Microsoft putting unwanted software on my computer

[Mike Henderson]

I just recently purchased a new Windows 11 computer. No real problems there, I got everything copied over.

Then I received a notice from the Microsoft Store that it had installed a program on my computer - a program that I didn't want and had never even heard of. I was quite upset by this. I don't know what gives Microsoft the idea that they should install random programs on people's computers.

It took me a bit to figure out how to turn this off, but I was just flabbergasted that anyone could think this was a good idea. The only thing I can think of is that the companies who make the software pay Microsoft for each download from the Microsoft Store.

Anyway, wanted to let others know of this. To turn it off, you go to the Microsoft Store and turn off app updates.

Mike

[Some additional info on how to turn this off. First, you have to open the Store App, not go to the Microsoft store on your browser. Log in. Then click on your picture or whatever you use for your account. It will be to the right of the search bar. That opens up a pull-down menu and the last item is "App Settings". Click on that. The first item in the next page is App Updates. Turn that off.
It took me a while to figure that out because the Microsoft Store was not updating an app that's already on my computer - it was installing a new program.]

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike,

Thanks for the heads up.

I have been running Win 11 since early December. It seems as though other companies are doing it too. I just put Garmin Express on this computer yesterday to get an update map load on our GPS. Garmin automatically selected auto updates. I have noticed apps/programs that I have loaded on this computer will setup their software with auto updates when the software is initially installed.

I want updates but I want to do it at my decision and timing not theirs. I worked with software updates for 34 years professionally. I never wanted to be the first to install updates or modifications and I never wanted to be the last. The first always find the bugs and the last catches grief for being tardy.

[Doug Garson]

Mike,

Thanks for the heads up.

I have been running Win 11 since early December. It seems as though other companies are doing it too. I just put Garmin Express on this computer yesterday to get an update map load on our GPS. Garmin automatically selected auto updates. I have noticed apps/programs that I have loaded on this computer will setup their software with auto updates when the software is initially installed.

I want updates but I want to do it at my decision and timing not theirs. I worked with software updates for 34 years professionally. I never wanted to be the last to install updates or modifications and I never wanted to be the last. The first always find the bugs and the last catches grief for being tardy.

?? you don't want to be last or last? :confused:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

OOOOPS! Thanks! I'll correct that!

[Lee Schierer]

What was the App (program) that was installed?

A recent update turned off the random scenery photos that showed up during startup on my windows 11. It took some time to figure out how to turn that feature back on.

One thing that you have to understand, you don't own any of the software nor operating system on your computer. Microsoft or Apple own those items. They can pretty much make changes and cease support at anytime with little notice.

[Mike Henderson]

What was the App (program) that was installed?

A recent update turned off the random scenery photos that showed up during startup on my windows 11. It took some time to figure out how to turn that feature back on.

One thing that you have to understand, you don't own any of the software nor operating system on your computer. Microsoft or Apple own those items. They can pretty much make changes and cease support at anytime with little notice.

I don't remember exactly, Lee. I uninstalled it as soon as I found it. It was some type of video editor - probably a simple one that could be used for TikTok videos.

I do a small amount of video editing but I use Adobe Premiere.

I understand the relationship with Microsoft but I still don't want them putting software on my computer without my permission. I was able to turn that function off but it should never have been done in the first place.

Mike

[Kev Williams]

Microsoft putting unwanted crap on computers, gee, where've I heard THAT before! ;)

[Michael Schuch]

I just recently purchased a new Windows 11 computer. No real problems there, I got everything copied over.

Then I received a notice from the Microsoft Store that it had installed a program on my computer - a program that I didn't want and had never even heard of. I was quite upset by this. I don't know what gives Microsoft the idea that they should install random programs on people's computers.

It took me a bit to figure out how to turn this off, but I was just flabbergasted that anyone could think this was a good idea. The only thing I can think of is that the companies who make the software pay Microsoft for each download from the Microsoft Store.

Anyway, wanted to let others know of this. To turn it off, you go to the Microsoft Store and turn off app updates.

Mike

[Some additional info on how to turn this off. First, you have to open the Store App, not go to the Microsoft store on your browser. Log in. Then click on your picture or whatever you use for your account. It will be to the right of the search bar. That opens up a pull-down menu and the last item is "App Settings". Click on that. The first item in the next page is App Updates. Turn that off.
It took me a while to figure that out because the Microsoft Store was not updating an app that's already on my computer - it was installing a new program.]

I don't mean to be rude, but have you purchased a "smart" phone in the last 10 years? Not only does it have a bunch of junk apps I don't want but I can't actually completely remove them from my phone without rooting it and installing my own OS rom.

I do agree with you though, it takes me about 5 minutes to install Windows 10 or Windows 11 on reasonable fast hardware then another 3 - 4 hours to make the darned OS usable. I have absolutely no interest in putting all my private files on OneDrive for Microsoft to peruse at their pleasure! I do believe that their logic is that the cell phone manufactures and carriers are getting away with it so why shouldn't they.

[Curt Harms]

What was the App (program) that was installed?

A recent update turned off the random scenery photos that showed up during startup on my windows 11. It took some time to figure out how to turn that feature back on.

One thing that you have to understand, you don't own any of the software nor operating system on your computer. Microsoft or Apple own those items. They can pretty much make changes and cease support at anytime with little notice.

That's something that few are aware of, Lee. When you shell out $$$ for Proprietary software, you're not buying the software, you're buying a license to use the software. Microsoft, Adobe or whoever still own the software, they've licensed you to use it. There's a difference. Having defacto monopolies are a good thing for some of us.

[Bob McBreen]

I am a retired Microsoft guy, and also hate the bloatware. I have not reviewed the Windows 11End User License Agreement but expect that it is similar to previous versions that include language that gives them the right to install anything they want on your computer.

It stinks, but it seems every tech company has similar strategies. In the home printer category some printers will not print if you are using non-OEM ink. There are also logic bombs that brick the machine after a specific number of months.

[Michael Weber]

My signature here at one time.
“I still miss DOS. When you knew what was on your computer, who put it there and what it did.”

[Howard Pollack]

Consider switching to Linux. Easy to use, can almost perfectly mimic Windows or Mac and is much less contaminated with crap. -Howard

[Mike Henderson]

Consider switching to Linux. Easy to use, can almost perfectly mimic Windows or Mac and is much less contaminated with crap. -Howard

I tried Linux but decided to stick with Microsoft Windows.

Mike

[Michael Schuch]

Consider switching to Linux. Easy to use, can almost perfectly mimic Windows or Mac and is much less contaminated with crap. -Howard

I run a Open Media Vault server (Ubuntu Linux) box for storage, Plex, Home Assistant, backups and what ever else I can shove into a container. It is many times more stable than Windows for these server type functions and is running on my outdated old workstation and is never even close to making the old hardware sweat. I love it!

I run PfSense as a firewall which is built on FrreeBSD (BSD Unix) and it is a million times better than the Linksys, TP-Link, Netgear, Asus, etc. home routers/firewalls.

But it is pretty much impossible to get away from Windows when I am a software engineer centered around the Microsoft stack. If I want to run pretty much application software Wine and its many branches really does not cut it. Wine will run simple software without a problem but anything with any complexity was never stable for me.

[Luke Dupont]

Linux has gotten better and better in the last decade.

I wouldn't have ever said this before, but it really is a drop in replacement for Windows at this point, unless you need some really special Windows only software.

I have two hard separate hard drives on the computer I recently built -- one dedicated to windows, and another larger one for Linux. I almost never log into Windows any more, though I have the option to do so if needed.

As much as possible, I avoid using Windows and storing any personal information on my Windows install. It's basically just spyware and bloatware at this point, intended to cater to, and take advantage of unsophisticated users.

[Brian Elfert]

I run a Open Media Vault server (Ubuntu Linux) box for storage, Plex, Home Assistant, backups and what ever else I can shove into a container. It is many times more stable than Windows for these server type functions and is running on my outdated old workstation and is never even close to making the old hardware sweat. I love it!


I administer Windows servers at work that do those same functions and they just work. I couldn't tell you the last time we touched those servers due to an issue. Most of the applications we rely on to run our business only run on Windows. My employer also has a number of Linux servers too that I also deal with. We only expose Linux servers to the Internet in a DMZ.

[Rollie Meyers]

What was the App (program) that was installed?

A recent update turned off the random scenery photos that showed up during startup on my windows 11. It took some time to figure out how to turn that feature back on.

One thing that you have to understand, you don't own any of the software nor operating system on your computer. Microsoft or Apple own those items. They can pretty much make changes and cease support at anytime with little notice.


I had the same thing happen & do not have a clue on how to restore it.

[Curt Harms]

I tried Linux but decided to stick with Microsoft Windows.

Mike

When did you try it, Mike? Ease of use has improved substantially in the past few years. There are a couple distros that are pretty simple to use and capable, Linux Mint and Zorin. You can create a live USB and try them out without touching your Windows installation. You just have to figure out what key to press when your PC first powers up to get a choice of boot devices. The biggest reason that Linux doesn't work are if you need a certain app. Adobe is a biggie and Quickbooks may be another. I don't know if the online version of Quickbooks will work in a browser with Linux or not. Hardware support is pretty good though certain wifi chipsets are problematic due to manufacturer lack of support.

[Mike Henderson]

When did you try it, Mike? Ease of use has improved substantially in the past few years. There are a couple distros that are pretty simple to use and capable, Linux Mint and Zorin. You can create a live USB and try them out without touching your Windows installation. You just have to figure out what key to press when your PC first powers up to get a choice of boot devices. The biggest reason that Linux doesn't work are if you need a certain app. Adobe is a biggie and Quickbooks may be another. I don't know if the online version of Quickbooks will work in a browser with Linux or not. Hardware support is pretty good though certain wifi chipsets are problematic due to manufacturer lack of support.

Went and checked my records - I received the Mint distribution in December 2016. Probably installed it in January 2017.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

I had the same thing happen & do not have a clue on how to restore it.

I'm on Windows 11 now so my comments may not work for Windows 10.

Anyway, go to settings and choose personalization. Then find "Personalize your lock screen". Set it to Windows Spotlight. This is for the picture that shows up before you log on.

For background, it's Bing Wallpaper which you set a different way. One thing that can happen is that the Bing Wallpaper gets turned off. Go to Bing in hidden icons (lower right corner of the screen), choose Bing and turn it back on. If Bing is not there, Google Bing Wallpaper and install it.

Mike

[Lee DeRaud]

As much as possible, I avoid using Windows and storing any personal information on my Windows install. It's basically just spyware and bloatware at this point, intended to cater to, and take advantage of unsophisticated users.
I seriously doubt that particular attitude is going to generate a lot of converts to Linux, especially within this group.

[Chris Parks]

A few years ago and I am only going on memory I was watching a YT video where one of the leading experts in Linux was explaining why there were no common apps right across the Linux world and he said it was impossible to due to every distro being different. I wish I could find it now to link here as it was quite an interesting talk on some of the problems that Linux does have.

[Curt Harms]

A few years ago and I am only going on memory I was watching a YT video where one of the leading experts in Linux was explaining why there were no common apps right across the Linux world and he said it was impossible to due to every distro being different. I wish I could find it now to link here as it was quite an interesting talk on some of the problems that Linux does have.

There are a few apps that are very widespread in the Linux world. LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird immediately come to mind. Inkscape and Blender are some others. There are 3 primary distros - Ubuntu, Arch and RedHat Enterprise Linux/Fedora. Most of the dozens of distros are modifications/additions/subtractions of one of those three. There is a movement afoot to change the way Linux software is distributed. There are three systems - Appimage, Flatpak and Snap. These package the application and required dependencies together so there is little chance of the correct version of a required supporting file not being available. I'm certainly no expert on this stuff but I think Flatpaks and Snaps run in a sandbox so are somewhat confined from affecting the rest of the system.

[Chris Parks]

I wish I could recall the specifics of the talk but it surrounded the lack of commonality across the distros preventing him from doing some of the things possible in Windows.

[Robert Engel]

Try deleting your Microsoft account............:eek:

[Lee DeRaud]

Try deleting your Microsoft account............:eek:
The only reason I can think you'd want to is if you are switching to 100% Mac or 100% Linux.
In which case, it's a bit like deleting an AOL account: yeah, it's difficult, but why bother?

[Mike Henderson]

Try deleting your Microsoft account............:eek:

Of course, Microsoft is moving to not allowing its software to work without an account.

Mike