[HN Gopher] O&O App Buster removes Windows Apps you don't want
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       O&O App Buster removes Windows Apps you don't want
        
       Author : DerekBickerton
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2022-08-26 17:45 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.oo-software.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.oo-software.com)
        
       | n4bz0r wrote:
       | Slightly off-topic.
       | 
       | Since my earlier days of using Windows, I have a strong
       | impression that OS-tweaking tools are very much a double-edged
       | sword. The advertised functions always look attractive, but
       | maintaining a system with such tools has always been not as
       | trivial as the authors were depicting it to be. Sometimes to the
       | point that something would break immediately after tweaking a
       | setting or using some sort of system 'cleaning' slash registry
       | 'optimisation'. In my experience, the latter had _always_ been
       | breaking something. And the former wasn 't ever a permanent
       | solution. In other words, given the possible complications and
       | maintenance implications, these tools felt borderline malicious.
       | 
       | But it's been years if not a decade since I last used something
       | like that. How are the things with tools like the ones O&O offer
       | these days? My impression is, 'Shutup' seems like it could very
       | well break a thing or two. And that Buster thing seems...
       | superfluous? I'd rather remove unwanted apps with tools at hand.
       | And if that would involve some black magic, then maybe they
       | shouldn't be removed at all? What's the use in fighting windmills
       | just to remove some default media player?
       | 
       | Anyway, not looking to bash on the O&O software, but merely
       | curious what experience people have with 'tweakers' these days.
       | 
       | PS: I was quite surprized to see a freaking CC-cleaner installed
       | on some modern systems. What's up with that, too?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | charles_kaw wrote:
         | They can still wreck havok on your system, although doing
         | general package uninstalls on windows is a relatively stable
         | activity. It's an extremely modular OS and it's designed to
         | handle many combinations.
         | 
         | That said, Windows 11 has turned much attention to these tools
         | due to all of the useless crap they're including on default
         | installs. And by useless, I specifically mean the litany of
         | "pre-installed" app shortcuts.
        
         | Barrin92 wrote:
         | after a few years of not using windows I used O&O recently and
         | it does do some things by default you wouldn't neccessarily
         | expect.
         | 
         | Didn't break anything but the first thing I noticed is that
         | Edge had no browser history, which of course you can turn back
         | on but it was a somewhat hard to find option, and I wouldn't
         | consider that a 'default tweak' necessarily.
         | 
         | at least I don't think it broke anything, but I think many
         | people will still run into things that suddenly don't work with
         | these tools.
        
       | nathanaldensr wrote:
       | O&O's software is what software should be. I've deployed ShutUp10
       | on every PC in my household and keep it updated. I tried
       | AppBuster and it _actually worked_! I was able to remove a host
       | of Microsoft trash apps and  "non-removable" crap like XBox apps
       | and services.
       | 
       | I did notice that certain apps couldn't be removed due to being
       | in use. I rebooted and was able to remove those apps. Also,
       | AppBuster doesn't seem to run in Safe Mode as it hung while
       | scanning for apps.
        
       | ro_bit wrote:
       | Incase one of the developers is in here - I just tried the app
       | and it prompted me to create a restore point before starting. It
       | encountered an error while making the restore point and then
       | proceeded to uninstall the apps anyway. This is probably not
       | intended behavior and should be fixed
        
       | neilv wrote:
       | Just a reminder: if your operating system is actively hostile
       | towards you, you can still opt-out:
       | https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/d...
        
         | Krasnol wrote:
         | Just a reminder: this kind of behaviour results in aversion
         | towards the cause you are propagating.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | baal80spam wrote:
       | On my system it detected 34 installed apps, of which 34 are
       | Unremovable.
        
       | gigel82 wrote:
       | You can also use winget to remove any built-in application. But
       | this is nicer since it has an UI :)
        
       | cantSpellSober wrote:
       | Can it remove Contact Support and Windows Feedback?
       | 
       | Fun fact: "Zune" was never scrubbed from some of the names of
       | these apps, the _Films & TV_ crapware was (is?) still called
       | "zunemusic" when you removed it with Powershell.
        
         | adhesive_wombat wrote:
         | Something in MS Teams (bleh) is called "skype".
         | 
         | Though to be fair, we've all seen that kind of thing in the
         | code and just left it well alone rather than pull on thr string
         | and own the broken pieces you'll be handed for you trouble.
        
           | userbinator wrote:
           | I think that's because they use the same protocol (which is
           | AFAIK inherited from MSN Messenger, not the original Skype)
           | underneath.
        
             | adhesive_wombat wrote:
             | It's somehow horrifying that the unnaturally animated
             | corpse of something that was so cool at the time like MSN
             | Messenger lives on in an abomination like Teams.
        
       | theandrewbailey wrote:
       | Thanks for the submission. I'm a fan of ShutUp10, and I'll
       | definitely check this out.
        
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       (page generated 2022-08-26 23:01 UTC)