7 ms·

O&O App Buster removes Windows Apps you don’t want

90 points by DerekBickerton 4y ago

rootw0rm 4y ago
seems cool, but why the heck did it add my beloved grepWin to the list???
theandrewbailey 4y ago
Thanks for the submission. I'm a fan of ShutUp10, and I'll definitely check this out.
nathanaldensr 4y ago
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.
- IYasha 4y ago
  Yeah, they're kinda OK among utility developers. I used to use O&O Recovery tool which scans deleted files by signatures (headers), even wrote some custom rules. But a few versions later they started walking the Nero way, adding more "looks", changing interface, and filannly - breaking things. (
- bowsamic 4y ago
  Not too related but that's one of the reasons I switched to macOS and struggle to move back. Even back in Windows 7 there was already a lot of preinstalled crap that just made me feel gross about my installation. Now with Windows 11 the situation seems astronomically worse. I don't want to feel disgusted by my OS installation out of the box. In that sense (of course there are other downsides) macOS feels almost totally pure out of the box, although the Apple Music stuff is an early red flag to me.
  - gernb 4y ago
    I don't feel all that different on Mac. When I get a new one the dock is covered in crap I don't care about. I use zero of the apple apps except maybe Music to play mp3 so I have to spend a bunch of time removing them from the dock and argubly I should uninstall them Then in notifications there's more crap like news, sports, stocks I have zero interest in as have to uninstall. Then it nags me about Apple TV (the subscription service) as well as Game Center. I use my Mac 10x more than my PC but it's very similar in how much stuff I have to remove. Just in the last 2 weeks I set up a new M1 Mac and upgraded to Windows 11 on my gamer PC. Sure Windows is worse but both are full of bloat.
    - indymike 4y ago
      I would like to uninstall the News app on my Mac. That is easier said than done.
- nix23 4y ago
  In the WindowsSrv2003 Day's their Defrag tool was a must, and BlueCon is still pretty good to have. It's pure no BS proprietary software (and that's perfectly ok).
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  On windows 11 most of these can be removed with winget. I say most because I'm not 100% sure I managed to remove 100% of them, but my start menu is now clean.
- kwanbix 4y ago
  I think is better to install Windows 10 IoT. Crapware free.
gigel82 4y ago
You can also use winget to remove any built-in application. But this is nicer since it has an UI :)
- alliao 4y ago
  the way msft shafted author of winget is pretty nasty though...
cantSpellSober 4y ago
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 4y ago
  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 4y ago
    I think that's because they use the same protocol (which is AFAIK inherited from MSN Messenger, not the original Skype) underneath.
    - adhesive_wombat 4y ago
      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.
      - jbay808 4y ago
        MSN Messenger was the best messenging app I ever used, so this actually makes me think more highly of Teams.
      - userbinator 4y ago
        Nothing much remains of the original protocol besides the name (MSNP), however; it started out being an IRC-like text-based protocol that MS even submitted to the IETF --- but never reached RFC status[1] --- but in its later years became gradually "XML-ized" and required more and more complexity in the client. The latest major revision of the protocol, which is also what the "new" Skype uses, is basically an HTTP API and thus most suited to being used in a browser, but definitely hinders those wanting to write a native client for it. [1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-movva-msn-messenger-protocol https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-movva-msn-messen...
neilv 4y ago
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/debian-11.4.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/d...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Krasnol 4y ago
  Just a reminder: this kind of behaviour results in aversion towards the cause you are propagating.
  - Nicksil 4y ago
    >Just a reminder: this kind of behaviour results in aversion towards the cause you are propagating. lol, no it doesn't.
    - Krasnol 4y ago
      Seriously? How can you not know that this particular derailment has even became a meme years ago?
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
  - nurettin 4y ago
    averter's gonna avert
    - firecall 4y ago
      I feel averted.
  - nix23 4y ago
    Yes it's true, you piss of everyone. LinuxFan: What Debian?? Sooo stupid...X is much better. WindowUser: No cant use Linux because X, and please stop telling me that. OpenBSD Fan: Grrmll Grrmmll pfff Linux. Plan9: I hate that dirty bloated unix stuff! OpenVMS: Sorry my uptime is 20 years cant reboot and install an OS. It just reminds me of that Stallmann-urge to tell everyone what "real" freedom is (his meaning of freedom only (good)freedom)
baal80spam 4y ago
On my system it detected 34 installed apps, of which 34 are Unremovable.
n4bz0r 4y ago
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?
- charles_kaw 4y ago
  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 4y ago
  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.
ro_bit 4y ago
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
- saturn5k 4y ago
  The "create a restore point" part is handled by Microsoft VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) and it probably failed because of issues with the OS, not the software itself.
  - actually_a_dog 4y ago
    Right, but the point is that it shouldn't continue on to uninstall the apps if creating the restore point fails.
fpojba 4y ago
No need to use this, you can do the same with the Get-AppxPackage and Remove-AppxPackage commands in PowerShell.
- kompatible 4y ago
  Not everyone is comfortable nor necessarily want to use command line tools for a simple process like that
  - fpojba 4y ago
    Everyone on HN should be comfortable with using a command line.
    - curiousgal 4y ago
      Not Windows' though, honestly.

rootw0rm 4y ago

seems cool, but why the heck did it add my beloved grepWin to the list???

theandrewbailey 4y ago

Thanks for the submission. I'm a fan of ShutUp10, and I'll definitely check this out.

nathanaldensr 4y ago

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.

IYasha 4y ago
Yeah, they're kinda OK among utility developers. I used to use O&O Recovery tool which scans deleted files by signatures (headers), even wrote some custom rules. But a few versions later they started walking the Nero way, adding more "looks", changing interface, and filannly - breaking things. (
bowsamic 4y ago
Not too related but that's one of the reasons I switched to macOS and struggle to move back. Even back in Windows 7 there was already a lot of preinstalled crap that just made me feel gross about my installation. Now with Windows 11 the situation seems astronomically worse. I don't want to feel disgusted by my OS installation out of the box. In that sense (of course there are other downsides) macOS feels almost totally pure out of the box, although the Apple Music stuff is an early red flag to me.
- gernb 4y ago
  I don't feel all that different on Mac. When I get a new one the dock is covered in crap I don't care about. I use zero of the apple apps except maybe Music to play mp3 so I have to spend a bunch of time removing them from the dock and argubly I should uninstall them Then in notifications there's more crap like news, sports, stocks I have zero interest in as have to uninstall. Then it nags me about Apple TV (the subscription service) as well as Game Center. I use my Mac 10x more than my PC but it's very similar in how much stuff I have to remove. Just in the last 2 weeks I set up a new M1 Mac and upgraded to Windows 11 on my gamer PC. Sure Windows is worse but both are full of bloat.
  - indymike 4y ago
    I would like to uninstall the News app on my Mac. That is easier said than done.
nix23 4y ago
In the WindowsSrv2003 Day's their Defrag tool was a must, and BlueCon is still pretty good to have. It's pure no BS proprietary software (and that's perfectly ok).
vladvasiliu 4y ago
On windows 11 most of these can be removed with winget. I say most because I'm not 100% sure I managed to remove 100% of them, but my start menu is now clean.
kwanbix 4y ago
I think is better to install Windows 10 IoT. Crapware free.

gigel82 4y ago

You can also use winget to remove any built-in application. But this is nicer since it has an UI :)

alliao 4y ago
the way msft shafted author of winget is pretty nasty though...

cantSpellSober 4y ago

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 4y ago
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 4y ago
  I think that's because they use the same protocol (which is AFAIK inherited from MSN Messenger, not the original Skype) underneath.
  - adhesive_wombat 4y ago
    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.
    - jbay808 4y ago
      MSN Messenger was the best messenging app I ever used, so this actually makes me think more highly of Teams.
    - userbinator 4y ago
      Nothing much remains of the original protocol besides the name (MSNP), however; it started out being an IRC-like text-based protocol that MS even submitted to the IETF --- but never reached RFC status[1] --- but in its later years became gradually "XML-ized" and required more and more complexity in the client. The latest major revision of the protocol, which is also what the "new" Skype uses, is basically an HTTP API and thus most suited to being used in a browser, but definitely hinders those wanting to write a native client for it. [1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-movva-msn-messenger-protocol https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-movva-msn-messen...

neilv 4y ago

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/debian-11.4.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/d...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Krasnol 4y ago
Just a reminder: this kind of behaviour results in aversion towards the cause you are propagating.
- Nicksil 4y ago
  >Just a reminder: this kind of behaviour results in aversion towards the cause you are propagating. lol, no it doesn't.
  - Krasnol 4y ago
    Seriously? How can you not know that this particular derailment has even became a meme years ago?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- nurettin 4y ago
  averter's gonna avert
  - firecall 4y ago
    I feel averted.
- nix23 4y ago
  Yes it's true, you piss of everyone. LinuxFan: What Debian?? Sooo stupid...X is much better. WindowUser: No cant use Linux because X, and please stop telling me that. OpenBSD Fan: Grrmll Grrmmll pfff Linux. Plan9: I hate that dirty bloated unix stuff! OpenVMS: Sorry my uptime is 20 years cant reboot and install an OS. It just reminds me of that Stallmann-urge to tell everyone what "real" freedom is (his meaning of freedom only (good)freedom)

baal80spam 4y ago

On my system it detected 34 installed apps, of which 34 are Unremovable.

n4bz0r 4y ago

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?

charles_kaw 4y ago
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 4y ago
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.

ro_bit 4y ago

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

saturn5k 4y ago
The "create a restore point" part is handled by Microsoft VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) and it probably failed because of issues with the OS, not the software itself.
- actually_a_dog 4y ago
  Right, but the point is that it shouldn't continue on to uninstall the apps if creating the restore point fails.

fpojba 4y ago

No need to use this, you can do the same with the Get-AppxPackage and Remove-AppxPackage commands in PowerShell.

kompatible 4y ago
Not everyone is comfortable nor necessarily want to use command line tools for a simple process like that
- fpojba 4y ago
  Everyone on HN should be comfortable with using a command line.
  - curiousgal 4y ago
    Not Windows' though, honestly.