Customizing Windows 10

/ October 22, 2017

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For many users the default Windows 10 interface is cluttered with something called live tiles.

Reducing the clutter is possible by “unpinning” the live tiles that appear when opening the Start menu. “Right-click” on each tile and from the pop-up menu select the Unpin option. Unpinning live tiles will help avoid unnecessary and unwanted bandwidth usage.

Some people find default desktop backgrounds distracting. Changing to only a simple background color is possible:

  1. “Right-click” on the desktop
  2. From the pop-up menu, select Personalize
  3. In the Background drop-down box, choose Solid color

Using a login account or sign-in account is good simple security. A Microsoft Account is not required or needed to log into Windows 10. An old fashioned local sign-in account is available. Using a local sign-in account avoids some of the data mining.

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Accounts
  3. Select Your info
  4. Confirm the account is set up to use a Microsoft account
  5. Select Sign in with a local account instead
  6. Enter the password for your Microsoft account
  7. Select Switch To A Local Account
  8. Enter your new local user name, password, and password hint
  9. Sign out from the Microsoft account
  10. Sign in using your new local account

Stopping some of the Windows 10 data mining is possible. For most users there are two levels of telemetry: Basic and Full. The default is Full. To reduce the amount of telemetry data sent requires changing that default to Basic:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Privacy
  3. Select Feedback and Diagnostics

Windows 10 defaults to a peer-to-peer sharing method for downloading updates. This default method consumes bandwidth and might cost some users extra with their internet provider. This peer-to-peer mechanism is called Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO). To disable this peer sharing update method:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Update & security
  3. Select Advanced options
  4. Select Choose how updates are delivered

Associated with updates is when the computer reboots. This can be controlled somewhat too through a feature called Active Hours.

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Update & security
  3. Select Change active hours

To further control updates, wireless users might also want to configure their computer as a metered connection. This option must be configured for each wireless connection.

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Network & Internet
  3. Select Wi-Fi
  4. Select the name of a Wi-Fi connection
  5. Select Set as metered connection

Updates in Windows 10 cannot be avoided but can be delayed to some extent, depending upon the version of Windows 10 being used. Delaying updates requires Windows 10 Professional or Enterprise and requires using the Group Policy Editor.

  1. Open Group Policy Management Editor
  2. Select Computer Configuration
  3. Select Policies
  4. Select Administrative Templates
  5. Select Windows Components
  6. Select Windows Update
  7. Select Defer Upgrades and Updates

For many users a good security tip is to disable Web Proxy Auto-Discovery (WPAD).

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Network & Internet
  3. Select Proxy
  4. Disable Automatically detect settings

Caveat: Settings in Windows 10 should be checked regularly. Users have reported that updating Windows 10 sometimes re-enables various features.

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