Tag: windows 11

Microsoft released the Moment 4 update for Windows 11 again?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released security updates for all supported client versions of Windows yesterday. Only three non-Enterprise versions are supported right now: Windows 10 version 22H2, Windows 11 version 22H2 and the new Windows 11 version 23H2.

A quick check of KB5032190, the update for both Windows 11 versions, reveals, that it includes the Moment 4 features. Microsoft lists Copilot, Windows Spotlight, security and graphics changes on the support page.

If you follow releases of Microsoft updates, you may wonder why Microsoft highlights the update again here. Did not Microsoft release the Moment 4 update already in October 2023?

The chronology of the Moment 4 update for Windows 11

Microsoft announced in September 2023 that it would launch the Moment 4 update for Windows 11 on September 26, 2023. This was the first release of the update for the operating system.

At the time, it was part of the September 2023 preview update for Windows 11. Only users who installed the update manually or configured their devices to install optional updates automatically received it at the time.

Then came the October 2023 Patch Day update. Microsoft used the cumulative update for Windows 11 to deliver the Moment 4 update to Windows 11 devices.

The release of the preview update of the November 2023 security update included the Moment 4 update again.

Yesterday’s release of the November 2023 update for Windows 11 listed the features of the Moment 4 update again on the release notes page.

One has to wonder why the update is highlighted this often by Microsoft.

An explanation attempt

Microsoft did not post a news article or comment on this specifically. Clearly, most would have expected two announcements about the Moment 4 update integration in Windows 11.

First about the integration of the update in the preview update for the operating system, and second about the full integration for all users.

The repeat performance is puzzling. Martin Geuß over at the German site Dr. Windows suggests that it has something to do with Microsoft’s staged rollout approach to updates.

Many features are not enabled for all users at the same time. Microsoft controls features on the server side. It is an explanation that makes sense. Microsoft did not enable Moment 4 on all devices when it released the update in October 2023.

We don’t even know if the November 2023 announcement is the final one for the update.

This topic may not be of interest to average users of Windows. They don’t follow Microsoft announcements or have an interest in updates most of the time, unless they go wrong.

Users and admins interested in new features and when these features are introduced on their devices are, however. Many want to play around with features early or know exactly when something becomes available.

Microsoft’s recent approach to staged rollouts of features makes this nearly impossible.

Now You: what is your take on this development?

Windows 11’s Archive extraction and creation feature is useful, but slow

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft added support for creating and extracting ZIP archives into its Windows operating system. The Moment 4 update and the Windows 11 version 23H2 update introduced support for extracting additional formats, including RAR, TAR and 7Z.

The archive functionality is certainly a useful feature. Right-click on an archive and select the extract option to decompress it right away. Third-party tools are no longer required.

You may also right-click on files to create ZIP archives out of the selection. It is a handy feature, especially for users who encounter ZIP only occasionally.

Experienced users may have noticed that the implementation is basic. It lacks support for advanced features, especially on the creation side. You can’t create password protected archives, change the compression level or add comments to archives. All of this continues to require dedicated archive apps such as WinRAR, 7-Zip or PeaZip.

A comparison of the time that it takes to extract archives shows, furthermore, that the built-in feature is slower in most cases.

Windows 11: native archive extraction tests

I ran several benchmarking tests to find out if Windows 11’s native archive extraction feature is slower than that of third-party apps.

I ran all extraction jobs 5 times and used the average for the comparison. The first file was an 18.6 gigabyte ZIP archive with 1205 files.

It took Windows 11’s native feature an average of 6.28 minutes to extract the contents of the file on a 2019 idle PC.

WinRAR, which focuses primarily on its own format RAR, extracted the archive on average in 3.51 minutes, which is is more than a third faster.

The open source tool 7-Zip extracted the archive’s content on average in 3.15 minutes, which is almost half the time it took Windows 11’s native implementation to extract the archive.

What about the extraction of RAR archives? I used WinRAR to create a RAR archive out of the extracted ZIP archive and ran the same test again to see how the performance is. The RAR archive had a size of 18.8 GB and the same number of included files.

It took Windows 11’s native RAR extraction feature an average of 5.39 minutes to extract the archive to the system.

WinRAR extracted the same RAR archive in 2.54 minutes on average. 7-Zip was just a few seconds slower, as it took an average of 3.05 minutes to decompress the RAR archive.

Windows 11: compressing ZIP archives comparison

Current stable versions of Windows 11 support the creation of ZIP archives only. This changes in the future.

This time, I picked a a folder with 5307 files and a total size of 2.41 gigabytes . The native ZIP creation feature of Windows 11 created the ZIP archive in 2.29 minutes on average. WinRAR managed to create the archive in 1.28 minutes. 7-Zip flew through the creation of the archive. It took an average of 45 seconds to create it. Both apps have a different native format.

Closing Words

The native integration of support for extracting archive formats and creating some archives is a useful addition to Windows. While that is the case, it is clear that the implementation is not up-to-par with dedicated software.

Users who extract or create archives regularly may want to use third-party solutions for that. It is likely that most of them are faster than the native implementation.

Now You: do you use third-party software to create and extract archives?

O&O AppBuster: uninstall locked Windows apps

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

O&O AppBuster is a free application by O&O Software GMBH. The program enables Windows 10 and 11 users to uninstall apps that Microsoft does not want users to remove from the system.

While some apps are critical components of Windows, the same can’t be said for all locked apps. Apps like Photos, Phone Link, Game Bar or Tips can’t be uninstalled from the Settings app.

PowerShell has long been the primary option to remove locked apps on Windows 10 and 11. It is a great option for system administrators and experienced users. You may check out my guide on uninstall the Photos app on Windows 11 as an example.

Regular Windows users may not feel comfortable enough running commands from PowerShell.

O&O AppBuster comes to the rescue. It has an easy-to-use interface to remove locked apps. Other features include mass removal of apps, including third-party apps, and more.

Tip: check out our review of O&O ShutUp10++ as well. This free program may improve your privacy.

O&O AppBuster: an overview

O&O AppBuster interface

You can run the application right after the download. An installation is not required. The application has a clean interface that lists all installed apps and programs immediately.

The program lists all applications with their name and publisher, installation date, status, storage and also the number of users it is available for. A click on a column header at the top allows users to sort the list accordingly.

This is a handy option to sort by installation date or storage.

The Desktop and Windows tabs at the top lead to filtered listings:

  • Desktop lists all user-installed programs.
  • Windows lists all native apps and Store-installed apps.

A search allows users to find specific apps next to these. The search matches the name and publisher, which is an excellent option to quickly find multiple apps.

Using the program to remove Windows apps

Remove Windows 10 and 11 apps

One of the main applications of O&O AppBuster is the removal of native Windows apps. While Microsoft is making progress in this regard, by unlocking more apps for removal, it continues to lock some.

It is a welcome change of course, but slow-paced and not complete. O&O AppBuster supports other features that make it a good choice. First, by supporting mass uninstalls. Second, through an optional safety feature that relies on System Restore.

Here are the required steps to remove native Windows apps:

  1. Select Actions > Create a System Restore point to create a restore option.
  2. Pick “yes” when asked whether you want to create a system restore point.
  3. Switch to the Windows tab in the program interface.
  4. Check any of the apps that you want to remove.
  5. Activate the “Remove” button once done.
  6. O&O AppBuster displays a prompt immediately afterwards with three options:
    • Current user — removes the app(s) only for the logged in user
    • All users — removes the app(s) for all users that exist consequently.
    • Computer — removes the apps from the entire machine.
  7. Select yes after you have made the selection.
  8. At this instant, O&O may display a prompt to create a system restore point. This happens only if you have not created one previously.
  9. Select Close to complete the removal.

Other features of O&O AppBuster

The program supports a number of other features furthermore. While the main focus is on the removal of Windows apps, it may also be used for other purposes.

You can use it to uninstall Win32 programs. This works a bit differently as the default uninstaller is spawned each time.

You need to be careful here, as some installers may prompt for a reboot.

Mass removal of apps and programs is a useful feature of the program. Just select all of them and hit the remove action afterwards.

Closing Words

O&O AppBuster is a useful program for Windows. It offers an elegant option to remove system apps from Windows as well as regular desktop programs.

Integration of System Restore ensures that you can go back to a previous state. Mass uninstalls is another useful feature, as it speeds up the process significantly.

Now You: do you keep or remove native Windows apps on your devices?

You may soon create 7-zip and Tar archives in Windows 11

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft is working on adding support for creating 7-zip and Tar archives in Windows 11. The feature is in testing in the latest Canary build of Windows 11.

Microsoft expanded support for different archive types in its Windows 11 operating system in 2023. Previously, Windows users could only extract ZIP archives or compress files using Zip.

An update added extract support for formats such as Rar, Tar or 7z, but not support for creating archives other than Zip. The Moment 4 update for Windows 11 version 22H2 added several features, including Windows Copilot.

All features were included in the 2023 feature update for Windows 11, Windows 11 version 23H2.

Compressing and unpacking files in Windows 11

It is actually pretty easy to use the functionality. Right-click on a supported archive and you get the option to extract its contents on the device.

A right-click on any file displays the “compress to Zip file” option currently, even if the selection is already an archive.

As is the case with many native Windows features and tools, they are somewhat limited. While you can create archives, you don’t get options to configure advanced options.

There is no option to password protect files, change dictionary sizes, create recovery files or change the compression level. Similarly, extracting files is limited to selecting a target location.

Another issue that users of third-party archivers may have noticed when using the native extraction and compression functionality is that the performance is slower. It takes longer to extract files and also longer to compress them.

This may not be a problem for many Windows 11 users. If you use the functionality once or twice a week, you may not have a problem with its performance.

It is convenient after all that the functionality is baked in.

Creating Tar and 7z archives

compress to in Windows 11

The latest Windows 11 Canary build introduces support for creating Tar and 7z archives. Microsoft revealed the new functionality in the official release notes:

[ADDED] We’ve added support for creating 7-zip and TAR archives in addition to ZIP.

Microsoft changed the “Compress to Zip file” in File Explorer to “Compress to”. Selecting this option displays all supported formats: Zip file, 7z file and Tar file.

These work identical. Select the desired format and then wait for Windows to create the archive in the same directory.

Rar support is missing, notably, from the list of supported formats. Microsoft did not mention why it did not add support for the format.

Microsoft uses the open source libarchive for the functionality. This library does not support rar writes, which may explain the absence.

Closing Words

Microsoft is making the handling of archive formats comfortable on Windows 11. Users may now extract lots of formats without installing third-party software. Support for compressing files to 7z and Tar is also a welcome addition.

The functionality won’t keep advanced users from installing and using third-party apps. These offer better functionality and performance. Also, support for formats is still limited in comparison.

Is security a problem? More users may find the option to extract archives, which may tempt malicious actors to spread malware using archive formats.

It is a possibility and it will be interesting to see how Microsoft will react to potential threats.

Now You: native or third-party, how do you like your compression software?

Quickest Way to upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released the 2023 feature update for Windows 11 yesterday to the public. It is already available via Windows Update, but only if the device meets all hardware requirements and has no known issues.

Most Windows 11 devices can be upgraded via Windows Update immediately. The situation is different for devices that don’t meet the minimum system requirements. These devices can’t be upgraded via Windows Update. The feature update is not offered there and won’t be in the future.

This leaves other options to install the update. I published a guide on Ghacks about this, which you may want to check out. There is, however, an even easier and quicker option to upgrade to Windows 11 2023 Update.

This method works for all devices running the latest version of Windows 11, no matter if they are compatible or not.

Preparations

Enablement Package

The method does not require a lot of preparations, ISO images or huge update downloads. In fact, there is only one requirement, one that all devices can meet easily.

Requirement: install the October 31 update for Windows 11 on the device that you want to upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2. KB5031455 is offered via Windows Update to all systems.

Just go to Start > Settings > Windows Update, check the “get the latest updates as soon as they are available” option and hit the “check for updates” button.

The preview update should be offered to you now. Note that a newer update may be offered, depending on when you follow the instructions.

You may also download the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog website. Make sure to select the right version.

Install the Enablement Package

There is just one additional step to upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2. Download the enablement update KB5027397 using the links below:

Run the downloaded file and wait until the update installation ends. A restart of the system is the last required step.

This process has no system requirements check, which means that it will work on all devices, including unsupported ones.

Select Start, type winver and press the Enter-key to display the new version of Windows in a small popup after the restart.

How to edit System Environment Variables on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Environment Variables are an essential part of the Windows operating system. The variables are mostly useful for command line usage and also in scripts. As an example: when you type a program name on the command line, e.g., notepad.exe, Windows searches the variables to find the application.

System environment variables determine locations for certain folders as well. The temporary files folder, for instance, is set using the temp variable. Apart from path information, variables may also provide information to programs. They may reveal the operating system’s name, the architecture or the number of processors.

Environment variables are available as user and system variants. The main difference is that the former applies only to the logged in user while the latter to all users of the system.

Editing System Environment Variables on Windows

Launch the Environment Variables Editor

All versions of Windows include an editor for system variables. It is a rather basic tool that has not been updated in a long while.

The following instructions explain how to launch the editor on any version of Windows and how to use its functionality.

Follow these steps to launch the Editor:

  1. Open the Start Menu.
  2. Type env.
  3. Select the “Edit the System Environment Variables” result. The System Properties window opens.
  4. Activate the Environment Variables button.

The following program window opens.

System Environment Variables Editor

Windows separates user and system variables in the interface. Options to add variables, edit or delete existing ones are provided.

A double-click opens the edit interface. You may select a line and then edit alternatively. Opening Path this way, you’d end up with the following editing interface:

All basic options are available. You can add, edit and delete variables here. A double-click lets you edit the selected variable right away.

Note that the order is important as well. Windows goes through the locations from top to bottom.

Use the “move” options to change the priority of path variables.

A click on new lets you add new folder locations to the variable. These are added to the bottom by default, but you can use move to change the priority after creation.

Adding locations to path is useful for development, users who create script files regularly, and also users who run programs from the command line often.

Security-wise, it is a good idea to check path variables as well. Remove any variable that you don’t require. Some programs and also malware may add variables to the path variable.

Edit Environment Variables from the command line

Edit system environment variables from the command line

You can list and edit variables using a command prompt. Launch a new command prompt window by opening Start, typing cmd.exe and pressing the Enter-key.

Type set and press Enter to display all environment variables. To change a variable name, run the command setx NAME “VALUE”, e.g. setx TEMP “e:\temp”, to set the new TEMP folder location to e:\temp.

System Environments of note

Some environment variables are more important than others. Here is a quick overview of important variables and their functionality:

  • Temp and Tmp — These point to the temporary folder used by the system. Windows and apps store temporary files in the folder. You could edit the path to point it elsewhere. One interesting option is to set the path to a ramdrive location. Doing so would erase temporary files automatically on every shutdown.
  • Path — The path variable is used for a variety of purposes. It defines the locations that Windows looks in when you try to run executable files. Most native Windows tools, notepad, paint or wordpad, are launched when you type their name in a command prompt. Third-party apps, like firefox or chrome, are not however. The reason is simple: their location is not included in the path variable. You can edit the Path variable to add more locations.

Third-party editors

Third-party tools may be used to edit variables. These may offer additional features that the native editor lacks. Notable are support for backups, error checking, or selecting paths visually instead of typing them.

  • Rapid Environment Editor — A free tool to manage system environment variables on Windows. Last updated in 2018, it works well with any version of Windows. Notable features include backups, error checking, visual path selecting, a variable inspector and support for editing paths of any user on the system.
  • Windows Environment Variables Editor — the last update dates back to 2014, but it still runs fine on Windows 10 and 11 systems. It is not as powerful as Rapid Environment Editor.
  • Microsoft PowerToys — Microsoft added a System Environments Variables editor tool to PowerToys 0.75. It offers a cleaner interface, but lacks advanced features.

Now You: how do you edit variables on Windows?

O&O ShutUp10++ review: tame Windows’ data hunger

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

O&O ShutUp10++ is a free tool for Microsoft’s Windows operating system to improve privacy. Designed initially for Windows 10, the program is now also available for Windows 11.

While its main focus is on blocking the operating system’s data hunger, it is also a helpful tool for managing other Windows settings.

First, the basics. You can download the free tool from the official project website. Just run the program after download, an installation is not required. Note that elevated privileges are required to modify settings on the system.

The main interface looks like this on start.

O&O ShutUp10++ interface

O&O ShutUp10++ groups settings for better recognition. You may disable that under View > Group by Categories if you prefer a long list. There is also a search to find settings that match search terms quickly.

Using O&O ShutUp10++ to improve Windows Privacy

All tweaks use a color coding to indicate whether a feature is enabled or disabled. Each setting has a toggle to turn a feature on or off. A short description and a recommendation is also displayed.

Note that you may hover over any description and click with the left mouse button to display additional information. Excellent if you need to know more about a setting.

Many options are self-explanatory, but some may require additional research. “Disable People icon in the taskbar” is quite clear, but “disable input personalization” or “disable automatic receipt of updates” may not.

You can modify individual options with a click on the switch next to a setting. The program prompts you to create a system restore point, which you should accept. It allows you to restore the system to the previous state. The settings do not have the capacity to break the system, but it is still better to have a restore option.

The Actions menu at the top lists bulk options for the most part. You may use them to apply all recommended settings among other things. These are safe changes that should not impact usability on the device.

Bulk Actions in O&O ShutUp 10++

Options to apply “somewhat recommended” or all settings are also available, but this is not recommended. It is better to go through the remaining settings manually to make changes.

The two other options let you reset everything to factory defaults and to create a system restore point manually.

Administrators may also switch between the user and machine tabs. User settings apply only to the logged-in user, machine to all users on the system.

Verdict

O&O ShutUp10++ is a useful tool for Windows users. It is easy to use, free for personal use and includes major privacy settings. The settings don’t have the capacity to break a system, but some of the advanced options may impact certain settings or features on the device. It is easy enough to restore these, should you ever run into any issues in this regard.

All in all, O&O ShutUp10++ is an excellent program that every Windows user should run after installation and major upgrades. O&O Software updates the program frequently to include new options, which is another major plus.

Disable OneDrive’s Back up folders on this PC feature

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft Onedrive’s back up up folders on this PC feature may transfer files from system folders to Microsoft cloud servers automatically.

OneDrive is integrated natively into Windows 11. Users who sign-in with a Microsoft account, which Microsoft encourages, get access to OneDrive. File Explorer lists a OneDrive folder and there is an icon in the system tray.

One of the integrated features is the option to back up files to OneDrive automatically. This feature is limited to system folders — Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music and Videos — similarly to what the new Windows Backup app offers.

These folders are protected when backed up to OneDrive, according to Microsoft.

Tip: the easiest way to stop this is to sign-in to Windows with a local account.

Problems related to OneDrive’s automatic backup feature

In an ideal world, backups would only happen automatically when users give their ok. User reports on the Internet suggest that OneDrive’s backup feature may transfer files without user consent sometimes.

I confirmed this behavior on one of my PCs. I only noticed it because OneDrive’s occupied storage increased from less than 1 Gigabyte to nearly 25 Gigabytes over night. Never enabled automatic backups on the Windows 11 version 22H2 system.

Another issue is related to this. Automatic updates may push files in the cloud that OneDrive may flag. This does not necessarily have to be illegal content; false positives happen, and they may lead to temporary or permanent account bans.

How to manage OneDrive folder backups

onedrive back-up folders on this pc

Here is a step-by-step guide to manage automatic folder backups:

  1. Right-click on the OneDrive icon in the System Tray area of Windows.
  2. Select the Help & Settings icon and then Settings from the menu.
  3. Under Sync and backup, select Manage backup.
  4. OneDrive lists the five system folders in the window that opens.
  5. Toggle one of the folders to Off to stop automatic backups.
  6. OneDrive displays a “where do you want to keep your files” prompt afterwards. Select “This computer only” and then continue.
  7. Select OK to confirm the change when the prompt appears.

Selecting this computer only stops automated backups of the selected folder to OneDrive. Repeat the process for all other folders that are set to backup at the time.

The Sync and backup menu’s preference “save photos and videos from devices” lists another automatic backup option. It transfers photos and videos from connected devices, e.g. cameras or smartphones, to OneDrive when enabled.

There is also “save screenshots I capture to OneDrive”, which transfers screenshots to OneDrive.

Closing Words

It appears that OneDrive may sometimes upload files to the cloud automatically on Windows 11 devices. This is a problem as it may lead to all kinds of issues.

Windows 11 users who sign-in with a Microsoft account may want to check the sync settings regularly because of that.

Windows 11

Is Windows 11 a Flop?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released its Windows 11 operating system in late 2021 to the public. Internal data, viewed by Windows Central, suggests that the operating system passed the 400 million monthly active devices mark this year.

Microsoft has not released information on monthly active users to the public. Third-party sites such as Steam’s hardware survey or Statcounter show a slow rise of Windows 11 since its release.

Windows 11 rose from 13.61% in September 2022 to 23.64% in September 2024 on Statcounter. Windows 10, on the other hand, nearly kept its commanding market share lead. The operating system dropped from 71.88% to 71.62% in the period.

Things look a bit better on Steam. Windows 11 has a share of about 37%, but it is still trailing Windows 10’s 57%.

Most of Windows 11’s gains appear to come from Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Microsoft ended support for both operating systems in January 2023 and both have tanked since then.

Windows 11’s rise compared to Windows 10’s

It took Windows 11 two years to reach 400 million devices. While that would sound impressive for many systems, it is not, when compared to Windows 10.

Windows 10 managed to reach that number in a year’s time and it even managed to cross the 1 billion devices mark in 2020.

Granted, the underlying situation was different. Microsoft pushed Windows 10 with free upgrade offers from Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 devices. Users could upgrade their devices for free. Not all did, but the free upgrade offer certainly helped push the new operating system into the market.

Microsoft failed to reach the ambitious 1 billion device goal.

When Microsoft released Windows 11, it still let users upgrade for free to the new operating system. Initially, users of Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 could upgrade to free. This changed recently, when Microsoft eliminated the option for Windows 7 and 8/8.1 systems and product keys.

What kept Windows 11 back from rising as quickly as Windows 10 was a change in system requirements. Microsoft changed the operating system’s minimum requirements, which meant that older systems could not upgrade to Windows 11 directly.

More or less any device purchased before 2018 could not be upgraded to Windows 11 using official means.

The end of Windows 7 and 8/8.1

End of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 support in January 2023 benefitted Windows 10 and 11 similarly. Windows 7 and 8/8.1 devices were upgraded to Windows 10, which was still possible at the time.

New devices, bought by Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users benefitted Windows 11 more than it helped Windows 10.

The vast majority of Windows devices are sold with Windows 11 nowadays.

Microsoft believes that Windows 11 devices will reach the 500 million mark in 2024.

Windows Central cites unnamed sources at Microsoft that said the the company’s expectations regarding Windows 11 were “set rather modestly” and that these have been surpassed consistently.

2025 is the year decisions need to be made

Windows 10 will reach end of support in 2025, at least for consumer editions. It will be interesting to see what users will do then. Some may upgrade their devices to Windows 11, or Windows 12, if the rumors of a new operating system are correct.

Many users may not be able to upgrade, because of the system requirements. It is unreasonable to assume that all of these will purchase new Windows devices in 2025.

Some may continue to run Windows 10, even though the operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft. It is unlikely that Microsoft is going to introduce Extended Security Updates for consumers. It has not done so when Windows 7 reached end of support.

Windows 10 users could migrate their devices to Linux. It is a chance for the open source operating system, but solutions need to be created to make the migration as painless as possible.

Verdict: Flop or not

Microsoft may have had higher hopes for Windows 11, but this is disputed in the internal document according to Windows Central. The company has been tight lipped about sales and monthly active devices, and that often means that things are not as good as hoped.

400 million devices is a sizeable number on the other hand. All of these will likely get the option to upgrade to Windows 12, if the operating system is released.

In closing, Windows 11 is not a flop, but it is not a hit either.

Now You: do you run Windows on your devices?

Why are some Apps System Components in Windows 11?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Native applications on Windows 11 will soon be divided into apps and system components. Microsoft introduced the change back in July in Insider builds and it looks as if it is going to roll out soon to stable versions of the operating system.

Windows 11 ships with a large number of apps. Some of these are classic apps, such as Paint, Notepad or Calculator. Others, including Game Bar and Phone Link, aren’t nearly as old. New apps are also introduced regularly.

Current versions of Windows 11 list all of these apps in a single listing under Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Soon, some of these apps are moved to another location instead. It is located under Settings > System > System Components.

Microsoft announced the change back in July 2023. Back then, the company’s message focused on the Start Menu. It said:

Under All apps in the Start menu, Windows 11 system components will now show a “system” label. This change is beginning to roll out and so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see it right away.

System Components in Windows 11

System Components in Start

The following apps are tagged as system components in future versions of Windows 11.

  • Game Bar
  • Get Help
  • Microsoft Store
  • Phone Link
  • Tips
  • Windows Security

Twitter user Techosaurusrex discovered this and published two screenshots of the new menu.

Microsoft does not explain why it made the decision to separate this assortment of apps from the rest. Some of them fit the definition of a system app, for example, Get Help or Windows Security.

Others, especially Game Bar and Phone Link, look somewhat out of place here. What makes them a system component and apps like the Feedback Hub or Remote Desktop Connection not?

Clearly, Microsoft wants to distinguish this particular assortment of apps from the rest. Maybe, and this has not been confirmed by Microsoft, it is an attempt to make it difficult to remove these apps from the system. Or, at least highlight to users that these apps are more important than others, even if that may not be true for all of them.

Installed Apps Windows 11: can't uninstall

Note that the listed apps can’t be uninstalled in the Settings app even on today’s systems. Only Advanced Options are displayed when users select the three-dots menu next to these apps.

Microsoft could make more apps System Components in the future. Some of the apps listed as System in Start are not included (yet) in System Components in Settings. This is the case for instance for Get Help and File Explorer.

Not Microsoft’s only attempt to protect apps

The recently launched Windows Backup app is another example of a new approach to releasing apps for Windows. This app, which is not a real backup app by any definition, is not listed as an app.

When you try to uninstall it, you will notice that it is not listed in All Apps in the Settings. Microsoft made the decision to integrate it into an Experience Package. While it is possible to remove that, doing so will also remove other apps and features from the system.

Others have noticed this as well and no one seems to be particularly happy about this change.

To be fair, Microsoft announced plans in August 2023 to drop the blocking of uninstalls of several apps. These apps — Camera, Cortana, People, Photos and Remote Desktop — aren’t system components. Cortana is on its way out, but the other four apps remain a part of Windows in the foreseeable future.