Getting rid of "Get Started"

Dru2 said:

May I ask why you are stripping Windows features from the OS? I can understand not using them, but going through the lengths of uninstalling... I'm just curious as to why?

Why install a new OS and strip it away? Just curious?

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I'm going to take that as a serious question, and give you a serious answer, Dru.

If you look through the vast catalogs of tutorials on this and the other forum sites, you'll find that many (maybe most) of those essays are about two things: getting the OS to do things it doesn't do natively, or getting the OS to stop doing things it does natively.

If you look at the vast number of topics on these forums, you'll find that most of them seek help with modifying and adapting (which includes repairing) the OS to suit the needs and desires of the individual user.

Most users of these OS's around the world treat their computers the same way they treat their toasters and their TVs: they push some buttons and turn some dials in order to launch those things, and then they leave them alone and let them work exactly as they worked when they came out of the box, until those devices stop working, and then they get replaced.

Members of the tech community that populates these forums spend hours, days, even weeks configuring and modifying their computers to suit themselves and their ways of computing. Some of us rarely go through a day without changing something about the computer we're using: making it better; making it suit us personally.

Why do I spend the time to strip out most of the pre-installed apps and disable many of the pre-set features of a new OS? Because, when it comes to the bottom line, it's my computer, and I want it to be a reflection of my ways of using it. I want a lean and clean machine that offers everything I need and very little of what I don't.

Dan

I agree with the above to a point, however, although a lot of those who choose to become members here and on our other forums, are often interested in changing the way things are out of the box, the majority of visits to the site are to threads that educate on the way that Windows is designed to be used this is especially true of the tutorials which give step by step instructions to perform tasks as designed. the majority of these visitors do not even join the forum and post they arrive here from search engines get the information they need and leave ( some do come back more than once and some of those eventually join in to ask a specific question, or to just pay forwards by helping others

Wisewiz said:

@barman58

I used explorer.exe shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-B780-3893943456e1} to have a look, and found it interesting that all of the shortcuts I've pinned to Start are in there as well. And yes, Get Started is there, but I don't care about it enough to use Take Ownership (I don't have that installed in my 11 context menus, as I do in my 10 menus, thanks to Brink's tutorial on it) or fiddle the Permissions just to delete it. It's no big deal, of course. I was just exploring the question of whether it could be removed, and if so, how, exactly. It's all part of the very important process we all go through with a new OS: learning as much as we can about its inner workings and hidden mechanisms, and then modifying the system in small and large ways to make it our own personal version of Windows.

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back to the topic.... i already took ownership and delete the folder from program files windows apps and system windows apps locations. i also deleted the cbs junk tied to it. nothing worked. when i say ive tried all of the common knowledge approaches, i def have. its embedded into another feature somewhere. uninstalling the feature experience pack didnt even remove it.. just bricked the start menu lol. somehow, some way, somebody will figure out where it is embedded and extract it.. or at the very least hide it somehow.

@barman58

You're right, of course: A lot of people visit these forums to find answers to the never-ending string of questions that begin with "How do I ...?" And if they don't find the answer they're seeking already on the forum, there's always an army of technically sophisticated members who'll volunteer their time to write answers. It's a great place to visit, and some people actually (more -or-less) choose to live here.

dacrone said:

back to the topic.... some way, somebody will figure out where it is embedded and extract it.. or at the very least hide it somehow.

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Well, I hope so. (And while they're figuring that out, I'd like to hide that "Focus assist settings" line that appears at the top of the Notification Centre every time I have a notification. But that's another topic.)

I first found the Designer media group back in mid 2008 when I was having an issue with Vista ... decided I liked the place and especially the people so decided to join ... and the rest is History

Well, history will record that you were an outstanding mod of an outstanding set of forums, Nigel.

@Wisewiz,

I was serious about the question and you gave your answer. I respect that.

I do however, also fully agree with Barman when he points out that a vast majority are also here to learn the OS as is. That is the camp I stand in. I'm a tinkerer at heart and when I first got into PC's, I tinkered with everything from hardware to OS. As time moved on I then learned I could trust the OS and hardware to do its own things without much help from me.

Today, I use the OS as is as out the box and don't look to strip it down. If there's a tool or feature I don't use or need, I simply ignore it. Perhaps because I don't worry about storage space in insuring there is ample room for both OS and programs.

Yes, this is a tech site where where tweakers tweak, no doubt; but this is also a site where we try to teach people how to use the OS as is. That is also true.

But yes, I asked a question you gave your answer; I'm moving on.

Peace

Wisewiz said:

...I was just exploring the question of whether it could be removed, and if so, how...

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I just deleted the entire folder Task Manager pointed to..., gone!

I have no idea what the repercussions are!!!

Edwin said:

I just deleted the entire folder Task Manager pointed to..., gone!

I have no idea what the repercussions are!!!

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Well, if you see any repercussions, let us know, please. Otherwise, I'll take the leap, too, after a full backup of C: of course.

Ive clicked into there and if i right click on anything it gives me the option to uninstall from there...is that it? Or am i missing something xD

Wisewiz said:

Well, if you see any repercussions, let us know, please. Otherwise, I'll take the leap, too, after a full backup of C: of course.

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I couldn't even begin to speculate what the repercussions would be!
I don't really care either..., since MS cut me off, my Insider machine is just a toilet!

Might wanna browse through that folder before you delete it though, there's about 1,500 items in there!

Wisewiz said:

I got badly bitten by IObit Uninstaller recently

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I've been using IOBit Uninstaller for a few years on Win10 and never had a problem. I did try Revo for a few days, and it did take out some support files (DLLs as I recall) that it shouldn't have, so I continued with IOBit. Can you briefly describe what your problem with IOBit was - and what you did to fix it? Thanks.

Best way to avoid iobit problems is to never install it

Would not allow it near my systems on principle after the were caught with other companies stolen code in their software

Birk said:

I've been using IOBit Uninstaller for a few years on Win10 and never had a problem. I did try Revo for a few days, and it did take out some support files (DLLs as I recall) that it shouldn't have, so I continued with IOBit. Can you briefly describe what your problem with IOBit was - and what you did to fix it? Thanks.

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There were two Definitely Unwanted Programs (DUPs) offered during the installation, and I'm glad I was paying attention, because they'd have gotten by me very easily, and then, when the installation finished, it announced that two more (different) DUPs had been installed successfully. It took me more than an hour to get the two DUPs uninstalled, and their traces wiped, and I found a bunch of stuff in my registry that they had left behind as well. I wiped IOBit, and will not recommend it to anyone, ever. Any company (other than MS, of course) that tries to install crapware on my computers is in my bad books forever.

I'm glad you're having a good run with the program, and I have nothing really against the program itself, but I'm sure you see my point about surreptitious tactics in installations.

Side issue: very few of the 30-odd programs I have on this Win 11 PC are installed. Portables that come in .zip files are my main focus when I'm looking for software.

@Ghot has just shown me the way to get rid of some pesky apps.

Well, according to Bitdefender Firewall, this is what is trying to escape when I click on Get Started on the START menu...

C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\WebExperienceHostApp.exe

Is it just me, or, is Windows 11 rapidly gaining the title "Most obnoxious OS ever"!?!?!?

Ghot said:

Well, according to Bitdefender Firewall, this is what is trying to escape when I click on Get Started on the START menu...

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Yes, it seems this one as persistent as Cortana, which still runs, even after it is "uninstalled".

TairikuOkami said:

@Ghot has just shown me the way to get rid of some pesky apps.

Spoiler

Code:

rem winget list
winget uninstall "cortana"
winget uninstall "get help"
winget uninstall "microsoft people"
winget uninstall "microsoft photos"
winget uninstall "microsoft tips"
winget uninstall "windows alarms & clock"
winget uninstall "windows camera"
winget uninstall "windows maps"
winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"
winget uninstall "xbox game bar"
winget uninstall "xbox game bar plugin"
winget uninstall "xbox game speech window"
winget uninstall "xbox identity provider"
winget uninstall "your phone"

View attachment 9426

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Hi,
Tried the link to thought I was missing something hell even winget list doesn't work in terminal

So had to go old way in power shell still listed on start menu apps list
Get-AppxPackage *GetHelp* | Remove-AppxPackage
..