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Some useful 8.1 Guides

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Luke1978

Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Location
Maine
Remove the delay when closing metro apps by dragging to the bottom.

From Askvg.com

When you drag the app thumbnail to bottom, you need to wait for some time until the app thumbnail converts into app icon. After that you release the icon to permanently close the app.

Following Registry tweak can disable the delay time so that when you drag the app thumbnail to bottom, it'll immediately convert into app icon without any delay. Then you can release the app icon to permanently close the app. In this way, you'll not have to wait for the app thumbnail turning into app icon.

Just follow these simple steps to decrease or remove the delay time:

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box or Start Screen search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell

3. Create a new key Switcher under ImmersiveShell key so the final key path would be:


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Switcher

4. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD CloseDwellTimeout and keep its value as 0

Here CloseDwellTimeout represents timeout value expressed in milliseconds which is set to 1000 ms by default. Settings it to 0 will completely remove the waiting time. You can set it to any desired decimal value.

That's it. Restart your computer or restart Explorer as mentioned here. Now try to permanently close a metro app using the above mentioned method and there will be no waiting time and the app thumbnail will immediately turn into app icon.

To restart explorer just find it in task manager, right click, and select restart.


To remove the password entry from 8/8.1

Right click the windows button and select run, or windows+r key.

Type netplwiz and hit enter, or select run.

Uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer"

Click apply, and enter your password twice to confirm. voila

Disable Skydrive and the icon in windows explorer

Think I found something reliable, haven't personally tested yet (I use Skydrive)

From Howtogeek.com

For Standard 8.1 32/64 bit


Completely Disable SkyDrive Everywhere (Home Edition)

The Home editions of Windows don’t have Group Policy, which is a lot easier to use than the registry editor. If you’re running Pro, skip down further and read those instructions. For everybody else, this is how you do it.

Open up the Registry Editor by using the WIN + R key combination, entering regedit.exe, and hitting enter. Then, navigate down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows.

You will probably need to create the Skydrive key as shown on the left-hand side of the screenshot below by right-clicking on Windows and choosing New -> Key.
Windows_8_1__Installed_with_Tools_-_1___Running_-3.jpg
Once you’ve done that, create the DisableFileSync key on the right-hand side, and give it a value of 1.

Windows_8_1__Installed_with_Tools_-_1___Running_-3

It’s pretty simple after that. Just restart your computer and Skydrive shouldn’t be available. If you just want to remove it from Windows Explorer, keep reading and follow the instructions below.

For windows 8.1 Pro/Enterprise

Completely Disable SkyDrive Everywhere (Windows Pro)

If you want to get rid of SkyDrive entirely, you can use Group Policy to remove it. This will get rid of it from everywhere on the system though, including the Metro apps.

Launch Group Policy Editor by pressing the Windows key and R simultaneously, typing gpedit.msc and hitting Enter.

Beneath the Local Computer Policy section, navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\SkyDrive and then double click the entry labeled Prevent the usage of SkyDrive for file storage to the right.

remove_skydrive_2.png

Select Enabled and then click OK.

remove_skydrive_3.png

The change will take immediate effect and you’ll see that the SkyDrive icon disappears from Explorer straight away.

Remove from the Explorer Side Panel

If you just want to remove SkyDrive from the side panel, you can use the registry editor to remove the library that provides that feature.

Press the Windows key and R at the same type, type regedit and press Enter. You then need to navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {8E74D236-7F35-4720-B138-1FED0B85EA75}\ShellFolder.

remove_skydrive_4.png

Before you can proceed, you will have to take ownership of this registry key, and when this is done you can make the necessary changes.

Double click the Attribute key and change its value to 0.

remove_skydrive_5.png

Should you ever feel the need to reverse the changes and reinstate SkyDrive, you can do so by either disabling the setting in Group Policy Editor, or editing the registry key again, this time changing its value back to the default of f080004d.

Last time I disabled Skydrive and removed the icon, I got a pop up after closing the registry editor asking if I wanted to enable skydrive, just select no.
 
Last edited:
Added a how to on disabling skydrive, if someone wants to guinea pig please let me know if it works
 
Added a how to on disabling skydrive, if someone wants to guinea pig please let me know if it works

FWIW, SkyDrive is disabled by default when you install 8/8.1 without a network connection because you aren't signed in to a Live account that way.
 
FWIW, SkyDrive is disabled by default when you install 8/8.1 without a network connection because you aren't signed in to a Live account that way.

Wasn't aware, never installed windows without a network connection lol.
 
Wasn't aware, never installed windows without a network connection lol.

Yep, install with the network disconnected and you don't have to go through the login rigmarole.
You just create a username and password like the olden days.
 
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