Microsoft doubles down on its strategy to get more Windows 11 users on Microsoft Edge

Wynona · Nov 30, 2021

Bree said:
You can click and drag them to rearrange them. If you do so they automatically get pinned.

Also, if you hover over one three dots appear top right of the tile. Click on it, edit the title and change the url to something you want, when you click Save that also will be a pinned tile.

Been there looking at it, but I think I'll leave those alone for now. No reason.

Wynona · Nov 30, 2021

Edwin said:
I had a similar occurrence with Catsxp Browser until Edge updated and took the protocol back!

Yeah, I'm figuring Edge is going to grab Firefox and choke him to death.

Bree · Nov 30, 2021

Wynona said:
Been there looking at it, but I think I'll leave those alone for now. No reason.

I have four rows of eight pinned tiles, all of my own choosing. Whenever I do a clean install on a new machine I copy my FF profile across and get all my pinned tiles and firefox settings transferred in one easy step.

Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles | Firefox Help

Firefox stores your personal information and settings in a profile folder. Learn how to back up and restore this important data.

support.mozilla.org

BunnyJ · Nov 30, 2021

Wynona said:
Wow! And I thought I knew how to use Firefox!

Rabbit-Fox?

jimbo45 · Dec 1, 2021

BunnyJ said:
Looks like someone wants some money

Hi there

What on earth is the problem with setting FF as default browser. Nothing wrong in a prompt before final commitment for "are you sure". After setting FF as your default browser you aren't bothered again. Same with using different email clients etc .

C'mon folks -- it's not the old USSR here. I suppose some here are already on pensions, and others hope to get them at retirement -- where do they think "Money" comes from. I'm sure for those of us who invest directly in the Stock Market want to get dividends or make money from the stocks (or preferably both). Nothing wrong either ethically or morally wrong in making money if it's done legitimately.

Ms for all the remarks made at it such as "Evil Empire" etc is a hugely successful company - and has bought cheap computing to billions around the world at considerable advantage - and don't forget the the Gates foundation is one of the biggest contributors to charity on the entire planet.

Cheers
jimbo

jbcarreon123 · Dec 1, 2021

Is HKCR has the microsoft-edge protocol? If it has, we can change edge.exe (or microsoft-edge) to whatever browser we want.

Wynona · Dec 2, 2021

BunnyJ said:
Rabbit-Fox?

Nah, Kitty-Fox.

ltsnow · Dec 2, 2021

I just tried MSEdgeRedirect and it works perfectly i.e. Searches open my default browser which is Firefox. BUT, I now can't even open Edge if I want to. When you click on the edge icon nothing happens. I can't find anything on the GitHub site that mentions this.

magilla · Dec 2, 2021

A big issue with Edge is it will not do things that Firefox will do. For example I cannot download financial info and have it go to Quicken —- it is dumb and places it in download folder. Firefox and even IE was able to do the direct placement into Quicken.

Edwin · Dec 2, 2021

Desperate are they!?!?!?

docfreed · Dec 3, 2021

Microsoft backtracks on Windows 11’s controversial default browser changes:

Microsoft backtracks on Windows 11’s controversial default browser changes

There’s now a button to easily switch default browsers.

www.theverge.com

BunnyJ · Dec 3, 2021

I still had no issues setting Firefox as my default. Yes.. there are issues when using the start search using Edge but how many use that?? Enough I guess.

glasskuter · Dec 4, 2021

@Wynona I very much disliked seeing Bing search results which I searched from the start search because I do my web searching straight from my browser of choice (Firefox) using my choice of search engine. In my case it wasn't my dislike of Edge so much as it was I didn't want to see any web searches in start search at all. I use it strictly for searching the operating system. I solved the issue by turning off web search in start search. Most of the comments in this thread are from power users who probably already know this, but for anyone who doesn't know that might be reading this thread, here's how.
Method 1-Group Policy Editor in Windows Pro
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search
Enable “Do not allow web search,” and “Don’t search the web or display web results in Search.”
Method 2 -Regedit in Windows Pro or Home
search for regedit and open the Registy Editor app.
Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
right-click on the Windows folder and select New > Key. Name the key Explorer.
Now, right-click on the Explorer folder and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this value DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
Then double-click the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions to edit its value data. Type 1 in the Value data field and then click OK.

Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
On the right sidebar of the Search folder, right-click on the free space and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it BingSearchEnabled.
Double-click on BingSearchEnabled to edit its value. Set the Value data to 0 and then click OK.
Again, right-click on the free space on the right sidebar and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it CortanaConsent.
Double-click the CortanaConsent and set its Value data to 0.

Using either method, after a reboot you will no longer see any web searches when using Start Search.

Wynona · Dec 4, 2021

glasskuter said:
@Wynona I very much disliked seeing Bing search results which I searched from the start search because I do my web searching straight from my browser of choice (Firefox) using my choice of search engine. In my case it wasn't my dislike of Edge so much as it was I didn't want to see any web searches in start search at all. I use it strictly for searching the operating system. I solved the issue by turning off web search in start search. Most of the comments in this thread are from power users who probably already know this, but for anyone who doesn't know that might be reading this thread, here's how.
Method 1-Group Policy Editor in Windows Pro
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search
Enable “Do not allow web search,” and “Don’t search the web or display web results in Search.”
Method 2 -Regedit in Windows Pro or Home
search for regedit and open the Registy Editor app.
Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
right-click on the Windows folder and select New > Key. Name the key Explorer.
Now, right-click on the Explorer folder and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this value DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
Then double-click the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions to edit its value data. Type 1 in the Value data field and then click OK.

Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
On the right sidebar of the Search folder, right-click on the free space and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it BingSearchEnabled.
Double-click on BingSearchEnabled to edit its value. Set the Value data to 0 and then click OK.
Again, right-click on the free space on the right sidebar and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it CortanaConsent.
Double-click the CortanaConsent and set its Value data to 0.

Using either method, after a reboot you will no longer see any web searches when using Start Search.

Re: Bing Search . . . I go into Firefox Settings>Search and eliminate all search engines, leaving only DuckDuckGo.

Re: Eliminating Web Search . . . I want Search to go to the Web when necessary, but with Firefox. So far, that's working for me. I realize it may not work with the next update, but I'll take my chances.

Since all searches are working as I want them to, I think I'll leave well enough alone. :wink:

wpcoe · Dec 6, 2021

glasskuter said:
@WynonaMost of the comments in this thread are from power users who probably already know this, but for anyone who doesn't know that might be reading this thread, here's how.
Method 1-Group Policy Editor in Windows Pro
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search
Enable “Do not allow web search,” and “Don’t search the web or display web results in Search.”
Method 2 -Regedit in Windows Pro or Home
search for regedit and open the Registy Editor app.
Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
right-click on the Windows folder and select New > Key. Name the key Explorer.
Now, right-click on the Explorer folder and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this value DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
Then double-click the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions to edit its value data. Type 1 in the Value data field and then click OK.

Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
On the right sidebar of the Search folder, right-click on the free space and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it BingSearchEnabled.
Double-click on BingSearchEnabled to edit its value. Set the Value data to 0 and then click OK.
Again, right-click on the free space on the right sidebar and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it CortanaConsent.
Double-click the CortanaConsent and set its Value data to 0.

Using either method, after a reboot you will no longer see any web searches when using Start Search.

Do you think those tweaks would survive the next Cumulative Update? It's a royal PITA to have to keep doing the hacks, but it also can be satisfying.

glasskuter · Dec 6, 2021

wpcoe said:
Do you think those tweaks would survive the next Cumulative Update?

For the most part, tweaks survive, especially those made in HKCU. Tweaks made in HKLM do sometimes revert with the annual windows version update but once I do them, I export the change and whenever they break again, I have everything back with 2 clicks of a mouse. The monthly cumulatives usually don't affect them. Making tweaks isn't the satisfying part for me. It's the chase of finding them and everything I learn along the way. I'm not smart enough to figure them out myself, but I have great respect for anyone who can. The cherry on top is the end result.

wpcoe · Dec 8, 2021

glasskuter said:
For the most part, tweaks survive, especially those made in HKCU. Tweaks made in HKLM do sometimes revert with the annual windows version update but once I do them, I export the change and whenever they break again, I have everything back with 2 clicks of a mouse. The monthly cumulatives usually don't affect them. Making tweaks isn't the satisfying part for me. It's the chase of finding them and everything I learn along the way. I'm not smart enough to figure them out myself, but I have great respect for anyone who can. The cherry on top is the end result.

Thanks! I never thought of exporting the change. I will do that next time I need to tweak something contrary to MS's wishes.