How to Turn Off Windows Help & Support

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Change system settings to prevent Windows from showing pop-up help and support tips.
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Windows 8.1 displays pop-up help tips by default to educate users on where to access functions such as the Charms and Start button. Although useful, the help tips can be annoying to experienced users who have performed a clean install of the operating system. To disable these tips, either change the registry settings associated with the help tips or edit the associated settings from the group policy editor. After altering the settings, you need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

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Regedit

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Step 1

Type "Regedit" (without the quotation marks) from the Windows 8.1 Start screen, and press "Enter."

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Step 2

Select "Yes" if prompted to confirm that you want to allow the program to make changes to your computer.

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Step 3

Click the small triangle next to "HKEY_Current_User" to open this root key, and then open the "Software" key.

Step 4

Open the "Policies" key, and then open "Microsoft."

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Step 5

Open the "Windows" key, and then open "EdgeUI."

Step 6

Double-click "DisableHelpSticker" and change the value data number to "0" (without the quotation marks.) Click "OK" to save the changes.

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Step 7

Repeat the process for the "DisableHelpSticker" value under the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" root key. The sub keys are exactly the same as the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" root key.

Group Policy Editor

Step 1

Type "Edit Group Policy" (without the quotation marks) from the Windows 8.1 Start screen and press "Enter."

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Step 2

Select "Edit group policy" and then click "User Configuration" from the left pane.

Step 3

Open "Administrative Templates" and then open "Windows Components."

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Step 4

Click "Edge UI" and then double-click "Disable help tips."

Step 5

Select the radio button next to "Enabled" and then click "Apply."

Step 6

Exit the Group Policy Editor and restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

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