Win10 Idiosyncrasy

I have two PC's running Win10 2004 Build 19041.450, one a laptop and the
other a desktop machine. I am logged in as the same person on each machine
and as an admin. On the laptop, when I open Settings, there are "extra"
items at the top instead of like the desktop, which simply says "Windows
Settings".

Here's a link to the screen shots of each:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/sjn1mBK

I don't use OneDrive, and would like to remove that. Whether Updates has run
or not, it ALWAYS says "Updates in progress" until I click on it, then go
back to Settings and it will say something like "There are no updates" or
"Last checked 3 hours ago."

Although it's no REAL big deal, I'd just as soon have the "generic" Settings
page like the desktop has. Anyone have any ideas?

TIA!
--

SC Tom

SC Tom wrote:

I have two PC's running Win10 2004 Build 19041.450, one a laptop and
the other a desktop machine. I am logged in as the same person on
each machine and as an admin. On the laptop, when I open Settings,
there are "extra" items at the top instead of like the desktop, which
simply says "Windows Settings".

Here's a link to the screen shots of each:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/sjn1mBK

I don't use OneDrive, and would like to remove that. Whether Updates
has run or not, it ALWAYS says "Updates in progress" until I click on
it, then go back to Settings and it will say something like "There
are no updates" or "Last checked 3 hours ago."

Although it's no REAL big deal, I'd just as soon have the "generic"
Settings page like the desktop has. Anyone have any ideas?

https://winaero.com/blog/force-enabl...gs-top-header/

Since the "enable" directive is needed to enable the info icons,
presumably there is a "disable" directive to get rid of them. However,
as with many updates that get rolled out erratically from Microsoft, you
can leave the laptop as-is and let your desktop catch up, or you can
disable the info icons on your laptop and then have to do the same when
your desktop catches up.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
SC Tom wrote:

I have two PC's running Win10 2004 Build 19041.450, one a laptop and
the other a desktop machine. I am logged in as the same person on
each machine and as an admin. On the laptop, when I open Settings,
there are "extra" items at the top instead of like the desktop, which
simply says "Windows Settings".

Here's a link to the screen shots of each:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/sjn1mBK

I don't use OneDrive, and would like to remove that. Whether Updates
has run or not, it ALWAYS says "Updates in progress" until I click on
it, then go back to Settings and it will say something like "There
are no updates" or "Last checked 3 hours ago."

Although it's no REAL big deal, I'd just as soon have the "generic"
Settings page like the desktop has. Anyone have any ideas?

https://winaero.com/blog/force-enabl...gs-top-header/

Since the "enable" directive is needed to enable the info icons,
presumably there is a "disable" directive to get rid of them. However,
as with many updates that get rolled out erratically from Microsoft, you
can leave the laptop as-is and let your desktop catch up, or you can
disable the info icons on your laptop and then have to do the same when
your desktop catches up.

Thanks, I'll give that try and let you know how it works (or doesn't).
Found a lot of commentary googling it, but never came across that page.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
SC Tom wrote:

I have two PC's running Win10 2004 Build 19041.450, one a laptop and
the other a desktop machine. I am logged in as the same person on
each machine and as an admin. On the laptop, when I open Settings,
there are "extra" items at the top instead of like the desktop, which
simply says "Windows Settings".

Here's a link to the screen shots of each:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/sjn1mBK

I don't use OneDrive, and would like to remove that. Whether Updates
has run or not, it ALWAYS says "Updates in progress" until I click on
it, then go back to Settings and it will say something like "There
are no updates" or "Last checked 3 hours ago."

Although it's no REAL big deal, I'd just as soon have the "generic"
Settings page like the desktop has. Anyone have any ideas?

https://winaero.com/blog/force-enabl...gs-top-header/

Since the "enable" directive is needed to enable the info icons,
presumably there is a "disable" directive to get rid of them. However,
as with many updates that get rolled out erratically from Microsoft, you
can leave the laptop as-is and let your desktop catch up, or you can
disable the info icons on your laptop and then have to do the same when
your desktop catches up.

Tried the various commands with "disable" directive and it had no affect at
all. Rebooted after each one, as per the instructions.

Thanks for trying :-)

SC Tom wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote ...

SC Tom wrote:

I have two PC's running Win10 2004 Build 19041.450, one a laptop and
the other a desktop machine. I am logged in as the same person on
each machine and as an admin. On the laptop, when I open Settings,
there are "extra" items at the top instead of like the desktop, which
simply says "Windows Settings".

Here's a link to the screen shots of each:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/sjn1mBK

I don't use OneDrive, and would like to remove that. Whether Updates
has run or not, it ALWAYS says "Updates in progress" until I click on
it, then go back to Settings and it will say something like "There
are no updates" or "Last checked 3 hours ago."

Although it's no REAL big deal, I'd just as soon have the "generic"
Settings page like the desktop has. Anyone have any ideas?

https://winaero.com/blog/force-enabl...gs-top-header/

Since the "enable" directive is needed to enable the info icons,
presumably there is a "disable" directive to get rid of them. However,
as with many updates that get rolled out erratically from Microsoft, you
can leave the laptop as-is and let your desktop catch up, or you can
disable the info icons on your laptop and then have to do the same when
your desktop catches up.

Tried the various commands with "disable" directive and it had no affect at
all. Rebooted after each one, as per the instructions.

Thanks for trying :-)

Looks like you have to first enable the header or banner by running
"mach2 enable 18299130". Then you enable individual info icons in the
header with the other "mach2 enable" commands with the corresponding
feature IDs. I would walk backwards by first disabling each info icon
by its feature ID, and lastly disable the header by running "mach2
disable 18299130". You'd think you could just disable the header
feature, but it could be coded that if any info icon were enabled that
the header cannot be disabled. That is, you may have to disable ALL
info icons in the header, and then disable the header. Another problem
could be: What if an info icon doesn't always appear, but it is enabled
(but not currently visible) which blocks disabling the header?
Microsoft isn't documenting any of this, so it's guesswork on how it
works.

The mach2 tool is at:

https://github.com/riverar/mach2

From the screenshot the

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ri.../gfx/usage.png

I was right in guessing there is a "disable" directive. I'd try using
the "display" directive to see what it reports. Could be Microsoft
changed something that the program doesn't yet know about. According to
the author, the modification applies to the Windows Notification
Facility (WNF) which is undocumented. Well, you know about undocumented
stuff: it's for Microsoft's use and no one else. Microsoft got accused
many times of using undocumented functions in MS Word and other apps.
The whole WNF and PDB setup seems tenuous.

For example, Microsoft could change the feature IDs anytime they want.
The article mentions some feature IDs, but maybe they've changed since
then. The article is not datestamped nor does it mention which version
and build were tested for Windows 10 nor even the edition (Home, Pro,
Enterprise, etc). One commenter at Youtube noted that the attempt to
change the header in the Settings app doesn't work on the Enterprise
edition, but it was unclear if he was talking about the 1909 or 2004
version. If the provided instructions don't work, I'd back out of the
changes (run "disable" on what IDs were "enabled" by you, because they
might no longer be valid or point to other features that you changed
unknowingly), and see if the "scan" or "display" directives lead you to
what feature IDs need to be specified in your instance of Win10.

The mach2 tool (which seems to be what everyone refers to in discussing
how to show the info icons in a header/banner in the Settings app) is
trying to guess how Microsoft is using WNF to add/remove features.
Since WNF is undocumented, it could take several versions of the mach2
tool to have dependent lookups based on edition, build, and version or
sync up with however Microsoft decides to change the feature IDs.

Most articles discussing the "Windows 10 Settings header" mention seeing
in the Preview release channel of Windows 10. Are both your hosts using
the same release channel? Are both hosts running the same edition of
Windows 10 (both Home, both Pro, etc)?

Instead of relying on 3rd party guessing how Microsoft employed the WNF
and PDB database of feature IDs that could change or be ineffective in
some edition/version/build configs, I think we users will have to
repeatedly bitch to Microsoft via feedback that we want an option to
enable/disable the Settings header. Make it a loud squeaky wheel. I
don't see it yet (back in 1909), so I cannot legitimately squeak via
feedback about adding a user-configurable option to remove it.

Gotta be careful with 3rd party tweakers. For example, I've found
tweaks in WinAero Tweaker that did not apply to the Home edition, only
to Pro or Enterprise, like some policies (all of which are registry
entries). Yeah, the tweaker will define the policy, but they're not
honored in the Home edition of Windows 10. A lot of stuff available in
Pro and up are not available in Home. Home users are the unpaid
involuntary beta testers for the Pro+ users.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
SC Tom wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote ...

SC Tom wrote:

I have two PC's running Win10 2004 Build 19041.450, one a laptop and
the other a desktop machine. I am logged in as the same person on
each machine and as an admin. On the laptop, when I open Settings,
there are "extra" items at the top instead of like the desktop, which
simply says "Windows Settings".

Here's a link to the screen shots of each:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/sjn1mBK

I don't use OneDrive, and would like to remove that. Whether Updates
has run or not, it ALWAYS says "Updates in progress" until I click on
it, then go back to Settings and it will say something like "There
are no updates" or "Last checked 3 hours ago."

Although it's no REAL big deal, I'd just as soon have the "generic"
Settings page like the desktop has. Anyone have any ideas?

https://winaero.com/blog/force-enabl...gs-top-header/

Since the "enable" directive is needed to enable the info icons,
presumably there is a "disable" directive to get rid of them. However,
as with many updates that get rolled out erratically from Microsoft, you
can leave the laptop as-is and let your desktop catch up, or you can
disable the info icons on your laptop and then have to do the same when
your desktop catches up.

Tried the various commands with "disable" directive and it had no affect
at
all. Rebooted after each one, as per the instructions.

Thanks for trying :-)

Looks like you have to first enable the header or banner by running
"mach2 enable 18299130". Then you enable individual info icons in the
header with the other "mach2 enable" commands with the corresponding
feature IDs. I would walk backwards by first disabling each info icon
by its feature ID, and lastly disable the header by running "mach2
disable 18299130". You'd think you could just disable the header
feature, but it could be coded that if any info icon were enabled that
the header cannot be disabled. That is, you may have to disable ALL
info icons in the header, and then disable the header. Another problem
could be: What if an info icon doesn't always appear, but it is enabled
(but not currently visible) which blocks disabling the header?
Microsoft isn't documenting any of this, so it's guesswork on how it
works.

The mach2 tool is at:

https://github.com/riverar/mach2

From the screenshot the

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ri.../gfx/usage.png

I was right in guessing there is a "disable" directive. I'd try using
the "display" directive to see what it reports. Could be Microsoft
changed something that the program doesn't yet know about. According to
the author, the modification applies to the Windows Notification
Facility (WNF) which is undocumented. Well, you know about undocumented
stuff: it's for Microsoft's use and no one else. Microsoft got accused
many times of using undocumented functions in MS Word and other apps.
The whole WNF and PDB setup seems tenuous.

For example, Microsoft could change the feature IDs anytime they want.
The article mentions some feature IDs, but maybe they've changed since
then. The article is not datestamped nor does it mention which version
and build were tested for Windows 10 nor even the edition (Home, Pro,
Enterprise, etc). One commenter at Youtube noted that the attempt to
change the header in the Settings app doesn't work on the Enterprise
edition, but it was unclear if he was talking about the 1909 or 2004
version. If the provided instructions don't work, I'd back out of the
changes (run "disable" on what IDs were "enabled" by you, because they
might no longer be valid or point to other features that you changed
unknowingly), and see if the "scan" or "display" directives lead you to
what feature IDs need to be specified in your instance of Win10.

The mach2 tool (which seems to be what everyone refers to in discussing
how to show the info icons in a header/banner in the Settings app) is
trying to guess how Microsoft is using WNF to add/remove features.
Since WNF is undocumented, it could take several versions of the mach2
tool to have dependent lookups based on edition, build, and version or
sync up with however Microsoft decides to change the feature IDs.

Most articles discussing the "Windows 10 Settings header" mention seeing
in the Preview release channel of Windows 10. Are both your hosts using
the same release channel? Are both hosts running the same edition of
Windows 10 (both Home, both Pro, etc)?

Instead of relying on 3rd party guessing how Microsoft employed the WNF
and PDB database of feature IDs that could change or be ineffective in
some edition/version/build configs, I think we users will have to
repeatedly bitch to Microsoft via feedback that we want an option to
enable/disable the Settings header. Make it a loud squeaky wheel. I
don't see it yet (back in 1909), so I cannot legitimately squeak via
feedback about adding a user-configurable option to remove it.

Gotta be careful with 3rd party tweakers. For example, I've found
tweaks in WinAero Tweaker that did not apply to the Home edition, only
to Pro or Enterprise, like some policies (all of which are registry
entries). Yeah, the tweaker will define the policy, but they're not
honored in the Home edition of Windows 10. A lot of stuff available in
Pro and up are not available in Home. Home users are the unpaid
involuntary beta testers for the Pro+ users.

I have Pro x64 on both machines.

I got mach2 Tuesday, but didn't see the page with "help" function (should
have known that, duh!).

"Display" gives me
"Enabled:
23877894 (variant: 1)
18299130
19638738
18863954

Disabled:
18863654

Defaulted:
20455539"

Tried enabling OneDrive (even though it was already there), rebooting, then
disabling it, and rebooting. Still no joy. Now it's getting to the point of
"Do I really want to spend a lot of time on piddly crap?", and the answer is
"Probably not.". It's not hurting anything, just annoying.

There was a thread on the MS Answer forum that I chimed in on, but the
general consensus was "You're stuck with. Get over it!". Pretty typical MS
answer, IMHAWO :-( This was the reply that was marked as the "answer":

"There is no setting for turning that top bar on or off . . .

That new bar at the top of the Settings App, is a new feature in a recent
update and is being released slowly around the world, give it a little time
and so long as those two other PC's are kept up to date, that will appear on
those PC's soon enough"

Thanks for your help. I'll probably keep messing around with it now and
again, and checking for newer versions of mach2, but I'm not making it a
mission :-)

Thanks!
--

SC Tom