What is Windows 10 Fall Creators Update? Everything you need to knowabout Microsoft's big upgrade

On Sat, 14 Oct 2017 16:42:36 +0000 (UTC), harry newton
wrote:

He who is KenW said on Sat, 14 Oct 2017 10:15:27 -0600:

As a related aside, Mayayana loves the asterisk feature of Acrylic:
Acrylic DNS https://sourceforge.net/projects/acrylic/

That is why gpedit.msc is in Pro. To kill dumb stuff.

I didn't understand the connection, so I tried it:
Start Run gpedit.msc

This brought up the "Local Group Policy Editor" of which I'm ignorant.

Most of my stuff was empty.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2017/10/14/lgpe.jpg

I guess there's a lot for me to learn here!
Group Policy For Beginners
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh147307(v=ws.10).aspx

The home version does not have gpedit.msc or not the same. I think it
brings up local security policy. I usually only use it to kill the
bitch and a couple other things that many people don't do. To each
his own !


KenW

On Sat, 14 Oct 2017 16:11:17 -0000 (UTC), Roger Blake wrote:

On 2017-10-14, Monty wrote:
Start Winaero Tweaker and enter "disable Cortana" in the search
box (you don't need the quotes).

You might do yourself a favor by installing the MVPS Hosts file.
You can do your own research for that task.

Thanks for the tips! I'm still ticked off though at having to
waste my time dealing with this garbage which should not be there
in the first place, at least not in the "Pro" version used by
businesses. It's a shame because Win10 definitely has its good
points but it seems like you have to wade through a cesspool to
get to them.

Most of us don't seem to find that too difficult, although it does
consume a little time.

He who is mechanic said on Sat, 14 Oct 2017 18:36:03 +0100:

Most of us don't seem to find that too difficult, although it does
consume a little time.

The good news is that we *can* turn off stuff.

The bad news is that the on/off sliders are scattered all over the place.

I wish there was just one single comprehensive wrap-up GUI with *all* the
sliders below it.

I don't have the coding skills to write that, but I suspect the guys who
write Winaero and Classic Shell or CCleanup or Belarc, etc., do have those
skills, so I await the "TurnMeOff" app with anticipation!

harry newton wrote:
He who is Jonathan N. Little said on Sat, 14 Oct 2017 09:49:49 -0400:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;; DisableCortana.reg
;; Disable Cortana and set to local Windows Search
;; MS removed the removed the option in 1703

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Win dows\Windows Search]
"AllowCortana"=dword:00000000

May I ask bluntly if this admittedly neat trick does something that I
didn't already just do with the WinAero tweak to turn off Cortana?
http://wetakepic.com/images/2017/10/14/disable_cortana2.jpg

I get the power of having the registry edited manually with a set of text
tweaks saved in a directory - so I'm not dissing the tweak.

I'm just asking if this tweak above and the Winaero tweak accomplish the
same result or not.

Don't know I have not used WinAero tweak. I disabled it before 1704 when
there was a setting in Settings. I had to setup two new computers for a
client already at 1704 and could not find the option so I edited the
registry to match this system. The reg file does the job.

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On Sat, 14 Oct 2017 10:12:50 +0000 (UTC), harry newton
wrote:

He who is Monty said on Sat, 14 Oct 2017 16:51:24 +1100:

If you install Winaero Tweaker you can disable Cortana.

Start Winaero Tweaker and enter "disable Cortana" in the search box
(you don't need the quotes).

Thanks for that tip as I had manually turned off all the Cortana buttons in
Windows 10 Pro myself (which seemed to work) but if clicking this one
button in Winaero Tweaker does the same thing, that's a neat trick.

WinAero: Windows Apps Disable Cortana [x]Disable Cortana
http://wetakepic.com/images/2017/10/14/disable_cortana2.jpg

Not surprisingly, it requires a reboot, but it allows you to do it later.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2017/10/14/disable_cortana.jpg

The amount of crap you have to turn off to make Windows 10 palatable
in a business environment just keeps getting worse with each "exciting
new update." (Though to give the devil his due I do appreciate finally
having some control over updates in recent iterations of Win10 Pro.)

You might do yourself a favor by installing the MVPS Hosts file. You
can do your own research for that task.

The MVP hosts file is great.
MVP Hosts http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

But does the MVP Hosts file inherently contain the "block cortana" stuff?

Not that I am aware of. You can use a HOSTS file to block ads,
banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and
even most hijackers and possibly unwanted programs.

Simply using a HOSTS file is not a cure-all against all the dangers
on the Internet, but it does provide a very effective "Layer of
Protection". Where Hosts files really shine is by letting you block
spyware sites, malware sites, and tracking sites.


As a related aside, Mayayana loves the asterisk feature of Acrylic:
Acrylic DNS https://sourceforge.net/projects/acrylic/

He who is Monty said on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 10:32:19 +1100:

But does the MVP Hosts file inherently contain the "block cortana" stuff?

Not that I am aware of. You can use a HOSTS file to block ads,
banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and
even most hijackers and possibly unwanted programs.

Simply using a HOSTS file is not a cure-all against all the dangers
on the Internet, but it does provide a very effective "Layer of
Protection". Where Hosts files really shine is by letting you block
spyware sites, malware sites, and tracking sites.

Thanks for hazarding a guess as I would also think, without actually
looking, that the MVP Hosts file isn't aimed at Cortana-like intrusions.

Me?
I started with MVP Hosts (and a plethora of others and I periodically
thresh in the new hosts with my old hosts such that *all* my devices,
(whether they be mobile devices or Windows or Linux) share the same HOSTS
file.

The beauty of the HOSTS file is that it is efficient in stopping lots of
connections to sites where I see a marked difference when I'm on VPN or on
Tor because then my wonderful blocking in my hosts file is completely
bypassed.

Every time I'm on an Opera proxy, for example, I am amazed at what crap
people must put up with who don't have a HOSTS file that is tens of
thousands of lines long.

KenW

With all of the fancy additions to Windows 10 there are some that I have
never openned ie 3D paint. I have absolutely no need for any of them.

+1


KenW

On Sat, 14 Oct 2017 16:42:36 +0000 (UTC), harry newton
wrote:

He who is KenW said on Sat, 14 Oct 2017 10:15:27 -0600:

As a related aside, Mayayana loves the asterisk feature of Acrylic:
Acrylic DNS https://sourceforge.net/projects/acrylic/

That is why gpedit.msc is in Pro. To kill dumb stuff.

I didn't understand the connection, so I tried it:
Start Run gpedit.msc

This brought up the "Local Group Policy Editor" of which I'm ignorant.

Most of my stuff was empty.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2017/10/14/lgpe.jpg

I guess there's a lot for me to learn here!
Group Policy For Beginners
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh147307(v=ws.10).aspx

Administrative Templates is about the only one I have used. The
entries are worded in a funny way. Takes a small amount of time to
wrap your head around it.


KenW

He who is KenW said on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 07:06:19 -0600:

With all of the fancy additions to Windows 10 there are some that I have
never openned ie 3D paint. I have absolutely no need for any of them.

+1
With all of the fancy additions to Windows 10 there are some that I have
never openned ie 3D paint. I have absolutely no need for any of them.

+1

The darn huge expense of freeeware is having to learn all the gotchas
first hand, which is why I always ask ahead of time if others already
know the catches.

I just installed SketchUP after searching for "3d paint freeware".
http://wetakepic.com/images/2017/10/15/sketchup.jpg

Here's my running manual log on installing one "3D Paint" "freeware"...

Installing SketchUp Make 2017 (64-bit)

If you need 3D, do most of you use SketchUp?
https://www.sketchup.com/download

License here, but a readskim seems to show it's freeware for personal use:
https://www.sketchup.com/license/d/sketchup

Sketchup forced me to give it an email, but it took a bogus email anyway.


The 150MB installer seemed to only be for 64-bit Windows/Mac, which is ok.

The authorization process is a bit cumbersome it seems:
https://help.sketchup.com/en/setting-up

But the installation process is simple enough:
https://help.sketchup.com/en/article/56085

It wants to go into (note the trailing backslash):
C:\Program Files\SketchUp\SketchUp 2017\

I put it into (note the trailing backslash):
C:\apps\editor\pic\sketchup\

The installer doesn't seem to phone home.

The installer takes quick a long time for what it should be doing,
resulting in three desktop shortcuts:
SketchUp 2017,
Target C:\apps\editor\pic\sketchup\SketchUp.exe
Style Builder 2017,
Target "C:\apps\editor\pic\sketchup\Style Builder\Style Builder.exe"
LayOut 2017
C:\apps\editor\pic\sketchup\LayOut\LayOut.exe

Since my rule of thumb is one-shortcut-one-executable, I put the first
in my cascaded start menu and deleted the rest.

When you start it, you get a license agreement, and only after that do
you see the catch!

Licensed to: SketchUp Make 2017 User, Pro Trial, 30 days remaining

I don't see any way to turn off the "trial" so I will be forced to
wait the 30 days. Sigh. Why don't they tell you this stuff ahead of
time?

When you press the "start" button, it *phones home!* to:
https://www.sketchup.com/learn
So don't press *that* big button.

Press the *tiny* button (by way of comparison) named
"Start using Sketchup"

I can *guess* that one of two things happen in the 30 days.
a. It will just turn off
b. It will revert to what I wanted, which is the homeware version

Does anyone who has waited the 30 days know what happens then?

He who is harry newton said on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 19:22:32 +0000 (UTC):

When you press the "start" button, it *phones home!* to:
https://www.sketchup.com/learn
So don't press *that* big button.

Also don't press the other two icons unless you want to actually use them
since each phones home and each says it starts a 30-day clock, so who knoww
what private information (mac address perhaps?) it locks this stuff to.

Certainly I didn't use my own IP address nor my own email, but they can
lock to ethernet or other hardware/software private information for all I
know.

What better non-invasive 3D paint freeware do folks suggest for Windows?
(I have no particular purpose in mind ... just experimenting...)