Cleaning up Windows shite... Onedrive / Copilot / Startup / Companion Apps / Cloud Content / Adds...

Windows

Let's get rid of OneDrive and CoPilot and streamline some other stuff... Who needs that crap...

Unfortunately, Microsoft may at random decide to reinstall this crapware, or re-enable some of these settings... sigh.

Topics

Microsoft sometimes installs stuff I don't want. But even hardware manufactures are finding ways to p*ss me off by installing stuff I don't want, simply because my PC starts auto-installing their crap the moment I connect their hardware to my machine!

This has to stop...

In this post:

1. OneDrive - Microsoft is (ab)using OneDrive to install things like a photo app... No way.
2. CoPilot - Pretty much a piece of crap
3. Startup - Let's git rid of some stuff
4. Companion Apps
5. Cloud Content
6. Other
7. Ronin
8. WinAero Tweaker

1. OneDrive

Settings / Apps / Installed Apps / Microsoft OneDrive / Uninstall

...because Microsoft might use it as an excuse to install other crap...

2. CoPilot

Settings / Apps / Installed Apps / CoPilot / Uninstall

...because nobody needs this crap...

3. Startup

And whilst we are doing then, let's visit the apps that are launched during startup and kill those unnecessary. First I went to:

Settings / Apps / Startup

 And there I removed / disabled:

• AutoDetector - Ulead
• Microsoft Edge - Microsoft
• MS-Teams

Startup Folders

Note that some things might hide in the startup folders...

Check these two folders:

• C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
• C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

4. Stop hardware related software apps (aka Companion apps)

Sometimes DRIVERS decide to install OTHER software. A monitor supplier might decide it's a good idea to spam ads for a virus scanner... And you know what? You AUTOMATICALLY opted in to this 'feature'... It's so crazy that it actually happened.

I don't want that, so...

1. Settings / System / About / Advanced System Settings
2. Hardware / Device Installation Settings
3. No

Yeah, that option is hidden in a crazy place.

Note 1: Some hard- and software may require this option to be enabled. Just disable it and see if it causes trouble. If it does, re-enable it.

Note 2: System ICONS may also be affected by this setting.

5. Cloud Content

Windows 11 happily installs stuff Microsoft thinks you might find interesting... Another no no no.

1. Start RegEdit
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\
3. Create a key CloudContent
4. Create a DWord DisableWindowsConsumerFeatures
5. Set its value to 1

6. Other stuff

Some quick changes, but for a full explanation I'd suggest to visit Windows 11 Usability Guide.

Start

• Settings / Personalization / Start - change to what you like

Lock screen

• Settings / Personalization / Lock Screen - Change to what you like

Typing insights

• Settings / Time & Language / Typing - change to what you like -  I turn Typing Insights off

Privacy & Security

It's pretty much a good idea to check all the settings under Privacy & Security, and disable everything you do not need... Some suggestions:

• Settings / Privacy & Security / Recommendations & Offers - All off except Language List
• Settings / Privacy & Security / Diagnostics & Feedback / Send optional data - Off
• Settings / Privacy & Security / Diagnostics & Feedback / Improve Inking - Off
• Settings / Privacy & Security / Diagnostics & Feedback / Improve Inking - Off
• Settings / Privacy & Security / Search - Adjust as needed

6. Winaero Tweaker

This tool may help you remove more Windows crap, and / or make some of the steps above easier. Most of the things this app does you can do yourself, but this is a little more comfortable.

You'll find its homepage here.

Be careful though... the whole website is spammed with banners and logos that try to make you download something else.

Last time I checked, I found the real download on this page.

7. Ronin

This is another tool that might help clean up stuff. I haven't tried this one myself.

You'll find the homepage here.

I never found Github very comfortable. To get to a downloadable version of Ronin, you have to click on Code / Tags / Releases... Yeah. It ain't obvious.

Here's a direct link.

8. Links

You might want to visit some of these links...

• Windows 11 Usability Guide - very detailed and complete, though not entirely up to date
• A list of some very good tools to tame Windows