Windows 10: How to disable Wi-Fi Sense Password Sharing and reclaim disk space after free upgrade

Windows 10 brings a new Wi-Fi Sense Password Sharing feature, which essentially manages Wi-Fi connectivity across unsecured and open networks including private networks by signing the device automatically.

However, this feature could create privacy issues with users who are concerned about protecting their personal information from leaking into the public domain via unprotected or unsecure Wi-Fi networks.

If you are thinking about opting out of this default functionality in Windows 10, here are a few steps you should try (courtesy Redmond Pie):

Step 1: Open the Start Menu and launch Settings.

Step 2: Under Settings select Network & Internet > Wi-Fi, and finally select the Manage Wi-Fi settings option.

Step 3: You just need to disable all of the options available in the Wi-Fi settings to be on the safer side. You can also ask Windows to disregard or forget any Wi-Fi networks that you have been signed into in the past for further protection from unsecure networks.

Step 4: In addition, you can disable Wi-Fi Sense functionality altogether via your router settings by adding the postfix "_optout" to the unsecure network, which you want to block completely. For instance, if your network name is "Sify-WiFi" then just rename it as "Sify-WiFi_optout".

In related news, users who have successfully installed Windows 10 and want to reclaim some hard drive space after the free upgrade can do so using the following step-by-step guide.

Folks at Redmond Pie suggest that we could reclaim up to 20GB of storage space after the Windows 10 installation, as the upgrade process saves a lot of data from the previous installation in order to facilitate easy rollback or restore capability when the need arises.

Note: You don't have to try this procedure if you have backed up important data from the previous installation (during the upgrade process), and saving hard disk space is not your primary concern.

How to reclaim hard disk space after Windows 10 free upgrade

Step 1: Search for the built-in Disk Cleanup utility and run it within Windows.

Step 2: In the ensuing window, hit Clean up system files button located near the bottom of the interface.

Step 3: A new window pops up with a box entitled Files to delete. This list includes Previous Windows Installations and Temporary Windows Installation Files options. Select both these options.

Step 4: Click OK to continue with the storage space reclaim process.

That's it. You can now reclaim at least 17GB of hard drive space including the space regained from deleting files from the Recycle Bin.