Can we disable the charms bar in Windows 8?

I feel your pain... Here is a walkthrough I recently created for Charms... I do have a huge laundry list of issues besides Charms but I will just post what I have on charms thus far..

Fixing 2 of 4 Charms Bar Triggers

I spent a long time working on the charms bar issue and I figured out that there are 4 triggers for the charms bar. I was able to get rid of two of them which luckily were the two worst ones... Let me explain...

The 4 triggers that I found are these...

1. If you move your mouse to the very top right and then to the left it pops up.
2. On the touchpad if you move from the far right side to the left it pops up.
3. If you move your mouse to the very top right and then down it pops up.
4. If you move your mouse to the very bottom right and then up it pops up.

TO FIX #1

1. Press "WIN+R" key combination to launch RUN dialog box then type regedit and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor and go to following key:

    *HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell*

2. Under ImmersiveShell folder, create a new key and call it EdgeUI.
3. Now select newly created key "EdgeUI" and in the right-side pane, create a new DWORD and name it DisableCharmsHint and set its value to 1.

TO FIX #2

My Explanation and Mini Rant

Then to fix #2 you need to have Synaptic version 16.3.15.1 or at least in my case this was the version that worked for me.

Now I don't want to yell conspiracy theory but my Sony Vaio updates me to the latest 17.X.X.X version and this version DOES NOT have an option to disable edge swipes. Almost like Microsoft requested they remove the option for users to disable the charms.

Seriously why would you remove that feature? Well anyway, I could not find version on the Synaptic site any longer so I am glad I saved the driver to my file system. I had a feeling that would happen.

Actual Instructions

To properly change your Synaptic driver you will do the following...

1. Go into Add/Remove Programs (in the control panel) and uninstall your Synaptic Driver
2. Download Version 16.3.15.1 from the Synaptic website if you can find it or from my dropbox at https://www.dropbox.com/s/aymzroxar5llx86/Synaptics%20Driver%20%28Win8%20Fix%20for%20Charm%20Menu%29.zip
3. Unzip that file
4. Install it and restart
5. Go to Control panel and mouse settings
6. Click on Device Settings Tab and Uncheck "Enable Edge Swipes"

Disclaimers

·        I have a Sony VAIO SVF15A16CXB running Windows 8

·        This may not work on different models and software mixes as I have found on the net that so many walkthroughs did not have the same options that I had on this computer. For example, you may have a version of Synaptic that has the Enable Edge Swipes option and therefore not require my fix.

·        Maybe there are other vendors that have software installed besides Synaptic to control your touchpad.

·        If the link is not working for any users reading this then just let me know and I can repost. I am not sure if they stop working after a period of time on dropbox.

·        DO NOT use the Winaero Charms Bar Killer. Another user on this forum suggested it to me and it did nothing and actually installed spyware/malware on my computer. If you go to that site you can tell they are bad because they have tons of ads and fake download links that trick you into other software. Something I should have checked before trusting another user on this forum.

·        Be careful with any free software that claims to remove charms bar. It would be better to pay a few bucks if you are not sure. Free usually costs a lot of money when you find your computer running slow because its spyware hidden in the "free" software.

WHY I THINK MICROSOFT HAS NO COMMON SENSE

1.      The touchpad is used primarily for moving your mouse. When you need to move your pointer (mouse) from the far right side of the screen to the far left, you usually start at the far right because you know you need the "real estate" to get your pointer to travel where you need it to. You have to love that a charms bar pops up instead.

2.      When you want to X out a window you go to the top right (assuming you have the window maximized). There is a small space where you can "pass" the clickable area to close out the window. Users will move slightly to the left or possibly diagonally towards the center of the X. The charms bar pops up instead.

3.      This one is not as common. In the bottom right corner of the screen next to the clock there is a clickable area that will act as a "show desktop" feature. Just like with the previous statement, you can easily pass this with the pointer into a non clickable area. Moving back to the clickable area pops up the charms bar.

So just a few of these examples are the reason why so many users are frustrated with the charms bar. I do not know why this has eluded MS staff but it is clear they have their head in their A**.

I just finished creating a doc that took me a few hours and posted it.. Ironically your post could not have better timing. Follow my instructions and I even have a link to the exact version of synaptics drivers which worked for me... Funny thing is that the latest version of synaptics did not have the option to remove the edge swipes.. Almost like MS had requested they be removed for some strange reason.