Windows notes and stuff
Get rid of the store and its apps
Adjust "User1" to suit
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -User User1 | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers * | Remove-AppxPackage
Remove Edge browser
This script saves a bunch of time. Just run as admin (it is short and easy to audit).
https://github.com/ShadowWhisperer/Remove-Edge-Chromium
Manually it's something like (from Admin powershell):
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.10240.16384.0_neutral_8wekyb3d8bbwe | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *edge* | Remove-AppxPackage cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\83.0.478.58\Installer setup.exe --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging --force-uninstall
Disable online searching via Registry
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] "CortanaConsent"=dword:00000000 "BingSearchEnabled"=dword:00000000
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] "CortanaConsent"=dword:00000000 "AllowSearchToUseLocation"=dword:00000000 "BingSearchEnabled"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search] "ConnectedSearchUseWebOverMeteredConnections"=dword:00000000 "AllowCortana"=dword:00000000 "DisableWebSearch"=dword:00000001 "ConnectedSearchUseWeb"=dword:00000000
Possibly fixing a broken windows update (Win 10)
Reactivating Windows after a hardware change
I upgraded a PC, and had a little trouble getting the activation troubleshooter to work.
Beforehand, I had already added my Microsoft account, and associated the machine's digital license with that account. I tried to use the troubleshooter, and clicked on "I changed hardware on this device recently". However, it always reported the activation servers were down.
Here's what I ultimately did, but I don't know if it was the actual solution:
- Reinstalled Edge with
MicrosoftEdgeSetup.exeso I had a browser. - Installed the Xbox app from https://aka.ms/XboxInstaller (recommended in this thread). This forces a Windows Store to be reinstalled.
- Launched the store, let it update.
- I wanted to use the 'Get Help' link in the troubleshooter, so I installed the Microsoft Tips app. However, I didn't actually use this in the end.
- After the store was done updating, I rebooted
- Then the activation troubleshooter gave me a list of machines I could reactivate as. This reported a failure, but when I rebooted again, the machine was activated.
After verifying everything, I removed the Windows Store, and Edge with the above methods.
I also removed the Microsoft account which was two steps:
- In
Settings > Accounts, select your user, click "Sign in with a local account instead". It will ask for the current pin/password, then set up a new password for the local account. - Then from your account page, select "Email & accounts". The microsoft account should be listed, but now it will have an option to remove the account.
Second attempt (create a new admin account with your microsoft account)
I had trouble with this on a second machine. The Xbox app never launched after uninstall/reboot/reinstall. I did get the windows store back with the Get-AppXPackage method, and it seems functional.
The "I changed hardware" link wouldn't open. Instead a "Microsoft Account" window would appear, all grey, then close. The same sort of issue plagued the Xbox app which would show an xbox logo window, then close.
Things I tried:
- manually reinstalling Windows store apps like:
Get-AppxPackage -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register “$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode} - looking for wrongly disabled, or unstarted services
- running sfc and dism check tools
- windows store reset (wsreset.exe)
- removing the microsoft account assocation from my local account. creating a new admin account with the microsoft account (gets configured when you first login to it). When I logged in with the fresh account the Xbox app worked, and the activation dialog worked.
If you want to try all the xbox app fixing methods, I found this video which does a very nice walkthrough: Fix Xbox App Crashing/Closing, Nothing Happens When Click On Xbox App On Windows 11/10. None applied to my situation though, and I stopped before it came to resetting windows, or using the media creation tool to update.
I guess my windows account was just borked. I removed that local admin account (deleting all files), recreated it, then removed the microsoft account as with my first attempt. All is well.