16 ms·

Turn Off Cortana Completely in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

85 points by bsilvereagle 10y ago

lousken 10y ago
Has anybody found a way to fully disable the lockscreen? I don't wanna upgrade unless I can fully disable it. I've tested a couple of solutions on another PC, but it seems like it doesnt work on reboot or on the first boot.
- sp332 10y ago
  - Mods: Why don't I have a delete button for this post? I have a delete button for my other post.
  - lousken 10y ago
    Sorry, I didn't say it properly - by completly disabling I meant the fact that even with some of the tweaks the lockscreen kept appearing before the login screen(e.g. after reboot). But I wanna keep the login screen while disabling the lockscreen.
    - spencerflem 10y ago
      I've done it with a registry edit. It's such an irritating and pointless "feature" http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-lock-screen-windows-10 http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-lock-screen-window...
      - lousken 10y ago
        Doesnt work for me in the anniversary update with w10 pro
    - ghostly_s 10y ago
      What's the problem? Don't you just need to hit 'return' to get the password field?
      - sp332 10y ago
        It's improved somewhat over the last few releases, but it still freezes up for several seconds with absolutely no feedback that it registered my keypress. On my laptop this still takes >5 seconds. Also the fade-in animation takes some time, during which the password field is visible but I can't type in it. I have to type my password twice almost every single time. It needs to be more responsive that it is unlocking, and more definite about when you can start typing. Or... they could just get rid of it.
  - ocdtrekkie 10y ago
    After someone else has commented on your post, I think it usually loses the delete button.
- gdulli 10y ago
  This works for me except for on boot, which only happens once every few weeks so it's fine: http://winaero.com/blog/disable-lock-screen-in-windows-10-anniversary-update-version-1607/ http://winaero.com/blog/disable-lock-screen-in-windows-10-an...
  - lousken 10y ago
    Yeah, that was one solution that I've tried, the second one was https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/4w0saz/workarounds_for_windows_10_anniversary_removed/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/4w0saz/workaround... but as you said on (re)boot it does not work.
- jasonkostempski 10y ago
  The lock screen bugs me too but that's what's stopping you from upgrading? If that bugs you, you're going to be driven insane once you run across everything else you can't turn off. I know first-hand, I permanently moved to Linux last week because of it.
  - lousken 10y ago
    I use(heavily tweaked) xubuntu as my main system and windows 10 for gaming. That's why the lockscreen bugs me a lot. It's gonna be annoying every time I boot to windows.
- kyriakos 10y ago
  What's the problem with the lockscreen to start with?
  - bhauer 10y ago
    I am not certain what GP is referring to, but I suspect the lock screen's Spotlight feature is what is being referred to. Not the ability to lock a session itself.
    - lousken 10y ago
      Well for starters, it serves no purpose to me. I just wanna log in. Spotlight can be disabled.
- unprepare 10y ago
  does netplwiz not work on windows 10?
sp332 10y ago
Great, now we just need walkthroughs to turn off all the other hidden features. How do I disable the feature where it's recording my games all the time, invisibly, just in case I push a hotkey to save it? I've also heard that it sends screenshots back to MS every few seconds and at this point that doesn't even seem like a crazy conspiracy theory.
- Someone1234 10y ago
  Load the XBox app, go into settings, slide the slider. Yes it is a stupid default, no it is not sending screenshots back to Microsoft.
  - sp332 10y ago
    Thanks. Do you know of a way to do this without an Xbox account? Edit: Also in the general tab, disable "share clips and screenshots by default". That's not as bad as automatically taking screenshots, but it's still awful.
    - Someone1234 10y ago
      Run Powershell and execute this command: Get-AppxPackage xboxapp | Remove-AppxPackage
mrweasel 10y ago
Cortana is yet another feature, that you wouldn't turn on, if it was off by default. I don't truly understand the goal of Cortana, other than "Apple has Siri". Some of the person assistant features seems handy, but do you really need to talk to your computer? The only place where it seems like something I'd need is when cooking and want to look up a recipe. Microsoft efforts would have been better spend improving the built in search.
- Houshalter 10y ago
  There are a lot of people with very poor typing skills. It's a nice idea, and speech recognition is just now getting good enough to allow it. Google has also put a speech to text button on their search boxes.
- blahi 10y ago
  You can type to Cortana. I find it very useful and would most definitely turn it on. It will also become a lot better in the future when software is integrated with it (office coming in the next update). The "spying" has been greatly exaggerated, I think, by people who suddenly found themselves without a reason to hate on Microsoft and it was the obvious choice.
  - Sylos 10y ago
    Considering that Microsoft's Privacy Statement now asks for complete access to all data on your computer, I cannot see how any privacy concerns should be too exaggerated.
    - bmer 10y ago
      What's so terrible about Microsoft having complete access to all data on my computer? I am pretty sure that's a massive exaggeration (could you back up that claim?), but for the moment I'll assume it isn't. So what? Why should I be worried and/or scared? For reference, I am not a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and actually come from a group that tends to be (in my opinion) unfairly painted in people's minds. I kind of like the idea of Microsoft having access to all of my data. Maybe one day in the future, people will be like..."hmm...you know that random group X that we generalized in order to hate on? turns out we can't really generalize them so easily -- we even have data to back it up!" I'd be like a primary source in future archaeology!
nashashmi 10y ago
Cortana would have been far more often used if it was isolated to controlling the OS, which i find it cannot do (well?). Had there been another voice activated software to do searches on the internet, like Samada, people would have utilized it better.
msmgtoolkit 10y ago
I simply use MSMG Toolkit over at MDL forums, remove all the packages I don't want prior to installing from ISO. No cortana (warning: no start menu searching either), no modern apps (you can intergrate calc.exe), no store, defender, remove alot of telemetry, one drive, etc.
- voltagex_ 10y ago
  Nice username. Have you checked if there's any impact on Windows Update?
  - msmgtoolkit 10y ago
    Seems to be just fine (for my use). I wouldn't recommend it to everyone of course. If things break down the road I'll just reinstall. I've been running since initial W10 release without issue however. YMMV. There are issues such as no more start menu search because of removing cortana. It's all about what you personally need. Thanks, but it's just a throwaway user name I won't use after this post.
- whatareyoureal 10y ago
  You don't trust Microsoft--who wrote the kernel and many of the drivers you're using--but trust some random .exe from a forum?
  - msmgtoolkit 10y ago
    It's a readable .bat file, and all the executable dependencies are either from microsoft (dism, etc) or offer source code and/or hashing. At some point you have to trust something, whether it be your software or your hardware. Besides the telemetry stuff, it's not a trust issue. I just don't have a need for any of the packages I remove. I don't need cortana and search, I don't need Windows Defender and it's cloud features, I don't need onedrive, xbox, modern apps, etc. It's my choice, so I remove them.
  - voltagex_ 10y ago
    So many throwaway accounts. Anyway. You can probably achieve the same effect with the Remove-AppxPackage Powershell commandlet if you really want. I will also note that this "toolkit" is not just a bat file and also includes lots of cab files and other things as well. These kinds of toolkits have existed since Windows 7 at least (NLite and friends). Some are the equivalent of putting go-faster stripes on your car, some actually work, some do things like https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/758796786001547264 https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/75879678600154726...
laktak 10y ago
I wouldn't bother. I'm pre-update and have turned it off when I installed Windows 10. Yet App history shows a cpu usage of 0:07:25 and network transfer of 1.5MB for Cortana.
WayneBro 10y ago
I would have used an Android/iOS style dictation key on my Windows tablet virtual keyboard. That's the one thing I wanted from Windows 10. But no. They gave me this useless Cortana bullshit that can only search with Bing.
rasz_pl 10y ago
why turn it off when you can uninstall COMPLETELY? Windows10ReTweaker http://win10epicfail.proboards.com/thread/100/interested-participating-tweaker-development-test http://win10epicfail.proboards.com/thread/100/interested-par...
pawadu 10y ago
It seems the HN crowd (and zdnet and EFF) are all missing a very important point: with the anniversary update (rolled out last week) Cortana is now much much less intrusive. For example, you don't need to have GPS enabled att all time in order to use Cortana. So all in all, Microsoft seems to be on the right track regarding privacy. It is not moving very fast but at least it is moving to the right direction.

85 points by bsilvereagle 10y ago

Has anybody found a way to fully disable the lockscreen? I don't wanna upgrade unless I can fully disable it. I've tested a couple of solutions on another PC, but it seems like it doesnt work on reboot or on the first boot.

sp332 10y ago
- Mods: Why don't I have a delete button for this post? I have a delete button for my other post.
- lousken 10y ago
  Sorry, I didn't say it properly - by completly disabling I meant the fact that even with some of the tweaks the lockscreen kept appearing before the login screen(e.g. after reboot). But I wanna keep the login screen while disabling the lockscreen.
  - spencerflem 10y ago
    I've done it with a registry edit. It's such an irritating and pointless "feature" http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-lock-screen-windows-10 http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-lock-screen-window...
    - lousken 10y ago
      Doesnt work for me in the anniversary update with w10 pro
  - ghostly_s 10y ago
    What's the problem? Don't you just need to hit 'return' to get the password field?
    - sp332 10y ago
      It's improved somewhat over the last few releases, but it still freezes up for several seconds with absolutely no feedback that it registered my keypress. On my laptop this still takes >5 seconds. Also the fade-in animation takes some time, during which the password field is visible but I can't type in it. I have to type my password twice almost every single time. It needs to be more responsive that it is unlocking, and more definite about when you can start typing. Or... they could just get rid of it.
- ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  After someone else has commented on your post, I think it usually loses the delete button.
gdulli 10y ago
This works for me except for on boot, which only happens once every few weeks so it's fine: http://winaero.com/blog/disable-lock-screen-in-windows-10-anniversary-update-version-1607/ http://winaero.com/blog/disable-lock-screen-in-windows-10-an...
- lousken 10y ago
  Yeah, that was one solution that I've tried, the second one was https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/4w0saz/workarounds_for_windows_10_anniversary_removed/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/4w0saz/workaround... but as you said on (re)boot it does not work.
jasonkostempski 10y ago
The lock screen bugs me too but that's what's stopping you from upgrading? If that bugs you, you're going to be driven insane once you run across everything else you can't turn off. I know first-hand, I permanently moved to Linux last week because of it.
- lousken 10y ago
  I use(heavily tweaked) xubuntu as my main system and windows 10 for gaming. That's why the lockscreen bugs me a lot. It's gonna be annoying every time I boot to windows.
kyriakos 10y ago
What's the problem with the lockscreen to start with?
- bhauer 10y ago
  I am not certain what GP is referring to, but I suspect the lock screen's Spotlight feature is what is being referred to. Not the ability to lock a session itself.
  - lousken 10y ago
    Well for starters, it serves no purpose to me. I just wanna log in. Spotlight can be disabled.
unprepare 10y ago
does netplwiz not work on windows 10?

sp332 10y ago

Great, now we just need walkthroughs to turn off all the other hidden features. How do I disable the feature where it's recording my games all the time, invisibly, just in case I push a hotkey to save it? I've also heard that it sends screenshots back to MS every few seconds and at this point that doesn't even seem like a crazy conspiracy theory.

Someone1234 10y ago
Load the XBox app, go into settings, slide the slider. Yes it is a stupid default, no it is not sending screenshots back to Microsoft.
- sp332 10y ago
  Thanks. Do you know of a way to do this without an Xbox account? Edit: Also in the general tab, disable "share clips and screenshots by default". That's not as bad as automatically taking screenshots, but it's still awful.
  - Someone1234 10y ago
    Run Powershell and execute this command: Get-AppxPackage xboxapp | Remove-AppxPackage

mrweasel 10y ago

Cortana is yet another feature, that you wouldn't turn on, if it was off by default. I don't truly understand the goal of Cortana, other than "Apple has Siri". Some of the person assistant features seems handy, but do you really need to talk to your computer? The only place where it seems like something I'd need is when cooking and want to look up a recipe. Microsoft efforts would have been better spend improving the built in search.

Houshalter 10y ago
There are a lot of people with very poor typing skills. It's a nice idea, and speech recognition is just now getting good enough to allow it. Google has also put a speech to text button on their search boxes.
blahi 10y ago
You can type to Cortana. I find it very useful and would most definitely turn it on. It will also become a lot better in the future when software is integrated with it (office coming in the next update). The "spying" has been greatly exaggerated, I think, by people who suddenly found themselves without a reason to hate on Microsoft and it was the obvious choice.
- Sylos 10y ago
  Considering that Microsoft's Privacy Statement now asks for complete access to all data on your computer, I cannot see how any privacy concerns should be too exaggerated.
  - bmer 10y ago
    What's so terrible about Microsoft having complete access to all data on my computer? I am pretty sure that's a massive exaggeration (could you back up that claim?), but for the moment I'll assume it isn't. So what? Why should I be worried and/or scared? For reference, I am not a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and actually come from a group that tends to be (in my opinion) unfairly painted in people's minds. I kind of like the idea of Microsoft having access to all of my data. Maybe one day in the future, people will be like..."hmm...you know that random group X that we generalized in order to hate on? turns out we can't really generalize them so easily -- we even have data to back it up!" I'd be like a primary source in future archaeology!

nashashmi 10y ago

Cortana would have been far more often used if it was isolated to controlling the OS, which i find it cannot do (well?). Had there been another voice activated software to do searches on the internet, like Samada, people would have utilized it better.

msmgtoolkit 10y ago

I simply use MSMG Toolkit over at MDL forums, remove all the packages I don't want prior to installing from ISO. No cortana (warning: no start menu searching either), no modern apps (you can intergrate calc.exe), no store, defender, remove alot of telemetry, one drive, etc.

voltagex_ 10y ago
Nice username. Have you checked if there's any impact on Windows Update?
- msmgtoolkit 10y ago
  Seems to be just fine (for my use). I wouldn't recommend it to everyone of course. If things break down the road I'll just reinstall. I've been running since initial W10 release without issue however. YMMV. There are issues such as no more start menu search because of removing cortana. It's all about what you personally need. Thanks, but it's just a throwaway user name I won't use after this post.
whatareyoureal 10y ago
You don't trust Microsoft--who wrote the kernel and many of the drivers you're using--but trust some random .exe from a forum?
- msmgtoolkit 10y ago
  It's a readable .bat file, and all the executable dependencies are either from microsoft (dism, etc) or offer source code and/or hashing. At some point you have to trust something, whether it be your software or your hardware. Besides the telemetry stuff, it's not a trust issue. I just don't have a need for any of the packages I remove. I don't need cortana and search, I don't need Windows Defender and it's cloud features, I don't need onedrive, xbox, modern apps, etc. It's my choice, so I remove them.
- voltagex_ 10y ago
  So many throwaway accounts. Anyway. You can probably achieve the same effect with the Remove-AppxPackage Powershell commandlet if you really want. I will also note that this "toolkit" is not just a bat file and also includes lots of cab files and other things as well. These kinds of toolkits have existed since Windows 7 at least (NLite and friends). Some are the equivalent of putting go-faster stripes on your car, some actually work, some do things like https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/758796786001547264 https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/75879678600154726...

laktak 10y ago

I wouldn't bother. I'm pre-update and have turned it off when I installed Windows 10. Yet App history shows a cpu usage of 0:07:25 and network transfer of 1.5MB for Cortana.

WayneBro 10y ago

I would have used an Android/iOS style dictation key on my Windows tablet virtual keyboard. That's the one thing I wanted from Windows 10. But no. They gave me this useless Cortana bullshit that can only search with Bing.

rasz_pl 10y ago

why turn it off when you can uninstall COMPLETELY? Windows10ReTweaker http://win10epicfail.proboards.com/thread/100/interested-participating-tweaker-development-test http://win10epicfail.proboards.com/thread/100/interested-par...

pawadu 10y ago

It seems the HN crowd (and zdnet and EFF) are all missing a very important point: with the anniversary update (rolled out last week) Cortana is now much much less intrusive. For example, you don't need to have GPS enabled att all time in order to use Cortana. So all in all, Microsoft seems to be on the right track regarding privacy. It is not moving very fast but at least it is moving to the right direction.