Windows 10 - search bar box and the junk it contains

[DeathtoGnomes]

Cortana...yeah, that bitch doesn't come anywhere near me. Anything in relation to it I've always disabled. I hate it. Good riddance!

in win8 when they tied search, telemetry and forced BING on you, thats when I kicked her to the curb.

 

[Regeneration]

Just buy StartIsBack and be done with it. Just 4 bucks.

 

[sam_86314]

Cortana...yeah, that bitch doesn't come anywhere near me. Anything in relation to it I've always disabled. I hate it. Good riddance!

Disabling it wasn't enough for me, so I deleted it from C:\Windows\SystemApps. It's a tricky process, as you have to kill Cortana and then delete the files before it reopens itself. That folder is also protected by TrustedInstaller because Microsoft.

Also, this is how the taskbar should look IMO.

 

[SL2]

Also, this is how the taskbar should look IMO.

I've never understood this idea to keep the task bar empty. I don't, and that's why I have to open Start maybe one a week, which is also why I don't really mind what the Start menu have looked like over the years.

All thanks to the added function in W7, where you use the SAME icon for starting and switching to/from a program.
It took MS a while to figure out that advanced feature..

Edit: I bet this is where this "empty task bar" idea comes from. When you booted XP you had no programs in the task bar, save for a few in quick start (which you wanted to keep to a minimum). Thank god for W7.

 

[Vayra86]

I've disabled all options in the settings I can find for Cortana - just like I did for the kids' Windows 10 laptops and none of the laptops have this stupid oversized cortana search box open when you click on the search bar.

I hate Cortana as much as I hate Bixby on my Samsung S8 (shitty software, bloated and intrusive). I won't purchase another Samsung phone until they stop using Bixby or at least don't force it to be used (actually give users a way to turn it off completely).


I went in here and found under SafeSearch - was set to Moderate.
In the same area for Permissions & History > Cloud content search: Microsoft account and Work or School account were set to on. I set both to off.
Under the Permissions & History > History: Search history on this device was set to on. I set this to off.

This seems to have resolved the news crap showing up if I clicked on the search bar, but the stupid oversized Cortana Search box is still there.....I don't know if it's a feature from some recent Windows update, but it sure is ugly. I can deal with that box, I just didn't want random things being shoved at me.
View attachment 188769



I also went and added this in the registry for good measure.

I went through all the settings to make sure anything that says Cortana on it was disabled or set to off.

I guess I see if things stay or if the forced news/weather/app feeds show up.

Did you kill this one yet? In Privacy.
Its Dutch, but the top option about advertising ID.

I'm not doing ANYTHING arcane on my Windows 10 install. I'm still rolling 1909 at the moment, maximum delay of 365 days keeps me problem free it seems.

I think that single privacy setting will already destroy a lot of what you're seeing. That and killing the bloat apps you might have (pre-) installed.

This whole funky business with regedits and toggles... they work, but my experience is they also create situations that MS does not test for, so sooner or later you'll see it fall apart because you want something.

If you mean the big fat search box in the taskbar... Yea, it sticks out like a sore thumb, especially in darker themes and its huge. I kill that too. You can straight up hide the whole thing very easily:

You'll note my taskbar is standing and not on the bottom. This is another way to make the search box different even if you show it:

But realistically you dont need to have it anywhere, because hitting the WIN key and starting to type does similar things.

I've never understood this idea to keep the task bar empty. I don't, and that's why I have to open Start maybe one a week, which is also why I don't really mind what the Start menu have looked like over the years.

All thanks to the added function in W7, where you use the SAME icon for starting and switching to/from a program.
It took MS a while to figure out that advanced feature..

Edit: I bet this is where this "empty task bar" idea comes from. When you booted XP you had no programs in the task bar, save for a few in quick start (which you wanted to keep to a minimum). Thank god for W7.

You can change those icon behaviors too. Alongside with those permanent taskbar icons... they also started stacking them and its bloody annoying. You also lose your labels so you can't see what you're clicking on until you look at the preview mouseover box. Real fun with 6 word documents for example. And preview modes are also performance hogs. Below setup is for Taskbar settings, small icons, all with their own text labels, unless you can't fit them all.

 

[SL2]

You can change those icon behaviors too. Alongside with those permanent taskbar icons... they also started stacking them and its bloody annoying. You also lose your labels so you can't see what you're clicking on until you look at the preview mouseover box.

I wasn't complaining, just giving my opinion. In XP you had dual sets of icons in the task bar, one for starting a program (if in quick start), and after you've started it you'd get a second icon for the same program that you use to switch too/from, so weird. The "thanks to W7" wasn't sarcasm, I was being honest, as that function made Windows better, and the Start menu became something rarely used for me.

I don't like labels, and I don't like stacking/combining either. It used to be an easy change in Regedit, but now I have to resort to third party software.. As a bonus I got rid of the Windows button in the corner tho, neat.