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Comment by wvenable | Hacker News Reader

> You can't remove worthless apps like Microsoft Groove and OneDrive integration.

You can, it's just not super-easy. I've done both. Groove was pretty easy but OneDrive took a few steps.

I almost have file explorer configured in a good way for me -- it actually seems much more flexible than previous versions even if half that flexibility is only available in regedit.

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OneDrive comes back to the File Explorer after each Windows 10 big update, even if you disable its icon with the registry editor. The same happens to the library folders (Videos, Pictures etc.).

Yes, many customizations are lost with the "big" updates, including disabling telemetry and cortana as well as tons of settings. That's because they aren't _really_ updates; they are complete OS installs. Your old windows directory is literally renamed to windows.OLD.

This is my largest complaint with Windows 10. In particular, it resets file associations on every major patch. Supposedly this is because applications are no longer supposed to set associations themselves, the user is supposed to do it individually for a file of each type through the Windows interface, and Win10 is "fixing broken associations".

There's a regedit fix here that worked for me.

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/windows-10-resetting-file-...

Can you disable Cortana? Last I heard you can't

The switch to disable Cortana was removed, so now you have to use the group policy editor or (on Home), edit the registry.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-tip-turn-off-cortana...

Also remember to block searchui.exe in your firewall or windows will contact Microsoft every time you run local filesystem searches.

You can't as of the Anniversary update [1]. You can kind of hide it though.

[1]: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/cortana-is-mandatory-in-the-windo...

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