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I recently installed Windows ten in an older Toshiba Satellite P755=S5182 laptop. I have done this installation many times before and thought I had turned off most of the annoyances. I installed drivers and updates and a few programs ie, Chome , Acrobat Reader, etc. When I insert a USB flash drive and File Explorer opens, Up Pops Microsoft Edge with numerous tabs offering "help with using File Explorer". I have already set Chrome as the default browser but I must have missed something in the settings. Anyone have ideas about what to turn off?
Mahalo for your help.

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Quick summary and context: already tried repairing/resetting Edge, turning off Cortana and notifications, setting Chrome as default, and installing EdgeDeflector; ’s suggestion to change AutoPlay was also tried. When Edge keeps reappearing after a reboot the cause is usually a Windows handler or startup action re-invoking web help pages (AutoPlay rules, a protocol association for "microsoft-edge:", a scheduled/startup task, or a user-profile setting), not Edge itself deliberately opening Explorer.

Practical first checks (fast, no registry edits)

  • Turn AutoPlay off or set the removable-drive action to “Take no action”: Settings → Devices → AutoPlay (or Control Panel → AutoPlay).
  • Turn off Windows tips/suggestions: Settings → System → Notifications & actions → uncheck “Get tips, tricks and suggestions as you use Windows” and Settings → Personalization → Start → disable “Show suggestions occasionally in Start.”
  • Verify default handler by protocol: Settings → Apps → Default apps → Choose default apps by protocol → locate MICROSOFT-EDGE and confirm what handles it (EdgeDeflector must be listed and selected if used). If the handler flips back on reboot, something at startup is re-registering Edge.

If web search results keep opening in Edge

  • Cortana/Search uses the microsoft-edge: protocol and Bing by design. Tools like EdgeDeflector or MSEdgeRedirect can intercept that, but Windows updates or OEM utilities sometimes break the association. If persistent redirection is required, either reassign the protocol handler after each update, or disable web/search results via Group Policy (Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Search → disable web search/display of web results) or equivalent registry edits (backup registry first).

Deeper troubleshooting (checks that often reveal the root)

  • Run system repair checks from an elevated prompt:
    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow
  • Run a full malware/Defender offline scan and/or Malwarebytes.
  • Inspect Startup and Scheduled Tasks for msedge/msedge.exe launching with URLs (Task Manager → Startup; Autoruns from Sysinternals is useful).
  • Test with a clean boot or a new local user account to see whether the behavior is profile-specific.

Caution: back up the registry before making policy/registry changes and avoid uninstalling the new Chromium Edge — redirecting handlers or disabling web search is safer and reversible.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Another thing. Can you live without Cortana? Why? Read

Member Avatar for tarael1

Thank you. The repair and reset of Edge seems to have worked. As far as Cortana goes I will ask the owner of the computer when I give it back to her.
Mahalo Tarael

Member Avatar for tarael1

It's back!
I followed those links and installed Edge Deflector. It seems to solve the problem but only temporarily. When I reboot the problem comes back. I have turned off all notifications, turned off Cortana, set Chrome as the default browser, also set defaults by file type and changed every one that used Edge to Chrome.
It seems that all of those links, even the "howtogeek" page are from 2017 or 2018. The new Edge has been "fortified". I have not had this problem on any other machine. Perhaps it is because the Satellite is older and came with Windows 7.
Another issue is when I use the search box and type in a search the "Open results in Browser" link does not give me the option to choose the browser. It always searches with Bing in Edge.
Any further suggestions would be welcome.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

Did you change the autoplay action yet? I'd try take no action.

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