Windows 10: Sign in or Sign out of Cortana in Windows 10

Probably official enough now to add:
How to Enable or Disable Cortana in Windows 10

 

Hi Shawn,

How can one check if Cortana is available in one's region or in what region's Cortana is available please.
My query is as usual related to try and reduce data usage to the barest minimum given the poor connectivity I have available.

Geoff

 

Hello Geoff, *Smile

This is that I can find to hopefully help.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...-and-languages

 

Thanks so if I have installed WIN 10 for my region ( South Africa), that means Cortana will not be available nor active.
What happens if someone has installed WIN 10 on a PC for region UK or US? does that then mean Cortana will be active by default?

 

Cortana generally DOES come ON by default with every install, but, it's not all that hard to disable.

Find the CortanaCore.dll file and change it's name to something else so it can't load on boot up and you've effectively killed it.
You'll need to take ownership of it before you can change its name though. The program "Grant Admin Full Control" makes that possible for you.

Cheers,
*Cool

 

You could also easily disable Cortana using an option below. *Smile

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

 

How do they say it............"Different Strokes for Different folks".

I read one tutorial on how to disable Cortana by going to a key in the Registry, but, that key is only there in Windows 10 Home.... not Win-10 Pro. So I'm back to my original method.
I've had to install Windows 10 Pro several times this week so far, and the week's not over yet.
(I have another Windows 10 setup scheduled for tomorrow)
I was told that my previous explanation was not detailed enough, so here's a re-write:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
When I want to disable Cortana, I first install "Grant Admin Full Control" ( I call that my Take Ownership, on steroids).
Then in Windows Explorer, I navigate to:
C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_CW5n1h2txyewy\Cortana.Core.dll

Once I find the Cortana.C ore.dll file, I right click on it and Take Ownership of it, using Grant Admin Full Control. Cortana Can only run if the .dll file can load during boot up. Changing the name to something like Cortana.Core.ddd will make it impossible for it to run, and Cortana will effectively be disabled. Should you ever want to re-enable Cortana, just change the .ddd back to .dll, reboot and it will be running again.

Using that technique, I just disabled Cortana again, on a Windows 10 Pro install that I've been working on this evening.
For safety, I also suggest disabling WUDO at the same time.

I really like installing Windows 10 on Older PC's, because it does have a HUGE hardware driver package,
and I don't have to spend hours trying to locate drivers. And, believe it or not, Win-10 Pro will install and run on just 1.5GB of ram.

Cheers Mates!
*Cool

 

Tru dat.

If you like, you could use the "Take Ownership" context menu below to do the same.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3...dows-10-a.html

I suspect that the missing registry key in Home may have been a Group Policy setting that could just be manually added like option 1 vs 2 below.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

One thing to remember about modifying the Cortana.Core.dll file is that may get reset back to default after a new build update and after a SFC /SCANNOW command scan. Do you have any issues with performing searches in File Explorer after modifying this file?

 

my cortana is off. i use a reliable little program that is injected in the registry. cortana and its privacy intrusion tendancies are halted.

 

Share? I love little scripts that make setting up a new PC with Windows a little bit faster, easier and safer.

There was a way to stop Cortana, posted on the web, that involved deleting a whole bunch of files, but I found that by doing that there were several other Windows functions that were disabled. Search may have been one of them, but right now I honestly don't remember. That's why I developed my own 'SAFE' way of disabling Cortana, so that when I run the Task Manager I don't see it running any more. I had witnessed it taking up a huge amount of ram, when it was running in the background.

Some of us run a limited amount of ram and we don't have a lot to waste on something as worthless as Cortana.
For the same reason, I disable or Manualize all the Services that I don't want or need. The "Black Viper" website is a good source of info on what services we need and what ones we don't.

Cheers Mates,
*Cool

PS: I just installed Windows 10 Pro/32 on an old Dell Laptop, with just 1.5GB of ram. So I really trimmed all the deadwood off of W-10 to make it run as efficiently as possible. And it really does run pretty good on the old Laptop.

 

How do I turn Cortana location back on? The option is grayed out, and the thing says that Location history must be turned on...

Also, Windows has been asking me to turn Cortana's location ON even though it's supposed to be ON by default, so something has been toggling itself OFF across restarts.

 

I do not use Cortana, but a lot of the settings are in Local Group Policy Editor - Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Search

 

Hello Honeycomb, *Smile

Double check to make sure that you have location for your device and location services turned on.

Turn On or Off Location Services in Windows 10 Windows 10 General Tips Tutorials