Windows 10 Privacy Issues

Backup:

Choose Settings from the Start menu
Click the WiFi icon in the lower right.
Use Ctrl-X to pull up Control Panel.
Right Click on the Start Icon.
Click on the Notifications icon in the lower right screen.
Win 7 Backup is in the right click Control Panel

Disable Cortana:

Enter Notebook-click the search button
then the third icon downfrom the left.
Go to the settings menu
you'll see a toggleswitch to turn Cortana off.

Windows Update Processing:

Click Settings option in the Start menu
Click Updates and Security
Click on Advanced Options
Click on How your updates are delivered.

Storage

Click Settings -> System -> Storage
then click on the C: drive then apps
to see the space used by each app.

Getting To Know You:

Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Speech,inking and typing
click the big gray button that says "Stop getting to know me"

Background App Settings:

In Settings turn off apps access if not in use.

Fast Startup:

Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Power Options -> System Settings
at the bottom of the window -> Shutdown Settings.

WiFi Sense Password Sharing:

Start -> Settings -> Network & Internet -> WiFI -> Manage WiFi Settings
Disable every option there

Show Or Hide Updates:

Download the Show or Hide Updates troubleshooter from Microsoft.
Fire the program up - It will search for updates.
Click on Hide updates and you will see a list of updates you can hide.

DVR (Windows Media Center) Replacement:

Get a TV Tuner For PC (silicondust.com)
or Hauppauge WinTV USB tuner ( go.pcworld.com/wintvhvr955)
with an over the air antenna.
Download MC2XML (mc2xml.hosterbox.net)
you'll need this program to get TV Guide data.
In File Explorer, create a folder (C:\EPG) and put mc2xml.exe into it.
Run mc2xml.exe and enter your zip code to get local channel listings.
Leavve the other options in mc2xml alone, for now.
In the lineup selection prompt, look for Digital Terrestrial Lineup option and press OK.
Download and install the latest version of NextPVR ( go.pcworld.com/nextpvr)
Befor launching NextPVR, navigate to C:\Users\Public\NPVR\Scripts.
Create a new text file called UpdateEPG.bat.
Enter this into UpdateEPG.bat:
C:
cd "C:\EPG"
mc2xml
Open NextPVR. It should run settings, but right click anywhere on screen to get Settings.
Go to the Devices section, select your TV tuner, click device setup, then click Scan.
Wait a few minutes while the tuner looks for broadcast channels.
Go to the Channels section, and click Update EPG.
Wait while UpdateEPG.bat grabbs the TV guide data.
In the Misc folder, you may need to change the Buffer Directory.
Use C:\temp as the Buffer Directory as an alternative.
Go to the Recording folder, and choose where you want DVR shows to be stored.
You may need to experiment with the Decoders menu if you're not getting
any audio or video playback. (I've had luck using the LAV decoder for both).
Close the Settings menu and head to the Live TV section of NextPVR
to start watching and recordeing broadcast TV.

Dump Most Used and Recently Added:

Start -> Settings -> Personalization -> Start
Slide off the options for Most Used and Recently Added

Secret Command Prompt Features:

Open the Command Prompt then right click the title bar.
Select Properties then Edit Options from Options.

New Windows Keyboard Shortcuts:

Go to go.pcworld.com/keycuts

Godmode:

This is for power users!
Go to go.pcworld.com/w10godmode
or create a folder named: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Brings together all of your system's far flung settings and configuration options into a single location.

Deleting Windows.old:

Just "deleting" it won't work. These are "system" files.
Search for Free up disk space, then click the shortcut.
Select your primary drive, then click Clean up system files.
Click Previous Windows Installations then click OK to delete them.

Turn Off Keylogging:

Click Settings in the Start menu.
Click Privacy then General. Turn off Send Microsoft ...
Go to Speech, Inking & Typing and Click Stop getting to know me.
There are other options here to control your camera, microphone, contacts and calendar.

Boot Into Safe Mode:

If you can boot into Windows, click on the Start button, then Power button.
Hold down the shift key while clicking on Restart
Select Troubleshooting -> Advanced Options -> Startup Settings then click Restart.
If you can't boot into Windows.
You'll need the Windows 10 Recovery Drive.
To create a Recovery Drive (Thumb drive) follow these steps:
Open Control Panel's Recovery tool, click Create a Recovery Drive.
Boot From the Recovery Drive when needed.
then select Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt.
At the Command Prompt enter these lines (Hit Enter at the end of each one:
C:
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy
exit
Select Turn Off Your PC, boot the computer and press F8 until the advanced boot menu shows.

Do Away With OneDrive:

First, unhide your libraries.
Open File Explorer, Select View -> Navigation Pane -> Show Libraries
Expand the Libraries section in the navigation pane, under This PC.
Click Documents under Libraries
There should be two sections, one of them will be named OneDrive.
Move anything there back to the other section.
Right click on Documents (Library) in the navigation pane.
Select Properties, in the resulting dialog box select the local location,
(probably C:\Users\yourname) and click Set save location button.
Repeat this for other other Libraries: Music, Pictures, Videos

Turn Spotlight Off:

Spotlight allows MS to send ads to your PC!
Go to Settings -> Screen Settings -> Lock Screen settings
Go to Background and select either Picture or Slideshow.
Move down and turn OFF the option with "and more"!
The "and more" is how the adds get in.

Turn Off "Usage data":

Usage Data sends info about your computer, including files, to MS!
Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Feedback and Diagnostics
Change Diagnostic and Usage Data to "Security" or "Basic".
"Basic" allows only computer info, not any files, to be sent.
"Security" is not available on some versions.
"Security" does not allow any data to be sent to MS.