Apps / Software :: Windows 8 Laptop - How To Prevent Automatic Downloads
Jun 29, 2014
I have just bought a new laptop which came with Windows 8 preinstalled. I have since updated to 8.1 Pro with Media Center and so far, touch wood, things appear to be running well.
Having used Windows 7 for ages, I found the change to 8 somewhat difficult but I am slowly figuring it out. There will undoubtedly be things I cannot sort for myself but straight off the bat I have one question:
Where can I change a setting to stop in 8.1 from automatically going on line and downloading stuff I don't want? I do not want to prevent automatic downloading of Windows Updates etc, but I have just turned on and been greeted with a message telling me that Windows has downloaded 9 new apps - Alarms, Calculator, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, Tips, Reading List, Scan, Sound Recorder, Bing Desktop, and MS Silverlight (yes, I know, this is 10!)
I particularly want to keep this new Laptop free of unnecessary software which I will never use, basically all I want is Word, Excel, email capability, the ability to view TV (when away from home, hence the upgrade to 'Pro with Media Center') but little else. I will soon be abandoning my home cable internet connection and will be relying on a much reduced plan and so will not want the limited data used up because the O/S automatically loads the computer with rubbish.
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Oct 12, 2013
I have had this Windows 8 64 bit laptop for 6 weeks now and I wish I had never bought it. Recently I have found that I am unable to update apps in Store or even to download new apps. I have read the responses from other members to previous requests on this subject and I have applied the 'fixes' they recommend but the problem is still there.
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Aug 3, 2014
Trying to find a decent program to create a DVD from rips / downloads of movies such as MP4 / MKV etc is a pain --there's the PAID for version CONVERTXTODVD but a good one is the FREE Linux program DEVEDE (works on .RPM distros (Opensuse, fedora etc) and there's also a version for DEBIAN/LINUX MINT and UBUNTU. The created DVD will play DVD's in stand alone DVD players.
Read the documentation as it's a little bit confusing -- also ensure you have the FFMPEG package installed and either MKISOFS or the CDR-TOOLS (or any other package that contains the mkisofs library). Ignore any missing dependencies when installing using your package manager - it's usually looking for mkisofs which is often incorporated into other libraries --it works OK.
Program will add subtitles too if you want it and you can adjust the disk usage (quality will adjust to the amount of DVD space you use.
Works either on a Linux HOST or a Virtual machine - I'm testing mine on a "Portable Linux" booted up on a USB3 thumb drive.
Here's how to use the program -- the link refers to UBUNTU but the program is the same on other distros too.
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Oct 10, 2013
I offten play game online, and my network is not fast. So when I playing game, it's usually "lag". I think it is because the modern apps (mail, people, weather...) and other background services auto connect to internet. I can stop or turn off these background services, but I don't know how to turn off or prevent modern apps do that to improve the network speed.
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Dec 10, 2013
I found that whenever I open an app, such as 'Reader' they remain open even after I switch to something else. I know I could close them by swiping the upper left of the screen and select 'Close'.
Is there a way to have them close altogether when I'm done with them?
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Aug 28, 2013
Windows 8 seems to detect my Xbox 360 and it automatically installs the SmartGlass app. While I quite like what SmartGlass can do, I have no need for it. If I uninstall it, it will just auto-install again next time I use my 360. How can I prevent this from happening?
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Sep 3, 2013
I was wondering, am I able to use the Applocker to prevent this from occurring? I can sadly not give a screeny of this... because if the message appears, there seems to be no way to get rid of it, but making a new local account?
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Jan 22, 2014
My laptop is stuck on preparing automatic repair! I've tried shift+f8, I've tried them separately. Nothing is working! I have no windows 8 install disc. The only thing I have access to is the laptop. Can I in someway fix the laptop
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Sep 15, 2014
A couple of days ago, I was on steam on my ASUS X550L Notebook when it suddenly blue screened and shut down. I waited a couple of minutes and turned it back on, and it went to the ASUS automatic repair system. After 6 hours of my laptop being stuck on the repair system, I shut it down. I waited around a minute and turned it back on and ran it through login, where it blue screened again and has not turned on since. If I go to try to turn it on, the lights in the bottom of the laptop flash for a couple of seconds, but it never turns on. I am okay with wiping the computer if I can get my files on an external hard drive, don't want to redownload them steam files.
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Oct 1, 2014
I have a Gateway laptop running Win8. Just yesterday upon booting up, received a message below Gateway logo that it is Preparing Automatic Recovery. After this a dark blue screen and it seems to reboot and repeat.
From reading other users' dealings with this issue, I've read that the HDD might be going bad or already bad.
I've been able to click F2 repeatedly to get to the InsydeH20 Setup Utility screen, but am not sure what (if anything) should be done from here.
Also, if my HDD is bad, is it possible to recover any information off of it? I have a ton of pictures on it that will devastate my wife if they are gone forever.
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Sep 2, 2014
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Computer was running slow so I did a reset of windows. It worked but the problem still existed. My computer froze so I turned my laptop off and back on only to find it stuck in that automatic repair loop. I tried system restore, no luck. I made that bootable usb for repairing and that didn't work either. Straight repair won't work either. I have tried every option and am completely lost as to how to proceed. I need the files off the hard drive but don't have a way to connect it to anything to be able to access the files.
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Nov 16, 2013
I have a new gateway lap top and after trying to install updates it crashed and went to black screen with Gateway logo on it and underneath the logo states "Preparing Automatic Repair" and is frozen there. It is a Windows 8 operating system. Now it states "Scanning and Repairing drive (C):1%complete. and just stuck there............................
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Jul 14, 2014
So I have "Automatically update my apps" enabled, but pressed the "Check for updates" button to check if it is working correctly, and noticed there was a Bing Weather update available! I've gone ahead and installed it manually, and sure enough the version I had: .258 has been updated to .309. Why this app was not automatically updated?
By the way, I'm not using a metered internet connection.
(Later edit) Great, I've just checked again and there is a Bing News update available now! No automatic update happening, and also no number 1 visible on the Store app live tile, despite the fact that there is clearly one update available!
Curious that they were both Bing apps though. Maybe it's a Bing thing.
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Feb 16, 2014
If I move a file from my documents to skydrive it gets uploaded on microsofts server, but if I change the file in my documents folder is it possible to make skydrive upload the updated file online automatically without that I have to move the file to the skydrive folder myself?
I know it is possible to change skydrives location to my documents folder but I don't wanna upload all my documents.
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May 7, 2014
I found that f.lux is really useful to your eye when you look pc all day.
However, I found that the light setting doesn't gradually change according to time.
For example, at noon the setting is at the highest peak. So there is different light setting across the day time.
It would be good for night if there is automatic setting for light gradually set to the lowest at midnight.
When this happen, the word and picture look totally different and the nothing come out from the blue colour. I might as well go to sleep and continue work tomorrow.
Is there a way to set a few setting and when the time come, f.lux change the light setting? It may not be fully gradually change but at less there is different in the light setting than have it all same all day.
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Dec 10, 2013
I installed the latest version (3.0.0.9015) of Secunia software to my new Win 8.1 desktop. The PSI Setup looked OK.
I got a screen at the end that said: PSI has been installed on your computer. Click Finish to Close Setup.
While I was reading this message and it was still on the screen I immediately had a message pop-up from "System Restore" that said: System Restore completed successfully. System has been restored to 11/11/2013 4:35:46 PM. Your documents have not been affected. <Close>
I wasn't anywhere near the Restore screen. I had just turned on the machine, searched to see if Secunia was available for 8.1 (since I used it on my Win 7 machine), and started the download. The download was successful and I was able to run a scan....but this whole System Restore completion screen has freaked me out.
I realize I should have manually set a restore point before loading new software
When I look at my current possibilities for doing a restore, I can select from 11/23 or 11/30 - both auto set (so why 11/11?. I'd assume there should also be one for 12/7 since they are being set weekly, but it's not there. Nor are any other restore points, though I really had been setting them quite frequently as I was "configuring" this new machine.
The allocation is set at 30. Is this typically sufficient for a set-it-up-and-leave-it-alone user?
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Aug 6, 2014
When I right click in the downloads folder or try to open the Recycle Bin Explorer freezes and the blue circle appears unless I force quit the application. It only seems to happen in these two folders.
I downloaded Shell Extensions Manager and disabled all the applications not created by Microsoft and the problem still exists.
The one solution I did find was to create a new user and then the issue was resolved.
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Aug 29, 2013
Im trying to clean up my daughter's laptop but im new to Windows 8. several apps have been downloaded, ie ccleaner, avast, etc. I have set up/installed them but the downloaded files are still in the download folder and i cant find where I can remove/delete there files.
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May 15, 2014
I think the first time I've noticed something's up was when updating Flash - it would stop at 99% for a very long time and eventually give an error message saying to check my internet connection or something. Well, but I did look and I'm still online. Then, I was to download some software for my phone - but the download won't complete. Neither in Firefox, nor Opera, nor silly old IE or Chrome. If I tried it in Safari, I bet it also wouldn't work (yes, I have that many browsers installed, just in case). It's just not browser-related.
Disk space? Mate, my computer is 3 TB of memory, no chance. A virus? My anti-virus never failed me, it does a great job at blocking nasties, and I performed TWO full scans, and yet it found nothing suspicious. Is it blocking? Don't think so either, it would say that something was stopped.
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Feb 2, 2014
I do digital scrapboking,and today all the files I have downloaded look like a sheet of paper. What has happened?I always use 7 zip and have had no problems.How do I fix it?I use firefox and updates are current.
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Aug 20, 2013
How to add the Downloads folder to File History ?
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Feb 4, 2014
So i'm trying to delete this file i have in my downloads folder, which is a normal .avi file. however, this file is really broken, it wont delete. I suspect this file makes my folder not showing thumbnails and acting slow and sometimes wont show anything at all, just a loading bar thing.
i tried deleting with cmd prompt, while explorer.exe is off, but command prompt stops responding.
i tried searching the folder for viruses, finds nothing.
i tried downloading Unlocker to delete it, but ends up with unlocker stops responding.
i tried quarantine the file, it gets into quarantine in NOD32 but the file is also still in my download folder, and NOD stops responding.
i get no message at all trying to delete it, it's just that nothing at all happens.
What is wrong with this file?! It plays fine though, just like a normal .avi file. Is there anything else i can try? cmd prompt and NOD32 don't get the windows "has stopped working" message, they just stop responding to me clicking any button in NOD32, or writing new text in cmd prompt. i can exit them as normal.
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Mar 15, 2014
I am setting up my new laptop with windows 8. For the first time in my computer usin life, I partitioned my hard drive. I have designated C as the OS, E as program files and F is where i would like to store data. My first attempt at adding a program, I tried to download firefox as a browser. It DID NOT give me an option to customize the setup and downloaded the program to C.
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Mar 19, 2014
I have put together a PC for the first time. It' POSTs and All is well. I have installed a SSD 250G drive as my primary drive with windows 8.1 install. Also have a 1.0 Terbyte Hard Disk for storage. How do I make sure that all data files(downloads, applications, etc) are sent to the hard drive.
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Jul 7, 2014
I wanted to move my DOWNLOADS folder from C:UsersGordonDownloads to D:Downloads. So I opened up PROPERTIES in the C:UsersGordonDownloads folder and used the MOVE tab to send it to D:, but I didn't create a DOWNLOADS folder in the D drive, so now all my downloads go directly into D:
How I can now move my downloads to be saved in D:Downloads and not in D:
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Feb 17, 2013
I like to watch videos on my left monitor while using windows 8 apps on my second. The only problem is that as soon as I interact with the monitor I'm watching the video on the app on my other monitor closes and it goes right to the desktop.
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Oct 16, 2012
A lot of the time i like to just put on a youtube playlist and just lay in bed and watch it. Idk if this only happens with the youtube app that i am using or if its with jsut being inactive for anything. Is there a way i can prevent windows 8 from auto locking?. I have already disabled the lock screen, but it will still lock and jump to the login screen. I have turned screensaver off. And messed with the advanced power options. Nothing seems to work.
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Jan 21, 2013
I run this copy of Windows 8 Professional in a virtual machine and every time I leave that VM for just a couple of minutes the OS starts using up an enormous amount of HDD that significantly slows down my host machine. It turns out that Windows 8 begins what they call "Scheduled scan" when there's no user input:
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and as soon I switch back to the VM with Windows 8 the HDD "hogging" stops. Obviously this is very annoying!
In light of this, I'd like to ask how to stop this background scanning?
PS. I tried going to the Action Center and schedule maintenance for 3AM or something remote but that doesn't seem to have any effect.
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Apr 6, 2014
How do I ensure that nobody can slip in a Windows 7 or 8 disc and reinstall windows on my laptop? I have a BIOS password, but in the boot priority order it doesn't list my disc drive as an option.. Only "Windows Boot Manager"... So I'm unsure as to whether someone can just stick a disc in and reinstall windows.
Reason being is that I had my laptop stolen two months ago. I had tracking software on it (Prey), but the theif never connected to the internet, which is required for the software to work. Which leads me to assume that they just formatted (my win 7) laptop and reinstalled windows straight away. So I'm learning from my mistakes, and wanting to do it right for my new laptop.
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May 10, 2014
You can prevent Windows from downloading the latest drivers for whichever device, BUT you can't prevent it from auto-installing drivers that it already has for whichever device. Meaning, the below trick, does nothing and Windows still installs drivers for several devices after you uninstall them and restart:
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How can I prevent it from auto-installing drivers completely??
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Sep 3, 2013
Am I able to use the Applocker to prevent this from occurring? I can sadly not give a screeny of this... because if the message appears, there seems to be no way to get rid of it, but making a new local account?
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