Using a Stream as just a picture viewer

[Grandad2]

 My wife is a keen photographer but cannot cope with computers.  I can just about handle the basics, including storing and printing  her pictures since she went over to a digital camera.  Not all of the 8,000 plus have been printed!

Unfortunately her eyesight is deteriorating rapidly and I  want to provide her with access to all her photos on a screen she can hold on her lap. I tried a digital photo frame but it did not have the facility to browse all the folders, hence buying the Stream.

I want to limit her use of it to purely view pictures and listen to music via usb memory sticks. Any other application will only confuse her and discourage  all use.

I bought it new but it was partially set up by the seller CX supplies. How do I strip it right down - presumably first restore it to factory settings and then remove most/all programmes and make the usb the home page.

I would like some expert advice and specific guidance to achieve this. Can it be done needing to  go on the internet?

[WAWood]

@Grandad2 

Sorry, but you can not do a factory reset on Streams because they have insufficient storage capacity.  If you attempt that, you will only crash the PC and render it useless.

If you want to set up a limited account, restricting what she can do, then I suggest you research creating a second account for a family member and then applying parental controls to that account.  Those controls can seriously limit what that account holder can do, while at the same time, using your account, you have full rights to administer the PC as you need to.

If you want to pare down the disk usage, then you need to read the information below as those will free up space, allowing you to add more files:

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3012-disk-cleanup-open-use-windows-10-a.html
http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-clean-up-winsxs-folder-in-windows-10/

Also, the community Win10 Forums has the following suggestions:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/83441-free-up-drive-space-windows-10-a.html

Finally, there is a freeware app known as Wise Disk Cleaner. I use it every day to get rid of junk files: https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html

Good Luck

[Grandad2]

Thanks for the warning.  

 I want to keep it as simple as possible,  no internet, just access to the memory stick, 

How much can I remove manually? 

[WAWood]

@Grandad2 

OK, I understand it's a simple question -- but it's not a simple answer.

I have used Parental Controls for my extended family but that was long ago, before my grandkids became teenagers and figured out how to get around the limitations, and I don't NOW recall the details of doing it.

MS Windows is designed to be USED, not LIMITED -- so they don't make it easy to restrict what can be done.  There is a lot of work involved in doing what you want to do.  I have linked to an article to get you started below -- but in all honesty, what you want to do can be done a lot easier using a cheap image-viewing tablet that is designed just to display pictures.

Here is an article to get you started on Parental Controls:  https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/parental-controls-windows-10#:~:text=%20How%20to%20Use%20the%20Pa...

[Grandad2]

Yes, I did try an image screening tablet  but  it did not offer the ability to look through the menu of all photos and select the ones to see.

Another solution would be to make the USB menu the home page so that there is no need to go into any other area.

Is this another impractical idea?? 

[WAWood]

@Grandad2 

I like your suggestion -- and maybe if you open File Manager to the USB stick and then make it full screen, that will serve the purpose you want.  You can try it.

But I know of no way to then lock the screen so that File Manager can't be resized.

[Grandad2]

Success. 

A local computer shop have programmed the laptop to limit access to the USB and my wife has only to use 8 commands which I have listed on an illustrated large print instruction page.  It is working a treat.

Thanks for all the suggestions that led me to this result.

[WAWood]

Glad to see that it worked out OK for you both.