected to show randomly not showing and having to go back into Settings and turn on the slider switch for it repeatedly. When I run that shell command on my system the box is already checked.

 

Replace the taskbar with the retrobar under Windows 11 and do not display it in groups deskmodder.de Sept 4, 2021

As a little hint for those who don't particularly like the new Windows 11 taskbar . If you want to replace this taskbar with a Windows XP, ME or Windows 2000 taskbar and thus also remove the grouping in the taskbar, you should read on.


The small portable tool Retrobar makes it possible. Once you have started it, the Windows 11 taskbar is automatically hidden. You can look in Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar. The retro bar is now located there. With a right click in the task bar you not only have the settings, but also the task manager again.

Info and download:

• github.com/RetroBar
• github.com/RetroBar/releases

 

DEFENDER CONTROL v2.0

Defender Control v2.0 – What’s New – (Monday, 13 September 2021)

1. [Removed] – Cmd parameter support (Defender control is using inside some malware)
2. [Fixed] – Defender Control Doesn’t work on Windows 11
3. [Fixed] – Error occurs when turning off Windows Defender
4. [Added] – Some code improvements

The package is considered a threat by antivirus software (False Positive). Therefore the zip file is double packed and encrypted. Once you have downloaded and unpacked the package, it is advisable to start the vbs so that the Defender Control is added as an exception in the Defender. Then the second included zip file with the password sordum can be extracted and the tool can be used.

 

Winaero Tweaker v1.31.0.1 Sept 17, 2021

Winaero Tweaker's change log
1.31.0.1 - Changes and fixes in this release.

 

Well, after about 60 days of forcing myself to use this abortion on two systems at least 8 hours each per day, (simultaneously, not concurrently,) I can say very conclusively that I hate Windows 11 and consider it to be a piece of crap. Add it to their list of post-Windows 7 failures. I haven't had the self-discipline to use it for the last week or so. I loaded it up last night and allowed Outlook to sync my email on that OS, but I rebooted back to LTSC as soon as it finished. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I can't relate to the concept that anyone would actually like this piece of dung.

 

I tested the 1th preview of this OS. Run a few bench who performed worse than the other Win 10 versions from the later past. Even if it had performed better I won't want have this disgusting mess on any of my machines. It looks like you've had more patience than me I could not stand it for more than a day. I can't grasp that people want this mess installed on their computers. Yep, its still in beta but don't expect micracles/fantastic when it is out as real version.

 

I always give myself long enough to confirm that my natural human tendency to reject change based on unattractive aesthetics wasn't giving me a jaded perspective. To be clear, I still despise Windows 10 and I have been using it since before it was released to the public. I have never "learned" to like it and I consider it to be a defective product that is loaded with malware. Silly me to think Windows 11 could somehow be something less repulsive. They just put an ugly dress on their pig wearing lipstick. Same piece of crap as before, just a little more effed up than before. The look and feel of Windows 11 makes me angry every time I load its desktop, and I've already tweaked it quite a lot to make it less offensive. I am sure that, given enough time, we (meaning everyone, including all that despise it,) will grow numb to it and accept it as the latest piece of trash from the Redmond Reprobates. At some point you understand that abandoning hope is the only option left. It is really sad, but that's life in the wild, wild West. I guess we just can't have nice things anymore.

 

Winaero Tweaker v1.32 Date: 09/24/2021

Winaero Tweaker's change log
1.32 - The ability to enable classic (full) context menus on Windows 11, and a few more fixes.

 

Having the full classic context menu back is wonderful. The crappy new version and having to select the "Show more options" was extremely stupid and frustrating.

 

So basically this take Windows 10 crappiness to a new level. Now we really have to re-invent the wheel to get basic OS features! This is absurd!

 

I have just come to expect when the brain-dead monkeys at Micro$lop and crApple make GUI changes and add new "features" whatever they do is automatically going to suck because they suck and can't do anything right.

 

You have to expect this level on stupidity when you know that the same person is the chief for both Windows client and hardware (Panos Panay). The worst that happened with Microsoft the later years is the move to create own crap-books. This would never happened if their main focus was the OS. Damn their Jokebooks.