This is How I Configure Windows 10 (Premium)

Windows 10 is riddled with crapware and advertising, and it’s hobbled by an invasive and overly-aggressive updating schedule. And yet it’s still a better choice than Mac, Chromebook, or Linux, at least for my needs. So I’ve developed a strategy for minimizing the annoyances and optimizing Windows 10 to be as efficient as possible.

Most of these configuration changes are detailed in the Windows 10 Field Guide, which is now being updated for the latest Windows 10 version. In fact, that’s what inspired me to write this up: I recently updated the chapters for installing and personalizing Windows 10, and it occurred to me that I was perhaps overdue in explaining how I configure Windows 10 and why.

The “why” bit is partially general, in that I feel it will help most readers, and partially personal: There are features in Windows 10 that I simply will never use, and part of my initial configuration of this system—and, seriously, this is something I do dozens of times each year because I review and use so many different PCs—is designed to make it as efficient and distraction-free as possible. Obviously, you should assess each item listed here individually and determine what’s right for you.

Also, the order is important. This isn’t just what I do, it’s the order in which I do it, and the order in which I think it should be done. In other words, don’t skip ahead. Assess each item in order.

Finally, this list applies to any Windows 10 clean install. This includes configuring a new PC out of the box or blowing away an existing install and starting over with Reset this PC (Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC), Fresh start (which is now found in Windows Security > Device Performance & health >  Fresh start), or USB-based install media.

Here we go.

During Setup

The following steps occur during Windows Setup.

Silence Cortana

In the opening screen of Windows Setup’s Out of Box Experience (OOBE), Cortana very loudly scats about how you can use your voice to set up Windows 10. To preserve my sanity, I immediately turn off her screeching by selecting the microphone icon (not the speaker icon for some reason) at the bottom of the screen.

Why: Almost no one would ever want to set up Windows 10 with their voice, so it’s unclear why this is on by default. And literally no one needs to be yelled at. This stupidity routinely scares the crap out of me when I’m not paying attention.

Connect to a wireless network

If your PC uses a Wi-Fi networking interface, you will be asked to connect to your Wi-Fi network before continuing with Setup. Do so. And when prompted, do not allow your PC to be seen by other PCs on your home network. (Those with wired Ethernet connections will not see this step.)

Why: You will correctly configure how your PC behaves on your local network later.

Do not sign-in with Microsoft (yet)

When prompted during Windows Setup to “sign in with Microsoft,” I decline and instead configure a local account (called Paul) with no password. You do this by choosing “Offline account” and then bypassing the “Sign in with Microsoft instead?” display by choosing “No.”

Why: You can very easily convert an offline account (which is a terrible name for what this really is, a local account) later, and I prefer the cleanness of the directory structure this creates (C:\Users\Paul). Plus, I prefer to make some configuration changes before signing in to my Microsoft account, and the PC will be rebooting several times. It’s easier and faster to get through this without worrying about a password or PIN. But once that’s done, I will sign-in to my MSA and it can then sync whatever settings I’ve previously configured (like the desktop wallpaper, saved passwords, and so on).

Do not configure Cortana

Everyone who uses Windows 10 will need to deal with Cortana in some way—it’s integrated and cannot be disabled—but it’s easy to minimize this integration. Just choose “No” when prompted with “Make Cortana your personal assistant?” during Windows Setup.

Why: I don’t explicitly use Cortana and never will. I take steps later to further minimize Cortana. And it’s worth pointing out that Microsoft is separating Cortana out of Start search in the next Windows 10 version, so this will work even better in the future.

Accept privacy defaults

Microsoft interrupts Windows Setup with a screen displaying several high-level privacy settings you can toggle off individually. I don’t ever bother to do this, and I just select “Accept” and move past this screen.

Why: Microsoft’s use of telemetry data to help improve Windows 10 is understandable, non-intrusive, and anonymous. Accepting these defaults simply means that you’re willing to help Microsoft make Windows 10 better. But if you are concerned about the privacy implications here, I strongly recommend visiting Settings > Privacy after you’ve signed in with your MSA and Windows 10 is fully configured and laboriously stepping through each of the settings you see there. That interface provides a far more granular set of controls for determining—and viewing—what data is sent to Microsoft.

Post-install

These steps occur after you’ve booted into the Windows 10 desktop for the first time.

Turn down the volume

Windows 10 is configured with a very high system volume out of the box for some reason. (This, plus the nonsensically playful language it uses, is why the Cortana voice control opening during Setup is so annoying.) So turn it down.

Why: The system volume is too loud by default.

Customize the display

Windows will try to select the correct resolution and display scaling for your PC’s display based on its understanding of its size and capabilities. But you may still want to customize these options to your liking and make other changes related to how Windows looks on your PC. Most of these settings can be found in Settings > System > Display. They are:

• Resolution. Make sure that the resolution is set to the native resolution of your display.
• Display scaling. Scale the user interface to your liking.
• Make text bigger. I don’t actually do this, but if you would like to independently scale the size of the text (separate from the rest of the UI), there’s a hidden feature for this: Use Start (or Settings) search to search for make text bigger and then scale the text to your liking.
• Fix blurry applications. You’ll be prompted when needed, but you can proactively tell Windows to try and fix blurry legacy apps (which don’t understand display scaling) in Settings > Display > Advanced scaling settings.
• Night light. I always enable Night light to automatically come on between sunset and sunrise and I use the warmest temperature possible.

Why: It’s important that Windows looks right before you proceed. That said, you may need to repeat some of these steps later if you install a graphics driver that changes things.

Check your system date and time

Many times, I’ll boot into Windows 10 for the first time and see that the time and/or time zone (and, less frequently now, the date) are incorrect. So I fix this before installing updates or making any other changes. You do so from Date & time settings. To get there, right-click the time and date display in the notification area, and then choose adjust/date time. Then, disable “Set time automatically” and/or “Set time zone automatically” and manually set both. Then, re-enable both of those options and close Settings.

Why: Microsoft used to prompt you to check these items during Windows Setup but removed this option to save time. (Yes, ironically.) But Windows 10 often doesn’t configure the time and time zone correctly, which is confusing. Our phones do a better job with this basic functionality.

Rename the PC

Microsoft gives your PC a nonsensical name by default. So I rename it, using a name that is easily-understood (like Surface-Laptop or EliteOne or whatever). You do this by navigating to Settings > System > About and choosing the “Rename this PC” button. Then reboot the PC as requested.

Why: This isn’t just a nicety. When you need to access the PCs associated with your Microsoft account, it’s important to be able to identify each PC correctly.

Install Windows Updates

After rebooting, open Windows Updates and check for updates. (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > “Check for updates.”) Install any pending updates—usually, you’ll find a Windows 10 cumulative update and at least a few other smaller updates, including perhaps some driver installs—and reboot when prompted. Repeat this process until there are no more updates to install.

Why: Depending on the PC, this might be all you need to do to get it completely up-to-date or it might just be the first step.

Check Device Manager

After Windows Update finishes its thing, check Device Manager (find it with Start search or use the Quick access menu; WINKEY + X) to make sure all of your hardware devices are supported with working drivers. If you see any yellow exclamation points (called “bangs” in industry lingo), something is wrong, so refer to the next step.

Why: A clean Device Manager is a major milestone on the way to a working install of Windows 10. But even that doesn’t ensure that you’re done with driver installs.

Update your drivers

Unless you built your own PC, your PC maker should provide a utility that will check for the latest drivers and install them. (With HP, for example, this is called HP Support Assistant.) So find this utility from the PC maker’s website, check for and install any pending updates, reboot as necessary, and repeat until everything is up-to-date. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card or other specialty hardware that requires special drivers, you should install the appropriate drivers/utilities (for example, NVIDIA GeForce Experience) and update accordingly as well.

If you did build your own PC or Device Manager is displaying yellow bangs that aren’t resolved using various utilities and driver installs, you’ll need to do a bit of forensic examination. Right-click a non-working hardware device in Device Manager and choose “Update Driver Software” and then “Search automatically for updated driver software.” If that doesn’t work, right-click the device and choose Properties. In the Properties window that appears, navigate to the Details tab and then choose Hardware Ids from the Property drop-down. Right-click the first item in the Value list and choose Copy. Then, search the web with that string. You will discover what the device is and then be able to find a driver install online.

Why: Hopefully you won’t need to do most of this. But it’s important to make sure your PC is fully and optimally operational before proceeding.

Activate Windows if needed

For the most part, Windows 10 will active automatically: If you bought a PC, it has been activated for you, and if you used PC Reset, Start fresh, or a USB-based installer to reinstall Windows 10 on a PC that previously was using Windows 10, activation is automatic.

If you are building a new PC yourself, you will have to activate Windows manually. To check, navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Activation. Enter your 25-digit product key to activate if needed.

Why: It doesn’t hurt to check to see if Windows is correctly activated, and you should do this before moving on.

Create a recovery drive

Next, create a USB-based recovery drive, which can be used to boot your PC and fix problems, including getting Windows 10 reinstalled if needed. The easiest way to find this tool is with Start search: Open the Start menu and type recovery drive. In the wizard that appears, be sure to leave the option “Back up system files to the recovery drive” selected.

Why: I suspect that most Windows 10 users never take the time to make this important recovery tool. But a recovery drive is key if your PC won’t boot, and you can’t access the built-in recovery tools. (Note that USB-based Windows install media can be used as a recovery drive as well.

Sign-in with your Microsoft account

Only now should you sign-in to your Microsoft account, by converting your local (offline) account to your MSA. Navigate to Settings > Accounts > Your info and select “Sign in with a Microsoft account instead,” and then follow the prompts.

Because your MSA is protected with a password, you will be prompted to create a PIN and, perhaps, use some other form of Windows Hello authentication if your PC supports it. Do create the PIN. And then optionally set up whatever other form of authentication (fingerprint reader, facial recognition, and so on) you wish to use as well.

Why: While it is possible to use Windows 10 without a Microsoft account—or, optionally, to manually sign-in to individual Store apps—most users will want to sign-in and gain the automatic benefits of cross-PC settings sync, automatic app sign-in, and more. I always use an MSA on my PCs.

Sign-in to OneDrive

If you use Microsoft’s cloud storage service, this is the time to sign-in to that and configure it as you wish. These days, I use the Files On-Demand feature so that I can see the entire contents of my online storage, and I individually mark certain folders as being always available offline.

Why: It’s 2018, and no one should be storing documents and other data files only on their PC’s storage. By using OneDrive, you ensure that your valuable data syncs to the cloud and then to your other PCs and devices as needed as well. Yes, I use Office 365, so I get 1 TB of additional storage, which is the only way this can work, given how much data I have.

Configure the local network

I routinely share files between my PCs and my network-attached storage (NAS), so it’s important to me that the PC be correctly configured to do this. To do so, open File Explorer (WINKEY + E) and select Network in the navigation pane on the left. In the Network view, click OK in the pop-up warning that appears. Then, select the yellow message below the toolbar, which reads, “Network discovery and file sharing are turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click to change…” Select “Turn on network discovery and file sharing” from the pop-up menu that appears. Then choose “No, make the network that I am connected to a private network.”

Why: I don’t understand why Microsoft even offers to let your PC be viewable on public networks. Don’t do that. Like ever.

Update the built-in Store apps

At this point, I will open the Microsoft Store app, navigate to See more (“…”) > Downloads and updates, click “Get updates,” and make sure all of the built-in apps are updated. This can take a while, depending on the PC.

Why: Yes, it will update some crapware apps that we’ll be removing later. But it’s better to just let that happen, because I’ve found that if I remove them too quickly, they’ll be reinstalled later anyway because there were pending updates.

Install any applications you need

At this point, I start installing the applications I need—both from the web and from Microsoft Store—starting with Google Chrome. (I use a number of web apps through Chrome, plus some crucial services like Grammarly.) Here’s a complete list of the desktop applications, web apps, and Store apps I rely on.

This also includes pinning my frequently-used applications to the taskbar in the same order across PCs. And customizing the tile side of the Start menu to display a minimal number of tiles, since I rarely launch apps this way. (It’s interesting to me that the “simplified” Start menu coming in the next version of Windows 10 mimics what I’ve been doing all along.

Why: Apps are why we use Windows in the first place.

Remove crapware

While I’m installing applications, I take a few minutes to scan through the Start menu for any offensive apps I don’t want and I uninstall them. (Or otherwise remove them; Microsoft pins some shortcuts to Start that, when launched, will open the Microsoft Store so you can install them yourself. Goofy.) This includes crapware that your PC maker may have installed, too.

Why: I don’t want or need any of the third-party games or apps that Microsoft pushes on Windows 10 users. I wish they were optional or not installed at all, and some of the games, in particular, are huge, and they can require large updates over time.  That said, I don’t uninstall built-in Windows 10 applications that I don’t use, like Paint 3D or Groove. It’s just not worth the bother.

Configure the user interface

This one requires a number of steps of its own:

Remove superfluous taskbar items. I remove Cortana, Task View, My People, and the Windows Ink Workspace from the taskbar.

Configure File Explorer. By default, File Explorer displays Quick access as its default view, and it adds frequently-accessed folders and documents to this view over time. I don’t want that. So I open File Explorer, navigate to View > Options > Change folder and search options and make a number of changes:

• Open File Explorer to: This PC
• Privacy: Disable both “Show frequently used files in Quick access” and “Show frequently used folders in Quick access”

Then, I remove all folders from Quick access except for Desktop. And I add the OneDrive-based folders I do access regularly, like “To-do” and my monthly work folder (currently “2018-12”).

Disable Windows 10 advertising and suggestions. I make a number of changes throughout Settings, including:

• In Settings > Personalization > Start, I change “Show suggestions occasionally in Start” to Off. This removes the Suggested section from the All Apps list.
• In Settings > System > Notifications & actions, scroll down to the Notifications section. Then, disable “Show me the Windows welcome experience after updates and occasionally when I sign in to highlight what’s new and suggested” and “Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows.” Then, under the Get notifications from these senders section, turn off notifications for “Suggested” as well. This will disable the occasional display of tips, suggestions and other distracting and unnecessary notifications.

Why: This is where you make Windows your own. I wish these settings synced from PC-to-PC.

I think that’s everything

I will check this list against the next few Windows 10 PCs I configure or reconfigure, but I believe this list is essentially complete and correct.

One thing I don’t do is configure Windows Update to defer updates—which is only possible with Windows 10 Pro—though I understand why some way wish to do so. The thinking here is that I need to be on the frontline for this kind of thing, so I can experience it whether it goes well or poorly. But there’s no need for anyone reading this to do that.