Win10Clean: Windows 10 System Tweaker
Win10Clean is an open source program for Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system that provides you with quick access to common tweaks and options to remove installed Windows apps and programs.
The program comes with functionality that you find in many Windows 10 privacy applications as well, but it has not been designed specifically for that purpose by its developer.
In fact, Win10Clean is rather limited in regards to the tweaks that you can make when you run it.
Win10Clean
Win10Clean does not need to be installed. It is a Microsoft .NET application however and requires the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.6 to run.
The application itself uses tabs that divide the tweaks from software uninstallation and the console.
Win10Clean is not optimized for high resolution displays as some interface elements may not be displayed correctly. This is true especially for the two bottom buttons "update" and "close" under Home, and "refresh" and "uninstall selected apps" under Win10 / metro apps.
The program window cannot be resized which adds to that issue. You may be able to use a workaround as described in the resize windows with fixed sizes guide, but I did not test that.
As far as the tweaks are concerned, Win10Clean supports the following in version 0.12.1.
- Disable Windows Defender.
- Revert Explorer to Windows 7 style.
- Disable HomeGroup.
- Don't reinstall uninstalled applications.
- Disable start menu advertisement
- Uninstall OneDrive.
- Disable GameDVR.
- Cleanup context menu.
Most of the tweaks can be applied individually as well. Some can be made in the Settings application, others require that you make changes to the Registry or Group Policy.
A click on a tweak displays a confirmation prompt. This prompt lacks any description of the selected tweak, and displays only "are you sure" and yes/no options.
The removal of the Windows 10 applications displays more apps than the dozen or so system apps that Windows 10 ships with and lists prominently in its interface.
Note that some are required for functionality, and should not be removed. You can select one or multiple applications from the listing, and hit the remove button to uninstall them.
You may check the "all users" button to run the process for all system users, and also delete the apps from the image.
It is recommended that you create a backup before you run any operation as the program itself does not include options to restore the system.
Closing Words
Win10Clean is a work in progress. It shows in the program's version but also in usability issues like the missing option to resize the window, some spelling errors, or the confirmation prompts.
The program could use a bit of polishing, more functionality, and a backup and restore option.
Considering most of the tweaking tools released since Windows 8 and 10, and all they do is try to make things like Windows 7, it’s a clear sign that Microsoft failed to capture what users want in an OS and 10 is their biggest failure yet.
I can’t understand why would anyone Willingly use 10 over 7 unless they have some software for work or a game they can’t play, but I don’t know any such game or software, maybe Sea of Thieves and Age of Empires Definitive Edition, but if those games are to succeed, they need to work on versions of Windows before 10.
Windows 10 is mostly only useful for dx12 games, that is until most games start supporting Vulkan which yeilds higher gaming performance especially on Linux. Vulkan will also make it easier to port games to Linux.
Windows 10 is way more stable and prone no to BSOD after an issue. Win 10 is easy to port to new hardware and is way faster at booting and makes better use of system resources. Also I love windows 10 interface.
I didn’t use Win 7 on my main PC, I switched from XP to 8, then to 8.1 and the upgraded to 10.
I even ran Win 10 in a PC which I built 10 years ago and was pure pwnage for home use.
I used several linux distros and the results is always the same. I just don’t wanna spend the fucking whole day looking for a [possible] solution for my usb keyboard not to lag after hibernation. Or to compile or using the command line. FFS that’s too nerdy. Like Stallman browsing the net in a cmd-like web browser lol.
I’m always worried about tweakers conflicts – if operation done with one tool will be recognized by another or everything will end up broken, because I did encountered such situations during vanilla W10 and in previous Windows versions. For setting privacy/telemetry right and having ability to control features I’m using W10Privacy and OOSU10 – first has more features but its creators slowly answer for any OS changes, while second seems to have more features consolidated under one entries. Despite of past problems, both seem to be doing job fine now but sadly, neither so far can control Game Bar and GameBarPresenceWriter
Too little too late.
Look up “Winaero Tweaker”.
It has 10 times the tweaks and full online documentation and each tweak has a link “See in detail how this tweak works”.
is “Winaero Tweaker” open source or you are supposed to blindly trust it?
To anyone who says: “but Windows is closed source, why do you trust that?!!” To that I say there is a difference between Windows that is being watched by many experts and agencies, and an unknown program that popups up on some random site…
Ads on the Start Menu, settings reset after update, uncontrollable reams of “telemetry”, cannot easily uninstall unwanted apps, forever updating, horrific browser, lock screen, unstoppable notifications, background listening, Start Menu from hell – what’s not to love?
Hmm this is not a classic tweaker. Seems to be only metadata, cortana, privacy.. related.
I miss a comprehensive classic tweaker for Win 10.
That would include the very often left out “tweak”: Encrypt paging file. It’s tiresome to fsutil it :D
Winaero Tweaker is a well-known trusted app.
Winaero is also a trusted web site.