In another thread I mentioned the methods that Edge uses in order to boost its speed. These methods continue to consume a small amount of system resources (CPU, network, disk storage, etc.) even if you only ever used Edge once to download another browser.
If you prefer using an alternative browser then you can reclaim the small amount of system resources that Edge uses by stopping Edge from running automatically in the background from power-on (and pre-loading tabs). It’s easy to do using a REG file to amend the Windows registry.
Skill level: Easy – Time required: Couple of minutes
1. Copy/Paste the following into Notepad:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ; Microsoft Edge – automatic actions – DISABLE ; Launch Edge at power-on – DISABLE [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftMicrosoftEdgeMain] “AllowPrelaunch”=dword:00000000 ; Pre-load Start and New tabs – OFF [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftMicrosoftEdgeTabPreloader] “AllowTabPreloading”=dword:00000000 ; Page prediction – OFF [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAppContainerStoragemicrosoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbweMicrosoftEdgeFlipAhead] “FPEnabled”=dword:00000000
2. Save the Notepad file as something like “Microsoft Edge – automatic actions – DISABLE.reg” (including the quotes, otherwise Notepad will save the file as Microsoft Edge – automatic actions – DISABLE.reg.txt).
3. Double-click on the newly-created .REG file and accept the User Account Control prompt.
4. Click on the Yes button to dismiss the Are you sure you want to continue? prompt.
5. Click on the OK button to dismiss the message which appears.
6. Restart your PC/laptop twice for the changes to take place. (The reason for this is because on the first restart, Windows reads the amended registry settings but Edge has already started its background processes before sign-in. On the second restart the OS now knows not to start Edge’s background processes.)
If you want to revert back to the default settings then copy/paste the following to Notepad, save as something like “Microsoft Edge – automatic actions – ENABLE (default)” (including quotes) and carry out steps 3-6 above:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ; Microsoft Edge – automatic actions – ENABLE (default) ; Launch Edge at power-on – ENABLE [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftMicrosoftEdgeMain] “AllowPrelaunch”=- ; Pre-load Start and New tabs – ON [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftMicrosoftEdgeTabPreloader] “AllowTabPreloading”=- ; Page prediction – ON [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAppContainerStoragemicrosoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbweMicrosoftEdgeFlipAhead] “FPEnabled”=dword:00000001
EDIT: Note that this does NOT disable Edge… it just stops it running automatically in the background from when your PC/laptop is powered on. If you have an older PC/laptop then this may reduce the time it takes to get to a stable desktop as less work needs to be done in the background. (I’ll try to do some comparison tests with older kit and report back.)
Hope this helps…
