New to Windows 10 seeking advise

[Johnny Speed]

Ok, so I bought a PC from my friend for cheap, he bought it new a couple years ago and never used it so it is basically brand new. I already updated to 2H22 or whatever it's called.

HP Elite 8200 Tower
Intel Core I7-2600 3.4 ghz
16 GB DDR3
128G SSD for the OS
2 TB drive for games
GTX 1050 TI 4gb
Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

It is just about excatily the same specs as my W7 machine that runs my games perfectly (AC, rFactor, ect..) so I am cool with the specs.

What I want to do is get rid of all unnecessary Bloat from windows 10. I already uninstalled ONEDRIVE, and disabled (not removed just disabled) Cortina.

What else should I do, get rid of, disable? The only reason I got this machine is because of STEAM dropping W7 in Jan. 2024. So I am in no big rush as my W7 machine is still running perfectly.

Any advise, instructions for a Windows 10 Noob (Windows 10 for Idiot's lol) will be most welcome, please and as always Thank You!

 

[Durge Driven]

https://winaero.com/

Start simple, change a few tweaks at a time.
Export changes for next fresh OS.
One of favourite tweaks is activating the old photo viewer.

Welcome to Open-Shell

Classic Shell Reborn.

open-shell.github.io

Open Shell can have W10 looking much cleaner.
I remove the entire MS start menu.

Main thing do your fresh OS offline.
During setup tick " I don't have the internet" and continue.

 

[Johnny Speed]

https://winaero.com/

Start simple, change a few tweaks at a time.
Export changes for next fresh OS.
One of favourite tweaks is activating the old photo viewer.

Welcome to Open-Shell

Classic Shell Reborn.

open-shell.github.io

Open Shell can have W10 looking much cleaner.
I remove the entire MS start menu.

Main thing do your fresh OS offline.
During setup tick " I don't have the internet" and continue.

View attachment 680066

The OS was already installed and set up, so I think it may be to late. I turned off things I know (read) about but now it's already connected to the internet and....now what?

EDIT: Oh, I understand now (I think) WinAERO and OpenShell will help tweak the OS after install....Thank you I will look for Youtube Videos that help explain. COOL!

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Just run msconfig and disable unneeded startup apps and non essential auto startup services. You don't need anything else and it worked like a champ in all Windows versions.

 

[Durge Driven]

100's of things you can adjust in Winaero quickly you can't do in W10.
For instance I have a heap of things on right click context , for me that's convenient
As well personally speaking I want UI as I like, have a look at the appearance settings
alone you can do in both apps. Got to be individual.

When I do a fresh OS I have 100's of changes setup in a few clicks.
At least give it a go if you don't like the changes you can reset it in 1 click.

Winaero can turn off most anything and gives you good tips for each unlike windows which basically tells you nothing. Many things save resources can make OS smoother running.

I haven't used msconfig since dos lol
startup apps is in windows settings the idea being you don't have to jump from one window ( cmd) to another to do basic stuff. Course you right you should have nothing in start up.

 

[Durge Driven]

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Not sure why anyone would need "God knows what else they do" 3rd party tools over standard way of managing what it running on startup or not.
Either there is some ulterior motive or the tendency overcomplicating simple stuff to sound "knowledgeable". Shrug.

 

[Durge Driven]

Honestly he never really touched on the best features if you can believe that.
Like I said you can make 100's of changes then export them to your other towers in a few clicks. How is that not better ?
You think everyone should be mushrooms and use default windows ?
Why? For what purpose ?


One of the things I really like is how clean you can make
Windows Explorer, if you look at mine all you see is drive letters.
No useless things to me like onedrive network, delegated folders, etc. etc.
( this is my everyday tower not my sim tower, saves energy when not driving )

Now compare that with your stock explorer.
You can't do that in stock windows you need Winaero.
Why do it ? oh I don't know because I like the cleaner look.

 

[Durge Driven]

Not sure why anyone would need "God knows what else they do" 3rd party tools over standard way of managing what it running on startup or not.
Either there is some ulterior motive or the tendency overcomplicating simple stuff to sound "knowledgeable". Shrug.

Each to his own.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Quick walkthrough if anyone is not familiar with MSConfig.

 

[Johnny Speed]

Thanks guys, I will research a bit myself from your helpful hints and see where it goes. I wish I could just run my W7 computer forever, but STEAM is a bitch. All I want to do is play my games...like my Grandfather said all those years ago, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." STEAM sucks

 

[blekenbleu]

Honestly he never really touched on the best features if you can believe that.

Thanks for the Winaero reminder; I used it based on your recommendation
when first getting a Win 10 PC but had forgot; it now seems more comprehensive.
I preferred this Winaero video for mentioning Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility

 

[Johnny Speed]

Thanks for the Winaero reminder; I used it based on your recommendation
when first getting a Win 10 PC but had forgot; it now seems more comprehensive.
I preferred this Winaero video for mentioning Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility

@blekenbleu Thank you for the heads up about CTT very good stuff. And @Durge Driven working my way thru Winaro tweaker, also very good stuff! Thanks a lot for the advise from all you guys, very much appreciated.

 

[Johnny Speed]

Happy to say I have rF1 running on my new computer, F1 Legends by BorikS and Deepstrike. Had to install DX9 stuff, but now it's up and running and that is cool. Hopefully I can just Copy/Paste all my other rF1 installs (HistorX for example) from my old machine to the new one and they will work. I copy/pasted F1 Legends and it worked, so.....I hope it's that easy.