Updated: March 27, 2024
I have to apologize in advance. I really shouldn't be writing this article. Paradoxically, by creating it, I am giving people the ability to use Windows 11, as this guide will remove a lot of the pain points and pointless features of this operating system. Thus, instead of avoiding it, people may actually choose to use it. Since I honestly believe you shouldn't be using Windows 11, I will achieve the opposite of what I feel.
However, I am also aware that many people are forced to use Windows, for many pragmatic reasons. Not everyone has the knowledge to use other things (like Linux), they may require it for specific games or programs, they may need it for work, and so forth. I have started my migration away from Windows. It's going really well. But it's still a massively complicated endeavor, and it takes a lot of time. For most people, it's easier to just tweak an unruly operating system some, and get on with their lives. Thus, I thought, if users are going to try to undo Windows 11's pointlessness anyway, they as might as well have a top-notch tutorial to do that. And this is why we're here. Proceed.
Table of Contents
- Why not Windows 11?
- Before you install - prerequisites
- Burn ISO to USB drive
- Begin installation
- Settings - check everything
- Services
- Regedit - disable cloud search
- Now, connect to the Internet
- Launch Winaero Tweaker, finish cleaning
- Disable Copilot
- Remove unnecessary apps
- Set up Open-Shell start menu
- Review/cleanup system autostart with Autoruns
- Optional: Windows Defender
- Optional: Windows Update
- Optional: Other tweaks
- Final product
- Conclusion
Why not Windows 11?
I would like to spend a few minutes explaining my rationale. The answer is simple: Windows 11 brings no value to the table. Whatsoever. From a functional perspective, it gives you what Windows 10 does. From an ergonomic perspective, it's worse. From a privacy perspective, it's worse.
I have used Windows for some 30 years or so, ever since Windows 3.11. I still do. But every day, I need to spend more and more time taming it, making sure that stupid features don't assail my senses. I am also a highly pragmatic person myself. I choose technology based on my needs. Not the other way around.
Windows XP was solid. Vista was pointless. It brought unrealistic hardware requirements to the table, and as a consequence, it never got adopted. It was ignored. Windows 7 was Vista Improved. It also brought significant improvement in 64-bit support compared to Windows XP. For me, this justified the move - along with some new hardware. I switched from XP to 7 in 2011.
Windows 8 was a total failure. No surprise there. It introduced "touch" to the desktop, something that cannot work and will never work. I said it then, and I will always say it - touch interfaces on a non-touch form factor are doomed to failure. Always and forever. Windows 8 was like Vista. Ignored.
Windows 10 was Windows 7 TNG. From my perspective, as I wrote back then, more or less the same. But it didn't bring anything new or novel or important. This also aligns with the natural, general slowdown in any meaningful advancement in raw CPU performance. In the 90s and early 2000s, every new generation of hardware brought big speed leaps, and software "grew" accordingly. But since around 2011-2012, it makes very little difference. Windows 10 didn't need much over Windows 7, and so, apart from the latter going EOL at some point, there's nothing revolutionary here. In fact, Windows 10 has worse ergonomics due to its half-touch flat UI, and Settings is inferior to Control Panel. I only switched to the new version of Windows 10 in late 2019, early 2020, and only because I replaced my hardware (after roughly 8.5 years). But even then, the old desktop ran beautifully.
Now, there's Windows 11. It brings arbitrary hardware requirements, like Vista. But the actual leap in CPU abilities is even less than going from 7 to 10. It has slightly improved ergonomics in some areas, but also major regressions in many others. The menu is totally pointless. The file explorer is/was slow. The context menu is pointless. And the list goes on.
And so, from a very logical perspective, there is no value to Windows 11. That's why it's pointless. On top of that, there's the layer of forced "mobilization" of the desktop, trying to turn it into a subscription-model adfest, which I consider an insult to my intelligence.
Here's a table breakdown of what I just wrote above:
| Migration | Pros | Cons |
| Windows 7 over Windows XP | 64-bit support | |
| Windows 8 over Windows 7 | None | Start Screen |
| Windows 10 over Windows 7 | None | Flat UI
Settings vs Control Panel Online account annoyances Automatic updates |
| Windows 11 over Windows 10 | None | Performance
File Explorer performance File Explorer usability Start menu & taskbar Context menu Online account setup Hardware requirements |
Now, don't believe me? No need. DATA. That's what you need to look at:
Windows 11 adoption is rate is much slower than Windows 10 (in the same relative time period).
That's it. QED. The same happened with Vista, the same happened with Windows 8. People may not be that smart, but they are not that stupid either. Forget any emotion. Just focus on the simple facts. Pure usability. There's nothing that Windows 11 does better than Windows 10. But it does many many things worse.
To that end, I want to give you this guide that ought to help you tame Windows 11. Remember, this is my recommendation. You can adopt bits of it, add to it, ignore it. This is how I perceive computing, and how I think a desktop should behave. In essence, it means stripping away all the pointless, low-IQ "modern" features designed for the average ape. And so we begin.
Before you install - prerequisites
There are several things you need to do before you begin the setup and configuration of Windows 11:
- Download the Windows 11 ISO - I recommend you use the English International version.
- Download Rufus - We will use this tool to write the ISO to USB media.
- Download Firefox (full installer) - I intend to set this browser up as my default.
- Download ExecTI - We will need this lovely too to neuter some of the Windows 11 annoyances.
- Download Winaero Tweaker - We will need this tool to change a lot of Windows 11 defaults.
- Download Open-Shell - We will use this instead of Windows 11 pointless Start menu.
- Download Autoruns - We will use this to disable a lot of unnecessary cruft.
Save these on a USB stick, we will need them BEFORE we go online in Windows 11.
Burn ISO to USB drive
The next step is to create bootable media. In Windows, you can use Rufus, a superb tool that comes with lots of extra handy options. As I've outlined in my review, it can also download the latest media for you, so you don't need to manually grab the ISO file, and most importantly, it can skip certain steps in the installer, including the pointless requirement for an online account.
Begin installation
Disconnect from network. Very important. That's step one. Now, start the system, follow the prompts. In the International version of the system, the installer language will be English (UK). After the installation, you can change this to anything you like. You can still set up the system as you see fit (whatever region you want).
When it comes to Home or Pro, I would suggest Pro - if you have the right license. The reason is, with the Pro version, you can skip the online account creation without too many problems, you can use Group Policies to disable automatic updates and Windows Defender, and then some.
That said, I will demonstrate with Windows 11 Home on purpose, to show you how to handle the more "difficult" version. All of the tricks you do in the Home edition are also applicable in the Pro edition, with the added benefit that you can use the Group Policy Editor rather than raw registry editing for most of the changes.
An example of what you can choose - I would never choose any keyboard layout other than US, though.
User account setup
Now, the system will "hang". You won't be able to proceed with the Home user setup unless you have Internet, because it wants to force you to create an online account. In the Pro edition, you will be able to continue with "limited" account - which is a wrong phrase used to describe the superior local account.
If you used Rufus and you ticked the box that says "Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account", you won't see the screen above. We will get to what you will see in a second. Let's assume you didn't tick the box and need to solve this manually.
Press Shift + F10. This will open a command prompt. Type:
OOBE/BYPASSNRO
The system will reboot. You will need to repeat the language, region steps. Then, you will still see the network connect step, but there will also be a new entry that reads "I don't have internet". Click on that, and you will be able to create a local account. If you used Rufus, then this is the step you will see right away, instead of having to do that interim reboot.
The UI is a bit truncated in a virtual machine I used for this demo + screenshots. Nothing to worry about.
Post-install questions
Next, the installer will ask several questions. If it can use your location, find your device, diagnostics, inking & typing, ads, and ads ID. Choose No for all of these. I find the concept of ads extra irritating, because why would you have ads in an operating system. Also, there's the whole geo-cultural aspect of ads that I find totally alien. Perhaps I need to live in California to understand it. Don't want.
After these questions, the system will finish its setup. Almost. You will get into a desktop. Do not connect to the Internet just yet. There are still many, many things we need to do before we want to allow this machine to connect to the Web. A lot of purification and taming.
Settings - check everything
The next step is open Settings, and go through every option, one by one. Everything. It's tedious and pointless. No different than setting up an Android smartphone, then again, the whole concept of treating the desktop like a touch device is the pinnacle of pointless, and must be resisted with gusto.
Bluetooth & devices
Turn Autoplay off for all media. There's no reason why anything should ever autoplay.
Personalization - Taskbar
My approach is to turn search off, remove Task view, remove Widgets. Remove any touch-related stuff, and shift the taskbar to the Left side, the way it's meant to be. This is only the first step, and we will completely replace the taskbar/menu, but that's later.
Personalization - Start
We won't replace the Start menu right away. The idea is to first disable annoyances, once we go live, let it update itself, and then install Open-Shell. Therefore, my approach is first to turn off any suggestions and recommendations in Start.
Personalization - Lock
Similarly, disable any "fun facts, tips, tricks and more on your lock screen". I mean, seriously?
Apps
This section requires a lot of work. And it's a multi-step process. First, we will only tweak a small number of things, like where to get apps - Anywhere means you can install desktop software, and not be limited to the Store, which makes very little sense in the desktop space. Similarly, I turn off any sharing or archiving or any similar "modern" nonsense. In general, this only applies to "modern" Windows apps and not proper desktop programs, which are always, always superior to any touch-inspired or touch-capable apps on a classic PC.
Install Firefox
Now, install Firefox - this is my always-choice for a browser, even on the mobile. It comes with lovely extensions, including Noscript and UBlock Origin (UBO), also in Android. So you can have a proper, high-IQ experience on any platform, without solid privacy, and no waste of power and bandwidth.
This is the reason why we grabbed the different offline installers earlier. We can install Firefox without opening Edge and going online. No need to use it at all, if you don't intend to use it. Next, go back to Apps.
Default apps
Click on Firefox, and click Set default to make it the primary browser for every Web-based protocol. Change options manually if needed. Like I said, we will handle the removal of unnecessary apps a bit later on.
App startup
This is super important. And also, a multi-stage process. First toggle off unnecessary stuff, like Cortana. It won't work anyway in the local account, but there's no reason to have any pointless processes running for no good reason. Later, we will use Autoruns and Winaero Tweaker as well as the command line - winget and Powershell - to get rid of various unnecessary Windows apps and components.
I don't allow Terminal to run, what's the point, this ain't Linux, nor am I a developer. I also don't want anything to do with OneDrive, I don't need a security notification icon, and no "AI" assistant. Later, these will be gone for good.
Offline maps
Why maps are a thing on a desktop/laptop, beats me. I disable any updates here.
Account - Sign in options
So much unnecessary biometrics stuff here. As I said in Android privacy & security guide, biometrics are only good for identification not for authentication, but even then, why. There's even something called Picture password, where you "tap" favorite photos. This is some Idiocracy level stuff here. I don't know any five-year-olds who will be unlocking their non-touch desktops by "tapping" favorite crayons, I mean photos. Use a password, and that's it. It's your local device. And if someone has access to it, you have much, much bigger problems.
Time & language
I remove any text suggestions and spelling. I don't need any fancy software correcting my writing or giving me suggestions on what to write next. Besides, this only probably works in "apps", so it's a doubly useless feature for conventional desktop users.
You wouldn't expect AI nonsense under Time & Language, but it's there. Typing > Typing insights, and then, Windows is using artificial intelligence to help. This nonsense is preselected. Off.
Gaming
I turn off Game Bar and Game Mode. Useless on the desktop, placebo on the laptop. If you have a reasonable device, any sort of performance tweaking provides marginal benefits at best. This is nothing Windows specific, this is true for all and any operating systems. The defaults are perfectly fine for most use cases.
The funny, ironical, perhaps even paradoxical thing about Game Mode that it's about turning things off in the background - the very things that Microsoft turned on in the first place. On a standard, old-school desktop, there's nothing running in the background except essential services. Thus, anything that needs to be turned off - and can be - isn't necessary in the first place. You know where I stand on data, privacy, telemetry, and such.
Privacy & security
This is probably the most important section. Now, I can't tell you what to turn on and off, as you may want certain features (say like camera and microphone), but for me, most of the stuff is totally unnecessary, and therefore, I toggle it all off. At best, I leave access on for desktop programs - and not apps, which we will uninstall soon anyway.
There's a great deal here, so I will try to be precise.
General
I turn off the following settings:
- Let apps show me personalized ads by using my advertised ID.
- Let website show me locally relevant content by accessing my language list.
- Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launchers.
- Show me suggested content in the Settings app.
Diagnostics & feedback
I set everything to off here, and we will turn off further telemetry later on. So, OFF then for:
- Send optional diagnostics data.
- Improve inking and typing - Send optional inking and typing diagnostics data to Microsoft.
- Tailored experiences - Let Microsoft use your diagnostics data for personalized tips, ads, and recommendations. THIS, right here, is the epitome of greed. A paradox unto paradoxes. Diagnostics and ads in the same sentence! What I wrote in my telemetry article, right here. How can this even be an option, beats me.
Inking & typing personalization
I turn the custom dictionary off - I don't see a need for it.
Activity history
This goes to off - who knows how this data may be used - looking at the diagnostics page above ...
Search permissions
Similarly, I don't want Windows to "meddle" in my search. I don't need any SafeSearch filtering, definitely no cloud content, no online account, and no history of searches. Furthermore, since I don't use Edge, the SafeSearch thing is rather unnecessary. I also find it funny yet sad that the filtering - SAFE - focus is on "adult content". What about filtering war, violence, gore, politics, and other nuisances instead? The scale of morality be tippin' like crazy.
One more setting available farther down that page is around search highlights and content suggestions. Yet another place to turn pointless recommendations off.
Resource access
I turn off all of the following completely:
- Location
- Camera
- Microphone
- Voice activation
- Speech
- Account info
- Other devices (beacons)
- Notifications
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Phone calls
- Call history
- Tasks
- Messaging
- Radios
- App diagnostics
I don't know what Automatic downloads stand for, to be honest.
Next, I also disable app access to all and any location:
- Documents
- Downloads
- Music
- Pictures
- Videos
- File system
- Screenshot borders
- Screenshots and apps
Please be careful when you go through the settings. For example, with Location, even if you set it to off, there's a toggle that says: Allow location override. Make sure it is set to off, as you don't want apps to randomly use location without your explicit consent.
If you do want to allow desktop programs to access certain resources, then keep the general toggle on, turn it off for any app you don't want, and mark "Let desktop apps access" for each separate resource.
Services
The next step is to disable some unnecessary services. To that end, we will use ExecTI, a superb program that's on my must-have list of programs for Windows, and which lets you start programs with elevated privileges, and work around the obstacles that exist in the operating system, namely, that it thinks it knows better than you and wants to prevent you from doing certain things.
Double-click ExecTI, then in its command box, type services.msc. Now, this will launch the Services applet, and you can now enable, disable, start and stop services. You need to be extra careful, though. You could accidentally turn critical components off, and bork your machine.
We will only (for now) turn off the telemetry service - Connected User Experiences and Telemetry.
Regedit - disable cloud search
Our next step is to turn off any cloud-related search. I've already outlined this trick in my Windows 10 post-install guide, which I wrote after having set up a desktop back in early 2020. Actually, sadly, if I think about it, over the past decade, more or less, I've already written no less than three separate, long, detailed, privacy-focused guides for Windows 10: privacy settings, privacy guide and ad annoyances, and now we need to do the same for Windows 11. How the wheel of fate turns, eh. But we shall not succumb, and defend our intelligence, we must.
Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
Here, in the right pane, create two DWORD keys, with the value 0:
AllowSearchToUseLocation
BingSearchEnabled
Now, connect to the Internet
You can plug the machine into the network. It will download a bunch of updates for various things, including the apps and similar. Wait until it finishes, then reboot your machine for the second phase of cleaning.
Launch Winaero Tweaker, finish cleaning
I am aware that you may not want to install and use a third-party tool to do some extra cleaning. But this is a highly useful program, and it will save you time. Furthermore, it can run in portable mode, and every setting in the program is explaining in detail, linking back to the Web article that explains the fine details of the tweak, usually this or that registry change.
Here's the list of options that I go through and toggle in Winaero Tweaker:
- Windows 11
-
- Disable background apps
- Disable Copilot
- Remove Windows Spotlight icon from Desktop
- Behavior
-
- Ads and unwanted apps
- Disable app lookup in Store
- Disable MRT from installing
- Disable User Folder backup to OneDrive
- Disable Windows Update (optional and use when needed)
- Desktop and Taskbar
-
- Disable Web Search
- Context Menu
-
- Classic System Properties
- Microsoft Edge
-
- Disable all
- Settings And Control Panel
-
- Disable Online & Video Tips in Settings
- Windows Apps
-
- Disable Cortana
- Disable Windows Ink Workspace
- Privacy
-
- Disable Telemetry
Disable Copilot
I have no use for the "AI" hype. Thus, Copilot needs to go. P.S. Copilot won't work in a local account user (awesome), but still, we need to be diligent. Now, I've already marked it through Winaero Tweaker earlier, but those of you who do not want to use it, here's standalone Group Policy + regedit way of doing it.
- In the Pro edition, Group Policy Editor > User Configuration > Windows Components > Windows Copilot. In the right pane, enable the policy named: Turn off Windows Copilot. Done. No more hype.
- In the Home editor, open regedit, and navigate to:
-
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
- Keep the Windows sub-hive selected. Right click, New > Key. Name it WindowsCopilot. Select it.
- In the right pane, right click, New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it TurnOffWindowsCopilot.
- Double-click on it, change the value data to 1 (identical process to above).
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
And that sorts it out.
Remove unnecessary apps
I don't like the default Windows 11 "apps" - for me, on the desktop, pretty much anything touch or similar is pointless. Therefore, I like to remove these "apps", because they serve no purpose whatsoever. We did tweak the permissions, but even so, I like to keep a simple, small, clean, tidy list.
Remove apps using winget
To remove apps, you can use the GUI and manually uninstall them, one by one, or do a slightly faster method. As I outlined in my Windows 11 follow-up review from several months back, you can use the built-in winget command, on the command-line (cmd) to quickly remove these apps. However, I read in various forums that winget may need an update, and it might not run without you opening the Microsoft Store first.
To that end, first try:
winget source update
Then try to run "winget remove [program name]". Here's a screenshot example, ignore the specific list for the moment. What you need to see is how the command utility works, so you can do the same thing.
Remove apps using powershell
However, if that does not work, we can use Powershell instead. Start a Powershell ... shell as an administrator. Then, in the window, run:
Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, PackageFullName
This will give you a full list of installed apps. You can then decide what you don't need or want from that list, and simply uninstall. You can uninstall for yourself, or for all users. I chose to do the latter, to avoid any "reinstall" of apps at any point in the future.
What should you keep? Entirely up to you. In my case, the list of stuff to keep is very short. Anyway:
Get-AppxPackage *name* | Remove-AppxPackage
The above command will find all matches for the string in between the asterisks - this is helpful as it will remove any match, so if a particular app has multiple components, all of them will be removed. For all users, you need an extra flag:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers *name* | Remove-AppxPackage
You can save the list of removal commands above into a Powershell script, so that should you ever need to repeat the process, it's ready. You may get an error or two, as some of the components are considered core, and cannot be easily removed. This may also happen for Microsoft Edge, as it's (usually) configured not to be removable by default. We will handle that shortly.
Microsoft Edge
Now, I think Edge is a decent browser. Relatively speaking. Nothing beats Firefox, but as a secondary browser, it can be a decent choice. I use it in that manner on my Linux machines. However, recently, it's been affected by unnecessary bloat. In Windows, in particular, there's too much of a push to get people to use it. I hate that approach. Push, shove. And thus, as a matter of principle, I don't use Edge in Windows. Linux, yes, but Windows, nope.
It is possible you might not be able to remove Edge. If you try it through Add/Remove, the Uninstall button will be grayed out. You may succeed with winget or Powershell, but if not, here's the full sequence of steps.
To remove it, first, I had to change a registry setting. Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Uninstall\Microsoft Edge
Then, in the right pane, double click on the REG_DWORD called NoRemove, and change from 1 to 0. After that, the browser can be uninstalled like any other app.
You can do the removal on the command line, or through the GUI, if you prefer:
Final app list
This is what I narrowed down the app list to - Calculator and Notepad really - and the latter will also be gone once I install Notepad++ as a superior alternative. I did not remove the Edge Update app, because I am going to remove the Edge update scheduled tasks a bit later. I also didn't get rid of the WebView2 runtime, because it is (most likely) used to display various settings windows (like in Android), and I didn't want to mess that up potentially. On their own, these two don't do much really.
Set up Open-Shell start menu
I don't like the default Windows 11 menu. It's pointless. The worst thing is that you cannot see a list of your apps right away - you get the pinned apps (which I never use), and recommendations (which I hate). With these two disabled, as I've shown you in my various Windows 11 reviews, you get an empty slab that serves no purpose whatsoever, and you need an extra click to see your apps. A waste of energy. And so, much like we did in Windows 8, we will use a superior menu. Back then, it was called Classic Shell and now it's Open-Shell. Read the reviews, if you fancy.
Review/cleanup system autostart with Autoruns
Microsoft (formerly Sysinternals) has a few really great tools available. Process Explorer is one of them, and Autoruns be another, coincidentally, both created by the same author. Linked early on in this guide, it's the last component of our toolbox in removing stupidity from the operating system.
Autoruns will scan all of the auto-start/auto-run entries in your system, and tell you what processes and programs are configured to run at the startup of your system, from boot to services to logon. You can examine the system by category - logon, services, scheduled tasks, explorer, drivers, known DLLs, and then some. Using this utility take skill - and you also need to be careful, because you can potentially uncheck/remove important entries. But we can use it to examine our system in more depth, and further remove annoyances.
So, be careful. Specifically, I'm interested in Scheduled Tasks, and here I will untick any Microsoft Edge entries. Here's a screenshot of what the output looks like. If you don't see Microsoft entries, you will need to enable that under Menu > Options.
Once again, be careful, and don't go ballistic. We've already mostly disable everything we don't need, so there's no reason to blindly untick options, especially not Services. You could easily lock yourself out of the system if you don't know what you're doing. Furthermore, way too many "Store" services rely on seemingly innocuous dependencies, so you could end up with broken tools and programs, and not know why.
Optional: Windows Defender
I find the use of real-time anti-malware pointless. Windows comes with a much, much better framework in place called Exploit Protection. I use it on my Windows systems, and have used it since EMET came about. This is the right approach to security, alas it's grossly neglected and barely mentioned when it comes to system security (for Windows). If anything, I'd recommend you learn a bit more about mitigations, and apply them.
You can only temporarily disable real-time protection. Notice the "scary" wording. Leaving your device vulnerable. Not true. This may be the case, maybe, big maybe, under specific circumstances. Most of the time, this is pure fearmongering. Not interested in any of that.
I don't want any anti-virus on my system, Windows Defender included. In the Pro version, you can disable it through Group Policy Editor. Go to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus, and then in the right pane, enable the policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
In the Home edition, it's become harder and harder to disable this program. If you read my Windows 10 essential post-install tweak guide above, I could launch ExecTI, launch services.msc, and then disable Defender. They made it harder since. Push shove. So I go for the radical option.
In this case, I opted to boot the system from a Linux live USB, and delete the Windows Defender folders under Program Files and ProgramData. That way, there's nothing to run. The services will then report errors, but hey. A simple toggle is all that takes to prevent this kind of behavior. But when I'm not given a choice, I respond accordingly.
You could also try Winaero Tweaker (may or may not work 100%):
- Windows Defender > Disable Windows Defender
Optional: Windows Update
I personally do not like automatic updates. I find them ... risky, and I never apply them casually. In the Pro edition, you can control this via Group Policy.Go to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update, and then set the policy labeled Configure automatic updates to Disabled.
Back in Windows 7, you could use Notify, but let me download - that is no longer an option, so if you want to be intelligent and meticulous about it, you will disable automatic updates, use Microsoft's Show/Hide Updates tool to see what's on the plate for the given month, and only then run a check - as it will automatically apply the updates, too (unless you're on a metered connection, and Windows decides not to ignore that setting). I also always create a full system image, should an update mess something up, I can easily restore.
With the Home edition, you don't have an easy toggle. You can disable services manually, but you need to take into account that Windows will do its best to turn the updates back on - there's Windows Update, Windows Update Medic Service, which "protects" the first, and then, there's something else that will also occasionally check if the Medic is running, and if not turn it on. It's a hassle.
The best workaround is to use one of the third-party tool that handles it. There are many of those, but to keep this tutorial relatively simple, let's stick with Winaero Tweaker. There, you can (try to) turn the updates off by going to:
- Behavior > Ads and unwanted apps > Disable Windows Update.
Optional: Other tweaks
There are a few more things you can do, like quicklaunch-like shortcuts.
Then, if you find the new File Explorer slow, you can try some of the settings I outlined in my namesake tutorial. However, it does not seem possible to remove the new Windows Explorer and restore the old one anymore, it seems (Windows 11 23H2). Thus, you might be stuck with the less snappy Explorer, which takes a good second or so to render, no matter what hardware you have. C'est la vie. Modernity FTW!
A temporary trick you can try - and then combine with some more Winaero Tweaker tricks is to open Control Panel, and hit the up arrow button. This will open the classic Windows Explorer with the ribbon interface. Most importantly, it will be much more responsive.
Final product
And there we go, a less pointless Windows 11:
Conclusion
Here we are. Some three or four hours of rigorous tweaking later, you now have an operating system that is less annoying and pointless than the original product. You basically need to turn off all of the stupid smartphone-like stuff that has been added into Windows, everything that came to life more or less after Windows 7. The process of desktop smartphonification is an insult to human intelligence, and also a major ergonomic and productivity penalty. There's no real, practical value to any of this except to entertain idiots, profile said idiots, and try to subvert the proven classic desktop formula into something resembling a touch-device ape experiment.
Microsoft has some good products and solutions. Unfortunately, lately, it's been doing everything to ruin the desktop, so that when "subscriptions" arrive one day, the idiots will be more likely to apathetically nod their acquiescence through. If you're a nerd, someone who respects their privacy and usability, and someone who does not follow pointless fads and trends just because, then it's your duty to resist this attempt to turn you into a mindless swipe-swipe drone.
To wit, alas, this long guide. All of it, a pointless effort. The best thing is not to use Windows 11, but again, I understand you may be forced to - work, specific software, specific requirements, inability to use other operating systems. That said, if you can follow this tutorial, you can probably attempt Linux. It won't be easy, there ain't no miracles, but I've written hundreds of articles that could help you embark on this journey. Stick with Windows 10, if you need to, test Linux, and maybe you will be able to make the switch one day. My own migration success story is linked at the beginning of this article. Have a look, and hopefully, this will be a useful exercise. See ya.
Cheers.