Please make Cortana stop!

Upgrade to 2004, you can uninstall the beast! All gone!

shipwreck said:

Thanks again everyone, I have Revo but the Cortana app isn’t listed. I have tried several commands within Powershell and of course the three programs mentioned. I also tried what was suggested in the pinned note. I am away from the computer now until Thursday morning, will then try WinAero. Thanks again everyone for your suggestions. Wish me luck!

I'm using Revo version 2.1.5

TBH, I don't really remember if it WAS listed. In Revo, under Windows Apps, I removed all but these few, which I'm still investigating... (well I decided to keep some of these like Nvidia, Realtek, 3D Paint etc.)
Make sure you have a good backup, before going crazy with Revo.










In WinAero Tweaker, all the "disable Cortana" does is create the registry entry (allow = 0), BUT, there are about... 200 tweaks in WinAero. I very slowly, went through most of them... deciding yea or nay.
Note: In WinAero, when you decide you have it set the way you like... click Tools > Import/export, and export your settings to a safe place, if for any reason, you ever have to re-install Windows.

It won't be listed if you're on 1903/1909 or before because it's not an app. In 2004, it's an app and will be listed in Revo. That's how I uninstalled it.

f14tomcat said:

It won't be listed if you're on 1903/1909 or before because it's not an app. In 2004, it's an app and will be listed in Revo. That's how I uninstalled it.

I read that somewhere about Cortana... probably here. But at the moment, MS has claimed "compatibility issues" with my Win 10 install, and has yet to offer me a "compatible" version of 2004.

Ghot said:

I read that somewhere about Cortana... probably here. But at the moment, MS has claimed "compatibility issues" with my Win 10 install, and has yet to offer me a "compatible" version of 2004.

You can try the trick I used. I had the same stuck in limbo land message. I did an in-place repair with the 1909 ISO to clean out any cobwebs. Next day I was offered 2004. No guarantees.

f14tomcat said:

You can try the trick I used. I had the same stuck in limbo land message. I did an in-place repair with the 1909 ISO to clean out any cobwebs. Next day I was offered 2004. No guarantees.

When I installed 1909 in May 2020, I installed it ALL on one partition. All those little Win 10 partitions are all on the same C: partition as the OS is. I THINK that may be the issue.

For all the tweaking I have done, I haven't broken anything, SFC and DISM come up perfect. Haven't had ANY issues at all.
All the regular monthly updates work fine as well.
I don't think MS and/or the 2004 FU, really like my "have it my way", method of Windows 10 use. I'm not worried about the 2004 FU at all.

I WAS offered 2004... it just failed at 96% , due to incompatibility.

Ghot said:

When I installed 1909 in May 2020, I installed it ALL on one partition. All those little Win 10 partitions are all on the same C: partition as the OS is. I THINK that may be the issue.

For all the tweaking I have done, I haven't broken anything, SFC and DISM come up perfect. Haven't had ANY issues at all.
All the regular monthly updates work fine as well.
I don't think MS and/or the 2004 FU, really like my "have it my way", method of Windows 10 use. I'm not worried about the 2004 FU at all.

I WAS offered 2004... it just failed at 96% , due to incompatibility.

All those little Win 10 partitions should be there. If it looks similar to this, you're fine. Screenshot is from MiniTool since Disk Management won't show the LBA 16mb partition.




don't want to get too far off topic..........................................

ignatzatsonic said:

Hmmmm..............I have an "uninstall" icon in settings/apps and features/Cortana, but it seems to be "greyed out". Poking it does nothing.

I hate Cortana, so maybe my previous fiddling from months ago pre-version 2004 had already "uninstalled" it? Settings says it's only 8 KB.

All I want or need is the magnifying glass/search box thingy on the Taskbar.

Using Revo uninstaller, free is fine, 2004 only.