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
Under APPS and FEATURES, is the list of the installed software included with Windows 10 and any other software you have added.
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.
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.
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.
The way you remove these POP-UPS from the LOCK and LOGIN screen is once again, click on the SETTINGS COG WHEEL
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.