Windows 10: Anyone else getting Cortana spam?

This started two days ago: Whenever I click on the taskbar search box, Cortana pops up, as always; but now, instead of just showing my local weather, there is a message, "Get Cortana on your phone", with links for Android, Windows Phone, and iPhone.




I tried a clean boot, in case it was some third party software causing it, but that isn't the case. Chatting with MS 'Support' was useless; she didn't have a clue. She thought I needed to sync my phone. *Rolleyes
The message does disappear as soon as I start typing in the search box, but it's still annoying. I'm running Windows 10 Home, build 10586. The Anniversary update didn't trigger this; I installed that a few weeks ago. Oh, and I did try clicking on the Android link, and installed the app on my phone, thinking that might get rid of the message: no such luck.
Any ideas ...?

:)

 

Lost Windows 10 after restore. Now I am unable to get 10 again. What can I do?

Andre, thanks for you response and I'm sure that the solutions offered would have solved my problem but it came too late and I wound up taking the pc to the Geek Squad.

Thanks again,

Dennis

 

Lost Windows 10 after restore. Now I am unable to get 10 again. What can I do?

Original Title: windows 10 download

A couple months ago I purchased a Dell PC with 8.1. Downloaded the Windows 10 and operated for awhile. Had a problem (not with 10)and had to do restore and lost 10. Now I am unable to get 10 again. What can I do.

 

No, because people go into the top hamburger button and turn that stuff off, along with going into System settings and uncheck any check boxes in the various sections to not share info, etc.

If you do not want or need a Windows live account, you can run Windows 10 with a local and only have the live account for updates.

 

Start by clicking 'Not now' just above the Weather. Then, turn off tips via Action Center or just Hide Tips. See screenshot for buttons to use



Also -

 

Thanks, but I don't want to turn Cortana off, and I have already turned off most sharing in settings. I've been a computer geek since around '87 (DOS 3.1, then Windows 3.0), so I'm not some clueless newb.

 

I already have 'Cortana tips' turned off, so that's not it. And, yes, I have clicked 'Not now' ... several times. Somehow, I'm not surprised that there isn't a "Don't show this again" option. Good ol' Micro$oft.

 

I never stated that it will turn Cortona off. Cortona stays on, because it is embedded into the OS and took the place of the old Search tool in Windows. My comment was regarding stopping the spam and not sending any metrics to Microsoft's servers.

 

Did you go into System settings like I suggested and turn off all background process sliders and along with not sending any info. Keep in mind that Microsoft, not Micro$oft uses their Bing website with Cortana for any searches. That means that everything you do with Cortana gets recorded on their servers. You have to go into bing and log in with your Live account to further disable any ad's and other steps. That is why a Local account comes in very handy. It does not log you into Bing, nor does it allow the machine to stay live connected to Microsoft's servers for what they call the "User Experience", even though it should be called the "User headache".

 

I posted something in Feedback Hub, to upvote go here(need to paste into Edge to open the Hub to the correct page):
feedback-hub:?contextid=9&feedbackid=677b8aed-cd90-4589-aab5-04decb60af16&form=1&src=2

 

Actually, that "top hamburger button" does disable Cortana, in effect, turning 'her' off.




As for being embedded in the OS, that isn't exactly true. Cortana can be completely uninstalled, if Classic shell is installed first. She will also disappear completely, if you set your country and language setting to, say, Bangladesh/English. Cortana isn't available in Bangladesh.

Lol. I routinely disable almost all info sharing with each iteration or upgrade of Windows. The only app set to 'On' is Outlook, so it can sync with my Yahoo email accounts. Of course, I'm sure that Microsoft is still collecting and sending data as they deem 'necessary'.
Logging in with my Local account hasn't eliminated the spam message, nor did changing my Bing preferences, and clearing internet history and personal info had no effect.
BTW, there IS a way to use your default browser for Cortana searches; I just found it yesterday. Goodbye, Edge and Bing! Mosey on over to GitHub to download the file. Detailed instructions are Here.

 

Cortana cannot be uninstalled, nor does it get completely turned off when you click on the Hamburger button. Cortana is deeply embedded into Windows 10. Any attempt to remove it, will end up breaking the OS, since it is a part of the Windows Search Service.

 

(Sigh). I'm not going to argue with you; a simple Google search will return numerous results about uninstalling Cortana, and the memory-hogging SearchUI. Doing so without first installing Classic Shell will break the Start menu and searching from the taskbar. Personally, I kind of like Cortana, so I'm not tempted to try the uninstall methods that are out there.
And, I knew that turning Cortana off doesn't disable it completely; MS would never allow that.
I still wish her spam message would go away, though. :-(

 

This setting of Cortana Tips made the "Get Cortana on your Phone" go away.

 

You can still disable cortana and use windows search only with a regedit or group policy. This way you don't have any cortana voice command or even web results won't show up on the search bar results.