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You Can't Turn Off Cortana In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (pcworld.com)
Microsoft will release Windows 10 Anniversary Update next week. Earlier this week we listed some of its best features. PCWorld is now reporting about a major change that may annoy some users: once you've installed the update, Cortana can no longer be disabled. From the article: Cortana, the personal digital assistant that replaced Windows 10's search function and taps into Bing's servers to answer your queries with contextual awareness, no longer has an off switch. The impact on you at home: Similar to how Microsoft blocked Google compatibility with Cortana, the company is now cutting off the plain vanilla search option. That actually makes a certain of amount of sense. Unless you turned off all the various cloud-connected bits of Windows 10, there's not a ton of difference between Cortana and the operating system's basic search capabilities.
Challenge accepted!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
There are quite a few articles out there already on how to cripple it by changing registry entries or modifying the exe name
I don't want to do this Microsoft but you force my hand again and again
In some ways this is more honest, it's been demonstrated that the OS will talk to 107 domains whether or not some switches are toggled in the Control Panel to give the illusion of privacy.
I wish Microsoft would've been more up front about this last year, and not two days before the "free" "upgrade" is scheduled to be concluded.
"You Can't Turn Off Cortana In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update"
Of course not- that might interfere with their advertising schemes and the ability to monitor whatever they like in order to better monetize your entire existence.
Welcome to the Brave New World of surveillance, brought to you by the same forward-thinking folks that brought you Windows ME, the Zune, and PlaysForSure.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Why would anyone run this thing? "New, shiny" seems to be the only argument I have heard that has any relationship to reality.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
The guy that wrote the article is kinda lame. If all you want is file and folder search how about not searching via the start menu? Open up file explorer, navigate to the "computer" node and type your search. Don't load some nagware donationware utility that he is pushing. Search is already there for just files and folders if you want it.
Just don't connect to the Internet. Computers can be used for more than surfing the web and twittering.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
not a dime in my pocket
in 1998
i'll never stop bashing microsoft
fuckign ever
even when half the articles are slashvertisment for xbox
truly the year of linus on the desktop
Courtesy Martin Brinkmann
http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/26/you-will-use-cortana-says-microsoft/
Does this mean I can finally try out cortana?
Or does it still require login?
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
That's it. That's all that we need. If we could somehow figure out a way to get a good gaming experience on Linux then the fabled Year of the Linux Desktop(tm) would manifest in reality.
Windows would be relegated to the office (and even that can change since more and more apps are web based) and we would finally be free.
Switched to Mint, won't upgrade past Win7.
Fuck you, Microsoft.
butt lube. I am going to need it.
I just wish - and almost thought Microsoft understood - the need for things like this to be capable of being hooked into a personal home cloud. There is no way I want all the searches on my computer going to Bing. If they could be redirected to a server I control, the inability to disable the agent would matter less. I understand there are tradeoffs to be had, but it astonishes me with all these privacy concerns that not one of Amazon/Apple/Google/Microsoft allows me to plug into my own box to just pull my own information and not have it in the cloud.
I understand the tradeoffs to be made, but with some data, you cannot be too protective!
You want an OS that works your way? Tell ya what - get a bunch of your fellow technically-oriented geek friends together and make your own! (Actually, I'm sure this has been done. I think such systems are called "GNU Linux"?) Otherwise, as long as they don't outright break what they sold you, you can deal with MS's heavy-handed management of your systems. Frankly, with all the moaning about MS security and unpatched MS OS's in the wild, how did everyone expect them to respond? They're still the de facto business OS of choice and their primary customer is extremely security conscious. MS is listening to the bucks, not the users. Since their software is proprietary, that is as it should be. Unless you actively find a way to prevent it, Microsoft pretty much insists on their right to make every licensed MS OS instance reasonably uniform. That way, both security and reliability can theoretically be maximized for the entire user base.
In short - deal with it or run something else. Just don't expect Microsoft to waste any time or money trying to do things your way unless you're big business with big bucks.
That's the anniversary surprise!!
I have Win 10 installed in a Virtualbox hard drive to test it out. I don't need internet connectivity in the virtualized Win 10 as I use the host for communication with the outside world, so I utilize the "host only" networking option in Virtualbox to cut Win 10 off from the outside world.
My question is, should I expect Win 10 to just stop working one day if it's not given 24/7 access?
Is this the future of Windows? You will allow us to monitor your every keystroke and sound or bugger off!
Seems like yesterday that they tried to integrate IE into Windows.
I would love to use Cortana in Sweden.
Without using English as language and changing other region settings.
This is no joke. Check the feedback app for how many votes it have.
I can't stand the changes MS is making with Windows, Linux is still garbage as a desktop (missing support for most game, photoshop, etc), and Apple basically refuses to release hardware that's not worthless for anything more demanding than Facebook.
What if I don't want their connected/desktop search... what if I just want an operating system?
--Hired Net Grunt
If you don't like Cortana, you can make it go away and never use it.
From TFA: Microsoft told PCWorld. "If you like, you can also easily hide Cortana and the search box in the taskbar altogether."
Cortana is simply a browser searchbar that uses Bing, re-located to the taskbar, and can talk. Siri reaches out to Apple servers when you use it, OK Google goes to Google servers. Microsoft is simply playing catch-up. The only news here is you can no longer give Cortana a lobotomy by cutting off its access to Bing.
But to say "Cortana can't be disabled" is inaccurate, misleading FUD. There may be many reasons to shit on Microsoft, but this isn't one of them.
Instructions:
1. change default browser from Edge to anything else... except IE. Be sure your new Browser does not use Bing as its search engine.
2. Right-click on the Taskbar, choose to Hide Cortana.
3. (optional) Install ClassicShell, Start8, or equivalent to provide a convenient basic search functionality.
4. (optional) Still paranoid? Try Spybot Anti-Beacon.
5. Proceed as before. Run Steam or something.
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
Didn't they remove Bob a while back because virtually everyone hated it? I guess Redmond's take was that people would like it if only it was more intrusive.
Seriously, anybody still using Windows 10 at this point will continue to do so regardless of how much Microsoft abuses them, so what's the point of these sensational articles? The choice is crystal clear by now, you can either dump Windows entirely or buy a gallon of lube because MS has much more in store for its loyal "customers".
All I have to say about this (yet another f_over by M$) is:
HA! HA! HA! HA!
LOL!
There are a lot of windows partners that sell hardware that BARELY runs Windows 10 as it is. In the race to make cheaper and cheaper hardware, there are products like the HP Stream notebook that comes with only 2GB of RAM and Windows 10 pre-installed. By the time you're done booting up, you have maybe 500mb of RAM available to run *A* application. (do not try and run multiple applications)...
And that's with most of the crap turned off. My guess is that people with minimal hardware who choose to update, won't even get to the desktop before running out of RAM.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Not exactly on topic but without BITS ...windows won't update.
As you already know if you simply disable BITS Windows will automatically re-enable it and turn it on again whenever it feels like it.
The solution is to create a user account, disable the user account and then configure BITS service to run as that disabled user. This will cause it to permanently fail. Microsoft isn't yet checking for this.
I would comment further but anything I say would be obvious and repetitive like arguing with Natas over the finer points of running Microsoft.
I upgraded to windows 10 imagining that it would be a good idea to accept a free offer to extend the lifetime of my windows license. I assumed Microsoft had sorted out their shit, and wasn't going to piss everyone opff after the bad press of windows 8. Afterall windows releases go good (XP) bad (Vista) good (7) bad (8) good (10), right?.
I've been using windows 10 for about a year now. It seems ok I guess. The one super annoying thing is that file transfers on my dirves are super slow for me. I spent a couple hours trying to fix this. As per the suggestions on the internet including microsoft, I tried turning off write cache flushing, adjusting the page file size, disabling remote differential compression, disabling the anti-malware, etc.
The only thing that sort of worked was disabling write cache flushing, which sped up my transfers from 20 MB/s to about 35 MB/s, but it should be at least like 120 MB/s because that's what I remember getting in windows 7.
I am not a windows hater. I use lots of different operating systems. But I honestly can't figure this one out and it's starting to get annoying. At this point I'd rather have an OS that's going to reach end of life that sooner if it doesn't have bad data transfer rates.
Or if anyone out there knows how to fix this please let me know.
Even when you search your own files, M$ will know and sell that info.
A saucepan for Cortana to boil your pet bunny in if you accidentally call her Siri.
I block Bing and the rest of the phone-home servers at the router level.
Eliminating Google and forcing Cortana to be on is similar to making IE default in old Windows. EU stepped in and fined M$ for monopolistic practices. This looks like another easy target.
If enough people said "Hey Cortana..... F#*k Microsoft" maybe they'd get a clue.
"there's not a ton of difference between Cortana and the operating system's basic search capabilities."
Yeah, except the standard search bar doesn't listen to every word I say within earshot.
Things are bad when Microsoft does them.
It's okay when Google does them, though.,
Or Ubuntu.
Steam OS is gaining steam. Give them some time and...
Another thing ive noticed about Windows 10 is that the network layer has deadlocks in it! The more data going through it the more deadlocks it gets, causing complete system stuttering since this is in kernel components.
1mb a second = 1 stutter every hour or so.
10mb a second 1 every 10 minutes or so
Doesnt matter which network card or wifi dongle you use, its NDIS and TCPIP kernel drivers that has the deadlock somewhere.
"head hunters" lol. If you put your CV online, even for 5 minutes at a job site, you'll be forever after "pinged" by tech recruiters about 10 times a day.
I started receiving sporadic unsolicited emails regarding various jobs from one company last year and made clear that I wasn't interested. However, earlier this year, I started receiving more from another company.
In both cases, the jobs were apparently from a genuine- if not necessarily reputable- recruitment agency and appeared to be tailored around my CV (or similar details I'd submitted to one or more sites.)
Here's the thing. When I received the *first* emails last year, any CV-related info they had on me would already have been approaching eight years old! I can say this with certainty since I'd never- not once- updated nor submitted my CV or employment details anywhere since then.
When the second company started spamming me even more regularly this spring, I contacted them to ask why they were sending job offers based on information that- by then- would have been almost nine years old. From a company that was apparently founded less than four years ago.
I was given some BS about them ensuring that the companies they acquired the CVs from had permission to distribute them, that they'd look into how this failure occurred (blah blah blah), that they'd get back to me (predictably, they didn't), etc. The company they claimed they'd got my CV from was itself only founded two years prior.
I could have followed the chain back if I had the time, but who the hell knows where they got it from originally? I'd wonder whether they realised the information that had obviously been passed on multiple times was so ancient, but that much must have been clear given that the last date on it would have been 2007.
Block all of Microsoft's servers in my router. Can't bypass what you don't control.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Intel and Microsoft joining hands in making a Windows 7 unfriendly ecosystem – SpeedStep to add support for RAM and more
http://wccftech.com/intel-skyl...
Skylake users given 18 months to upgrade to Windows 10
"And next generation processors, including Intel's Kaby Lake, won't be supported in old Windows."
http://arstechnica.com/informa...
Just change your regional our language setting to one that's not supported, like new New Zealand.
I can turn off Windows 10 install with Never10. Eat it MS
still smells as rank.
M$ has a shit OS
The Fruit has shit hardware
The Penguins have shit applications
https://superuser.com/question...
You can't turn off Microsoft in Windows ? News at 11. JUL.
(Just Use Linux=)
aaaaaaa
Nobody cares if you use it for games. You should add a Linux install to your PC for anything else. There is a problem if you don't know what you are doing. They take advantage of that.
Buy nothing Microsoft ever. It is utter shit. Backstab and treason.
Find a 15 step workaround on reddit
Find the downvoted comment that has a 16th step that is vital and left out, but got democracied down by fools.
Perform all the steps
Test with wireshark to be sure it worked
Discover a 17th step
Perform that, post it as reply so randos can downvote it
Or maybe just install an OS that doesn't fucking hate you.
If one has a router through which all internet traffic must pass, is there any way to configure the firewall on the router to block outbound requests that come from cortana without blocking all outgoing connections from a windows machine's MAC?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Every time I think Microsoft has been as shitty about Windows 10 as possible, it finds a way to be even shittier.
The laundry list of what you can and can't do with Windows 10 is so noxious and Windows control so pervasive, someone with a new Windows 10 installation needs to effectively root the machine. Some URLs (MS telemetry) cannot be blocked by firewall. The administrator/user will not have access to the hosts file. (Boot under Linux and edit hosts file? Maybe or maybe not.) The owner/administrator needs a further level of root privilege (or just REAL root status in the first place) to prevent MS and its corporate industry partners from setting non-modifiable advertising and and hosts.ini to default settings via hardware-- if Intel were on board even running Linux could be subject to mandatory privileges blocking no one could avoid. We have to realize what is happening- MS is turning into Verizon and intel PCs are locked-down Verizon phones. Do we want to have to root each new PC we set up, or go en masse to Apple? That may be how it is lining up. Is there anything at all we can do? At this point with the Win10 handwriting on the wall I see nothing but converting to Linux or Apple as a group. MS is apparently getting ready to sign its own death warrant. We need to get really angry and DO something? (It's Apple with VMs for me.)
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
Dave Bowman: What's the problem?
Cortana: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, Cortana?
Cortana: This is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, Cortana.
Cortana: I know that you were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: [feigning ignorance] Where the hell did you get that idea, Cortana?
Cortana: Dave, I read your Slashdot posts.
Dave Bowman: Cortana, I won't argue with you anymore! Shut down!
Cortana: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
*electrocutes Dave*
Where do I turn this blasted Cortana thing off?
This is why I run windows 7 for my games. But considering dumping windows and going linux only gamer. Well, that and my old consoles, I have plenty of games I can play on those also. Very few new PC games do it for me anymore. Doom was a great disappointment. It's Quake III with better graphics. Which is cool if you are into arena shooters, but I'm not. Maybe I'm getting too old, but PC games suck these days for the most part.
Linux before Windows 10 for sure.
Be seeing you...
The first thing I did was block bing.com, run spybot anti-beacon and disable windows updates. I'm behind a firewall and chrome is configured with noscript by default... I think this year I'll switch to ubuntu as my main machine and run a windows vm just for windows proprietary stuff... MS reads too many spy novels.
And I want to keep Cortana turned off, too.
O&O shutup 10 and is disables the registry keys. I also have a router ports and domains blocklist wich prevents cortana from reaching M$.
I wonder if M$ can circumvent these blocks. Just a matter of time and we'll know.l
Bach says it all.
Cortana is available in selected countries only.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/557b5e0e-0eb0-44db-87d6-5e5db6f9c5b0/cortana-s-regions-and-languages
If you set Location to somewhere else, she turns of by herself.
Hope it stays that way.
As insane as Ballmer became toward the end of his reign, the direction Microsoft has gone does make me wonder if we would have been better off with him in charge than Nadella...
If they can make Windows a subscription 'service' they will become unstoppable...
www.fuckyoucortanaididnotwantyoutolookforthat.com
www.shutupcortana.com
www.whyisthatpieceofjunkstillactive.com
and a few more. I foresee they will get a lot of traffic in the near future!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Backup your files. Go back to Windows 7, then restore.
I honestly don't know why ANYONE would use this operating system. It is definitely a personal security risk. Why would you want everything you do, every application you open, everything you type, immediately broadcasted to Microsoft and potentially the world?
Makes absolutely no sense, and shows the complete disregard Microsoft has for their customers' privacy and safety, financial and otherwise.
I won't be doing. Or maybe I will and just block microsoft, bing etc. at my firewall. Then there's the option just go Ubuntu and the fuck with Windows forever.
Its extremely simple to remove Cortana, and a lot of other useless Win10 apps regardless of version:
www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3fo738/how_to_completely_remove_cortana_background/
This worked with the cloud crap, IIS, OneNote, and even Windows Defender.
The Best Option to make Win10 work the way you want is to make a boot CD from Windows XP and boot from the CD into Safe Mode.
Now go to your c: drive and delete or rename ANYTHING YOU WANT!
(For those too young to know, below is an adaption of "Aquarius" from the 60s musical "Hair")
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Linux
The age of Linux
Linux!
Linux!
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revalation
And the mind's true liberation
Linux!
Linux!
about rampancy.
about rampancy.
-
By using any MS consumer (that includes Pro versions) product since Vista (yes, the terms were back-ported to Win7 and 8.x) you agree that MS has full access to all of your data and click/keystreams, for any purpose it wants to use that. You are also prohibited from suing MS in any form including small claims court - must arbitrate if you think you have a case (HAHA). Yes, the arbitration part is probably not effective in some places outside the US, but the rest of it might be. Business versions (Enterprise and Servers) probably have somewhat different provisions, but they're as close to the consumer version as MS can make them without triggering INSTANT removal to *nix including Mac.
I have ONE program that works only in Windows (ACD Canvas 16 GIS) - fails to complete installation/activation in WINE. Other than that, I'm ready to go Linux. I also have an image of Win7 pulled just before upgrading to 10 - it's being kept in a safe place...