4 ms·

I hadn't heard of this command. `Get-AppxPackage` seems to enumerate all the packages that the post talks about so its a good way to explore in a non-destructiv

I hadn't heard of this command. `Get-AppxPackage` seems to enumerate all the packages that the post talks about so its a good way to explore in a non-destructive way. It does remove the Microsoft Store and WSL with it which is important to me. Maybe a safer strategy is to look through that list and remove specifically the ones that are annoying

huslage 4y ago
It's probably easier to just remove everything and then add back what you want.
- Eisenstein 4y ago
  It is incredibly difficult to re-add the MS store if you remove it. Consider it non-revert-able. Just a warning in case someone thinks that is what you meant by your comment.
  - Kranar 4y ago
    Get-AppXPackage *WindowsStore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
    - metadat 4y ago
      Did you have this command memorized, or are you natively highly competent in PowerShell? (I'm a BASH loving freak and haven't spent any time learning WinPS.)
      - spoils19 4y ago
        In my experience, most greybeards on this forum will be able to recall that command from memory. It's part of the reason why HN is the place to be, these days.
        sonofhans 4y ago
        Sheeeeeit, I had grey in my beard before the Windows store even _existed_.
        TeMPOraL 4y ago
        These days, if you're serious about tech in itself, and not just its money-making potential, you're bound to get stress-induced grey hair and beard very fast...
      - kyriakos 4y ago
        Every time I tried to learn poweshell I am always put off by the capitalization and verbosity of commands. Not sure if I'd be feeling this way had I used poweshell first before being exposed to bash and windows cmd.
        abdusco 4y ago
        It's verbose, sure, but it has great autocomplete support to go along with it.
        mook 4y ago
        It's case-insensitive, so the capitalization is just to make it easier on the reader. Add mentioned there's enough auto-complete that you don't really have to care.
      - Sakos 4y ago
        I think once you understand what the individual bits do, it's easy to memorize them, then reconstruct the command from what you've memorized. The only part specific to the Store app is "WindowsStore", the rest can be used for installing any app.
Brian_K_White 4y ago
The advantage of including everything, or the problem with trying to cherry-pick, is that many problems are only the result of the partial but incomplete sets of interoperating components. If service A is always trying to use service B, but you removed service B, you can have annoying problems caused by service A hanging and timing out behind the scenes or presenting buttons that don't work etc. One way to avoid that is never remove anything, but another way is to remove both A and B. One way to get both A and B without knowing what they are, is get everything. And this particular method, using an actually fairly managed and graceful command (managed/graceful meaning not just removing files and editing the registry, but only running a user-facing command and interface) is like an automatic filter to include only things that don't actually break the OS.
- Godel_unicode 4y ago
  Have you tried this method yet? Appx packages tend to be very good about declaring their dependencies so that removal is easy and safe. They’re not suggesting deleting individual files or mucking with the registry, they’re talking about using a clean, user-facing tool just in a more surgical and thoughtful manner.
  - Brian_K_White 4y ago
    That's what I said? Did you mean to reply to the same parent comment I did? I fully agree this is a quite good trick, or at least is a solid theory, not claiming to have done it.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
Godel_unicode 4y ago
Yeah, I don’t understand the laziness of this option. The list isn’t that long, just figure out which packages you don’t want, put them in a text file, then iterate over that file and remove them. Repeatable and easy to back out out because you know what you removed. All in you’re talking less than an hour if you decide to google every single package in the list.

huslage 4y ago

It's probably easier to just remove everything and then add back what you want.

Eisenstein 4y ago
It is incredibly difficult to re-add the MS store if you remove it. Consider it non-revert-able. Just a warning in case someone thinks that is what you meant by your comment.
- Kranar 4y ago
  Get-AppXPackage *WindowsStore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
  - metadat 4y ago
    Did you have this command memorized, or are you natively highly competent in PowerShell? (I'm a BASH loving freak and haven't spent any time learning WinPS.)
    - spoils19 4y ago
      In my experience, most greybeards on this forum will be able to recall that command from memory. It's part of the reason why HN is the place to be, these days.
      - sonofhans 4y ago
        Sheeeeeit, I had grey in my beard before the Windows store even _existed_.
        TeMPOraL 4y ago
        These days, if you're serious about tech in itself, and not just its money-making potential, you're bound to get stress-induced grey hair and beard very fast...
    - kyriakos 4y ago
      Every time I tried to learn poweshell I am always put off by the capitalization and verbosity of commands. Not sure if I'd be feeling this way had I used poweshell first before being exposed to bash and windows cmd.
      - abdusco 4y ago
        It's verbose, sure, but it has great autocomplete support to go along with it.
      - mook 4y ago
        It's case-insensitive, so the capitalization is just to make it easier on the reader. Add mentioned there's enough auto-complete that you don't really have to care.
    - Sakos 4y ago
      I think once you understand what the individual bits do, it's easy to memorize them, then reconstruct the command from what you've memorized. The only part specific to the Store app is "WindowsStore", the rest can be used for installing any app.

Brian_K_White 4y ago

The advantage of including everything, or the problem with trying to cherry-pick, is that many problems are only the result of the partial but incomplete sets of interoperating components. If service A is always trying to use service B, but you removed service B, you can have annoying problems caused by service A hanging and timing out behind the scenes or presenting buttons that don't work etc. One way to avoid that is never remove anything, but another way is to remove both A and B. One way to get both A and B without knowing what they are, is get everything. And this particular method, using an actually fairly managed and graceful command (managed/graceful meaning not just removing files and editing the registry, but only running a user-facing command and interface) is like an automatic filter to include only things that don't actually break the OS.

Godel_unicode 4y ago
Have you tried this method yet? Appx packages tend to be very good about declaring their dependencies so that removal is easy and safe. They’re not suggesting deleting individual files or mucking with the registry, they’re talking about using a clean, user-facing tool just in a more surgical and thoughtful manner.
- Brian_K_White 4y ago
  That's what I said? Did you mean to reply to the same parent comment I did? I fully agree this is a quite good trick, or at least is a solid theory, not claiming to have done it.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

Godel_unicode 4y ago

Yeah, I don’t understand the laziness of this option. The list isn’t that long, just figure out which packages you don’t want, put them in a text file, then iterate over that file and remove them. Repeatable and easy to back out out because you know what you removed. All in you’re talking less than an hour if you decide to google every single package in the list.