What's Cortana Up To These Days?

Ghot · Jun 21, 2024

jimbo45 said:
Cortana ????

"There was a young maiden from ......"

Cheers
jimbo

There was a young girl from Atlanta
And everyone called her Cortana
She moved in next store
Suitcases galore
And wouldn't move out.... NO MATTER WHAT!

Yes, I know the last line should rhyme with the first two lines. But I couldn't figure out how to "couldn't be completely uninstalled" and have it rhyme with Atlanta or Cortana.

idgat · Jun 21, 2024

At the risk of sounding like a poor apologist for Revo, I would suggest these files are not part of the Revo -vs- Cortana install/uninstall process and therefore not the "responsibility" of Revo (poor choice of words, not really what I'm trying to say ....), more a Windows thing.

I just did a similar search (using UltraSearch), found a heap of "Cortana" files and deleted them ... the result, an overwhelming Meh!! A reboot and nothing was amiss.

I consider myself somewhat 4n4l when it comes to a clean system drive ... Revouninstaller, Windows Disk Clean-up, WiseDiskCleaner (default basic settings), Glary Utilities (default basic settings), but these type of leftovers are inconsequential and would have been ignored under normal usage circumstances .. they've been sitting there on a 2 year old installation and have never resulted in a Revo-removed Cortana re-appearing.

Ghot · Jun 21, 2024

idgat said:
At the risk of sounding like a poor apologist for Revo, I would suggest these files are not part of the Revo -vs- Cortana install/uninstall process and therefore not the "responsibility" of Revo (poor choice of words, not really what I'm trying to say ....), more a Windows thing.

I just did a similar search (using UltraSearch), found a heap of "Cortana" files and deleted them ... the result, an overwhelming Meh!! A reboot and nothing was amiss.

I consider myself somewhat 4n4l when it comes to a clean system drive ... Revouninstaller, Windows Disk Clean-up, WiseDiskCleaner (default basic settings), Glary Utilities (default basic settings), but these type of leftovers are inconsequential and would have been ignored under normal usage circumstances .. they've been sitting there on a 2 year old installation and have never resulted in a Revo-removed Cortana re-appearing.

Well, they're obviously not a part of the Cortana install. I just proved that.

And likewise... I've never had any Apps that I removed with REVO, return.
As I mentioned above... I followed the tutorial for "never update Apps".

Keep in mind this is not MY topic. Maybe you should address the OP rather than me.

win9598xp7 · Jun 23, 2024

OP UPDATE:

Having an issue with Revo. I've updated to the latest version of the app (I have a subscription) but it's not finding Cortana. I've tried browsing for it in both "All Apps" and "Windows Apps" but it's not listed. I even search for it, but nothing.

I know Cortana is on my system, as it does appear in Windows 11 Apps>Installed Apps list. I do have the option to uninstall it from there but want to use Revo to search for any registry entries and left over files/folders. Anyone having an issue?

Ghot · Jun 24, 2024

win9598xp7 said:
OP UPDATE:

Having an issue with Revo. I've updated to the latest version of the app (I have a subscription) but it's not finding Cortana. I've tried browsing for it in both "All Apps" and "Windows Apps" but it's not listed. I even search for it, but nothing.

I know Cortana is on my system, as it does appear in Windows 11 Apps>Installed Apps list. I do have the option to uninstall it from there but want to use Revo to search for any registry entries and left over files/folders. Anyone having an issue?

It should be on the Windows Apps list in REVO... if it still installed.

I just re-installed Cortana yesterday, then uninstalled it with REVO.
I use REVO Uninstaller (free).

See post #20 in this topic.

idgat · Jun 24, 2024

win9598xp7 said:
I know Cortana is on my system, as it does appear in Windows 11 Apps>Installed Apps list. I do have the option to uninstall it from there but want to use Revo to search for any registry entries and left over files/folders. Anyone having an issue?

Check out this response earlier ....

What's Cortana Up To These Days?

I always turn off as much data collection options in Windows as possible, and just went through my new install of Windows 11 and turned off all those settings. But I've read that Cortana is still set to run in the background and collect/send data. I'm wondering if that is still the case, and if...

www.elevenforum.com

Ghot · Jun 24, 2024

@win9598xp7

I would go to the Microsoft Store... and get Cortana and install it, just like I did yesterday.
Then it will show on REVO's "Windows Apps" list.

From there you can uninstall it, and do the "scan for leftovers" and delete them as well.

Afterwards, you won't see it on Apps > Installed Apps.

And as @idgat said in post #15, use these settings...

win9598xp7 · Aug 2, 2024

To follow up here...

I was thinking of uninstalling Cortana, but doesn't Microsoft still use her voice feature for some new features/updates they push down occasionally? And would that cause more problems than it's worth later (if they try to use their built-in app that's no longer there)? Just wanna make sure I don't screw myself later.

TM21 · Aug 5, 2024

Way back, when Cortana first appeared on the Windows scene, I found this note on one of the Windows forums:

KILL CORTANA

As it comes out of the box, Windows 10 is probably the most insecure OS, since DOS.

One HUGE problem is "Cortana". On most desktop computers, it's worthless anyway.

When ON, it's constantly collecting information about you and what you do on your PC.

It also loads a file into RAM memory that can vary from 20 MB to as much as 888MB. Yikes!

(I saw this on my own PC, that I use for Windows 10 testing)

One fix for Cortana, that was posted on the internet, was to delete the folder in Windows where Cortana and its associated files live.

That not only kills Cortana, but also the Windows Start Menu, and 'Search'. Not good!

There is a good tutorial on the net, about how to turn OFF Cortana, and you can read it here:

http://www.windowscentral.com/how-turn-cortana-and-stop-personal-data-gathering-windows-10

I had turned off Cortana, as per the preferred method, but I still found the "Cortana.Core.dll" file loading into my RAM memory. I found that in "Task Manager". What the heck?!!!

So I found that .dll file in "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_CW5n1h2txyewy\Cortana.Core.dll"

To disable it from loading into RAM Memory on every boot, I just changed the name of the file to "Cortana.Core.ddd".

It can't load into ram, but if ever you want to re-enable Cortana, just rename the file back to "Cortana.Core.dll", reboot, and IT's BACK. Then you can turn Cortana ON, by doing the reverse of the process in the above link.

You will probably have to stop the .dll from running (you can do that in Task Manager) and even "Take Ownership" of the file to rename it.

But once the .dll file is renamed it won't be loading and wasting your RAM Memory.

In doing the above, I found that the .dll file is protected. However, one of the first programs (tweaks) that I install into a new Windows, is "Grant Admin Full Control". It seems to be better than just "Take Ownership". So, first, when I've located that .dll file, I right click on it, and then Click "Grant Admin Full Control" from the context menu. That makes me the owner of the file and I can easily change the suffix, from .dll to .ddd which in effect disables the file from ever loading into ram on boot up. And, any fissage of Cortana is effectively DEAD.

Leave it up to Microsoft, to put a spy (or Spyware) in their OS.

Cheers Mates,
TM

PS: It's just crap like that, being the reason why I don't get my Windows from Microsoft.

win9598xp7 · Aug 6, 2024

Yup, makes sense. Thanks all!

mecanicogolf · Aug 6, 2024

Ghot said:
I think it might "only" be an In-Place Upgrade that brings some of Cortana back.
I have Windows set to never update MS Apps.

I don't "see" Cortana anywhere in Windows 11. Just those leftover files.
I "think" what happened is... the In-Place Upgrade brought some of Cortana's bones back.

I can't use REVO on it, because it no longer "shows" in REVO.

I think I'll reinstall Cortana again, tomorrow, and then remove it again with REVO and see if that changes anything.

Anyway... it's 1:30 am, I'm going to bed.

Good night.

Fabler2 · Aug 6, 2024

mecanicogolf said:
Good night.

Use Voidtool's 'Everything' and search for Cortana. Most of it is part of the OS.

Steve C · Aug 13, 2024

I've had a few errors in Reliability History tracebale to Cortana (see below) so Cortana has now been zapped with Revo.

mecanicogolf · Aug 14, 2024

Steve C said:
I've had a few errors in Reliability History tracebale to Cortana (see below) so Cortana has now been zapped with Revo.
View attachment 104567

I have officially renamed my Revo. It's now called Zapo.

What's Cortana Up To These Days?

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