I am going to try and document the configurations and setting I am making on a fresh win 11 install to reach the goals of the title. If possible.
1. first thing I am left shifting the task bar and un combining taskbar icons and labels. This setting is under taskbar behavior.
2. Uninstalling bloat ware.
so I just searched for programs and features and was forwarded to apps/installed apps and was able to uninstall a lot of things that I do not need. I have a suspition that this is the short list of installed apps and that I will have to use powershell to get an actual appx list but that is in the future if needed.
3. Should have been first but using advanced system settings, select best performance and then re place the check mark for show thumbnails. the advanced system settings are in settings / system / about.
4. Oh my! what can be done about the start menu? I'm searching now.
wasn't so bad used personalization / start to get more pins and turn off some recommendations.
5. Just found other software hidden in system components game bar / phone link ect. Will try and uninstall some things without power shell for now.
6. no update today except to ask how some of the responders think that they can talk an office manager into paying me hundreds of units of money to put a different start menu on the office workstations. One person in this or the computer thread suggested that the employees should get different jobs because of the operating system.
Again my point for this is to get the best out of it not replace it.
Sorry for the rant, so things bled over from the computer thread
9-10-24 6PM gmt-5
7. open up task manager and turn off auto startup for one drive and edge (I suspect that this will be turned back on by updates.)
8. go to settings / accounts / your profile and switch to "sign in with local account"
9. update powershell help
update-help
run this in powershell as admin
Get-AppxPackage > c:\list
open c:\list with notepad
find the packages that you don't want but remember if you don't know what it is then ignore it for now
As a goof I ran" Get-AppxPackage -Name xbox | Remove-AppxPackage" to remove packages with xbox in the name and I removed "your.Phone" I will let you the repercussions.
9.001.
I have installed 10 on another machine and let it upgrade to 11 so that I have a base line. This base line machine will not be modified beyond personalization settings.
I am setting this base line PC because I am starting to think that it is fine for the common user with little more than letting onedrive run but don't sync your folders other than the default one drive folder, installing a preferred web browser and turning of suggestions.
1. first thing I am left shifting the task bar and un combining taskbar icons and labels. This setting is under taskbar behavior.
2. Uninstalling bloat ware.
so I just searched for programs and features and was forwarded to apps/installed apps and was able to uninstall a lot of things that I do not need. I have a suspition that this is the short list of installed apps and that I will have to use powershell to get an actual appx list but that is in the future if needed.
3. Should have been first but using advanced system settings, select best performance and then re place the check mark for show thumbnails. the advanced system settings are in settings / system / about.
4. Oh my! what can be done about the start menu? I'm searching now.
wasn't so bad used personalization / start to get more pins and turn off some recommendations.
5. Just found other software hidden in system components game bar / phone link ect. Will try and uninstall some things without power shell for now.
6. no update today except to ask how some of the responders think that they can talk an office manager into paying me hundreds of units of money to put a different start menu on the office workstations. One person in this or the computer thread suggested that the employees should get different jobs because of the operating system.
Again my point for this is to get the best out of it not replace it.
Sorry for the rant, so things bled over from the computer thread
9-10-24 6PM gmt-5
7. open up task manager and turn off auto startup for one drive and edge (I suspect that this will be turned back on by updates.)
8. go to settings / accounts / your profile and switch to "sign in with local account"
9. update powershell help
update-help
run this in powershell as admin
Get-AppxPackage > c:\list
open c:\list with notepad
find the packages that you don't want but remember if you don't know what it is then ignore it for now
As a goof I ran" Get-AppxPackage -Name xbox | Remove-AppxPackage" to remove packages with xbox in the name and I removed "your.Phone" I will let you the repercussions.
9.001.
I have installed 10 on another machine and let it upgrade to 11 so that I have a base line. This base line machine will not be modified beyond personalization settings.
I am setting this base line PC because I am starting to think that it is fine for the common user with little more than letting onedrive run but don't sync your folders other than the default one drive folder, installing a preferred web browser and turning of suggestions.
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I sympathise. (and gripe number one is the correct ise spelling in Aust not the USA version ize). I think you will find that when an incomplete software manifest is found MS tries to reload the missing bits during the regular "security" updates.
My solutions are to use open-source alternatives to MS and to run a severe firewall that explicitly blocks connection to MS. The firewall is left in 'learning mode' so that whenever a new connection tries to get through I can review and decide (and as it now uses un-named IP addresses I just block anything without a name).
At the end of the day its an interesting intellectual challenge to keep the demons away, just like doing a crossword puzzle.
My solutions are to use open-source alternatives to MS and to run a severe firewall that explicitly blocks connection to MS. The firewall is left in 'learning mode' so that whenever a new connection tries to get through I can review and decide (and as it now uses un-named IP addresses I just block anything without a name).
At the end of the day its an interesting intellectual challenge to keep the demons away, just like doing a crossword puzzle.
Just relegate that junk to unavoidable work-related stuff. Better still, find a job that gives you enough freedom to choose the best tools for the job, not the best tools for allowing the IT department to remotely track your every breath and bathroom break.
I've been using Linux since the early 2000s and never looked back. I'm sure there's lots that I'm missing out on, but at least it's one small area of my life where I'm not constantly reminded that I'm a serf and powerless to do anything about it.
I've been using Linux since the early 2000s and never looked back. I'm sure there's lots that I'm missing out on, but at least it's one small area of my life where I'm not constantly reminded that I'm a serf and powerless to do anything about it.
Look at the Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu project on GitHub, it may solve your start menu issue. Removing unwanted/unused built-in Windows 11 applications is futile, just revise the default applications settings to avoid opening the ones you don't like and maybe set a firewall as Johno suggested.
@abstract: I ensure you that most business will be more than happy to avoid Windows and the associated fees and headaches. Applications are the issue. None of the mainstream 3D professional CAD/CAM applications works on Linux, as example.
@abstract: I ensure you that most business will be more than happy to avoid Windows and the associated fees and headaches. Applications are the issue. None of the mainstream 3D professional CAD/CAM applications works on Linux, as example.
If the start menu is an issue you could trial Start11 by Stardock. I've been using it for a while and found it to be very good. Not expensive either.
Used to use Open-shell but there was a period where it couldn't cope with Win11 and I switched. But when it worked, it worked really well and it's also worth trying.
Used to use Open-shell but there was a period where it couldn't cope with Win11 and I switched. But when it worked, it worked really well and it's also worth trying.
Limited by processor and memory.
We had to strip down even 98 and XP
So ironic now that busses, processors and memory
is generous. Operating systems now kill the advantages
we would have loved to see 20 years ago.
We had to strip down even 98 and XP
So ironic now that busses, processors and memory
is generous. Operating systems now kill the advantages
we would have loved to see 20 years ago.
himem.sys was a true great thing. I cant remember but I think it gave us an extra 256k or so.
in the early days of win 10 i used alternate start menus but had to abandon the as i could not support users that used the factory menu. Very bad for repeat customers if I was not very aware of something a simple as the start menu. funny that menus come up these days as I miss FVWM and Tom's window manager because it was so configurable. You had full access to the script that controlled it.
Jeremy
Blender looks pretty impressive.
I sometimes wonder if there's a "yin yang" relationship between free software vs software with business models attached. Whenever something free is available, someone closes the source and takes it a step further commercially, making it look like FOSS is constantly lagging behind.
I've even seen a FOSS Android app on Fdroid basically stolen* and repackaged as a paid app on google play, so some people can be pretty brazen about trying to earn money off others' efforts that were already gifted to society.
*And yes, I know it's not really stealing if it's "FOSS" and you can supposedly do whatever you want with the source code. It just suggests that a commercial OS like Windows is likely a more fake environment than it might appear at first glance. When you start learning to code, it immediately becomes clear that by far the fastest way to get things done is to become immersed in working examples of what other people have done earlier.
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Same here, the win 10 menu seemed pointlessly different and offered me nothing except a learning curve...
I used Glary utilities to uninstall all the bloatware, including Edge and all the Edge related stuff. If you have the Pro version, you can avoid the automatic win updates by setting it in the Policy Editor. I also reduce all the effects and do not associate all the files extensions.
Here is how I did it, step-by-step:
Step 1: Ditch Windoze and all that expensive subscription software associated with it.
Step 2: Use Linux (I use Ubuntu) and all the free software that comes with it.
The End.
Step 1: Ditch Windoze and all that expensive subscription software associated with it.
Step 2: Use Linux (I use Ubuntu) and all the free software that comes with it.
The End.
Just download a torrented copy of W10 LTSB enterprise , set group policy to "21H1" upgrade target.
I use classic shell instead of the idiot start menu.
I get all security and crucial updates till 2028.
I might be bad , but all 5 newer PC's in this house , have the LTSB. And half the local neighborhood also has it.
Screw M$. They just think I'm another corporate user with software servicing handled by my IT department.
OS
I use classic shell instead of the idiot start menu.
I get all security and crucial updates till 2028.
I might be bad , but all 5 newer PC's in this house , have the LTSB. And half the local neighborhood also has it.
Screw M$. They just think I'm another corporate user with software servicing handled by my IT department.
OS
Attachments
As ostripper said Win 10 LTSC IoT is the best option if you don't have a hard requirement for Win 11 (you can find download links in massgrave)
And after install, you can use Chris Titus WinUtil to debloat and tune your install to make it lightweight and usable (and can install a bunch of programs too using winget and chocolatey)
And after install, you can use Chris Titus WinUtil to debloat and tune your install to make it lightweight and usable (and can install a bunch of programs too using winget and chocolatey)
Linux is okay and is as fast on my old ThinkPad with very little hardware. But it doesn't do lots of stuff that Windows does if you're used to it. And contrary to what any Apple person might tell you Windows is just as good. I highly recommend open shell to make navigating easier. I've been using it since Windows 10 and it's great. You can also move all the taskbar icons to the left in settings which helped me a lot. Good luck.
I use Win 11. With every update it tries to force me to use their browser. It also made the backup very difficult to find and use and constantly pushes the paid cloud backup. Other than that, it's pretty good.
https://memstechtips.com/customize-windows-installs-unattendedwinstall/
It's possible to customize Win 11 install (or Win 10) so that it doesn't require "up-to-date" hardware, at the same time it can be debloated before installing.
It's possible to customize Win 11 install (or Win 10) so that it doesn't require "up-to-date" hardware, at the same time it can be debloated before installing.