Windows – How to get rid of Windows 10 search web results triggered from the start menu

microsoft-edgewindows 10windows-10-v2004windows-search

I am trying to disable Windows 10 start menu search web results on Windows 10 professional v2004 slow ring preview release build 19033.1.

Here is a list of things that do not work for me:

[DISABLE WINDOWS WEB SEARCH ON REGISTRY EDITOR]

I've googled how to get rid of windows 10 search web results and tried the suggested registry editor hacks on:|

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

Setting CortanaConsent and BingSearchEnabled to DWORD32 value 0 but they are not working.

[REWRITE ENDPOINTS]

I've even tried to rewrite all bing.com endpoints in windows (WTF most of them are HTTP, not HTTPS! Anyone can sniff those searchs on an unsecured WiFi network!) but they are restored on windows restart.

[REMOVE EDGE AS DEFAULT APP]

I've tried to restrict edge in every way I could and removing it from default apps but the bastard keeps popping up every time I make a typo while trying to search/run something on my local system.

[RESTRICT CORTANA AND EDGE USING FIREWALL RULES]

I've disabled windows firewall rules allowing outbound and inbound connections for Edge and Cortana. Still no effect.

Are there any other more current hacks that would work on this release?

Best Answer

If you want to completely do away with Bing search in Start and get rid of the See web results entry and the entries under Search the web, you can accomplish this even in 2004 (and possibly newer versions) by User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/File Explorer/Turn off display of recent search entries in the File Explorer search box group policy or setting DisableSearchBoxSuggestions DWORD32 value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer to 1.

Ignore the name of the policy / registry entry and actually try it - you have to logout (or restart) afterwards to see the effect.

There are some side effects - the recent entries will be gone (also from File Explorer search), but if you want to have completely Bing-less Start menu search, this is the only way I know of in 2004.

Related Solutions

Windows 10 Search, Cortana, and Edge crashing

Faulting module name: edgehtml.dll, version: 11.0.10586.162, time stamp: 0x56cd3d95
Exception code: 0x88985004

The Exception code 0x88985004 means DWRITE_E_FILEACCESS

//
// MessageId: DWRITE_E_FILEACCESS
//
// MessageText:
//
// A font file exists but could not be opened due to access denied, sharing violation, or similar error.
//
#define DWRITE_E_FILEACCESS              _HRESULT_TYPEDEF_(0x88985004L)

so, you have an issue with fonts (C:\Windows\Fonts).

ok, looking at the dump I see that Edge crashes while trying to load Times New Roman font. So I looked in the Process Monitor log and here I see that the Times New Roman font is not in C:\Windows\fonts, it is located in C:\ProgramData\Samsung\SPenFonts (C:\ProgramData\Samsung\SPenFonts\Times.ttf) and here Edge edge runs into ACCESS DENIED error. Edge has no permission to read the font:

^{click to enlarge}

After this error, The Windows Error Reporting (werfault.exe) is launched and creates the error report (and creates the dump).

So look which Samsung software you have installed, that installs fonts to C:\ProgramData. If you figured out which software does this, remove that software from your device because the Times New Roman font is already part of Windows for ages. There is no need to install the font again.

Windows – How to revert changes made to Windows 10 by “Destroy Windows Spying” (DWS_Lite.exe)

Destroy Windows Spying Neutralizer (DWS_Neutralizer.cmd)

After thorough research, I've found a list of changes made by DWS:

Delete Keylogger and Telemetry:

Disables and deletes some of Diagnostics and Windows Media push services.
Disables Cortana from registry, by Computer Policy.
Disables Windows Telemetry from registry.
Disables Diagnostics from registry.
Disables Inclusion of MRT in Windows Update from registry.

Add spy domains in hosts file, and block in Windows Firewall:

Blocks Microsoft telemetry URLs from hosts file.
Blocks Microsoft telemetry IP ranges from firewall.
Blocks Microsoft telemetry IP ranges from routing table.

Disable Private Settings:

Disbales Cortana from registry, by User Policy.
Disables Camera on LockScreen from registry.
Disables Biometrics from registry.
Disables Bing Search from registry.
Disables Web Search from registry.
Disables Password Reveal Button from registry.
Disables Sensors from registry.
Disables Location Services from registry.

Disable Windows Defender:

Disables Windows Defender from registry.
Disables Automatic Malware Sample Submission from registry.
Disables Malware Reporting from registry.
Disables Smart Screen Filter from registry.

Set Default Windows Photo Viewer:

Self-descriptive I guess!

Disable Spy Tasks:

Disables Diagnostics from task scheduler.
Disables Media Center Discovery from task scheduler.
Disables Office Telemetry from task scheduler.
Disables Customer Experince from task scheduler.
Disables WinSAT Maintenance from task scheduler.

This script reverts all the changes to their default settings.

Note: It doesn't reinstall removed metro apps!

Disclaimer: This method is tested and working. However, there's a chance that I didn't mentioned all the changes, and maybe I missed some registry keys. Please be warned that it reverts affected settings to Out-of-Box state, so if you changed some of those, you may need to re-enable/configure them. !Do it at your ownrisk!

Download as script: DWS_Neutralizer.cmd (Note: Run as admin)

Download as archive: DWS_Neutralizer.zip (Note: Extract, then run as admin)

Based on: DWS (Final) Last Updated: 2015-12-29

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows 10 Search, Cortana, and Edge crashing

Windows – How to revert changes made to Windows 10 by “Destroy Windows Spying” (DWS_Lite.exe)

Destroy Windows Spying Neutralizer (DWS_Neutralizer.cmd)

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