How to disable MS's Quick Searches web propaganda?

P

pmikep

Active Member
Unlike my desktop, my friend's laptop receives every update that MS pushes. She is now up to Win 10 Build 2021.12.17.26246212.

Some time in the past few update cycles, a new "feature" has appeared when you type something into the Search Bar: Microsoft propaganda.

They call it "Quick searches" and while the Weather might be somewhat accurate, they offer their version of "Top News," what they consider important history that happened on this date, and fake COVID counts. (See photo of screen, below.)

I had disabled things like this earlier using a combination of NTLite and/or Regedit, to set Bing to Disable, Cortana to Disable, etc. And that worked.

But something has changed recently and I can't disable this "feature."

I thought that if anything could do it, that NTLite would be able to do it. If it does, I haven't found how to do it. I searched for it here in the forum. If it's here, I missed it.

Any ideas?

As a P.S. / Aside which might help locate the problem: While tapping around this "feature," I found some Settings that one could set in their Microsoft Account. (Perhaps to disable this?) I didn't log in to try it. BUT, another difference between my desktop Windows installation and my friend's laptop installation is that this laptop has a Microsoft Account, whereas my desktop does not. (I pull the Ethernet cable during Windows install so that that Windows doesn't ask me to create a Microsoft Account. Someone else set up my friend's laptop who doesn't know this trick and/or that there's a workaround for not having to create an Account.) So perhaps this is a classic example of Windows "phoning home."

Updated to correct from "Quick Access" to "Quick searches." And added photo.

MS Quick Searches.jpg
 
Last edited:
I checked in NTLite. I had already Disabled News & Interest on the Taskbar. (Under Settings.)

I think that this "feature" is new to Windows. I saw a few people bitching about it on the web.
 
Can you see it if you run NTL on your friend's live version if it's a point you have not taken into account other than if your friend has a live account.
As far as I know, NTL can not predict what a Windows Online account is pushing down on users?
 
garlin Yep, I already have those Registry changes. They make no difference anymore.

francis11 I didn't understand the first part of your message. But I think that Microsoft Account is the culprit. I turned off something called "push" using NTLite on my Desktop. I'll go back on my friend's laptop and run NTLite again to see whether I disabled "push" on her laptop.
 
Using NTLite on the laptop Live, I disabled three items with the word "push" in them. Two in Settings, about pushing Notifications. One in Components about pushing Store apps.

No change.

But I noticed, while in the Admin Account, which does NOT have an MS Account associated with it, that there were no Quick searches offered. But once back in the User account, which does have an MS Account, the Quick searches were there.

So is this like the "tight integration" of IE with the NT 4.0 kernel from anti-trust days of long ago? This pushing is buried deep in the kernel again?
 
Don't know if this shows up in settings on w10?
<Tweak name="PushNotifications\NoCloudApplicationNotification">1</Tweak>
 
when i say news and interest i mean both settings and component. you only disabled settings. now remove component and try again
"windows web experience pack"

also attached my preset, i don't have them. check mine if its not that component.

Also u might want to disable web search
 

Attachments

  • Windows 11.xml
    17.6 KB
Last edited:
I appreciate the help.

francis11 I hand typed your Tweaks into an NTLite XML and loaded the Preset. The message from NTLite was essentially that there is nothing to do. So apparently those tweaks are Win11 specific.

But perhaps they should be allowed to work in Win10?

crypticus I searched for the component "Windows web experience pack" and it's not showing. Perhaps I had already removed it previously, or perhaps it's not a component in Win10.

I will look at your Preset for Win11 and try to copy/paste some of your settings to the laptop's Win10 xml.
 
This is a great opportunity to use the /forcelistcomponents flag. Capture the current list of installed features, with:
NTLite /forcelistcomponents /saveallstates

Now save the mounted image as a "preset", which you can upload for comparison.
 
pmikep said:
Unlike my desktop, my friend's laptop receives every update that MS pushes.
Click to expand...
SledgeHammer by pf100, you control windows update not the other way round.
Remember moons ago when you deleted a service and i gave you the service file from my registry to restore yours? Delete windows update services(having backed them up of course), restore them once a month, check for updates, install updates then delete services.
Use Windows Update Minitool and scan for updates in offline mode using wsusscn.2cab(link in my Interesting page).

Faffing around i know but make an excuse for coffee morning/afternoon once a month, sort the laptop and boom your done. :)
 
Last edited:
garlin Tnx. It sounds easy but I'm getting too old for this stuff. (I'm actually trying to wean myself off of NTLite.) But maybe I'll persist one more time and try your trick. (Or maybe nuhi will make stopping the propaganda an easy thing to do in NTLite.)

Clanger Yep, I have Sledghammer locking down my desktop and everything is (nearly) perfect. (I haven't updated for at least a year.) But it's not my laptop. And my friend believes that she knows more about computers than I do, and she doesn't believe that I know what I'm doing. (Sigh, the story of my life as I try to help ppl.) So she has to suffer with her bad decisions to not let me help her too much.

BTW, you appear to have a memory like a steel trap. I have forgotten almost all of the things that you've helped me with in the past. (Sorry.)
 
Last edited:
Recently I used the latest version of NTLite on my friend's laptop, a laptop with a Win10 version that kept spewing Microsoft Propaganda whenever the Search bar was being used.

I'm pleased to report that the (new?) NTLite switch to disable "Bing Search Results" (or words to that effect) worked. No Pravda No More.
 
I dont like search results "filtered". If msm told me the pope was a catholic i wouldnt believe them.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top