How to Disable Advertising in Windows 10 File Explorer

[Shotglass01]

Today it's One Drive, tomorrow it's DirecTV, Coke and Doritos. According to Microsoft, Windows 10 will be the "last" OS they ever release. I hate to say it, but once the market is saturated with Windows 10 installs, money has to come from somewhere. The next logical step is advertisement.

I think you're right, but they can take my monitor from my cold dead hands! I'll be dammed if I let them turn my monitor into their personal billboard.

 

[DeathFromBelow]

Some buillshit right there. Kind of glad my windows media server just died. Perfect opportunity to convert it to linux. I'll never be completely free of windows because my gaming rigs all use it...

Have you tried Linux on the desktop recently? All of my favorite games run on Linux. 1/3 of my Steam library and 1/4 the whole store runs on Linux. Many more games will easily run under Wine. No, it's not 100% of the Windows library, but is your privacy really worth a few Windows exclusives? More and more AAA games are running on Linux out of the box or very quickly (Doom 2016 and Civ VI being good recent examples). Many older gems like Thief and Morrowind have been ported.

I gave up and switched from Windows to Linux Mint back in October. Windows 10 is dead and Windows 7 is a dinosaur. You have to be some kind of masochistic cuck to defend Windows 10 at this point.

 

[heatlesssun]

^ Talk about aggressive marketing.
|
|

 

[tetris42]

This is still just another case where:

It happened on phones and tablets first - no one complained.
Not only does no one complain, but everyone still lines up to buy the newest phones on release day.
Everyone talking about how phones and tablets are replacing computers, etc.
Microsoft finally gives in and starts advertising in ways that people have accepted on phones and tablets for years.
Everyone jumps on Microsoft as if they did this first and they are the great Satan.

Hypocrites much?

I don't use a smartphone. I keep my tablet offline and sideload all content I use it for battery life and exactly because I don't want to have to deal with having ads or malware on it. I'm happy to be called a luddite for wanting control over my own desktop. No worries, this is a dick move by Microsoft AND anyone else who does it, no hypocrisy involved. The only rationalization is if it's a service you're getting for free.

 

[tetris42]

Have you tried Linux on the desktop recently? All of my favorite games run on Linux. 1/3 of my Steam library and 1/4 the whole store runs on Linux. Many more games will easily run under Wine. No, it's not 100% of the Windows library, but is your privacy really worth a few Windows exclusives? More and more AAA games are running on Linux out of the box or very quickly (Doom 2016 and Civ VI being good recent examples). Many older gems like Thief and Morrowind have been ported.

I gave up and switched from Windows to Linux Mint back in October. Windows 10 is dead and Windows 7 is a dinosaur.

Come on man, stop fighting it. Just make this your signature.

 

[ChadD]

^ Talk about aggressive marketing.
|
|

No doubt... if only we had the power to force such adds into your file explorer and start bar.

 

[DeathFromBelow]

Talk about aggressive marketing.

You jokingly asked a couple weeks ago when Civilization 6 was coming to Linux. It's on Linux now.

All my hardware 'just works.' All of my favorite games are on Linux. Kerbal Space Program, Minecraft, Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis IV, ARK, Civ V, Civ VI, the Mount and Blade series... Most of the old gems like Thief and Morrowind and KOTOR work, too. Linux has really reached the point that gamers can make the switch. I have more games to play than free time to play them.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

You jokingly asked a couple weeks ago when Civilization 6 was coming to Linux. It's on Linux now.

All my hardware 'just works.' All of my favorite games are on Linux. Kerbal Space Program, Minecraft, Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis IV, ARK, Civ V, Civ VI, the Mount and Blade series... Most of the old gems like Thief and Morrowind and KOTOR work, too. Linux has really reached the point that gamers can make the switch. I have more games to play than free time to play them.

I play a bunch of older titles that have not yet made it to Linux. I know many games will work in Wine, but dicking around with Wine makes me want to shoot myself in the face.

That, and while they work, it doesn't mean that they will perform the same, or look the same. Civ5 looked much worse in Linux than in Windows.

On my rig, Civ6 looks just about the same in both operating systems, but there is a HUGE performance gap.

just look at Phoronix Windows 10 vs Linux gaming test from a couple of weeks back:



I am a huge Linux enthusiast and I use it for all my day to day desktop stuff, but I still dual boot to Windows for my games, and this is why. Linux has a LOOOOOONG way to go until it is a viable gaming alternative.

 

[heatlesssun]

You jokingly asked a couple weeks ago when Civilization 6 was coming to Linux. It's on Linux now.

I've been aware about the release of Civ VI on Linux since it was announced and it's not my type of game so you probably have me confused with someone else. But months later after it's release on Windows and with less performance and the inability to play online with the majority of players on Windows, meh.

Mean while Windows adds games to Steam at a 6 to 1 clip since the start of 2017.

All my hardware 'just works.' All of my favorite games are on Linux. Kerbal Space Program, Minecraft, Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis IV, ARK, Civ V, Civ VI, the Mount and Blade series... Most of the old gems like Thief and Morrowind and KOTOR work, too. Linux has really reached the point that gamers can make the switch. I have more games to play than free time to play them.

All of my hardware and all of the games, 100% that I've bought in the last 6 years that I've installed on Windows 10 work as well. Not p[possible under Linux. I've never denied totally criticisms of Windows, indeed I agree with much of it. But yeah, you and others are way overselling the state of desktop Linux particularly for gaming. Here's an example: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nvidia-geforce-gtx1080ti&num=1

Of all of the games in this test suite for the latest and greatest GPU to date, at least it appears for 4k gaming, the Deus Ex: MD is the only thing that's remotely new to test and yey! Slower than Windows. Because slower is exactly why people buy $700 GPUs. Or not.

 

[DeathFromBelow]

just look at Phoronix Windows 10 vs Linux gaming test from a couple of weeks back...

Linux has a LOOOOOONG way to go until it is a viable gaming alternative.

Yes, in some titles you may be limited to 1080p to maintain 60+ fps. I'm sure the framerate situation will improve as driver support continues to improve, and the quicker people make the switch the faster driver support will improve.

I'm still amazed at how rapidly the Linux game library has grown in the last few years, and I really do think the game and hardware support is where it needs to be for people to make the switch. People can always keep a 7 install on one SSD for Windows exclusives and use Linux everywhere else.

 

[MavericK]

AFAIK the additional ads baked into the OS core are coming in the Creators Update, as this crap is showing up in build 15048 - a beta version of the CU.

Enjoy.

This already shows up for me in the current version of Windows 10. It is somewhat annoying, I agree.

 

[nilepez]

I had this option enabled in the group policy settings to disable OneDrive, I even had OneDrive uninstalled, but I was still getting advertisements for OneDrive in File Explorer since the Anniversary Update on my desktop and laptop (Pro and Home), until I disabled the sync notifications. I have all of the other ad suggestions disabled and I was planning on reinstalling Win 7 until I turned it off because this ad appears every single day (ie. I have dismissed this ad approximately 200 times).

Is that different than "Show Sync Provider Notifications"? I have that enabled, but I'm not getting them. Is there something you specifically did that caused it to pop up? Is it whenever you save a file? Does it have to be in certain folders or is it only in predefined folders?

If I had your issue, i'd be pissed too, but AFAIK, I've never gotten it and so far I seem to have all the stuff turned on that allows it.

 

[heatlesssun]

I am a huge Linux enthusiast and I use it for all my day to day desktop stuff, but I still dual boot to Windows for my games, and this is why. Linux has a LOOOOOONG way to go until it is a viable gaming alternative.

When people spend the kind of money that many of us do around here for gaming, I doubt a single person in that situation would have a problem with running Linux IF is supported those games and hardware well. I know I wouldn't. But for some reason you have folks that think 1/3rd compatibility with thousands spent on games or much worse performance with thousands spent on performance is somehow clearly a better thing than "ads" or "spying".

Maybe so, but forget about me spe3ndng money on games under Linux with the state it's in now. I'm going to buy a pair of 1080 Ti's as soon as I find them for sale. I simply would do that if I were running Linux for gaming. There'd be no point.

 

[nilepez]

Well I be damned.. I just started seeing ads. Screw that..

Ok I didn't notice this Office 365 bit before. Do me a favor and try this
1. <Start Menu>
2. type Notifications & actions
3. scroll down and turn off "get Office"


I also have Get tips, tricks and suggestions as you use windows.

 

[ChadD]

When people spend the kind of money that many of us do around here for gaming, I doubt a single person in that situation would have a problem with running Linux IF is supported those games and hardware well. I know I wouldn't. But for some reason you have folks that think 1/3rd compatibility with thousands spent on games or much worse performance with thousands spent on performance is somehow clearly a better thing than "ads" or "spying".

Maybe so, but forget about me spe3ndng money on games under Linux with the state it's in now. I'm going to buy a pair of 1080 Ti's as soon as I find them for sale. I simply would do that if I were running Linux for gaming. There'd be no point.

Its hardly just an issue of a little spying. That is only one of the many issues plenty of people have with MS and Windows.

Having said that... sure don't disagree Run Windows 7 for games if they are that important to you. (For lots of us they simply aren't and yet we still build high end PCs.... high end hardware including GPUS have many more uses then just games). Windows 10 ? Don't see why anyone would want to run 10. 7 or 8 take care of games. Linux is superior in pretty much every other way... and most of us have machines that boot in 10-20s, so dual booting is really not that big a deal imo.

 

[DocSavage]

Ok I didn't notice this Office 365 bit before. Do me a favor and try this
1. <Start Menu>
2. type Notifications & actions
3. scroll down and turn off "get Office"


I also have Get tips, tricks and suggestions as you use windows.

It'll come right back when win10 does another major update.

 

[heatlesssun]

Its hardly just an issue of a little spying. That is only one of the many issues plenty of people have with MS and Windows.

A just little spying would be a HUGE issue because the point of spying is that the information collected gets used against that person. Seems like smartphone have a WAY bigger issue with that type of problem and hell, Android is about to become the biggest platform for web browsing.

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

Ok time for the standard come join us post. I can't think of any good arguments anymore for people to not simply run a Win7/8 Partition for games... and use Linux for EVERYTHING else.

... What, except for not having to restart the computer every time I wanted to play games? Because I don't know that kind of seems like an issue to me.

I'm one of those people that doesn't restart my computer for weeks on end and hates restarting any computer because I lose the work I'm doing immediately, whatever that may be. Even my work laptop gets to sleep or hibernate.


That being said, advertising within the OS itself is hilarious. Microsoft effectively turned adware/malware into a feature. No wonder they were pushing so hard for user to upgrade to Windows 10. Their business strategy is to be as scummy as possible.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

When people spend the kind of money that many of us do around here for gaming, I doubt a single person in that situation would have a problem with running Linux IF is supported those games and hardware well. I know I wouldn't. But for some reason you have folks that think 1/3rd compatibility with thousands spent on games or much worse performance with thousands spent on performance is somehow clearly a better thing than "ads" or "spying".

Maybe so, but forget about me spe3ndng money on games under Linux with the state it's in now. I'm going to buy a pair of 1080 Ti's as soon as I find them for sale. I simply would do that if I were running Linux for gaming. There'd be no point.

The way I see it is I don't do anything in Windows I'd care about if it were compromised. No medical records, no financial information, no important accounts. It's just for gaming.

The ads are a little bit annoying, but honestly I almost never see them as I almost never open the file explorer. I usually just boot up windows, launch my game and then shut it down again. Everything else I do in Linux.

 

[ChadD]

... What, except for not having to restart the computer every time I wanted to play games? Because I don't know that kind of seems like an issue to me...

Then build a better computer. I joke. Seriously my computer boots in under 20s... I thought boot times was one of the areas PCs have actually improved in. Linux is the only OS option that actually allows you to use your computer the way you want and not the way X or Y OS/hardware vendor want you to. Its the best platform imo for programmers, artists, and everyday folk.

Look at it the other way then... Dual boot Linux to keep yourself up to date with windows eventual replacement. lol (yes yes I'm half joking)

 

[ChadD]

The way I see it is I don't do anything in Windows I'd care about if it were compromised. No medical records, no financial information, no important accounts. It's just for gaming.

The ads are a little bit annoying, but honestly I almost never see them as I almost never open the file explorer. I usually just boot up windows, launch my game and then shut it down again. Everything else I do in Linux.

I do the same... with the exception of running 7 instead of 10.

One advantage... I spend less time wasting my time gaming when I should be working. lol

 

[nilepez]

It'll come right back when win10 does another major update.

Really? So why wasn't all my shit reset when i did the AU last fall? It may come back, but AFAICT, that bug was fixed sometime after the AU's initial release.

 

[bboynitrous]

Here is my take on this. If you received the Windows 10 upgrade for free I can understand these ads. If you went out and purchased a copy or purchased a new machine you should not see these adverts.

I purchased a copy after using my Win10 free upgrade on my old system. So i'm now paying for advertisements directly on my machine. Unacceptable.

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

Seriously my computer boots in under 20s... I thought boot times was one of the areas PCs have actually improved in. Linux is the only OS option that actually allows you to use your computer the way you want and not the way X or Y OS/hardware vendor want you to. Its the best platform imo for programmers, artists, and everyday folk.

I think you didn't get it. It's not about how long it takes, it's the fact that I have to do it and how disruptive it is to whatever I'm doing or entertaining myself with at the moment. I keep everything open all at once and switch between tasks instantly on a whim. That's what 16+ gb ram is for. On Windows I can do everything. On Linux, I can do a subset. Done deal.

 

[heatlesssun]

The way I see it is I don't do anything in Windows I'd care about if it were compromised. No medical records, no financial information, no important accounts. It's just for gaming.

The ads are a little bit annoying, but honestly I almost never see them as I almost never open the file explorer. I usually just boot up windows, launch my game and then shut it down again. Everything else I do in Linux.

The amount of the most personal information on millions of people and businesses that flows through our network Windows clients and servers is insane. I don't have any love of Windows or implicit trust of Microsoft but I work in an environment that has everything to loose from data compromises. And we use a lot of Windows. So whatever people may think of me or this or that, I deal with a lot data and I'm forced to use Windows on the client and it pays the bills. And if the data I work with is leaked, I'm fucked beyond belief.

The way I see it is that Linux folks that think Windows is that problematic need to go into an intuition like I work for and then have them dump Windows and make it all better. I've been in these kinds of debates for 20 years now. And if you think it gets old on an anonymous forums, when hundreds of thousands of employs and billions in systems and data are involved, you ain't seen nothing.

 

[heatlesssun]

On Windows I can do everything. On Linux, I can do a subset. Done deal.

Whatever the advantages are of desktop Linux, 1/3rd of what a person does and has done isn't good enough. I mean, haven't desktop Linux proponents not seen the debates over Windows 8.x and 10? And change becomes some struggle for survival. No hybrid UI, no Windows Store, no Settings keep the Control Panel. Aero is a must. Cable Card in Windows Media Center. Change one thing in Windows whatever it is and there's a chorus of WTF?

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The amount of the most personal information on millions or people and businesses that flows through our network Windows clients and servers is insane. I don't have any love of Windows or implicit trust of Microsoft but I work in an environment that has everything to loose from data compromises. And we use a lot of Windows. So whatever people may think of me or this or that, I deal with a lot data and I'm forced to use Windows on the client and it pays the bills. And if the data I work with leaked, I fucked beyond belief.

So the way I see it is that Linux folks that think Windows is that problematic, need to go into an intuition like I work for and then have them dump Windows and make it all better. The thing is I been in these kinds of debates for 20 years now. And if you think it gets old on anonymous forums, when hundreds of thousands of employs and billions in systems and data are involved, you ain't seen nothing.

As far as I'm concerned that's even more of a reason to resist anything cloud, where your data is not stored and kept locally only.

 

[heatlesssun]

I'm still amazed at how rapidly the Linux game library has grown in the last few years, and I really do think the game and hardware support is where it needs to be for people to make the switch.

All the pro-desktop Linux fans around here. Are you planning to by a 1080 Ti ASAP and run it to play games or any other activity solely under Linux?

People can always keep a 7 install on one SSD for Windows exclusives and use Linux everywhere else.

This is not a switch but a doubling of systems needed to be maintained.

 

[heatlesssun]

As far as I'm concerned that's even more of a reason to resist anything cloud, where your data is not stored and kept locally only.

The thing is, even a place like us that has the highest motivation to keep data in house is looking at cloud solutions. We're exploding with data and the need to crunch it. Cloud solutions would allow us to spin up and down at will capacity. It's certainly a very controversial thing around here, and there are certain things we'll never do in the cloud in my lifetime but the cloud is a lot more than selling personal data. Unfortunately that seems to be the only understanding of this tech by some.

 

[nilepez]

I purchased a copy after using my Win10 free upgrade on my old system. So i'm now paying for advertisements directly on my machine. Unacceptable.

try this
1. <Start Menu>
2. type Notifications & actions
3. scroll down and turn off "get Office" notification.

Don't know if that works or not, but an earlier picture makes this look like just another get office popup and it'd explain why I don't get it...I turned it off more than 6 months ago.

 

[bboynitrous]

try this
1. <Start Menu>
2. type Notifications & actions
3. scroll down and turn off "get Office" notification.

Don't know if that works or not, but an earlier picture makes this look like just another get office popup and it'd explain why I don't get it...I turned it off more than 6 months ago.

It's been disabled since day one along with Ultimate windows tweaker 4 or 5, whatever the latest version is to disable all the telemetry crap. Unless it reset...

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The thing is, even a place like us that has the highest motivation to keep data in house is looking at cloud solutions. We're exploding with data and the need to crunch it. Cloud solutions would allow us to spin up and down at will capacity. It's certainly a very controversial thing around here, and there are certain things we'll never do in the cloud in my lifetime but the cloud is a lot more than selling personal data. Unfortunately that seems to be the only understanding of this tech by some.

Yeah, IMHO what we really need is a blanket ban on the collection and crunching of personal data.

I know that would really harm some.major players in the tech world, but I don't see any other way of fixing this mess we are in.

Whenever data is collected it is vulnerable to abuse or theft in one way or another. The only way to fix this is to completely cease all data collection.

 

[-=SOF=-WID99]

https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/

boom..... done ...

 

[heatlesssun]

Yeah, IMHO what we really need is a blanket ban on the collection and crunching of personal data.

I know that would really harm some.major players in the tech world, but I don't see any other way of fixing this mess we are in.

Whenever data is collected it is vulnerable to abuse or theft in one way or another. The only way to fix this is to completely cease all data collection.

"Goddamit, my laptop crashed again! Fuck Microsoft!" And how many people over the years expressed this to themselves and never said anything? There are legitimate reasons for collecting performance data. I get the privacy issues. But shit happens all the time with software and eyewitness accounts are unreliable. The idea that hundreds of millions of billions of computing devices are out there and that the default action of software "Report nothing" by default, that's as problematic as anything. How in the hell do manage large deployments of software without ANY automation? Sorry, that's just not how it works anymore.

I have not problem with off switches. But I have a problem with so many people thinking that security through obscurity is a great thing too. "How many times has your software crashed or been compromised?" "None, because no one reported it." That's just not a viable answer today.

 

[ob1]

What is really happening here is that eventually you will be able to buy a "premium" version of Windows that either eliminates the ads or hides them better. It will be Windows 10 platinum and cost 250 bones or something...

 

[zero2dash]

This is not a switch but a doubling of systems needed to be maintained.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Man oh man that takes a lot of maintenance.

I'm a Linux n00b compared to many other forum members, but even I know how simple it is to maintain.

 

[Frobozz]

"Goddamit, my laptop crashed again! Fuck Microsoft!" And how many people over the years expressed this to themselves and never said anything? There are legitimate reasons for collecting performance data. I get the privacy issues. But shit happens all the time with software and eyewitness accounts are unreliable. The idea that hundreds of millions of billions of computing devices are out there and that the default action of software "Report nothing" by default, that's as problematic as anything. How in the hell do manage large deployments of software without ANY automation? Sorry, that's just not how it works anymore.

I have not problem with off switches. But I have a problem with so many people thinking that security through obscurity is a great thing too. "How many times has your software crashed or been compromised?" "None, because no one reported it." That's just not a viable answer today.

I think being asked to send or not send in crash data would go a LONG way with user acceptance.

 

[nilepez]

It's been disabled since day one along with Ultimate windows tweaker 4 or 5, whatever the latest version is to disable all the telemetry crap. Unless it reset...

Did you check it? I'm not posting it simply to solve your issue, it's also so we can narrow down why it happens, so that everyone can disable it if/when they want to.

 

[heatlesssun]

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Man oh man that takes a lot of maintenance.

I'm a Linux n00b compared to many other forum members, but even I know how simple it is to maintain.

It's a bit more complicated than that. If you have to run a separate OS to run games that another OS doesn't when that other OS will run all games, then multiplayer, performance, any new hardware, and new hardware is really iffy with desktop Linux. Linux has plenty of strengths and advantages. Gaming just isn't one of them by a country mile compared to Windows.

 

[nilepez]

I think being asked to send or not send in crash data would go a LONG way with user acceptance.

Nah...most people opt out. I know, because I generally did. There's been a lot of FUD about sending that data back going back to XP.