New
#160
Hello Ken, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)
That hasn't been an issue in the latest Insider builds, but currently the only way I'm aware of to fix this when it happens is to do a repair install.
Hello Ken, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)
That hasn't been an issue in the latest Insider builds, but currently the only way I'm aware of to fix this when it happens is to do a repair install.
Thanks, But I wanted these apps removed. I added a .ps1 script into a task sequence in WDS and it removes the apps during the deployment process, but leaves all of these blank unresponsive tiles. If the script runs on the user profile after the machine is imaged, it removes them. But that isn't an option in a organization to go to each machine and run it, especially if more than one user uses one workstation.
So the latest insider build doesn't have this issue when the ps script is run for all users?
Do you know what causes these tiles to be created for new users after the ps script for all users get run? If it's just some cached files somewhere in the system that forces the start menu to create broken tiles, I would like to remove those as well if that is a fix.
And wouldn't a repair just reinstall the apps? that would be opposite of what I'm trying to achieve.
Sorry Ken, I misunderstood.
Did you use both commands with the -allusers and -online switches in OPTION THREE? This way both all current users and new users will be covered.
I know this will work when done on the local PC without getting the @{packagename} titles, but I'm afraid that I'm not sure how to use this to deploy to make it easier. Hopefully someone may know and will post a solution for you.
For now, you might see if the method in the tutorial below may help to create a custom Windows 10 image without the apps to deploy instead.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3...e-sysprep.html
Hey Shawn,
I recently joined in to TenForums to pester everyone kind enough to read about my doubts regarding the best position of the Recovery Partition in a Windows 10 Clean Installation and I wish to thank you again for giving newbies like me the chance of being here.
Now, being quite obsessed with making the Clean even cleaner (i.e. with getting rid of all useless and/or unwanted bloatware), I found the answer in your Tutorial which is amazingly exhaustive, but in the end I was left with a few misgivings I hope you will find some time to dispel.
What I did
After a clean installation of Windows 10 on a Lenovo notebook, I tried to uninstall a few Windows Apps.
More specifically I initially tested Options Two and Three with Windows Alarms & Clock. Before applying Option Two there were:
- 6 WindowsAlarms folders in C:\Program File\WindowsApps
- 1 WindowsAlarms folder in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages
After having applied Option Two technique,
the only WindowsAlarms folder in Packages had disappeared, while there were still three folders left in WindowsApp.
Applying Option Three for All Users
left me with no WindowsAlarms folders in WindowsApp.
In terms of housecleaning, so far so good!
Why am I puzzled
Testing the same way Option Three on OneNote produced a dramatically different result, though.
In fact, before applying Option Three there were:
- 2 Office.OneNote folders in C:\Program File\WindowsApps
- 1 Office.OneNote folder in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages
Weirdly enough, after having (this time quite confidently) applied Option Three,
the Office.OneNote folder in Packages had disappeared as expected, while the two initial folders were surprisingly still in WindowsApp (note: a similar test with News produced the same result).
Therefore, I tried to apply the "–online" string of Option Three and...
Ouch! (note: a similar test with News produced the same result).
[May 15th 2016 Update | There is a mistake on my side concerning this last picture, i.e. PowerShell had not loaded PSReadline. In "normal" conditions I would not get such a message. Please see my next post for further details and accept my deepest apologies for this misinformation]
Ok, time for Questions.
Questions
1- Is there a specific reason why, like in the case of OneNote or News apps, certain app-related folders are not deleted by the uninstallation process using Options Two/Three?
2- Can / Should I delete those folders myself or is there another way of completely uninstalling/removing them and all other remnants/leftovers?
3- If yes, is there any other places where Apps are stored besides C:\Program File\WindowsApps and C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages? (I found some of them also in C:\Windows\SystemApps)
4- Should we assume that the Apps shortcuts in the Start Menu are not real shortcuts with a link to a specific location or is there a way of sorting out the app target folders from the Start Menu entries?
5- Any suggestions on how to fix the problem with the “-online” switch applied to OneNote and News Apps?
Thank you all in advance for your co-operation!
Last edited by Lmbrt; 15 May 2016 at 14:46.
Hello Lmbrt, :)
Q1) The %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps folder is where the apps get installed to on the PC. It's not unusual for app to have more than one folder at this location for whatever reason.
The %LocalAppData%\Packages folder is where the settings and data for apps are store for a specific user on the PC. It's not unusual for app to have more than one folder at this location for whatever reason.
The %WinDir%\SystemApps folder is where the default system apps used by Windows are stored. These don't get removed, and could mess up Windows if one tried to manually remove them from this location.
Q2-3) It is not recommend to try and manually delete anything not removed by the uninstaller. Doing so, can cause unknown issues.
Q4) The shortcuts for apps in the Start menu should automatically get removed when properly uninstalled.
Q5) If you use the "All users" option first to uninstall an app, then the app won't be installed to be able to use the "-online" switch to only remove the app for new users created afterwards.
Somebody please create an application to excise these apps completely. This is turning into a college level course on how to get the bloat out of Windows.
The fun thing about computers is that the solution, once found, is almost always very simple. But finding that solution, there's the rub.