Alternative PDF viewer

As an alternative to the bloated and AI-interrupting PDF readers from Microsoft and Adobe, the SumatraPDF is a streamlined and free PDF viewer from Microsoft Windows. 

Download the latest Sumatra PDF release.

Most Windows users will likely choose the "Installer" so it integrates with the Start menu and file name extensions. The "Portable version" is a self-contained program that simply runs. 

After download, run the installer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I usually choose Options for making files searchable and for preview.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I prefer to not have the "Home" blank page, so I disable that in the Menu -> Settings -> Advanced Option. In the configuration file change item "NoHomeTab" from "false" to "true". Save the configuration file and restart Sumatra PDF.

Remove "Start" menu folders in Micrsoft Windows

If there is a folder you can't remove with Uninstall, you may remove it by hand. For example, let's remove the "Acer" folder. 

Press Microsoft Windows 10 Start button. 

 

 

 

Open the File Explorer. In the location area enter: %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
You will see the list of folders displayed when pressing the Start button.

 

 

 

 

Within File Explorer, right-click on the folder to remove and select DELETE. The folder should be removed.

Press the Start button to verify the folder was removed.

Yahoo email summaries and privacy

Yahoo mail recently introduced email summaries which are auto-generated and display above the email. This was a surprising change which is intrusive and annoying. From the settings in email, there does not appear to be a method to disable the summaries.

The Yahoo brand owns "oath" which provides security and privacy settings. Go to yahoo.mydashboard.oath.com and you may need to log in again.

Turn off "Automated email analysis". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There may be a privacy option specifically for your location. Review the other privacy and marketing settings.

Keep Unneeded Microsoft Services Turned Off

In any environment, it is wise to not install unneeded software. Software and services which are rarely used may be run only when needed.

Microsoft Windows print spooler vulnerability affects systems actively running the print server. The service unfortunately runs as Administrator, so the vulnerability is significant. The CERT notice of July 2021 notes, "... VulNote for a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the Windows Print spooler service ..."

In MS Windows 10, let's set the service to MANUAL and create a script to start the service when needed. To begin, run services.msc as Administrator from the Start menu. Set the Print Spooler service to Manual.

Create a file named printspoolerstart_RunAsAdministrator.bat.

Using a text editor such as Notepad, place these lines in the file named printspoolerstart_RunAsAdministrator.bat
@echo off
echo This should be Run As Administrator to start Print Spooler service.
pause
net start spooler
pause

Save and close the file.

 

 

 

 

Run the file as Administrator. 

Refresh the Services windows to verify the service is running.

GUI Interface Switching Confusion

Good, simple, clean user interfaces are consistent. Cutesy-hacks to change consistency harm the user experience.

Microsoft Windows alt-tab has been used to switch between applications. Microsoft's Edge web browser changes the alt-tab behavior so it switches between tabs in Edge, instead of switching from Edge to the next application. This is annoying to users because it is inconsistent.

To restore alt-tab so it switches out of Edge, in MS Windows 10 choose the MS Windows Start button, Settings App, Multitasking. In the "Alt + Tab" section, choose "Open windows only".

 

While considering web browser user interface annoyances, the Brave web browser can be configured to not auto-play embedded videos. In a new Brave tab, enter brave://settings/content/autoplay

 

Brave web browser has it's own implementation of cycle-through-tabs-in-the-app, via ctrol-tab, which can be configured.