Category Archives: Newsletter Reprints

Taming Windows 10: Turn off Advertising in the Lock Screen

Newsletter Reprints, ,

A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:

Advertising and Fun Facts on the lock screen

The lock screen is that first photo that Windows shows on startup, with the login prompt. It shows advertising occasionally, usually for Microsoft Games, and suggests a visit to the Microsoft store, or asks odd questions. That’s an odd location for any of that; they probably got the idea from the Amazon “Kindle with Special Offers”, which does something similar.

To turn off these annoyances, go to Settings, Personalization, Lock Screen, and change the top item, to either Picture or Slideshow. “Windows spotlight” is the setting that shows ads. After making that change, set “Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen” to Off. Important: This setting is reset by installing some of the larger Windows 10 updates, so re-apply as needed. Bad news if you aren’t running the ‘Pro’ version of Windows: Not all settings of this type are available for ‘home’ users.

Tweaking Windows 10: Don’t Let Windows Manage my Default Printer

Newsletter Reprints, ,

A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:
 
Let Windows manage my default printer, in Windows 10
 
This is that ‘too clever’ item in Windows 10, which, unannounced, manages your default printer to the last printer you used. So you set it to use the Brother printer, but then you printed a file using the “Microsoft Print to PDF” selection. Windows changes that to your default. While some home users may find this helpful, an office with multiple printers, print-to-PDF drivers, and check printers will find this to be a waste of pre-printed forms, paper, and patience.

To turn off this feature, go to the Settings app, Devices, scroll down and set “Let Windows manage my default printer” to Off.

Taming Windows 10: Turn Off Background Apps

Newsletter Reprints, ,

A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:

Windows 10 is designed for mobile devices. All apps are background apps, by default. If that’s useful for anyone, great, but I have yet to meet that person. That’s like the early days of Windows, when most services were turned on, by default. It was a security and performance disaster, and subsequent versions of Windows have used more reasonable defaults, until now.

Mostly, Windows 10 is running on desktops and notebooks, and there is a long list of apps pre-installed by Microsoft. Some may be added by the hardware manufacturer, and they run in the background, be default. Maybe that’s a good idea if the app is working for you, providing emergency weather alerts, calendar alarms, stock alerts, anything. But all of them? Just say no.

Background apps settings in Windows 10

If you don’t allow these apps to run in the background, they will still run when you start them in the usual way. To turn off these apps, click Start, Settings, type ‘run’ in the Search box, and choose the result ‘Choose which apps can run in the background’. I’ve seen from 16 to over 30 apps listed, all turned on, and none of them are needed to run Windows 10. Turn off most of them–leave them on only if you want them to do something, like gathering alerts.