Yes, some services have to be stopped in order to be able to cleanup.
You can download this and run it as admin, it automates some of it.

Windows/Windows Cleanup.bat at main ....

Windows 11 had once an issue which prevented it from updating, because of an empty reg entry.
MS issued a reg cleaner fix, people with a reg cleaner had no issue. So it is hardly an outdated...

11 likes to move everything into onedrive, if you no longer have it, links might have been messed up.

Restore Default Location of Personal Folders in Windows 10

Just disable malware altogether, 11 is already doing it by disabling vbs. Run CMD as admin and copy/paste:

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows Script Host\Settings" /v "Enabled" /t REG_DWORD...

For a few files as suggested something like 7zip to encrypt files and file names.
For a permanent storage veracrypt or a cloud with zero knowledge encryption.

All it takes is to know the PIN. Bitlocker is a toy for kids, it has it's merit, but I would never use it to secure data.

A faulty AHCI/SATA driver can cause what appears like 100% disk activity. Check for new drivers via Driver Easy.

Anyway System Informer neatly shows, what process is causing high I/O activity and...

Have you tried store version? It does not auto-start for me, since I have store apps startup disabled.

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v...

Sublimity.uk Safe? Check it Now | URLVoid


Possibly, it is like a parked domain (not used) which could be used to redistribute malware.


The fact that your PC tries to connect to it suggests...

ISP controlled router, so basically no router, I only turned off 5GHz.
Binisoft WFC, mostly to control Windows processes, like IP ranges.

Every time a webpage has a problem, you are told to refresh the page, because it removes the cache and loads it fresh, it basically fixes all issues. Unless you have a slow or data limited internet,...

https://github.com/TairikuOokami/Windows/blob/main/Windows%20Cleanup.bat
Windows Repair Toolbox - contains almost all tools needed.

Windows does not charge for the codec, the dev does. MS includes free AV1 instead.


So if students can not afford software they need like MS office or Adobe, they should steal it, interesting.

MS does not care, once Win10 supports ends (2025), it can force the upgrade as recently proven by MS, which states that it will force upgrades, even if it makes unsupported PCs unbootable. Consider...

There are many free sync/backup apps.

Duplicati
EaseUS Todo Backup - Best Free Backup Software for Windows 11/10/8/7
2024 Completely Free Windows Backup Software for Windows 11/10/8/7 - Hasleo...

Would this work?

reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters" /v "EnableMDNS" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient" /v...

It seems that Windows is trying to upgrade to 11, but since MSA is mandatory, it asks you to login first.
Check windows update page to verify, if it is offered. If that is the case, you can try to...

Technically it is about blocking popups, not ads. For example I only block trackers, I try to avoid blocking ads, but tracking also involves blocking some ads, then there is also malvertising, it is...

It is generated by ebay, you can block it by using ublock picker.

Element picker . gorhill/uBlock Wiki . GitHub

I will never understand people making huge backups. Why? It takes a lot of time, money and performance.
Keep system partition small to make efficient backups. Mine (20GB) takes 2 mins to create and...

On 11: Disable Smart App Control blocking legitimate apps like VisualC++
Optionally: Disable Defender to improve performance significantly

Overall: Setup 1, Setup 2, Tweaks, Cleanup:
GitHub -...

RadioSure was my favorite, but when it died I moved to Audials Radio on PC and Android.

2fast – Two Factor Authenticator - do not forget to backup the database.

Dns Lock v1.5

I would not buy a motherboard without it. Some issues can make PC unbootable (TPM related are pretty popular thanks to MS), re-flashing BIOS can help with that, but it is impossible to flash BIOS...