Category: Windows

hard drive

How to resume Disk Erase operations on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

I ran into a bit of trouble recently when I tried to fully erase old hard drives that I no longer needed. Since I wanted to sell or give away the drives, I had to make sure that the new owner would not be able to restore any data from the drives.

My usual routine, formatting the drives fully and using full disk encryption, works well, but it is taking a long time and does not allow interruptions. The drives, for instance 8 TB external Western Digital hard drives, would take 12 or more hours to format alone.

Most regular format and erase tools, including Windows’ built-in format options and the recently reviewed HardWipe, do not support resume. Stopping the format and then restarting it at a later point always begins the entire process anew.

This means, that you need to keep the format operation going until it completes to make sure everything is erased. Since I could not to run the computer for that long, some formats would take more than a day to complete, I decided to look for a format tool with resume functionality.

There were not many out there, to my surprise, that support resume. In fact, I found a single program to do that: Active@ KillDisk.

It is available as a free version and commercial versions. The main difference between the versions, apart from free being allowed for personal use only, is that you can only run one-pass erases on disks. Since I did not want to run multiple passes anyway, as this would have extended the time even further, I decided to give this program a go to see how it fares.

Erasing hard drives with resume functionality

Erase Disk with Resume functionality

KillDisk erases content on disks by overwriting all sectors with the character 0. The professional versions support 24 international erase standards and some other features, such as providing access to boot disks or consoles.

To get started, download the latest version of the program from the developer website. The free version is provided as a setup and portable version; both offer the same functionality. An account is not required so that you may start using the program immediately.

Launch the program after the download and optional installation. You see the list of all connected drives, volumes and partitions.

Select the entire drive and then the erase disk option. The next screen defines the process. You can enable verification, but this extends the length of the process. There is also an option to write a fingerprint to the first sector of the disk and customize the Erase Certificate. This certificate is created after the process to confirm that the disk was erased. An option to disable this is also available.

Activate the Start button to run the erase operation on the disk. You can stop the process at any time with a click on the stop button.

To resume it, select “resume” after selecting the drive. The program will also display the resume reminder on the next start by default.

Note that resume will “go back” a bit and not restart the operation at the exact position it was stopped. Still, with resume supported, you may run the erase job at different times until the entire disk has been erased.

Closing Words

Active@ KillDisk is a well-designed program. While its main application is use in organizations, it is great for jobs at home as well. The erase and resume option sets it apart from the rest of the tools. While it is possible that other programs support resume functionality as well, I’m not aware of them at this point.

It is perfect for erasing data on large hard drives, especially if you can not leave the computer on for the time it takes to erase a disk entirely in one session.

Hardwipe

Hardwipe review: erase hard drive data permanently

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Hardwipe is a privacy software for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Its main purpose is to erase hard drive data permanently so that it can’t be recovered anymore with recovery software.

You may remember my guide on making files unrecoverable on hard drives. I used the encryption software VeraCrypt for that, as it runs a full format on the drive by default.

While that is still recommended, full formatting a drive may take a long time to complete. Depending on the drive in question, it may take days to complete.

Hardwipe offers an alternative. Instead of using full format to make data unrecoverable, you’d use the program instead to overwrite all data with random characters. It offers a much faster process.

Note: Hardwipe appears to have been abandoned in 2017. The last version of the program is available on software download sites such as Major Geeks. It is compatible with all recent versions of Windows, including Windows 11.

Hardwipe installation and use

Hardwipe

Installation of Hardwipe is straightforward. Just double-click on the downloaded setup file and follow the setup screens. The only choices that you have to make is whether to place the application’s icon on the desktop and whether you want to add its installation folder to the path variable. The latter is only advised if you plan to run it from the command line.

Once you run it, you are greeted with a simple interface. The left side displays the list of supported sources. You may use the application to wipe an entire hard drive, a volume, free space or specific data.

Select “devices” from the list and check the hard drive or hard drives that you want to erase all data from. Once back in the main menu, activate the “random data” menu to select one of the available options. This defines the characters used to overwrite the data on the selected drive(s).

Hardwipe supports several algorithms next to random. These include Gutman, Schneier, DOD (Department of Defense) and several others. Some overwrite multiple times, which extends the process considerably. You may set the default algorithm in the options.

Select the Start button to begin the process. You will notice that it takes less time than a full drive format. The length of the operation still depends on certain characteristics, such as the speed of the drive or the load of the system.

Apart from wiping entire hard drives, you may use the program to wipe individual files or folders, or the entire free disk space.

Closing Words

Hardwipe is an excellent program if you want to protect data on hard drives against recovery. It is much quicker than full formatting hard drives, which makes it a viable option when it comes to that.

One downside is that the tool is abandoned. Still, it is an excellent program that works reliable and quite fast.

Microsoft Edge

MSEdgeRedirect: open content in your favorite browser on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When Microsoft launched Windows 11 in late 2021, it did not only block millions of Windows PC owners from updating to the operating system, it also made the use of Microsoft Edge mandatory for certain operations.

Want to open support articles? Edge is required. Web search results? Edge is required. Links to articles and other content in Widgets? Edge is required.

Setting another browser to the system default did not change any this.

Then came MSEdgeRedirect. An open source tool that promises to redirect hardcoded content for Edge to another browser. While Microsoft did try to make the tool unusable, it did survive.

A new version of MSEdgeRedirect is now available. It comes just a week after the integration of Europe Mode. Europe Mode enables everyone to set the geographic location of the operating system to one of several European countries.

MSEdgeRedirect

Along with the change come abilities to remove Microsoft Edge and Bing Search, and gain control over other areas as well.

The newest update as another redirect option to the application: the ability to redirect MSN Discover content to another browser.

MSEdgeRedirect: modes explained

The application supports a wide range of redirect options. Before you get access to these, you need to select the mode of operation. There are three main options to choose from:

  • Europe Mode — This mode makes native changes to the system to set the region to a country in the European Economic Area. It gives you more control over Windows and includes the option to remove Microsoft Edge for good.
  • Service Mode — The application runs in the background to pick up any Edge link and redirect it to the desired target. Quite taxing for the system (developer says 1-10% CPU usage while running).
  • Active Mode — Runs the app instead of Microsoft Edge when links specific for Edge are opened.

If you picked Service or Active Mode, you may configure redirects on the next screen.

All Redirects

The application supports all variants of Microsoft Edge — Stable, Beta, Dev and Canary — and may do its magic regardless of which variant is installed.

Here is the list of available redirects:

  • Bing Discover — content that “Bing” believes is of interest.
  • Bing Search — web searches using Windows Search.
  • MSN News (Alpha) — news content displayed as a widget in Windows Widgets.
  • MSN Weather — weather content displayed on the taskbar and as a widget.
  • Bing Images — images provided by Bing.
  • PDF Viewer — change from Edge to another PDF viewer on the system.
  • Bing Chat — option to redirect Bing Chat.
  • Disable Windows CoPilot — turn the feature off.
  • Redirect Windows Store ‘Apps’ — don’t open them in the Microsoft Store.

You may configure all of these individually. Note that replacements vary depending on the type of content. Usually, you get multiple options to choose from, including a custom option.

Verdict

MSEdgeRedirect is an open source tool that gives users control over certain functionality that Microsoft decided to restrict. There aren’t any technical limitations for these restrictions. It appears to be an attempt by Microsoft to push its services over others, even at the expense of user control and choice.

Apart from not using these services, which works really well, you might give MSEdgeRedirect a try if you use some of them.

The latest version is available on the project’s GitHub repository. Note that you may get a SmartScreen security warning when you run the program on Windows. It is safe to use, so don’t worry about that.

Now You: do you use Windows 11?

Update installation

About Windows’ upcoming Fix problems using Windows Update feature

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Upcoming versions of Windows will include a new repair feature that Microsoft calls Fix problems using Windows Update. The feature, which was first spotted in January 2023, uses the capabilities of Windows Update to reinstall Windows.

Since it adds another repair option to Windows, you may wonder how it differs from existing options. In this article, we will take a look at the feature and highlight the differences to existing solutions.

Fix problems using Windows Update
source: PhantomOcean3

First the basics. The option is located under System > Recovery on Windows 11 devices. You find the option to “fix problems without resetting your PC” there. This option attempts to troubleshoot and fix issues directly without any reinstallation or resetting.

There is also “Reset this PC”, which reinstalls Windows and allows you to keep personal files, and “go back”, which tries to uninstall the most recent Windows update.

Fix problems using Windows Update explained

Fix problems using Windows Update is the new addition on the page. When you select the option, Windows will download files from Windows Update to reinstall itself.

A core difference to Reset this PC is that you get to keep personal files, installed applications and settings. In other words, it stays away from any user files and customizations and focuses on restoring the operating system itself.

Microsoft confirmed this when it announced the feature back in July 2023 on its Windows Insider blog.

The description of Fix problems using Windows Update reads: “Reinstall your current version of Windows (your apps, files and settings will be preserved)”.

Microsoft explains: “This operation reinstalls the OS that you have and will not remove any files, settings, or apps. The repair content is displayed on the Windows Update Settings page with the title appended with “(repair version)”.”

The main purpose of the feature is for “keeping the device secure and up to date” according to Microsoft. The company admits however that the new feature can be useful in multiple scenarios besides that.

The option may be useful in the following scenarios (among others):

  • When updates fail to install over and over again using Windows Update.
  • When part of the system is damaged, e.g., after a malware attack.
  • When other issues are experienced related to Windows features.
  • If you delete core apps that you somehow can’t restore any other way.

Closing Words

Microsoft has not yet announced when the new feature will land in Stable versions of Windows. Potential targets are the next Moment update, which rumors say launches in February 2024, or the next feature update, which will come later in 2024.

The new feature is an option. It does not take away any existing options but adds a new one that some users may find useful. Whether it will be indeed useful in many different scenarios remains to be seen.

Now You: which reset/reinstall option do you use when things are broken?

A review of UCheck, a Windows software updater

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

UCheck is a software updates checker for Windows. It is a freemium product, which means that it is available as a free, limited version, and a commercial version. The price of the commercial version starts at $12 per year.

Earlier this week, I reviewed WingetUI, an open source program to install, uninstall and update software programs on Windows. UCheck promises similar functionality, but the free version is limited to updating and uninstalling software on the system.

The Premium version, available for $12 per year, adds the installation of software, scheduled scans, email support and Enterprise use to the mix. There is also a Technician’s version, which adds scripting, portable configs and license.

The free version of UCheck was used for this review.

UCheck Free overview

UCheck interface

The program is available as a portable and setup version. The interface displays the three main sections, updates, installed, and download, on start. Free version users see several “upgrade” links and offers there as well.

You may want to visit the program settings before you run a scan. The General section reveals that Telemetry data is send by default and that the program is configured to run on startup. You may disable both options there. There is also an option to scan apps that start on Windows automatically, which is an interesting feature.

The settings are also home to exclusions, which accepts folders and files, and custom locations, which can be used to include portable software programs in the scanning.

Activate the Scan button in the main interface to find out which installed (and portable) programs have updates.

UCheck Free updates

The program lists the number of programs with updates, as well as the number of installed programs after the scan.

Select “pending updates” to take a look at the list of outdated programs UCheck discovered during its scan.

Programs are listed with their name, company / developer, location on the local system, and the current and latest version. Filters and a search are supported to display only some results.

The Action menu lists options to update individual programs, to skip this update, and to add them to the list of exclusions. The free version supports batch updates, but you need to start UCheck Free with elevated rights for that. There is a button in the interface that does that.

You may now check one or multiple programs and activate the “update selected” button to download and install updates for the selected applications in one operation. Note that there is no “select all” checkbox, which would make things comfortable.

It is unclear where the downloads come from, as this is not revealed by the application. The database is community powered, which explains why it is large and well maintained.

Comparison to winget and WingetUI

When you compare UCheck to winget, you will notice that UCheck supports more programs than the default winget database. Winget detected about 20 programs with updates on a test system while UCheck over 140.

One reason for that is that UCheck includes the Downloads folder of Windows by default. Depending on use, it may store a large number of applications.

WingetUI is easier to use, there is no doubt about that. It suffers from the same lack of a larger software database though. Another difference is that both “wingets” support the installation of portable programs, which is reserved to paid versions of UCheck.

UCheck does include information about available Windows Updates though.

Closing Words

The end of SUMO, probably the best software updates monitor for Windows, has left a hole. UCheck comes close to what SUMO offered, but you may need the commercial version to really take advantage of some of its features.

The program could use a few usability features, such as an option to check all / uncheck all programs in the updates listing. Nothing major, but these would improve usability for some users.

All in all, UCheck is a well designed program that delivers exactly what it promises. The Premium version is worth a subscription, as it adds scheduled scans and some other features to the app.

Now You: do you use software updaters?

Package

WingetUI review: install, uninstall and update Windows programs

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

This is a review of WingetUI, an open source program for Windows that many users will find useful.

I wrote an article on the package manager winget for Windows yesterday on Ghacks. It is an integrated command line tool in newer versions of Windows to uninstall, install or update programs.

WingetUI takes the capabilities of winget and puts a shiny user interface around them. If you prefer to use a graphical user interface, WingetUI is a great option.

First the basics. WingetUI is an open source application for Windows. You can download the latest version from its GitHub respository and install it or run a portable version.

WingetUI supports winget but also other package manager and tools. These include Scoop, Chocolatey, Pip, Npm and PowerShell Gallery. Advanced users may configure the client to do their bidding exactly, but it works well without any advanced configuring.

WingetUI: core functionality

The main WingetUI interface is divided into three tabs: discover packages, software updates, and installed packages.

  • Discover packages — This tab features a search to find programs and options to install one or multiple apps at once.
  • Software updates — This tab checks for updates of installed programs. You may update all or some programs using it.
  • Installed packages — The tab lists the installed programs of the system.

Discover Packages

WingetUI interface

Use this to find applications to install. Just type an application name or part of it in the search field and wait for the results to show up.

The program lists package names and IDs, the available version and the source. Note that you may change sources in the preferences. If you just want to use winget, you need to disable all other sources. Some sources, for instance Scoop, are disabled by default.

A double-click on a file display additional information about it. This may include a list of features, a short description and tags.

WingetUI lists package parameters as well, which may be used to change installation parameters.

Check one or multiple programs and select “install selected packages” to download and install them on the system. Several options are available at the top:

  • Install selected packages with administrative rights.
  • Skip the hash check when installing the selected packages.
  • Do an interactive install for the selected packages.

Unless you activate the interactive install option, you may notice that most installations happen silently in the background for the most part.

Software Updates in WingetUI

The Software Updater lists all installed applications that are not up to date. It lists names and IDs, as well as the installed version and the latest version.

You may use it to update all out of date apps in one swift operation. Just activate the “update selected packages” button to download and install updates for the selected Windows programs.

It is a quick and easy process. Note that you may still get UAC prompts to allow updates, but it is definitely quicker than updating programs manually.

A right-click displays some options. You may ignore certain updates using the right-click menu. This is important if you don’t want a program to install a certain update. One reason for that is that the update may introduce bugs or changes that you want to avoid.

The package details offer information, including links to the official websites.

Installed Packages

Installed packages offers an overview of all programs installed on the system. WingetUI displays names, versions and the installation source, which is useful information.

You may use the information to check the source, e.g., if it was installed locally, from the Microsoft Store or using a package manager.

While you may barely use native Windows apps or Microsoft Store apps, others may appreciate the functionality.

Closing Words

WingetUI is a powerful frontend for winget and some other package managers. It is a useful tool to find outdated programs on a Windows system and get these updated in batch mode.

While it may not pick up all oudated programs, as it does not support portable apps installed from other sources, it does a great job at taking care of the rest.

Running it from time to time is a good way of keeping a system’s software up to date.

What happens when you remove Microsoft Edge from Windows 11 after setup?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft is testing changes currently that give users from many European countries more control over Windows 11. There are workarounds already for users from other regions to uninstall Edge without tools or commands.

Microsoft plans to introduce the change in the first quarter of 2024 in Windows 11. Two of the main improvements let users remove Microsoft Edge and Bing Search from the operating system.

Microsoft Edge is the default browser of Windows 11. Bing Search is used to populate, some would say pollute, search results with web results.

While there have been ways to deal with the two until now, both required some technical know-how or the right tools. AppBuster, for instance, is a free program to remove many locked apps from Windows 11.

Windows users who prefer a different browser use Microsoft Edge to download these browsers. What happens if Microsoft Edge is uninstalled prior to installing any other browser? Are you stranded then, left without any chance to install an Internet browser? Let’s find out.

How to uninstall Microsoft Edge

Once the change lands, users with administrative rights may remove Microsoft Edge from the system.

Tip: even if you live in a region that is not supported by Microsoft in regards to the change, you may still add the functionality to your system. It involves changing the region to that of a European country.

While you may do so manually, you may also use the open source tool MSEdgeRedirect to to it for you. Just enable Europe Mode in the app when you run it. The app makes the required changes in the background. You need to restart the system once before the changes take effect.

Removing Edge is done in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps on Windows 11. Just search for Microsoft Edge, activate the three-dots menu next to its entry and select the uninstall option from the menu.

Uninstall Microsoft Edge

Edge is removed after you confirm by selecting uninstall again. Note that there may be a small warning prompt that explains that removing Edge may impact apps and widgets that depend on the browser.

Windows 11 without a browser

With Microsoft Edge gone, you may notice a few changes right away. The first and most important one is that you may not have a web browser installed anymore.

Microsoft Edge is the default browser. Removing it removes the only browser from the system, unless you install a different browser first.

What happens when you try to open Internet links in that case? Windows launches the Microsoft Store page of Microsoft Edge so that you may install it again.

This is not your only option, however. You may also install other browsers, including Firefox, Brave Browser, Opera GX or Vivaldi Browser from the Store.

In other words: you are not in a cul-de-sac when you uninstall Edge without having access to another browser.

The better option is to use Edge to install a different browser first before removing it.

There is one situation, at the least, which puts you in a dead end after all. Windows has a hard limit on the number of devices associated with an account. If you happen to run into this limit after uninstalling Edge, you won’t be able to install any other browser

The thing is, you may install Microsoft Edge even if you hit the account limit. This may be because it was installed previously on the device, or because it is not affected by the imposed limitation.

If you have another device at hand, you may remove older devices from the Microsoft account to unlock the functionality. Still, it is definitely a nuisance if you hit the limit.

Other things to note

Some links may still require Microsoft Edge to open, at least in the current state of the feature. The “learn about this picture” link for instance, refuses to open in any browser but Edge, even if Edge is not installed and another browser is set as the default.

This may be because of the current state of development. It is unclear if these link will require Edge no matter what once they roll out to stable versions of Windows.

All in all, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft is going to tackle these issues. The most obvious option would be to allow them to load in the default browser, even if it it is not Edge. Whether that is going to happen remains to be seen, however.

Now You: which web browser do you use?

Appcopier: backup and restore Windows Settings

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Appcopier is a new open source application by Built By Bel, known for apps such as CleanmgrPlus, ThisIsWin11 or Bloatynosy.

The app, which is in an early development stage, lets Windows 11 users back up and restore system settings. Its developer designed the app to replicate functionality of Microsoft’s new Windows Backup app.

You may remember my rather harsh review of Microsoft’s app, which I called “not a real backup app”.

Appcopier

Appcopier software interface

The developer of the application describes it in the following way:

This small project is still in the making. It allows you to back up and restore your most important Windows 11 preferences and settings offline and locally.

Appcopier has several advantages over Microsoft’s creation. It is open source, portable and it does not require a Microsoft account. In other words, you may use it to back up Windows settings and customizations locally. One downside is that you need to find a way to transfer the backup to another PC, if you want to restore the settings and customizations there.

Using Appcopier is straightforward. After you pass the dreaded “Windows protected your PC” screen by selecting “run anyway and an UAC prompt, you are greeted with a simple interface.

The tested version displays a tree structure in the interface. You may expand the tree to list all available backup options.

There are, at the time of writing:

  • Windows Configurations
    • Personalization settings
    • Taskbar settings
    • Privacy settings
    • Apps Privacy settings
    • Windows 11 Telemetry settings
    • Windows Update settings
    • Windows 11 Wallpapers
  • Apps
    • 7-Zip
    • Notepad++

The program may support other apps and list them under the section. Check some or all of the options and activate the backup button afterwards. Note that the root checkbox did not work during tests to select all items.

Backup and restore

Backups are saved to a subfolder of the program folder. The folders use a date – time naming scheme, which makes it easy to find the right one.

All settings are saved as Registry keys. Wallpapers and themes do get stored in their native formats.

You have two options to restore a backup. Either use the “reload” button in the program interface to select a backup that you want to restore, or execute the Registry files directly on target systems.

These settings are regular Registry keys, which you may import on any compatible system.

Closing Words

Appcopier is an interesting program, especially for users who sign-in to a local account on their Windows devices. The app is in an early stage of development and you may run into bugs currently while using it.

I did not encounter any major issues, but your mileage may vary. The developer announced plans to improve it in the future to add more backup options for “things” that are more complicated to backup than saving Registry values.

The app was only tested on Windows 11, but it should also run on Windows 10 devices according to the developer.

All in all, this is an app that you may want to put on your watchlist if you find it interesting.

Now You: do you sync settings or use backup tools? (via Deskmodder)

Printing

Windows Protected Print Mode explained

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) changes printing on Windows significantly. The main idea is to improve security and make printing convenient. Modern printers work automatically under WPP so that third-party printer drivers are no longer required.

There are downsides, especially when it comes to printers that don’t support the functionality. Another downside is that printer apps by the manufacturer may be installed automatically.

Good news is that the new mode does not lock out printers that are not supported. There are still ways to use third-party drivers, but the default mode will be Protected Print Mode going forward.

Security improvements

Windows Protected Print Mode improves security significantly by eliminating third-party printer drivers. These drivers can’t even be installed anymore, which eliminates an attack vector and reduces driver related issues as well.

Microsoft says that about 9% of all Windows cases reported to the Microsoft Security Response Center are print bugs. The company’s Microsoft Offensive Research & Security Engineering team claims that about 50% of all Windows Print related vulnerabilities are mitigated by Windows Protected Print Mode.

To put these changes in some context, MORSE did an analysis of past MSRC cases for Windows Print to assess if these changes would help. What we found is that Windows Protected Print Mode mitigated over half of those vulnerabilities. Major vulnerabilities, including Stuxnet and Print Nightmare, used print bugs in their attacks.

To better understand how MPP improves security, it is necessary to look at the current state of printing on Windows.

The current security model relies on a shared approach. Both the native Windows printing stack and third-party drivers play a role here. While Windows’ print stack is maintained, the same can not be said for all third-party printer drivers. Drivers may no longer be supported or may be incompatible with modern security features of the Windows operating system.

Besides that, printer drivers run as SYSTEM on Windows, which gives them a wide range of permissions that even exceed those of a regular administrator account.

Manufacturers and publishers are responsible to address vulnerabilities. This becomes a problem when they do not.

Printing features, such as Internet Printing, may also introduce vulnerabilities, if the feature does get implemented. Microsoft estimates that printer drivers implement over 40 different Printer Document Languages, which can “result in vulnerabilities”.

Advantages

With Windows Protected Print Mode “normal spooler operations are deferred to a new Spooler” which implements the following improvements:

  • Limited/Secure Print Configuration — Certain types of attacks, such as tricking the print spooler into loading malicious code, are ineffective.
  • Module Blocking — APIs that allow the loading of modules will be modified to prevent the loading of new modules.
  • Per-User XPS Rendering — XPS rendering runs as USER and no longer as SYSTEM under WPP.
  • Lower Privileges for Common Spooler tasks — runs with restricted rights instead of as SYSTEM.
  • Binary Mitigations — Several security mitigations may be enabled thanks to the removing of third-party binaries.
  • Point and Print — no longer installs third-party drivers.
  • Better Transport Security — supports encryption and will recommend using encryption whenever possible.

Windows Protected Print Mode limitations

The mode supports so-called Mopria certified printers only. The creators of the standard describe it in the following way:

Mopria is a printer industry designed standard offering a simple and seamless way to print to millions of certified printers and multi-function printers. It eliminates the need to install any additional software or drivers allowing you to easily print, regardless of the printer’s brand.

Once the change lands in Windows, the default becomes WPP. This eliminates the need to install third-party drivers and will also limit the Print Spooler service to a restricted service. This alone will reduce

Older printers that are not certified won’t benefit from these improvements. Windows administrators may install third-party printer drivers in these cases to ensure that the printer and its functionality can be used.

Another issue is that manufacturers may define Print Support Apps (PSA). These may get installed automatically on devices to add custom features and support. Users may uninstall them, but this is a manual process.

Closing Words

Windows Protected Print Mode improves security on Windows once it lands. The first version of MPP landed in experimental builds and it may take a while before it lands in stable versions of Windows.

Old printers will continue to work, but they won’t benefit from MPP and its improvements.

Windows 10 and 11 will support the feature. Microsoft announced recently an extension of Windows 10 support.

Now You: which printers do you use?

I barely use native Windows apps (what about you?)

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft Windows systems come with dozens of native applications. Many of these are installed by default, others are pinned, but not installed.

A click or tap on the Start button lists the pinned apps, another on the all apps button all of them.

At least some of these apps may be third-party apps. Microsoft earns a bit of money when it includes these into Windows and users install them. Apps may vary from region to region, but it is usually an assortment of popular game or entertainment apps.

The apps that I use regularly

Notepad App Windows

I have to admit that I don’t use native apps all that much. In fact, I use 5 native apps frequently and some occasional. The occasional ones include apps that do get opened when a file type association is mapped to a native app and not another app that I use instead.

Here are the apps that I use regularly:

  • Calculator — useful to make quick calculations.
  • Notepad — it is not as powerful as Notepad++ or other apps, but the plain text editor offers all the options that I need for a quick edit.
  • File Explorer — I use the default file browser and manager on Windows, and not an alternative that is more powerful. It is fine for basic tasks.
  • Microsoft Edge — Edge is not my default browser, but I have the habit of using all major browsers. If I would not write about browsers, I probably would not use Edge all that much.

And that’s it. Not a lot.

The apps that I use sometimes, usually by accident

Microsoft Paint
  • Media Player — lots of better players out there. It may play obscure media files at times or corrupt ones that other media players don’t play, but this is such a rare occasion.
  • Microsoft Paint — usually only when I type Paint to load Paint.net and get Paint instead.
  • Microsoft Photos — usually when I try to open an image that has a format that is still associated with Microsoft Photos. To slow and cumbersome to use.
  • Microsoft Store — only for my weekly series at Betanews.
  • Microsoft OneDrive — to keep an eye on it for reviews and news.

The apps that I don’t use at all

I don’t use any of the following apps.

  • Games — don’t play them at all, no time for that.
  • Mail, Calendar, Outlook (new) and People — Use Thunderbird as my email program.
  • Maps, News, Weather — Prefer to access these in a browser to avoid ads.
  • Microsoft OneNote — no use at all for this note taking app.
  • Microsoft To-Do — no use for this app
  • Snipping Tool — it is a good screen capture tool, but PicPick and several others are better.
  • Sticky Notes — no need to place notes on the desktop.
  • Xbox (anything) and Game Bar — some may find these useful, I have no use for these apps.

How to remove apps on Windows

AppBuster

You can remove most apps on Windows in the following way:

  1. Open Start > Settings > Apps > Installed Apps.
  2. Click on the three-dots menu next to the app that you want to remove and select uninstall from the menu.
  3. Select uninstall again when the remove prompt is displayed.

Some apps may not be installed. This is going to change soon for users in the European Union and European Economic Area. Users from these regions will be able to remove Edge and Bing Search natively, just like other apps.

Those outside need to use third-party tools for the job. My recommended tool is O&O AppBuster, but there are other tools and PowerShell options available as well.

Now You: which apps do you use and don’t use on Windows?