Question Windows 10, Edge and Recent Feature Upgrades: What is this S***, and how do I get rid of it?

[BonzaiDuck]

I have two machines in the household that use Windows 10 -- my flagship desktop PC, and my old laptop.

The flagship PC is the center for all my day-to-day business. For a household of three elderly people, I manage ten bank accounts, budget and disburse bill payments, manage our automobile repairs and consult factory shop manuals, archive all incoming medical, real-estate and financial documents in a document management system, oversee most of our e-mail activity, shop for everything from groceries to adult diapers to PC and automobile parts. It's integral to my life and facilitates the daily lives of my family.

I recently had a motherboard go south on this system, and I spared nothing to get it all back up and running in an improved, better-than-before configuration. Nothing was lost.

Sometime over the last three or four months, my machine had a Windows feature upgrade which changed the way EDGE works together with my desktop.

It somehow grabbed the "Loading . . . " screen of my Assetto Corsa racing simulator, so that I may leave the machine for a period of time and find it staring at me with the time boldly displayed on the lower left of the monitor screen. A mouse-click -- or two -- makes it disappear like a curtain rising on a stage, leaving my desktop visible again. Other times, I notice that this same feature displays a page of advertisements, suggested links and pictures I never asked for, never wanted. It, too, disappears with a mouse click.

I want to get rid of this behavior. I've poked around a bit in EDGE to try and find out where it might be configured, but -- no cigar. Maybe it's some feature of Cortana. But I just don't know where to go to turn the f***ing thing off.

There was a time decades ago when I could do things in MSDOS that amazed even me. When Windows first came along -- 3.0, 3.1, 95, 98 . . . . through Win 7 -- I felt like I had control of with the OS was doing. Now, Windows 10 seems to behave like my US Mail, filled with local commercial business solicitations and advertisements, real-estate promotions wanting to buy my house, and all that garbage that takes time to sort out and throw away in the trash can before returning to my house.

Does anybody know what I'm talking about, and does anyone have any insight about how to get rid of it?

Thank you.

 

[pcgeek11]

I hope it makes you feel better to know that I too run Windows 10 Pro and do not have those issues. So it is possible to not have those problems.

Also Note that I disabled Cortana as soon as I set the system up when Windows 10 came out. That could be a clue. I have no desire to talk to my computer.

I hope you find the answer to your problems.

 

[Shmee]

I would look into disabling Cortana and the other invasive things in Windows 10 like advertising ID etc. Also I would avoid using edge. And for the browser you do use, get a good ad-blocker. I also would tend to avoid using a MS account login. You can also look into 3rd party tools to disable certain windows 10 "features". And be sure to scan for spyware/adware.

I am not sure exactly what the issue is, but the above would be a good measure to take anyway.

 

[mxnerd]

Yep, disable Cortana. Install Open Shell Menu to replace Windows Start , use Chrome/Brave instead of Edge.

 

[Shmee]

Substitute Firefox for Chrome, and this makes sense I used to use chrome, but firefox is a lot more privacy focused now, where chrome is owned by google :O

 

[RLGL]

I am using the latest version of 10, absolutely no issues. I have found over the years the more customization that is done the more issues I have. I just leave it alone. As far as ads go I use a Pi-Hole.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

All member responses to my thread are useful or insightful, but I wouldn't exactly call my troubles with Win 10 "issues" -- other than the fact that Windows 10 automatically created this behavior, possibly together with EDGE. It did something that I don't want done, and it commandeered a "wallpaper" or graphic screen from a simulator I run, with no known reason as to why it chose that screen.

The best advice you all have given so far suggests disabling Cortana. I'll start with that.

On the matter of "Windows account login", I originally set the system up according to the "business" profile, assuming you have a business LAN that assigns each PC and user an account and password -- or the user chooses an account id and password in that LAN context. More accurately, with or without a LAN and server, this was the old way of securing an individual PC, so the user had to log on at boot-time in order to get to the desktop.

For some reasons of which my aging mind is less sure at the moment, I had to create a Microsoft account and password, which manages potentially more than one Win 10 license and my MS Office licensing. It's something that I cannot easily just get rid of without consequences. Or -- I imagine some consequences for disconnecting from it.

 

[UsandThem]

For some reasons of which my aging mind is less sure at the moment, I had to create a Microsoft account and password, which manages potentially more than one Win 10 license and my MS Office licensing. It's something that I cannot easily just get rid of without consequences. Or -- I imagine some consequences for disconnecting from it.

If you install Windows 10 connected to wifi or LAN, you lose the option to create a local account and Microsoft pretty well forces users to use/create a Microsoft account and login.

You can change it afterwards, but it's so much easier to not be connected to the internet when installing Windows 10.

 

[WelshBloke]

Are you talking about the Windows lockscreen? The pointless screen that you get before the login screen?

You can get rid of that but Microsoft don't make it easy.
Why it actually exists on a desktop machine is a mystery to me in the first place though.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I hope it makes you feel better to know that I too run Windows 10 Pro and do not have those issues. So it is possible to not have those problems.

Also Note that I disabled Cortana as soon as I set the system up when Windows 10 came out. That could be a clue. I have no desire to talk to my computer.

I hope you find the answer to your problems.

This and I also disable Siri or any voice activated stuff. I have no desire to talk to any machine

 

[WelshBloke]

This and I also disable Siri or any voice activated stuff. I have no desire to talk to any machine

I talk to my phone in the car. Well I more shout at it in an exasperated tone really.
Its pretty handy then.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I talk to my phone in the car. Well I more shout at it in an exasperated tone really.
Its pretty handy then.

I swear at IVR’s (the voice activated phone tree stuff). Typically after doing it a few times it transfers you to a person. Occasionally it hangs up.

 

[RLGL]

For some reasons of which my aging mind is less sure at the moment, I had to create a Microsoft account and password, which manages potentially more than one Win 10 license and my MS Office licensing.

I as most everyone else has an MS account. It is not used for anything else. I have a separate email for everything else.

 

[Muadib]

I as most everyone else has an MS account. It is not used for anything else. I have a separate email for everything else.

I'm in this camp. I used my outlook email for my old Xbox, and now use it for all of my Microsoft products.
To the OP, can you post a pic of your issue?

 

[quikah]

Totally confused about what you are talking about. The screen with the time sounds like the lockscreen. See if these solve the issue:
How to Disable the Lock Screen on Windows 10 (techjunkie.com)

The page with pictures and ads sounds like the new tab page on Edge? There is a gear icon on the upper right of the new tab page that lets you change what is displayed there.

 

[winr]

Just got through reloading Window 10 on a new SSD drive ...

Part way through, I could find no way to go forward until I plugged in internet cable ....



Ricky.

 

[UsandThem]

Just got through reloading Window 10 on a new SSD drive ...

Part way through, I could find no way to go forward until I plugged in internet cable ....

They now tricked you and have you in their Microsoft account sign-in purgatory.

They make it appear like you have to do that, but you can bypass that speed bump (as long as you don't connect to the internet) with a few clicks that they hide pretty well.

 

[winr]

I will wipe the SSD and reload while I drink beer an listen to Gaelic music

They also wanted my email with the password .. or my phone number .... and would not let me go further ...

Will send BEER an BACON for advise please !!!



Ricky.

 

[UsandThem]

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/an...-home-20h2-no-option-for-local-account-n.html

Look at the first couple user answers (specifically the one with the screen grab).

 

[winr]

Will do an many thanks !


Ricky.