Brand new computer, want it pared down

I just bought a Dell Inspiron 7506 2n1, Windows 10 Home version 2004, build 19041.508.

Microsoft includes so much spyware and Dell probably includes its own garbage as well. What I'd like to do is turn off unnecessary ports, turn off most of Microsoft's "helpful" apps, increase font and icon size so I can actually see something, and just generally pare down anything not strictly necessary.

I've already downloaded Firefox and will not be using Bing. I currently have a 30 day trial of McAfee, but have been told on this forum that Defender is now very good and I don't need third party...but how much info does it send to MS?

I'll be using my computer mostly for documents, a little (but not much) social media, a lot of online research, and online classes. So, can someone point me to the correct tutorials? Personal experiences would be helpful as well.

What spyware? If you want a clean install, go to microsoft.com and download the iso. There is no spyware installed on your machine by Dell or Microsoft.

Hello @rosawoodsii,

rosawoodsii said:

I just bought a Dell Inspiron 7506 2n1, Windows 10 Home version 2004, build 19041.508.

Microsoft includes so much spyware and Dell probably includes its own garbage as well. What I'd like to do is turn off unnecessary ports, turn off most of Microsoft's "helpful" apps, increase font and icon size so I can actually see something, and just generally pare down anything not strictly necessary.

I've already downloaded Firefox and will not be using Bing. I currently have a 30 day trial of McAfee, but have been told on this forum that Defender is now very good and I don't need third party...but how much info does it send to MS?

I'll be using my computer mostly for documents, a little (but not much) social media, a lot of online research, and online classes. So, can someone point me to the correct tutorials? Personal experiences would be helpful as well.

As you have just got your new computer, now is certainly the best time to setup and implement a plan that will hopefully be trouble free for a very long time.

Because of all the rubbish that normally comes pre-installed, such as trial software, and to be honest, stuff that you will never use, it is best to perform a Clean Install of Windows straight away. This way, you can setup your computer exactly how you want it.

Windows Defender has come a long way, and it is pretty good at what it does now. I never thought I would say that!

There are many excellent Tutorials on this forum that will get you to the stage you want to be.

I hope this helps.

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You asked for Tutorials... for changing text size

Tutorials | Change Text Size in Windows 10

You can uninstall McAffee.

bro67 said:

What spyware? If you want a clean install, go to microsoft.com and download the iso. There is no spyware installed on your machine by Dell or Microsoft.

When I say spyware, I mean that Microsoft tracks everything, and I don't want to be tracked. I think even with a clean install I'll have to disable certain programs.

rosawoodsii said:

When I say spyware, I mean that Microsoft tracks everything, and I don't want to be tracked. I think even with a clean install I'll have to disable certain programs.

I am sure there will always be Telemetry!

NavyLCDR said:

Why not use Linux instead?

I plan on putting Linux on my old computer once the new one is stable. In the meantime, there are some programs that will not run on Linux and until I find good alternatives, I need Windows.

rosawoodsii said:

When I say spyware, I mean that Microsoft tracks everything, and I don't want to be tracked. I think even with a clean install I'll have to disable certain programs.

No they do not track anything.