Anniversary Update ads already bugging Windows 10 Pro users

Reading time icon 3 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tooltip Icon

Read the affiliate disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report effortlessly and without spending any money. Read more

Microsoft rolled out the Windows 10 Anniversary Update on August 2nd, marking the beginning of a new era for Windows. The update brings a plethora of useful features and improvements, but some of them are not welcomed by all users.

Microsoft deactivated a series of Group Policies in the Anniversary Update. This means that users won’t be able to prevent ads and sponsored apps from entering their systems, and this is one of the most criticized changes brought by the update.

More specifically, in the Anniversary Update version, Windows 10 Pro users are not be able to remove the Lock Screen. The Lock Screen is always turned on, which allows Microsoft to literally bombard users with advertising.

The first Windows 10 Pro users who experienced this feature are not at all happy with this limitation:

I’ve updated to Win 10 Pro AU (14393.10) and the dreaded logon lockscreen is back. The group policy change to disable it doesn’t work and neither does the registry method from previous builds. Has anyone worked out how to disable the lockscreen? It literally serves no purpose on non-touch devices.

Windows Enterprise, Education and Server SKUs users still have the possibility to turn off the lock screen even after the Anniversary Update. On the other hand, in the Windows 10 Pro edition the lock screen is disabled in both the group policy and registry, but it’s still present there.

The good news is that you can avoid being bombarded with ads and sponsored content if you haven’t received the Anniversary Update yet. Microsoft is rolling it out in waves, therefore all hope is not lost for some users. Moreover, Pro users can also delay the Anniversary Update installation for at least 4 months.

However just a few days ago I read of the group policy settings and I was like hell no and I just entered my Edu key from my University in the Activation Window in System Settings, it took maybe 4 minutes to switch editions and here I am […]

I am 100% using a local account with no domains attached to this computer. […]

Of course there’s always the trickery where it asks you to enter a Microsoft ID, and you click “I don’t have one” or something and then it gives you the prompt to actually set up a local account, none of this Microsoft ID syncing for me.

For the time being, this is the only workaround available to prevent your computer from being flooded with ads. Maybe in the coming weeks, a third-party tool will help Windows 10 Pro users to turn off the lock screen, or Microsoft will simply re-activate the feature following users’ complaints.

RELATED STORIES YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT:

More about the topics: windows 10 anniversary update, Windows 10 Pro