An exhausting (but not exhaustive) list of how to fix Windows 10 when you upgrade from 7, 8 or 8.1

Have Fun!!! 

An Introduction to Windows 10 (Home Edition)

Remove OneDrive:

If you use OneDrive, all is well and good. If you don’t want it cluttering up everything, here is how to remove it:

1.      Open CMD (as an admin)

2.      Terminate OneDrive: taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe

3.      Uninstall (32 Bit): %SystemRoot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall

4.      Uninstall (64 Bit): %SystemRoot%\SysW0W64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall

Next, you will need to remove OneDrive from File Explorer:

5.      Open Regedit

6.      Modify the System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD value under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}\ to 0, from its default of 1.

7.      On 64-bit editions of Windows, it also changes the System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD value under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6\. To undo the change, set the same settings back to the original value of 1

Change Default Apps:

You may notice many of your default programs (media player, firefox, etc.) have been changed to a new set of default apps put into place by Windows 10. Here is how to change/revert them:

1.      Open the Start menu > Click on Settings in the lower left > Click System > Click Default Apps.

2.      Scroll through the list, and change them to your preference.

Remove Windows Apps:

Speaking of which, you may wish to click through and remove many of the windows apps that have suddenly taken over:

1.      Open the Start menu > Click on Settings in the lower left > Click System > Click Apps and Features.

2.      Scroll through the list, click on one you wish to remove, and click Uninstall (Be careful not to remove one that is actually a full program!).

3.      You may notice some of the apps have a greyed out uninstall button. To remove those, you will have to open a powershell session:

a.       Start > PowerShell > right click, run as admin

b.      Type in the appropriate code from the list below:

3D	Get-AppxPackage *3d* | Remove-AppxPackage
Camera	Get-AppxPackage *camera* | Remove-AppxPackage
Mail and Calendar	Get-AppxPackage *communi* | Remove-AppxPackage
Money, Sports, News and Weather	Get-AppxPackage *bing* | Remove-AppxPackage
Groove Music, Film, and TV	Get-AppxPackage *zune* | Remove-AppxPackage
People	Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage
Phone Companion	Get-AppxPackage *phone* | Remove-AppxPackage
Photos	Get-AppxPackage *photo* | Remove-AppxPackage
Solitare	Get-AppxPackage *solit* | Remove-AppxPackage
Voice	Get-AppxPackage *soundrec* | Remove-AppxPackage
xbox	Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage Ack! Did you notice all the red warnings? It’s okay, it actually installed just fine, but Windows 10 didn’t like it.

WifiSense

A lot of people are making a big deal about Windows 10 sharing wifi passwords automatically. While it is a security issue, it’s fairly easy to remedy this:

1.      Click on the Start Menu, then Click on Settings in the lower left hand corner.

2.      Click on Network and Internet, then click on Wi-Fi.

3.      On the right pane, click on manage wifi settings.

4.      Make sure both connect to hotspots, and connect to networks are both turned off. As an added security measure, look through your saved wifi networks, and remove any you no longer need / use.

Automatic Updates

Unfortunately for any users who don’t have Windows 10 Pro, updates aren’t an option. Windows will update them whenever the feel like it. However, we do have a little control over random restarts.

1.      Click on the Start menu, then Click on Settings, then Click on Update and Security.

2.      Under Windows Update, Click on Advanced Options.

3.      Change the top setting from automatic to notify to schedule restart.

4.      Pro-Tip, you may also want to change a hidden setting: Update from more than one place.

a.       On the same page, Click on Choose How Updates are Delivered.

b.      Turning this setting off can help your computer refrain from downloading updates from multiple sources.

Privacy

Just like with any new update, Windows 10 would like to announce to the world what you’re doing, where, when, and who. Here is how to lock your PC down a little:

1.      Click on the Start Menu, then Click on Settings, then Click on Privacy.

2.      I will let you peruse through these at your leisure, but I would like to point out one in particular. Computers are now using locations to send you location based ads, collect survey info, and more. Click on Location on the left pane, and turn this one off. Unless you travel a lot or are worried about your computer being stolen, you probably don’t need this one.

File Explorer

First, you may notice File Explorer is back! Then, when you open it, you are greeted with recent files, OneDrive Shortcuts, and a pinnable Quick Access bar on the left. Here’s how to make it look a little closer to windows 7:

1.      Open File Explorer, and Click File > Change Folder and Search Options.

2.      At the top, change the pulldown setting from Quick Access to This PC, and Click Apply. This will change the default look when you Open File Explorer.

3.      Also Uncheck “Show frequently used folders in Quick Access” under General>Privacy. This will get rid of most of the shortcuts on the left pane except the one’s your used to (My Computer, etc).

4.      Finally, if you wish to remove the OneDrive shortcuts, follow my regedit instructions under OneDrive.

Windows 10 Eats RAM!?

We squawked when Windows xp ate 256mb of ram. We squawked when Windows 7 used 1gig of ram. Well, Windows 10 is using about 2gig of ram when nothing is open. Why is that? Windows 10 is claiming this is on purpose. Anything you have open, or were working on gets compressed into Ram instead of being stored under the page file in your hard drive. This basically means Windows is keeping more things partially open so they can be accessed faster. The downside is if your computer only has 4gig of ram, this doesn’t end so well for you. The upside is, if you have way more ram than you need, windows has opted to utilize some of it rather than let it go to waste. My thoughts? It’s a nice gesture, but it can still be a pain. L

Other Thoughts:

Don’t forget to customize your start menu, its basically the new metro interface, although if you have a tablet or want a larger start menu, you can click and drag from the top of the menu to resize it. You can also pin / unpin items, resize items, turn off live tile updates, change color, and more.

http://www.howtogeek.com/197836/8-ways-to-customize-the-windows-10-start-menu/

You may also want to play with Cortana a bit, I haven’t spent any time with that yet.