How to remove bloatware and advertisements from Windows 10 to make it perform fast like Windows 7

Windows 10 can be made to function and look like Windows 7 if you remove all the bloatware and advertisements that are built in. This is done by traditional means such as un-installing some software from the “Apps & Features” menu but much of it will be through the use of both DOS and Powershell commands, and also just turning off items in the Control Panel.

 

Its not hard, just follow the steps.

It will take some hours to remove 99% of it, so lets get started.

 

 

Step # 1 – Click on the COG wheel in the start menu and goto the WINDOWS SETTINGS menu in Windows 10.

 

—-Activate and create a restore point first, by typing in RESTORE POINT into the Windows 10 Search bar at the bottom.

 

Step #2 – Click on APPS

appsmenu1mod

Under APPS and FEATURES, is the list of the installed software included with Windows 10 and any other software you have added.

 

appsmenu2

 

You will notice there is quite an extensive list of BLOATWARE included with Windows 10. Some of its useful, some of it just serves up tons of ads, and some is completely useless, unless you happen to be a fan of Microsoft Sports or you use Microsoft Weather or Microsoft Money.

Many of these APPS and Features are redundant as most people just use the Internet and a web browser these days to “Google” the weather, or stock trades.

Personally as a technician I recommend you ALWAYS use a good secure web browser like Firefox in Private Browsing mode or Chrome to access news and weather, and most instant info on the Internet such as traffic reports from GOOGLEMAPS.COM. The reason being that most web browsers act as a secure proxy, or go-between the data on the web and your operating system, readily blocking snooping into your computer to send Spam, notifications and ads to you. Most web browsers today will prompt you for permission to access your location, camera, or microphone and you can refuse, which you cannot do using a purpose built “app” for weather, or stock quotes.

 

This is a list of items that I have removed. It is not 100% complete and from month to month it can change as Microsoft has now released a total of 12 different version of Windows 10.

The version i am using is Windows 10 version 1903.

For instance, the latest Windows 10 as of this writing, 2/5/2020 does not contain Microsoft Sports.

 

This is what I saw on the ADD/REMOVE list that I wanted to remove.

 

3D Viewer

Alarms and Clocks

Camera

Feedback Hub

Mail and Calendar

Maps

Messaging

Microsoft Onedrive

Microsoft Photos

Microsoft Salitaire

Microsoft Store

Mixed Reality Portal

Mobile Plans

Movies & TV

Office

OneNote

Paint 3D

People

Print 3D

Skype

Sticky Notes

Tips

Voice Recorder

Weather

Xbox Console Components

Xbox Game Bar

Xbox Live

Your Phone

 

 

Step #4

Click next to each item and remove in Apps & Features, and click UNINSTALL for each one. About 1/2 to 3/4 of them will remove without special commands except for those locked by Microsoft. Many of the locked programs are APPS from the APP store and would be removed though the MICROSOFT STORE, however, we want to remove the STORE because these computers are being staged for businesses and they don’t need an APP STORE.

 

For the programs that have the UNINSTALL greyed out, they will have to be removed via power shell commands. Make a note of each one that will not.

 

Here is a list of programs installed that were “grayed” out for UNISTALL

 

 

Alarms and Clocks

Camera

Maps

Messaging

Microsoft Photos

Microsoft Store

People

Xbox Game Bar

Your Phone

 

Step #5  – How to remove APPS via PowerShell commands

Goto the Search bar at the bottom of the START menu.

 

powershellcommandmod1

 

You will want to type into the white search bar at the bottom “powershell”, when you do, the search will bring up “Windows Powershell” at the top of the search bar, right click on it, and click RUN AS ADMINSTRATOR

 

You will get a BLUE POWERSHELL command box that looks like this.

 

powershell1

Click on the PROMPT in the blue DOS box, and you will need to enter these commands to remove these items.

 

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF COMMANDS, BUT I WILL TRY AND PLACE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.

To REMOVE:

3D Builder:

Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Alarms and Clocks

Get-AppxPackage *alarms* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Calculator:

Get-AppxPackage *calculator* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Messaging:

Get-Appxpackage *messaging* | Remove-Appxpackage

 

Maps:

Get-AppxPackage *maps* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

People:

Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Photos:

Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Xbox:

Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Your Phone:

Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.YourPhone* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

 

 

ADDITIONAL PS COMMANDS TO REMOVE MANY OTHER WINDOWS COMPONENTS AND UNWANTED BLOATWARE

 

Calculator:

Get-AppxPackage *calculator* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Calendar and Mail:

Get-AppxPackage *communications* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Camera:

Get-AppxPackage *camera* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Get Started:

Get-AppxPackage *getstarted* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Groove Music:

Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Maps:

Get-AppxPackage *maps* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Microsoft Solitaire Collection:

Get-AppxPackage *solitairecollection* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Microsoft Office:

Get-AppxPackage *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Money “Bing Finance”:

Get-AppxPackage *bingfinance* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Movies & TV:

Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

News:

Get-AppxPackage *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

OneNote:

Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

People:

Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Phone Companion:

Get-AppxPackage *windowsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Photos:

Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Microsoft APP Store:

Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Skype:

Get-AppxPackage *skypeapp* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Sports:

Get-AppxPackage *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Sway:

get-appxpackage *sway* | remove-appxpackage

 

Voice Recorder:

Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Weather:

Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

How to disable Microsoft Windows Defender:

 

Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true

 

How to enable Microsoft Windows Defender:

 

Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $false

 

STEP # 5 – Additional Commands to disable startup and the lock screen advertisements

De-activate Windows 10 startup repair.

Unlike Windows 7 which would only run Windows Chkdsk and startup to SAFE MODE only after 3 failed startup attempts, Windows 10 appears to activate a startup repair after just the first failed startup attempt. Also unlike Windows 7 which ran a minimal and fast startup repair, Windows 10 goes through a long drawn out process that can take anywhere from 15 minutes to hours, and appears to be chronic.

So lets disable it…..

 

Type in CMD and run a command prompt Windows by typing in CMD at the bottom and clicking enter.

 

Type this into the black DOS box:

 

bcdedit /set recoveryenabled NO

 

This will disable the startup repair and save you hours of headaches if you improperly shutdown Windows 10. This is great for laptop users.

 

 

How to disable ADVERTISEMENTS on the LOGIN and LOCK SCREEN.

 

Another place Microsoft places ADs disguised as useful information, is right on the LOCK and LOGIN screen. You will see random messages that you can highlight and it will open Microsoft Edge and tell you things about what you clicked. Some are cleverly hidden advertisements for products disguised as useful news or gadgets, but I find it annoying and un-useful for business use.

 

Remove-Sponsored-Ads

 

The way you remove these POP-UPS from the LOCK and LOGIN screen is once again, click on the SETTINGS COG WHEEL

settings-in-start-menu

From here click “PERSONALIZATION” , then click “LOCK SCREEN”, and then click the “BACKGROUND” drop down and choose “Picture”. You will have to choose a picture. Once you select a picture, lick the SLIDER under “Get fun facts, tips, and more from Windows and Cortana on your lock screen”, and slide that too OFF, which turns the slider back to black and white and not the color blue.

 

This disables the LOCK screen advertisements.

 

 

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