Edge keeps running in the Background

Hi Sherry,

no problem, but I was obsessed with some of this stuff for a while as well. However, I pretty much stopped since the main issue (Edge keeps running in background) is solved, as well as the annoying gossip popups lately under the search field. Using "Inprivate" as default now.

Again-a more detailed description on YouTube under something like "Stop Windows From Spying.", etc.

One more thing - it was mentioned that the first thing to do is switch from a Microsoft account to a Local Account. That's just for signing into your computer and prevents Microsoft from having constant access. The Microsoft account is still in place for signing into various Microsoft features and apps. I haven't done that though yet.

No, I haven't seen this Error ... or any Error since ... I guess ... XP.

Don't get me wrong - I'm fully behind Windows/Microsoft and hate MACs. I worked (Graphic Designer, Image Editor) in a MAC environment for a while and it was horrible ... super slow, almost nonfunctioning after a couple of years, silly and senile features, uncustomizable, etc., etc.

It does, however, not diminish the "Big Brother" / "control everything" attitude by Microsoft lately.

Please post your dislikes on the "Feedback Hub" (if it's still on :-)) in hopes that Microsoft people get it.

Cheers

Klaus,

Thanks for all the time you have put into this -- you're very diligent. I have been following this string for a couple months now and can't believe Microsoft has not addressed this.

Anyway, in your last post you listed several items that I have not reviewed yet on my machine -- to stop the spying, I mean. I printed your post so I can go through all of them one by one when I get the time.

Thanks, again.

P.S. Have you been plagued at any time by the "Error code: RESULT_CODE_KILLED_BAD_MESSAGE" screen in response to clicking on ANY link within ANY website? That's my current obsession. Lot of suggestions out there that I haven't tried yet.

Hi there,

yes, there is a whole issue with spying ... which might contribute to the initial problem.

Here are a few things to do to completely stop all unwanted communication with Microsoft.

• OneDrive - turn off or stop startup and syncing
• Teams - settings > uninstall
• Outlook - get rid off all outlooks,old or new (mail app is better anyways) \ get Office separate
• eliminate all Ai , copilot, etc.
• Notification - settings > stop all except maybe Mail and Security
• Privacy & Security (settings)
  • General > toggle OFF all 5
  • Speech > OFF
  • Inking & typing > OFF
  • Location > leave ON but only for weather, etc.
  • Diagnostics & Feedback > Optional Feedback OFF

                                        > Taylored Experience OFF
    
                                        > Feedback Frequency NEVER
    

• Windows Update > Advanced Options > Delivery Optim. OFF
• Windows Security > Virus & Threat Prot. > Manage Settings > Realtime Prot. ON

                                                                                                > Dev. Drive Prot. ON
  
                                                                                                > Cloud Deliv. Prot OFF
  
                                                                                                > Automatic Sample Subm. OFF
  
                                                                                                > Tamper Prot. ON
  

• Services (important to stop Telemetry) Connected User Experience & Telemetry > STOP , DISABLED
• Task Scheduler > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience > disable: Microsoft Compadibility

                                                                                                                                                              PcaPatch DB Task
  
                                                                                                                                                              Startup Task
  

• scroll down to Customer Experience Improvement: disable: Consolidator and UsbCeip
• Registry: (make a Registry Backup in case you make a mistake) Local Machine > Software> Policies > Microsoft > Windows > Data Collector here create a value: right click in empty space > NEW > DWORD 32 bitValue > name: "AllowTelemetry" > enter > set value to 0 close > reboot

I did all these and had no negative effects. All from Youtube post ~ "Microsoft and Spying" or similar

Good Luck

Ditto to everything issue you described, Alexander. It started for me around early November 2023.

After all kinds of troubleshooting, here is what worked for me:

I turned off ALL options for allowing Microsoft to retrieve ANY feedback from my machine.

This idea came to me one night when I glanced into my dark office and saw the ethernet connection light blinking - even though the machine was totally shut down. The only thing I could think of that would cause that is an outsider accessing my machine. So I turned off all user data reporting requests/options from Microsoft. That seemed to solve my problem of MS Edge always running in the background.

Running Windows 10 Home 22H2

Edge version 120.0.2210.121 (official build) (64-bit)

Hi Alexander,

shut off OneDrive ... stop syncing, stop at startup, stop from running automatically ... or completely uninstall.

You can still access it though OneDrive online (if I remember right) and use it. But remove from startup items

(ccleaner, task manager, apps in Settings ... stop syncing)

I also run Ccleaner and it's the only reason I'm even aware of Edge running in the background.

As I mentioned ... setting Edge to InPrivate at default (or manual every time, if you want) solved the problem,

as well as annoying ads and sports, gossip, etc., in the main Edge window.

Cheers