"Feature Updates" for Windows 10 operating system work like service packs which bring new features, UI changes, enhancements and improvements to the OS. Microsoft has released many feature updates for Windows 10 in past and the company will keep releasing feature updates for Windows 10 in future as they are working on the twice-per-year release schedule for these feature updates. So basically 2 feature updates will be released for Windows 10 every year, one feature update will be released in March/April and the other will be released in September/October. The release timings might change if a release update is not ready for public release due to some known bugs, incomplete features, etc.
If you are using Windows 10 operating system in your device, it's very important to upgrade to the latest feature update as it fixes security issues, bugs, etc and also comes with improvements to stability and performance. So its always advised to install the new feature update as soon as it becomes available to public.
Once you install new feature update in your Windows 10 machine, it may change your customized settings and may add new settings and options. So it becomes very important to review settings and many other things after installing a feature update in Windows 10.
Today in this article, we are going to list some must do things which you should definitely do after installing and upgrading to a new feature update in Windows 10.
If you have also installed a feature update in Windows 10 or if you are planning to install a feature update, you must follow this guide to get more privacy, super fast performance and to troubleshoot any issues you encounter after upgrading to feature update.
Many Windows 10 users are always worried about the data collection and telemetry features of Windows 10 as the OS might collect some diagnostics data and send it to Microsoft servers to make the OS more reliable and perfect. The collected data is basic and doesn't contain any private information but still many people are concerned about the privacy issues.1. Review Privacy Settings
That's why Microsoft provides a standalone "Privacy" page in Settings app to change and customize privacy features in Windows 10.
It's possible that after installing a feature update your predefined privacy settings are restored to default or changed. It's also possible that some new privacy settings are implemented in Privacy page to provide the users better control over their privacy.
That's why the first thing you should do after upgrading to a new feature update, is review your privacy settings and set them according to your requirements.
2. Disable Advertisements, Suggestions and Tips
Windows 10 shows apps advertisements, useful suggestions and tips in Settings app, Windows Explorer, Start Menu, Lock Screen, Action Center, etc. Sometimes these ads and recommendations might annoy you.
You must review all settings related to ads and suggestions after installing a feature update as it may overwrite previous settings.
3. Disable Unnecessary Services and Improve Windows 10 Performance
New feature updates bring new services and having running too many services in background might slow down your machine. That's why its always recommended to disable unnecessary services to speed up your computer and improve overall performance.
Once you install a feature update.
The above mentioned tutorial provides some registry tweaks to speed up your computer, guides you to turn off unnecessary animations effects and allows you to improve performance of your Windows 10 machine.
4. Uninstall and Remove Unwanted Modern (UWP) Apps
New feature updates bring new UWP (also known as modern, metro or Store) apps. Most of these apps are not used by normal Windows 10 users. If you don't like some apps, you can uninstall them from your Windows 10 machine.
Many people like me always prefer to remove all these modern apps with the help of a single PowerShell command.
5. Restore Classic Programs and User Interface
Windows 10 comes with new modern apps which replace classic programs such as Windows Photo Viewer, MS Paint, Calculator, etc. If you restored classic programs and UI elements, its possible that a new feature update overwrite those changes and restore new modern apps.
6. Fix Automatic Windows Update Problem
Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs new updates and doesn't allow users to disable or manually download the updates.
If you have installed a new feature update in Windows 10, set the automatic updates to manual again with the help of following tutorial to save your Internet connection bandwidth:
7. Remove Extra Folders and Items from "This PC" Window
Windows 10 shows some extra folders such as 3D Objects, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos at the top of "This PC" window. These extra folders can be removed with the help of a simple registry tweak but new feature updates may restore these extra folders.
After upgrading to a new feature update, Windows Update might install new compatible drivers for your graphics card which may add new entries to your Desktop context menu such as "Graphics Properties", "Graphics Options", etc.8. Remove Graphics Card's Driver Context Menu Options
These extra options in Desktop context menu cause the context menu loading slower and looking ugly.
9. Free Up Disk Space Using Disk Cleanup
When you install a new feature update, it creates a backup of previous Windows version in C:\ drive so that you can restore the previous Windows version if needed.
If you don't want to downgrade to previous Windows 10 version, you can remove those backup files and get a few extra GB free space on your hard disk.
10. Clean Up Context Menus
Windows 10 newer feature updates add several new options to context menus (right-click menus). You can remove extra unwanted options to make the context menus clean and compact.
11. Get Colors on Program Windows Titlebars
By default Windows 10 uses White color in titlebars of all program windows. You can get colorized titlebars with the help of following tutorials:
12. Troubleshoot Problems and Issues After Installing Feature Update
You may encounter various issues and problems after upgrading to new feature update such as Internet connection not working, display problem, restart/shutdown problem, etc.
And don't forget to visit our exclusive "Windows 10" section which contains latest tips-n-tricks, troubleshooting and how-to guides for Windows 10 operating system. If you face any problem after installing feature update in Windows 10 and can't find a solution, you can post about your problem in our "Help & Support" topic and we'll assist you.
