4.6 KiB
WindowsBloatwareRemover
A tool that allows for removal of all Preinstalled Apps on Windows that can't be removed by Windows, such as Microsoft Edge
How to use
Download the executable of the and run it as administrator.
To do that locate your download folder, right-click the file and click "Run as Administrator"
Windows probably won't run it at first but display a prompt, claiming it had "protected" your pc by blocking the program. Click on "More Info" and then on "Run Anyway".
Now follow the instructions in the terminal. As of version 1.0.0 a proper UI replaces the terminal.
Screenshots
Known Issues and Bugs
Edge won't be removed automatically
The Process to remove the Edge browser doesn't work properly. There are two steps to permanently remove Microsoft Edge from Windows:
- The executable needs to be run to uninstall the application itself
- A registry key needs to be created to tell Windows to not reinstall the browser after a Windows update.
The second step is surprisingly the easy part and can be done with only two commands. But running the uninstaller for the edge browser is way trickier than I originally thought, and here is why:
- The Windows Powershell has issues finding files that are located within the "Program Files (x86)" directory and all of its child directories, meaning all folders and files within that folder. There seam to be ways to problem (by using a combination of the alias for the x86 directory but not immediately parsing it into the directory path but defining it as a variable first but my countless tries to achieve that were unsuccessful and right now I am way too frustrated from writing powershell scripts (Ps-script is one of the ugliest shell scripting languages I have ever seen))
- Programmatically running the executable seams to be impossible. When using the default command line to run the command that runs the executable (or running the program in the powershell from the exact location of the uninstall-executable for edge to avoid the x86 issue) windows seams to not run it correctly but when I, as a user, paste the command and run it manually, it always worked. Either Windows has a built-in function to prevent you from programmatically remove Edge, or I am just a moron.
But just in case, I am working on a solution, and I will (probably) find one. Since I don't use Windows anymore but have switched over Linux a while ago, this is of course not my highest priority so there might not be any updates and bug-fixing in the near future (I also have no time rn).
Not tested on Windows 11 (this is probably not considered a bug or issue since I don't know how it performs on Windows 11)
I haven't tested the project on a Windows 11 machine (or virtual machine) and therefore cannot claim that it works without flaws. Why this is, You may be asking? Well... ask Microsoft! The system requirements for WWindows 11 are so crazy that basically every CPU manufactured in 2018 or earlier is not "good enough" to be running Windows 11. Since I am running a core i5 6th gen (from 2015) and can't be bothered going through the hassle of somehow tricking windows into thinking my CPU was good enough on a virtual machine, I won't test it in the near future (maybe I will try to make it work on my laptop in a VM). If You have a Windows 11 compatible machine and are familiar with the concept of Virtual machines and how to use them, be sure to open an issue and tell me how it performs.
Why
Ever used Windows? - I don't think this needs more explanation, especially for 10 and 11.
For everyone else: Microsoft is a master when it comes to slapping bloatware and advertisement onto their operating system, the edge browser being the most prominent one.
For real though, I occasionally use Windows virtual machines and despite having a backup that I can easily clone every time I do experiments, etc.., reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows 10 needs to be done from time to time.
Donations for new PC
Click (definitely not a Rick Roll) to donate me money so that I can buy a new PC to test this on Windows 11.