Category: Software

Uninstalr review: powerful Windows software uninstaller

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Uninstalr is a free Windows software uninstaller. You may download a portable version or installer from the developer website. It runs on Windows 7 and newer versions of Windows.

The application supports several features that are often only found in commercial uninstallers: monitor software installations, deep cleaning, batch removals of apps and support for a variety of software stores and distribution platforms.

Uninstalr: the basics

Windows software uninstaller Uninstalr

The Windows software uninstaller scans the system on start. This may take a moment, depending on the number of installed programs and the system’s performance.

The list includes installed programs but also leftovers from apps that were previously installed on the device.

Tip: open the program preferences first and uncheck the automatic system restart option after software uninstallations.

Each program is listed with its name, developer, size on disk and type. Filters at the top give you options to create custom lists. You may display only leftovers or only programs from Steam, among other options. Microsoft apps are hidden by default, but you may enable these as well.

Removing programs is easy. Select one or multiple of the listed apps with a left-click and activate the uninstall button afterwards. You may also select “show data” first. Show data lists all found locations, files, folders, and Registry, of the selected apps.

The program lists the information when you active the uninstall option. The removal deletes the programs entirely from the system. It is recommended to restart the Windows PC afterwards.

Core features of the Windows software uninstaller

Uninstalr’s core feature is the removal of one or multiple programs from Windows PCs. Additionally, it supports monitoring software installations for easier cleaning in the future.

Using the program is simple. Run it, wait for the scan to complete, and select apps to remove. This process worked well during tests.

I still recommended that you create a system backup of the main partition for safety reasons.

Besides cleaning leftovers from the Windows PC, you can also use it to find and uninstall large programs. Note that the sort options appear bugged at the time. The sort by size option did not work correctly during tests. It allows you to sort apps by size.

Select “New Software Monitoring” in the interface to monitor a software installation. The Windows software uninstaller monitors installs automatically at this point.

It lists the program when you run its installer. Note that this does not work for portable apps. Some installations were not detected by the application either while running. Still, you do benefit from the leftover scan option in any event.

Should you use Uninstalr immediately?

Should you use Uninstalr immediately to remove Windows programs, or the default Windows uninstaller first?

This depends. If you used uninstaller to monitor software installs, then you may use the program immediately for the removal. if you did not, use the Windows tool first and then Uninstalr to take care of leftovers.

You should not run into any issues removing apps with Uninstalr directly either.

Comparison to WinGetUI

WinGetUI is a user interface for winget. It allows you to install and uninstall Windows software. A core difference between the two apps is that WinGetUI does not scan for leftovers.

It is still useful, for instance for installing programs on Windows or removing bulk programs. After using it to remove apps, you may want to run Uninstalr to benefit from its leftover removal functionality.

Closing Words

Uninstalr is a powerful software uninstaller for Windows. The program is ideal for removing leftover files and Registry entries from already removed software installations or portable app installations.

Resolutions

Super Resolution promises better game graphics on Windows 11

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Automatic Super Resolution is a new Windows graphics feature that is currently in development. The main idea behind it is to use artificial intelligence to “play games more smoothly with enhanced details” according to Microsoft.

Modern PC games may tax a system’s hardware. If the system is older, users may notice slowdowns or reduced graphics details. One way of dealing with this is to reduce the resolution of the game or its graphics details.

While that may improve frames per seconds, it also reduces the visual quality of the game.

Super Resolution

Automatic Super Resolution

Automatic Super Resolution is a new feature that is in testing right now. The experimental feature was spotted by Twitter user PhantomOcean3.

The support page returns a 404 error at the moment, which is why we know little about the actual functionality of the feature. What we know is that Windows may use AI to improve the performance and visual quality of games.

It is unclear if this is marketing-speak for upscaling, a technology that has been around for a long time.

A second screenshot shows some of the available options. Besides on and off toggles, Super Resolution supports enabling the feature while keeping the display resolution and configuring the feature for individual games and apps.

Super Resolution preferences

Super Resolutions everywhere

Several companies announced similar features in the past. Qualcomm announced Game Super Resolution back in April 2023, which, as Qualcomm put it, promises “increased battery life, higher resolutions and improved frame rates on mobile devices”.

Qualcomm’s solution uses upscaling to achieve this; the company avoided the term AI entirely during the announcement.

NVIDIA’s RTX Super Resolution technology is designed specifically for videos. It upscales videos up to 4K, but requires modern NVIDIA video cards for that.

Microsoft introduced Turing Image Super Resolution back in 2022 in Microsoft Edge. The company cut the “Turing Image” part of the name later that year. It too promises to upscale low resolution images to higher resolutions.

Closing Words

Playing games smoothly at higher resolutions is something that most gamers will be interested in. The main question is how effective Microsoft’s solution is. Another, if it requires certain hardware features to work.

While it is not possible to upscale games beyond the supported resolution of the monitor, Super Resolution could help gamers on older devices especially. If, and that is a big if, the feature does not require specific hardware.

The functionality may also be of interest for classic computer games. Older games may support resolutions of 800×600 or even lower only. These do not look good on modern displays with 1080p or 4k resolutions, usually.

If Microsoft gets this right, it could give certain older PC games a much needed visual boost.

As for when Super Resolution lands. The most likely target is the 2024 feature update for Windows 11.

Now You: would you use the feature to play games on your devices?

elevate

What you need to know about Sudo for Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The latest Windows 11 build introduces the sudo command to the operating system. Sudo plays an essential role on BSD, Linux, and other Unix-like systems as it allows users to run commands as another user. The most common application of sudo is to run programs as the superuser.

Microsoft describes its implementation of Sudo for Windows in a single sentence:

Sudo for Windows provides a new, yet familiar way to elevate processes directly from the command-line.

This is actually all you need to know about Microsoft’s implantation. In other words, you use sudo to elevate command line instructions.

A detailed article on the Windows Command Line Dev Blog provides additional information on Sudo for Windows.

Sudo for Windows: the details

Sudo for Windows is only available in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26052. Twitter user Bob Pony discovered that you may use Sudo for Windows on older versions of the operating system already as well. Support goes all the way down to Windows 7.

While not recommended, you may download the Sudo for Windows application from the linked post and add it to the System32 directory.

The feature is not enabled by default. You may enable it by running the command sudo config –enable normal from an elevated command prompt. Replace “normal” with one of the other options below, if you prefer those.

The application supports three states:

  • In a new window (forceNewWindow) — runs the command in a new elevated window.
  • With input disabled (disableInput) — runs the command without input option in the window it was triggered from.
  • Inline (normal) — runs the command from the same window it was triggered from. Most similar to the sudo experience on *nix systems.

You find these options under System > For developers in the Windows Settings. Note that the options are not available if you copied the application manually to the System32 folder.

Tip: use the command sudo -h to display all available commands in the console.

Here is the output at the time of writing:

C:\Users\Martin\Downloads\sudo>sudo -h
Sudo for Windows

Usage: sudo [OPTIONS] [COMMANDLINE]… [COMMAND]

Commands:
run Run a command as admin
config Get current configuration information of sudo
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Arguments:
[COMMANDLINE]… Command-line to run

Options:
-E, –copyEnv Pass the current environment variables to the command
–newWindow Use a new window for the command
–disableInput Run in the current terminal, with input to the target application disabled
-h, –help Print help (see more with ‘–help’)
-V, –version Print version

Using Sudo for Windows

Sudo for Windows

Just prepend “sudo” in front of the command to run it elevated. The command sudo wsl.exe –install installs the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Windows would refuse to run it in an unelevated command prompt window.

With sudo, it displays an UAC prompt. Accept the prompt and the command is executed on the system. What happens next depends on the selected configuration.

  • New window — Sudo for Windows launches a new elevated console window and executes the command in that window.
  • Input closed and Inline — Sudo for Windows launches a new elevated sudo.exe process. The original sudo command establishes an RPC connection with that new process.

Closing Words

Sudo for Windows is open source. Microsoft published a new repository on GitHub that interested users may follow.

Droid

F-Droid 1.19.0 released: automatic apps updates

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

A new version of the open source privacy-friendly F-Droid app for Android is now available. F-Droid offers an alternative to Google Play. It features only free and open source software, and includes apps that are not allowed on Google Play due to Google policies.

F-Droid 1.19.0 is the latest version. It introduces a much requested feature: the ability to update apps automatically.

While F-Droid 1.19.0 is already available, it is not pushed to user devices yet. It is necessary to seek the update manually to install it.

To do so, open F-Droid on your Android device. Run a search for F-Droid and select the F-Droid result from the list of search results. Scroll down and expand Versions on the page. There you find version 1.19.0 listed. Expand the version and select the install option to start the upgrade.

F-Droid: apps auto-updates

F-Droid expert mode

The main new feature of F-Droid 1.19.0 is auto updating for installed apps. The feature works only on Android 12 or newer devices.

The team notes:

On Android 12 or later, apps will be autoupdated after the first install or first update, no root, no unlocking, no PrivExt needed.

Some older apps can not be updated automatically. F-Droid continues notify users about these apps so that they may be updated manually.

F-Droid users who prefer the old way — inform about updates, but do not auto-install — may restore the classic functionality.

This is done in the following way:

  • Open the F-Droid application on the Android device.
  • Select Settings.
  • Scroll down to the “Other” section and enable Expert mode there.
  • Scroll all the way down and enable “Force old installer”.

This option disables the new installer and thus also automatic background updates. You may undo the change at any time by toggling the force old installer preference.

Managing other repositories

F-Droid supported using other repos for adding and managing apps for some time. The functionality was limited to adding and removing repositories.

F-Droid 1.19.0 introduces a new option to add repositories. This is done either through the repositories URL or by scanning a QR code. The app fetches repository information and displays the listed apps before the repo is added to the database.

The team writes:

In short, paste repo link or use QR code, see list of apps before adding it, see apps from a single repo, all new features that make repositories a joy to use. Mirrors like to keep things chill and in the background, but they are expanding and getting easier to control, as plain servers, Tor .onion hosted or via IPFS gateways.

Other changes

The new version includes lots of improvements. Lots of apps got updated, and 11 new apps are now available in the main repository.

You may check out the official announcement of the new release here.

Microsoft confirms Windows 11 version 24H2 as the 2024 feature update

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Last year, rumors began to emerge about a new version of Windows that would focus heavily on AI. Microsoft had just begun its AI push, adding Copilots everywhere. Panos Panay, then leader of Surface and Windows teams, left the company in the same year. Panay was replaced by Yusuf Mehdi.

Windows 12, the name that Microsoft never confirmed officially, was said to focus heavily on AI. This went hand-in-hand with the AI PCs for Windows. One of the requirements of these PCs was an integrated chip, neural processing unit, to speed up AI processing on these devices.

The leadership change and the success of AI products at Microsoft may have played a role in Microsoft’s decision to postpone the release of Windows 12.

The company released a new build to the Insider channel this week. This build introduced a few new features, including sudo.

The release notes include confirmation that the 2024 update for Windows 11 will be Windows 11 version 24H2.

Here is what Microsoft reveals in the release notes:

Starting with Build 26-xx today, Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels will see the versioning updated under Settings > System > About (and winver) to version 24H2. This denotes that Windows 11, version 24H2 will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.

While this does not include confirmation that Windows 12 won’t be released this year, there is no indication that Microsoft is preparing another operating system release in 2024. It is possible that Microsoft’s initial plans were to release the functionality of the feature update as Windows 12, but that it changed its mind.

Windows 11 version 24H2

Windows 11 version 24H2 is the feature update for Windows 11 in 2024. It is still assumed that the update will focus heavily on AI, but recent changelogs reveal little about the functionality that Microsoft plans to add.

Rumors suggest that Microsoft could launch an improved version of Copilot on Windows. The current iteration lacks any meaningful Windows-specific functionality, which is why users disable Windows Copilot on their devices. This could change, but Microsoft has not released the updated version for testing yet. For now, Copilot on Windows is more or less identical in functionality to Copilot on the Web.

Microsoft has a few months left before the release in the second half of 2024. It is possible that main AI improvements and tools are tested internally only at this time. Microsoft would have to integrate them into preview versions eventually though. This has to happen in the coming months.

AI PCs may have specific requirements, including an NPU. It seems highly unlikely that Windows 11 version 24H2 will only be available to devices with such a chip. It would block updates for the vast majority of systems and fragment the userbase even further.

More likely is that certain features are limited to devices with a NPU or work a lot better on these PCs.

Closing Words

As it stands, there will be a single major Windows release in 2024. It won’t be Windows 12, but Windows 11 version 24H2. Windows 12 may not be off the table though.

Next year will be interesting. It is the year that support for Windows 10 ends officially. While customers may extend support for several years, for a price, it may also be the perfect year for a Windows 12 release.

After all, with Windows 10 gone, there is only Windows 11 and hundreds of millions of Windows 10 devices that cannot be upgraded to the new operating system.

Now You: what do you expect from Windows 11 version 24H2?

Windows 10 issue: File system error (-2147219196)

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Some Windows 10 users reported issues with certain apps on their devices that refused to launch. Users noticed that default apps would not launch anymore on their systems or crash shortly after launch. Some received the error message File system error (-2147219196), others no error at all.

One user reported the issue on Microsoft’s official Answers forum. The thread blew up quickly. 380 users confirmed that they had the “same question”, and 524 replied to the original message.

The thread starter noted that Microsoft’s official Photos app would crash a few seconds after launch on a Windows 10 system. Double-clicks on photos returned the error message File system error (-2147219196) instead of a view of the selected image.

File system error (-2147219196)
source Richard / Microsoft Answers forum

The apps, including the Photos app, were all native apps of the operating system. Even Microsoft’s Feedback Hub app, used to report feedback and issues, did not work anymore on affected devices.

To sum it up: affected users are no longer able to launch (select) native Windows 10 apps on their devices.

Bug hunting

Users reported the issues elsewhere, including on Microsoft’s Answers forum. There, it quickly became clear that the issue could not be resolved easily. Rollbacks of updates and even reinstallations of Windows did not resolve the issue for affected users.

More and more reports poured in and some users managed to find commonalities. It became clear quickly that the issue affected older systems only. Devices with Intel Core 2 Duo and and Quad processors, as well as older AMD Athlon chips were affected, while devices with newer processors were not. All of these processors shared another commonality, the lack of support for SSE 4.2.

Tip: you can use the free program Glow to list hardware information.

Windows 10’s list of officially supported processors does not include Core 2 chipsets. Microsoft did not introduce barriers in Windows 10 to prevent the installation of the operating systems on devices with unsupported hardware.

The company introduced compatibility blocks in Windows 11. The operating system cannot be installed on devices with unsupported processors, at least not without hacks.

Any attempt to install Windows 11 on a device with an unsupported processor is blocked.

Windows 10 gets installed on devices with unsupported hardware. It may run a bit slower, but that seems to be the only sideeffect.

Microsoft is working on a solution

Microsoft employee Mahmoud G Saleh confirmed the issue and revealed that Microsoft is working on a resolution.

He wrote:

Hi, the Visual C++ team has identified the problem as a regression in the vclibs framework package that the Photos app and other apps depend on. The problem affects computers with older hardware (that do not support SSE 4.2 instructions). Microsoft is currently working on validating a solution and it’s expected to rollout to affected customers soon.

He confirmed that the issue is caused by a regression in a framework package, and that devices with processors that do not support SSE 4.2 instructions are affected.

Saleh posted the information on February 2, 2024. It is unclear when Microsoft is going to roll out a fix to affected users.

Good news is that Microsoft is working on a fix. Bad news is that it is unclear when the fix will be released.

Is the main purpose of Windows 11’s Settings Home page advertising?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

I never really liked the Home page of the Settings app that Microsoft introduced last year in Windows 11. Back then, I described it as half promotion half pointless.

Windows 11 users who open the Settings app see the home page by default. It features a mix of quick settings, which Microsoft calls recommended, account information, and, in some cases, promotions.

These promotions focused on OneDrive cloud storage and Microsoft 365 up until now. One ad unit displays “Try Microsoft 365” to the user, if no Microsoft 365 is detected.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription service that unlocks additional cloud storage and gives users access to the most recent versions of Microsoft Office. A subscription includes other benefits, such as premium templates or a dedicated Microsoft Defender app.

Now it appears that Microsoft is adding another ad unit to the home page. Discovered by Twitter user PhantomOcean3, the new unit promotes the Microsoft Copilot Pro subscription.

Microsoft Copilot is part of Windows. Operating system users may launch it with a click on the Copilot icon on the taskbar or the keyboard shortcut Windows-C. Soon, they may also use the dedicated Copilot key on keyboards of select devices to do so.

Those who do not require Windows Copilot may disable it.

Get Copilot Pro

The new unit is not enabled by default at this time. It was spotted in development builds and it is unclear if and when it lands in stable versions. My guess is that it will land this year in Windows 11, maybe even as part of the upcoming Moment update.

The unit advertises Microsoft Copilot Pro. The subscription gives users priority access to Microsoft’s Copilot AI. It is available for $20 per month in select regions at the time of writing.

Copilot Pro gives users priority access to the AI. Apart from that, it gives users 100 boosts for Designer per day. Designer is an AI image creator and boosts prioritize requests. While boosts are not required to use Designer, using the tool without boosts may take longer.

The Settings home page

The Settings home page has the following sections:

  • Recommended Settings — displays recent and commonly used settings.
  • Cloud Storage — lists used and available cloud storage, powered by OneDrive.
  • Bluetooth devices — manage, add, and remove Bluetooth devices.
  • Personalize your device — option to change the color mode and a link to personalization.
  • Microsoft 365 — an advert to try Microsoft 365. Subscribed users see options to manage their subscription.
  • Microsoft Copilot Pro — an advert for the Copilot Pro subscription.

If you don’t count the Cloud Storage unit as an ad, you get two units on the page. This means that 1/3 of the page is used for advertisement. If you add OneDrive to it, you get 1/2 that is used for ads.

The non-ad units are not that useful. Recommended settings displays dynamic options. While these appear limited, most options are just a click or two away anyway on the system.

Hiding the home page in Settings

Windows users may hide the Windows 11 Settings home page. There is no toggle, though. To hide it, Windows 11 users need to add an entry to the Registry.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Open the Start Menu.
  2. Type regedit.exe and press the Enter-key.
  3. Confirm the UAC prompt.
  4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
    • Note: If one of the keys does not exist, create it with a right-click on the previous key and the selection of New > Key. Name it accordingly.
  5. Right-click on Explorer and select New > String Value.
  6. Name it SettingsPageVisibility.
  7. Double-click on the new entry and set hide:home as the value.
  8. Close the Registry Editor.
  9. Restart the system.

The home page of the Settings app is gone. Windows 11 opens the System page instead, which it used to in the past.

You may undo the change at any time by deleting the Registry key again.

Closing Words

The idea of a Settings home page is not bad in itself. It could display popular and often used preferences to the user. Customization options could further expand the usefulness of the Settings page.

It seems unlikely that this functionality is introduced in future versions of Windows.

Now You: do you use the home page of the Settings app?

Firefox

Firefox 122 for Android launches with secret local add-on install option

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla released Firefox 122 for the desktop and for Android a few days ago. The desktop release was a light release. The highlight was a new -.deb package release for Linux users.

The Firefox 122 for Android release, on the other hand, introduced several improvements that are noteworthy. The official release notes list just a few of them.

The new mobile version of Firefox is already available. Mozilla lists just three of the improvements on its website:

  • The option to set Firefox as the default PDF reader on Android.
  • Support for Global Privacy Control. This is off in regular browsing mode by default, but users may enable the feature under Settings > Enhanced Tracking Protection > Tell websites not to share & sell data.
  • Firefox reports Android 10 as the operating system to reduce “user fingerprinting information” and “website compatibility issues.

Global Privacy Control may require an explanation. This relatively new initiative aims to move user consent from websites and services to the browser. It informs website operators that the user does not give it the right to sell or share personal information.

How to enable local add-on installations in Firefox 122 for Android

Firefox 122 Android

Mozilla changed its mind in regards to add-ons support. For some time, Firefox Stable for Android supported only a few dozen extensions. While these were some of the most popular add-ons for Firefox, it limited users significantly.

This changed last year when Mozilla unlocked full extensions support. Over 700 extensions are now available for Firefox.

Tip: check out these tips for extensions use in Firefox for Android.

A new change is the ability to install local extensions. It is a great option for developers and to integrate extensions that are not available officially yet.

It is necessary to unlock the Debug menu first. This is done by opening Menu > Settings > About Firefox. Tap five times on the Firefox logo on the page that opens to enable the Debug menu.

A new “Install add-on from file” option is added to the browser’s main settings page afterwards.

Select the option to display a file browser. Use it to pick the add-on that you want to install. Note that it needs to be stored locally already before you use the functionality.

Other improvements in Firefox 122 for Android

Sören Hentzschel published a list of additional features that Mozilla did not mention in the release notes. These are:

  • Cookie Banner Blocking supports Consent Management Provider (CPMs). This adds support for several widely used solutions to display cookie banners.
  • Audio Sandbox is now also active in Firefox for Android.
  • Firefox users may report add-ons to Mozilla now.

Closing Words

Firefox 122 for Android improves support for extensions further. The option to install add-ons from file in the stable version improves development and gives users of the browser additional options.

Not everyone needs these, as the list of add-ons grows significantly each week currently.

Now You: do you use Firefox on Android or another browser?

video

Vividl: download videos from hundreds of sites on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Vividl – Video Downloader is an open source tool for Microsoft Windows devices to download videos from hundreds of websites. The app uses the popular downloader youtube-dl / yt-dlp in the background. It supports downloads of video or audio files from hundreds of sites.

Most video streaming sites do not want you to download videos. Prime reason for this is monetization as offline videos cannot be monetized. Some services support video downloads, but often only as premium features. Google’s YouTube, for example, supports downloads, but restricts them to YouTube Premium subscribers.

There are quite a few reasons why you may want to download videos. Here is a short list:

  • To watch the video (later) when there is no Internet connection or no reliable Internet connection.
  • To watch a higher quality version of the video, which the Internet connection is incapable of streaming.
  • To watch videos without ads. Tip: you may bypass YouTube video ads without adblockers.
  • To listen to the audio of a video only.
  • For backup purposes.

Vividl: the basics

Vividl Video Downloader interface

You may download the latest version of the video downloader from its GitHub project website. The app runs on Windows 7 and newer versions of the operating system.

The developer lists two dependencies: .NET Framework 4.8 or higher, and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. Downloads for both are linked on the project website, if needed.

Windows may throw a SmartScreen error when you try to install it. The app checked out fine on Virustotal, which suggests that this is thrown only because it is a new version.

The main program interface looks basic, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Add a video by pasting its URL into the interface or through drag & drop. An auto import from Clipboard option is provided.

Vividl picks it up and displays information about it after a brief moment.

The main interface acts as the download queue but also download list. There is no option to separate these, which would help manage larger lists of videos.

Downloading videos

Vividl video and audio quality

All videos added to the video downloader are listed in the queue by default. Several download-related options are displayed there.

The default output format is mp4 video and a default quality is selected. Both options are customizable. Vividl supports webm, avi and mkv formats on the video site next to mp4.

A click on the tool icon, which is adjacent to the format button, displays all available video and audio qualities. Here you may select the desired output format and quality manually. You may need to scroll to find specific options, as the lists are not necessarily sorted by size or resolution.

There are options to download video and audio files separately, or just one of the two formats.

The downloading happens in the background. Vividl downloads three files simultaneously by default. You can change this in the program settings.

The settings list several interesting options, some of which automate the experience. Here is a short list of important options:

  • Change the default video resolution and video format. The defaults are mp4 and 1080p.
  • Always download the best quality.
  • Enable GPU acceleration for video encoding, if supported.
  • Instead of overwriting existing media, skip it or rename it.

Verdict

Vividl is a straightforward video downloader for Windows. It supports hundreds of video sites and works really well. Both manual and automatic options work reliable.

To conclude, if you need a well-designed video downloader, this is a program that you may want to test. I still prefer Internet Download Manager, but this is a commercial program that supports video downloads and also other file downloads.

Glow

Glow: open source Windows system analysis software

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Glow is an open source program for Microsoft Windows devices that displays a wealth of information about the system it is run on.

What are the features that it offers and how does it compare to popular alternatives such as Speccy? Read on to find out.

Glow: a system analyzer

Glow Windows System information

Windows displays some information about a system’s hardware and software. The information is scattered all over the place. Even the System Information tool lacks some information that third-party tools offer.

Glow is a free portable app hosted on GitHub. You may run it right after extracting the ZIP archive on the local system. The developer says that it is compatible with Windows 10 and 11 only. The app does require the .NET Framework 4.8.1, which should be installed on most devices.

The left pane of the program lists the various sections, the right pane the information. Operating system information displays important information about the Windows system. This ranges from the operating system build and architecture to the user account, Windows edition and lots more. Scroll down to find information about the system’s uptime, last shutdown time and date, or the system and boot partitions.

Select another section on the left, e.g., motherboard, processor or graphics card, and Glow displays information about immediately.

To name just a few important bits of information: motherboard model and BIOS version, whether a TPM chip is available, the model of the graphics card and the driver date, the RAM type and amount, number of RAM slots, and information about all connected hard drives.

There is a lot to explore, especially for users new to these kind of tools. The sections function as entry points. There is no search, which might help find information quickly.

Glow supports exporting information to txt or html files. The tools section lists a few options:

Other Tools

  • SFC and DISM Automation Tool — this uses built-in Windows tools to find and repair corrupt system files. Microsoft plans to introduce a Windows Update repair feature in future versions of Windows.
  • Cache Cleanup Tool — clean several memory caches to free up RAM.
  • TRIM Audit Tool — this tool checks the TRIM status, on or off, and allows users to enable TRIM if off. TRIM is used to free blocks on Solid State Drives, which opens them up for writing.
  • System Software Tool — links to 10 system tools, including Autoruns, Display Driver Uninstaller, and graphics cards driver download repositories.

How Glow compares to Speccy

The free version of Speccy displays information about the system. There is a professional version, which includes automatic updates and priority support.

Speccy needs to be installed before it is ready for use. There used to be an official portable version, but it has been removed by the developer.

Speccy displays information about the computer’s hardware on launch. This includes key information, but some is missing. As an example; while Speccy lists the operating system and edition, it does not list the build number. The tool focuses on hardware and devices only. Glow, on the other hand, displays installed drivers. Temperature readings are supported by Speccy, but not by Glow.

In closing, both programs offer features that the other does not support. Speaking of support, the developer of Glow announced that Glow is feature complete. There won’t be any future updates of the app anymore. It is possible that the project gets forked, as it is open source, but it is unclear at this point.

Verdict

Glow is a powerful system information tool for Windows. It is excellent for looking up information, e.g., to find out if you can put more RAM into the system or can replace the existing graphics card with a new one.

Summing up, there is little not to like about the tool. The missing temperature information is probably the main feature missing from it. Consequently, it is an excellent program for Windows users to look up system information. Nevertheless, the end of development announcement may cause issues in the future.

Now You: do you use system information tools?