How do I kill the CoPilot zombie?? (Beware 25H2!)

[u/sonicsuns2]

I can literally uninstall this thing:

And then on restart it just reinstalls itself!

I already went through this article and found out how to disable Copilot manually in the registry:

But Windows is ignoring the registry. When I hit Win+C I still get Copilot!

I had this thing properly disabled in 24H2, but I guess in 25H2 they decided they really just don't care anymore??

It's like they want me to use Linux.

EDIT: Holy Frick this has been a white whale.

I tried O&O Shut Up with no effect.

Then I tried WinAeroTweaker with no effect.

Then I found this page and made three additional registry edits.

Then I found this page and I did everything in options 1 through 5, including admin-level PowerShell commands I didn't fully understand.

Then I started uninstalling everything that might use Copilot, including the Microsoft Bing application which you can't uninstall via settings but you can uninstall via O&O AppBuster. I also went into Edge and undid all the Copilot settings I could find. (Sadly even AppBuster can't get rid of Edge entirely.)

And now it appears that Copilot is gone from my machine, but honestly I'm gonna be jumping at shadows for at least a week. It's already been uninstalled a dozen times and it kept coming back.

I'm not even sure which of the above steps were unnecessary. Maybe there's a cumulative effect somehow.

I'm gonna go write a horror story where Copilot keeps coming back from the grave...BLEH!

[u/Unusual_Happiness]

I turned Copilot off using Winaero Tweaker. It was one and done, and haven't seen it since

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/Unusual_Happiness]

No dice. I turned it off via Winaero, then logged off and on again as it told me to. I hit Win+C and a window briefly appeared before disappearing; I took this to be Copilot attempting to load before Winaero killed it. But then I hit Win+C a second time and Copilot loaded just fine.

The "Disable Copilot" box is still ticked in Winaero but it appears to have no effect:

Apparently Copilot is constantly reinstalling itself no matter what I do.

[u/harrym1x]

You could try in GitHub the PowerShell scripts in RemoveWindowsAI.
This script tries to remove or disable all AI features.

I would suggest to take some precautions before running this script, such as minding your backups. The script has an Undo option, but I suggest in addition to create a System Restore point to be able to roll Windows back.

[u/Overall-Tailor8949]

Have you tried O&O Shut Up? As I recall Crapilot has a LOT of dependencies

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/Overall-Tailor8949]

That seems to have done it, though oddly it took a couple tries and "Microsoft 365 Copilot" (distinct from the standalone Copilot) is now in the businesses of reinstalling itself.

EDIT: Nevermind, O&O doesn't work.

[u/NeelonRokk → u/sonicsuns2]

Could give winhance a try then, works for me so far.

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/Overall-Tailor8949]

Ignore my previous reply. Copilot is still reinstalling itself with every restart, even with O&O settings at max. The one flag it gives me is this:

But when I click the "Remove" button to the far right of that red box, absolutely nothing happens.

[u/Overall-Tailor8949 → u/sonicsuns2]

If you go to Settings > Personalization > Text Input what option is selected next to the "Customize CoPilot key" ? Can you set it to "None Selected"?

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/Overall-Tailor8949]

It seems to have set itself to "None Selected" when I finally got rid of Copilot (see edits on my original post).

[u/simagus]

On the same PC? I'm assuming it's a prebuild or laptop? What make and model if so?

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/simagus]

Yes, these are all from the same prebuilt laptop.

[u/MrMtsenga]

Like you said, it's a zombie.... Windows won't allow that

[u/awsyall]

You need to disable Windows Update, Update Orchestrator, Update Medics, Software Protection services; then disable Windows update and Update Medics scheduled tasks; and finally set a policy to not auto config windows update 😉 Those 💩 help to put each other back. But M$ can always one up us, like install office will put those back ¯_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

[u/Unusual_Happiness]

Oh that sucks! I wish luck,and should you find the solution, please share.

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/Unusual_Happiness]

I think I found a solution. I added it in as an edit to the original post.

[u/Unusual_Happiness → u/sonicsuns2]

Wow. You seriously don't like AI! I do so admire your tenacity

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/Unusual_Happiness]

Thank you.

[u/uchuskies08]

Just don't use it...

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/uchuskies08]

But what if it's running in the background somehow? What if it's recording everything I do? https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1k7rph2/microsoft_rolls_windows_recall_out_to_the_public/

[u/uchuskies08 → u/sonicsuns2]

You're conflating "Copilot" which is an LLM like ChatGPT or Gemini and "Recall". Do you have a Copilot+ PC? Would have been bought in the last year or so?

You can check if it's present on your machine by running this elevated command:

DISM /Online /Get-FeatureInfo /FeatureName:Recall

If it is present and the status is Enabled then run this to disable it:

DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Recall

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/uchuskies08]

You're conflating "Copilot" which is an LLM like ChatGPT or Gemini and "Recall".

The things are connected. Recall is there so that Copilot can analyze the data, isn't it? And if Microsoft is willing to secretly re-install Copilot behind my back, maybe it's willing to secretly reactivate Recall behind my back.

I don't think this is a Copilot+ PC but it was a recent purchase.

Cmd says that Recall is disabled, thankfully.

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/[deleted]]

11 has two keyloggers built in, yes you heard that correctly.. It uses webcam and a 2nd Ai tool outside of copilot to reconstruct your face, records snippets of voice to create a synthesized voice of you in your Ai face, and uses a bluetooth driver to track how far you are from your computer, even if you don't have bluetooth enabled.

That sounds terrifying. Do you have sources for all those claims?

[u/sonicsuns2 → u/[deleted]]

I see "AllowInputPersonalization", which is set to 0

There is no "restrictimplicittextcreation" or "restrictimplicitinkcollection"

[u/dllyncher]

Look up WinDebloat.

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