Windows 11 - Maximum Hatred

Asus ProArt StudioBook H5600QM
Windows 11 Pro 23H2 - OS Build 22631.3880

Dear MG,

I have just encountered a truly dystopian operating system in the form of the factory image shipped back to me from the ASUS service center (who returned the machine to me bricked and boot looping the first time around).

I'm just... stunned, at how intrusive, restrictive, convoluted, bloated and overbearing this OS is. Looking at it and trying and failing to get it to do what I want is an alternatingly depressing and infuriating experience. I never thought Windows machines could or would get this bad.

And yet I'm stuck with it. I spoke to ASUS ahead of this purchase to make sure that there were Win10 drivers for this exact model, and they lied and said there were such drivers. When I failed to find any, or any that functioned (or functioned properly), they changed their story, and said Win10 was not, in fact, supported on the machine.

As I try to hold down the many tentacles of this advertisement and surveillance-ridden, deliberately-kneecapped, unwanted software gavage-ing nightmare, there are two problems I'm encountering which *none* of the methods used thus far have resolved. They are as follows:

1. "Your IT Administrator Has Limited Access" error upon attempting to make any changes to Windows Defender, which I ultimately want permanently disabled for, among other reasons, the files it refuses to exempt from scans, blocks, quarantines and deletions. The list of regedit commands intended to resolve this, found on multiple help sites, have had no effect.

2. Enabling sideloading. I have developer features enabled, as well as the "hidden" administrator account, and I am still being policed from opening unsanctioned packages. Nor can I find any Windows settings which contain the term 'sideloading.'

This post is partly intended to solve the above two issues, but more broadly, is aimed at determining the manner in which I can bend this embarrassing, disgusting machine to my will with root/admin level authority in absolutely every sense. No mandatory updates, no reporting/tattling/data-mining to random servers, no Windows Defender, all bullshit bloatware permanently removed, and to top it all off, replacing this god awful grandparent-oriented theme with a windows classic one, insofar as that is possible.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Greatly.

-newmy51

 

Maybe going back to windows 10 might be ideal. A lot of people went back to windows 10 due to windows 11 buggy issues and spyware. Windows 10 should be supported Asus lying.

 

### 1. "Your IT Administrator Has Limited Access" Error
This error often occurs due to group policies or registry settings. Here are some steps you can try:
1. **Group Policy Editor**:
- Press `Win + R`, type `gpedit.msc`, and press Enter.
- Navigate to `Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender Antivirus`.
- Double-click on `Turn off Windows Defender Antivirus` and set it to `Enabled`. Click Apply and OK.
2. **Registry Editor**:
- Press `Win + R`, type `regedit`, and press Enter.
- Navigate to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender`.
- Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named `DisableAntiSpyware` and set its value to `1`.
3. **Services**:
- Press `Win + R`, type `services.msc`, and press Enter.
- Find `Windows Defender Antivirus Service`, right-click, and select `Properties`.
- Set the Startup type to `Disabled`.

### 2. Enabling Sideloading
To enable sideloading, you can try the following steps:
1. **Developer Mode**:
- Go to `Settings > Update & Security > For developers`.
- Select `Developer mode`.
2. **PowerShell**:
- Open PowerShell as an administrator.
- Run the command: `Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted`.
3. **Local Group Policy Editor**:
- Press `Win + R`, type `gpedit.msc`, and press Enter.
- Navigate to `Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > App Package Deployment`.
- Enable `Allow all trusted apps to install`.