Trying to get rid of Cortana has messed up part of my registry

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Apparently to get rid of Cortana, you have to go thru your Group Policy. But all the Google info, which talked about how to get to Group Policy, didn't work. Then I came upon Maheshkumar at https://www.windows10forums.com/thr...nect-to-the-group-policy-client-service.3823/. His video (which covered every step needed) walked me thru Services.msc to see that my Group Policy was not running. Then we went to regedit to my netsvcs folder (If you need all the steps in between, I can provide them).

Before making changes, I wrote down what was in my folder, thinking I'd be able to get back to where I was if this didn't work (HA!). His example has AuthenticationCapabilities (as did mine) and 3 other files. I had 4 other files. Also, the first word of these 3 other files (in his video) was Coinitialze... (which I read to be the sensible word co-initialize). Mine, however was Colnitialize... I didn't know if the 3rd letter was the little letter "L" or a capital letter "I" (eye). Co-Lnitialize doesn't make any sense at all. Anyhow, I changed my files to be like his and in Services.msc I discovered that my status for Group Policy was now "running." However, I discovered that the Start button and the "Ask me anything" button no longer work. So I went back and changed the netsvcs folder to what I had originally (one time I used the little letter "L" and the next time I used the capital "I" (eye). I tried both and neither makes my Start button or my "Ask me anything" work). I also added the 4th file that he didn't have but I had had originally.

The rest of my computer seems to be OK. I still would love to get rid of Cortana but now I'm just wanting my Start Button and my "Ask me anything" to work. I would appreciate any help.

Just a little side note on Cortana - if your doctor's office has Windows 10, who knows what Cortana is learning about your medical records! Or at your office--your personnel records. So I've probably caused all this hassle for nothing since "she" is ever-present somewhere.
 
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Step one before doing anything like that is to backup your registry.

There are 3rd party programs, which I won't mention here, that will disable Cortana completely. I wouldn't worry much about what information is being collected through Cortana. Your browser, phone, apps, programs, are collecting the same exact data, and not only storing them on servers, but selling them to 3rd parties.
 
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I have to agree with BigFeet. I would simply turn Cortana Off. I have it turned off, never use it. You can still use Google, Bing...for your search engine.
 

Trouble

Noob Whisperer
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Fortunately (maybe).... System Restore does a pretty good job at resetting problem registry edits.
IF... you have a restore point available, prior to the time that you made the changes.....
I would give that a try and see if it provided any positive results.
 
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Well this shows what a newbie I am, I didn't backup my Registry. However, I did write down the files that we in this folder. I thought if this fix wouldn't work, I'd be able to get back to where I was originally. I don't know why that didn't work but it probably makes sense to those who understand the registry. I discovered that my icons (such as Start Button, sound, etc didn't work. So I couldn't get to settings but my keyboard allows me to change the sound level. I was using the computer most of y'day but last night it started not responding to a search I typed into Firefox. In Outlook, I couldn't do a search on a contact. So I seem to be degrading, even tho I haven't gone into the registry since the last time I told you about. I don't know how much trouble I'm in. I don't know if th4e Geek Squad can fix it (over the phone or in person). I don't know if this means I'll have to buy Windows 10 all over again to re-install it.

If anyone has a suggestion about how to fix the problem, please let me know. If not, what's a reasonable "worst case" scenario for me to expect?
 

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