Related
OK, I got my Sprint TP2 yesterday and was playing around with it. I installed my SD card that had some files on it and when I tapped on one document file by mistake it "unzipped" it to the internal storage completely filling it.
I've looked all over but cannot seem to locate the internal storage memeory on the phone.
HELP!
Thanks in Advance.
OK, never mind. But.....
OK, after I opened it back up today I started looking at it like my old PDA and found the file and deleted it.
But..
I'd like to free up more internal memory as it shows I only have 158MB free. And only 59MB free for program memory. I'll be getting a 16GB card soon to replace my 2GB I have but I'd like to have more internal memory.
What programs/files can I delete safely from my Sprint TP2 to free up more space?
JohnMcD348 said:
I'd like to free up more internal memory as it shows I only have 158MB free. And only 59MB free for program memory. I'll be getting a 16GB card soon to replace my 2GB I have but I'd like to have more internal memory.
What programs/files can I delete safely from my Sprint TP2 to free up more space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
158MB of "Storage" memory is actually quite a bit -- it's 60% open/empty. Considering that a lot of applications are less than a 1 MB, and a huge one is 5MB -- you still have room to install dozens directly to the device. To minimize use of Storage, install as many apps as possible to your card. And, wherever possible, configure settings on apps to store their data to the card...and set the camera to save to the card, etc. Even a 2GB card is a lot of space -- unless you're carrying full-length, high-quality movies.
Program memory gets filled up by stuff that's currently running, so deleting installed programs won't free up more of that -- unless these programs run automatically/all-the-time.
MCbrian said:
158MB of "Storage" memory is actually quite a bit -- it's 60% open/empty. Considering that a lot of applications are less than a 1 MB, and a huge one is 5MB -- you still have room to install dozens directly to the device. To minimize use of Storage, install as many apps as possible to your card. And, wherever possible, configure settings on apps to store their data to the card...and set the camera to save to the card, etc. Even a 2GB card is a lot of space -- unless you're carrying full-length, high-quality movies.
Program memory gets filled up by stuff that's currently running, so deleting installed programs won't free up more of that -- unless these programs run automatically/all-the-time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, if you have 158MB storage free on the phone right now, be sure to take a screenshot if it so you can look back later and remember "back when" you had still had that much free space
MCBrian is right, moving stuff to your memory card is the best way to free up space on the phone's memory and keep it from filling up unneccesarily. Like he said, first change the camera settings to always save to the card, otherwise that will always eat into your available on-board storage, and quickly. I would also suggest going into the current album of pics on the phone, deleting anything you don't want to save, and move whatever you do want to save into a "pics" folder on your card (HTC's photo album can include pics saved there as well). Same for music...store any and all of it on the card, not the phone's memory. The one caveat with that is that the HTC music player (the music tab in touchflo) doesn't always find music on the card, not for me anyway, but I never liked that player anyway.
Managing my memory that way has given me enough space that even with dozens of programs on the phone, all of them installed to the phone's memory, I still have 95MB free space for programs on there. In fact, I still have a fair amount of junk (stuff I tried but don't use, etc) in there that I need to go clear out. Installing some of your programs to the memory card can help too, but if you're careful you can keep enough storage memory on there available to be able to avoid ever needing to do that (and the hassle that comes with trying to figure out which programs are ok with being installed on the card, as well as managing/maintaining separate install locations).
If you're going to start using file explorer to dig around in your directories, I highly recommend you first install File Explorer Extension. It simply adds a lot of the stock destop file explorer functionality that's missing in the mobile version ("open with>" in the context menu, for example!)...makes a HUGE difference in ease of use when digging through your file structure. I attachted it below, "fexploreext v2.05.CAB"
For keeping your RAM ("running" memory) from growing too fast, I also suggest running the other 2 cabs I have attached below (SSK TP2 Dynamic Resource Proxy.cab and nopushinternet.cab), they make a big difference in the active memory management on the TP2, you'll probably see a noticable difference right after soft-reset.
Thanks for those CABs. I'm pretty good at managing the storage on things like this, I just couldn' find the files/folder on the newer phone using the options available in WinMo6+. I've been using an Axim for years runnign WinMo5 and earlier versions. Storage cards are pretty easy for me as I'm use to running stuff between the Main/CF/SD cards that I had on the Axim. I just have alot to learn about the newer 6.1 OS. Probably, by the time I get used to 6.1, Sprint will come out with 6.5(6,7,whatever) and I'll get to relearn everything all over again.
If there are any other programs you'd recommend to help me out I'd greatly appreciate it.
JohnMcD348 said:
Thanks for those CABs. I'm pretty good at managing the storage on things like this, I just couldn' find the files/folder on the newer phone using the options available in WinMo6+. I've been using an Axim for years runnign WinMo5 and earlier versions. Storage cards are pretty easy for me as I'm use to running stuff between the Main/CF/SD cards that I had on the Axim. I just have alot to learn about the newer 6.1 OS. Probably, by the time I get used to 6.1, Sprint will come out with 6.5(6,7,whatever) and I'll get to relearn everything all over again.
If there are any other programs you'd recommend to help me out I'd greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the file structure is obviously still pretty much the same windows-standard, just some locations moved around. The bad news is that none of the programs installed by default in the stock rom are removable through the normal remove programs dialog, or any 3rd-party app I've seen. However you can just go perform the same steps manually by deleting any folders matching the program/publisher's name in these locations:
<root>/program files
<root>/application data
<root>/windows/start menu
...and then searching in the registry to delete any keys in there for the program as well. You'll need a registry editor to do that, I've attached my favorite free one, PHM Regedit...just search your registry by the name of the program you're removing. If you're not familiar with messing around in the registry, there's guides available here, let me know if you need me to point you in that direction. And, as always, be SURE to make a backup copy of your registry (PHM can handle that for you) before making any changes.
Here's a couple of other utilites I've found useful:
Advanced_Configuration_Tool_v3.3.cab -Gives you acccess to all sorts of advanced UI and system configuration options, a favorite and often-referenced tool here at xda.
Extra Camera Modes.cab -unlocks some capture modes that the TP2 camera is capable of, but aren't enabled from the factory on US models. New modes include MMS video, Burst, Sport, and geotagged images
SDK certs.cab -windows authentification certifcates necessary for installing many hacks/apps/cabs/etc that are available here
DivXPlayer_PPC.cab -a lean, mean .avi player from the people who came up with DivX (the codec standard, not the movie rental crap lol). I rip my DVD's at home to ~700MB DivX files, save them on my memory card, and use this app to play them...it gives far better performance and quality than any of the other players I've tried.
Very Much appreciated.
Now, I seem to have another probelm and I don't know if it's my unfamiliarirty with the newer Sync Center or am I just doing something wrong, or if it's an issue with the programs I've got.
I'm new to both Win7 and WinMo6+(and touch flo, etc). Up to now I had XP(w/ ActiveSync) and my WinMo5 Axim.
I can't seem to get my programs installed onto my TP2. I use a prgram for work called Tarascon. It's a medical reference program. I tried to install it yesterday and I never got the repsonse on the TP2 to request permission to install it. Today, I tried to install SOTI's Pocket Controller and this time I did get the request and I installed it to the device but I can't find it anywhere on it. It didn't install an Icon on the device and I've looked through every place I could think and can't even find an installation file for it. I didn't get an install error or failure notice and my memory size dcreased 2MB so something happened.
Glad to help
Since I don't really know anything about the medical reference software you're using, my first suggestion would be to check with the publisher and make sure that the version you have is compatible with Win7 and WM6.x...often software that worked on WM5 won't work just right on 6.
As for SOTI Pocket Controller, the latest version available on the site should be compatible with your setup. When you install it, are you doing that by running a .exe file on your PC and then letting Mobile Device Center (the new generation of ActiveSync) handle the install from there? It might be advisable to just moving the .cab file for the program straight to your phone (device memory or storage card is fine), and run it from there to install...bypasses the MDC, and ends up doing the same thing in the long run. In fact, it might be worth trying the same thing (running the .cab straight from your phone) with the medial software you've got.
It might just be that I'm using Ver4 and it doesn't want to run right with the newer install setup(MDC).
It worked fine when I installed it on my Axim(WinMo5) and using WinXP(ActiveSync).
Another odd thing, every time I plug in my TP2 and MDC starts to Sync, I get the request from Win7 for the Tarascon program to initialize. So that tells me something, somewhere set a pointer to my TP2 to update the program. I think.
I'm expecting delivery of the Desire soon, having had a range of WM5, WM6 and WM6.1 handsets so far. Now one of the big problems I experienced with WM was the inability of the OS to protect itself from deep-level rogue code -one app from the Windows Marketplace screwed the last phone considerably, leading to a series of crashes, black screens with ominous warnings about not powering off correctly and so on. Thankfully I had Sprite Backup to haul back a working fileset. On the whole it felt as wobbly as a Win98 install with the wrong version of several core files.
How does the Android OS protect itself from rogue stuff? (especially the newest 2.1 release in the Desire, if it's any different from earlier versions). Does it sandbox the apps and do some heavy brokering of any multitasking? There are thousands of apps to try and I'd rather not knacker things up if one turns out to be a bit flaky...
I've used Linux for years (have mostly had Kubuntu for the past 2yrs, though used to run Suse, Slackware and ZipSlack) and have busted a Linux install just by adding the nVidia kernel drivers - I think that was within a minute of first boot in that case. I know that root access is needed for these sorts of mods - what's the score there on Android handsets?
BTW - couldn't find anything about this on the Search, and am dropping it here because I'm getting the Desire - apologies to Mods if it belongs somewhere else!
- in the market you will see bad ratings and comments if an app is really malicious (obviously the developers can't edit/delete comments from the market)
- apps don't have root access so they can't alter data on the system partition.
- apps need to have permission declared in order to have access to some functions, for example if an app is sending text messages, or modifying contact data you will see this when you install the app
Thanks. I always treat the user ratings with a pinch of salt - the one that messed my Raphael up was a 4*-rated app! I think the thing there was that WM doesn't protect the OS in any special way, and I'm glad that Android is using partitions. Sounds just like a standard Linux distro in that respect, most of which will create 3 partitions unless told otherwise.
Yeah I guess if the app has no root access, then no serious harm can be done to the phone.
Also, try to create a habbit of checking what permissions the app has before installing it. That shows just before installing, or press Menu and then Security. For example, a Game will not need access to contacts, or make calls... etc.
Before I install something I heard nothing about, I always scroll users comments and look for low ratings and see what they have to say about it. But remember that old comments (good or bad) sometimes don't count as apps get updated.
The Market should show when the application was last updated by the developer. I think Apple store already shows that.
Cheers! I'll check it out just as soon as the new phone gets here! Normally I'm dead paranoid about stuff, and don't let anything out to play unless I'm sure - maybe I'm letting one bad installation colour things a bit too much...
[UPDATED] Android Market Apps I bought for my Hero: Are they "paid for" on my Desire?
Updated April 18, 2010
Now I get it. See Post #6 below. Google's dragging their ass on "fingerprint" approval. They need to be SHAMED virally across the web for sheer incompetence -- or intentional malice toward purchasers of a phone that competes with their Nexus One. "Do No Evil" my ass.
========== My Original Posting =========
I bought maybe 6-7 apps for my hero -- 2 different keyboards, "Executive Assistant", some kind of alarm clock... When on my Hero, even after factory reset and resetting up my phone, when I went to MARKET and "My Downloads", those paid for apps showed up as available to install again on my Hero.
I have been using my Desire -- but thus far only for Wifi as I set it up and get acquainted with the phone. Perhaps stupidly (!) I am still using the Hero as my "phone" til I have all my apps and widgets and layouts replicated on my Desire.
Though I do not have my carrier's SIM card installed in my Desire, 90% of the device works fine, especially all wifi usages, Market downloads, email, web, etc... I did set up my Gmail account as well.
It's one's Gmail account which is your linkage to PAID FOR apps, via Google Checkout. So, I am surprised that when I select "My downloads" i don't see any indication of paid for apps.
Is this tied to a SIM card? (if so seems ridiculous)
RELATED: I can't even find BETTER KEYBOARD app in the Market now, nor "SMART KEYBOARD" ... Does the market auto-filter out apps that do not run on Android 2.1 ?
thank you
the paid apps are tied with your google account.
(no longer relevant)
From what I read, some paid and free apps should appear as soon as google finishes some signature thing related to that! so it's a matter of time.
By the way, do you see paid apps in general? For me, I always had to use Market Enabaler on the Hero to open Market to paid apps.
A temporary solution, you can use your Hero to extract the paid applications (apk files) using Root Explorer, copy them to the Desire SD card and install them using any file manager. The only limitation here is that you have to keep checking for updates on the Hero.
Re: Android Market > Apps I bought for my Hero: Are they "paid for" on my Desire?
as far as I know, and experts correct me if wrong, the ability to get access are directly connected to the sim from which you connect.
which is why market enabler used to spoof the apn's from which paid apps were available.
with no sim card you should only be able to get free apps or nothing at all.
I live in Sweden, no paid apps.
was at friends last night who has an old UK sim card, popped that in and I got access to some paid apps. but still with the limitations as previously discussed in this forum. (waiting for Google to get it straightened out)
so, yes & no, the apps are tied to your sim, cuz it tells the phone which apn/ network your phone is connecting from...
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
I just read a few other threads, with links to the official Android Market forums. First off, I have to ask some basic vocabulary:
What are "protected apps" ?
I have no idea what this means.
Second: salahag, thanks for your reply. I didn't respond initially because I didn't understand it at all. Paid apps showed up in my Hero from day 1 and that was for me October 2009. I was baffled because I had no context for even thinking "is everything that's available showing here?" because by default my brain had no reason to pose that question. I just assumed the Market worked one way, and I was seeing everything the way everyone else sees it.
I'm suddenly quite baffled by this emerging mystery now that I can't find a bunch of apps for my DESIRE. But now the mystery of "where are my paid apps that I bought on my Hero?" is solved, replaced by "why are hundreds of apps that were available on my Hero not available on my Desire?"
XDA-devs to the rescue, via another thread here about "Missing apps in the Market" linking to this posting in Android Market forums:
by nprussell - 4/8/10 (LINK to this posting at Android Market forums)
Hi all,
I'm an Android developer from the XDA forum & VillainROM.co.uk. I've primarily worked on the Hero, but I received my Desire yesterday.
I can confirm that I too am missing several apps from the market. I also have an answer to your question.
First things first, it's protected apps that are missing from the market. There are generally two reasons why apps will be missing from the market.
(1) When a new ROM/Phone is released, the manufacturer, in this case HTC, sends the build to Google, which includes a 'Fingerprint' (a unique line of text which governs its market access) in the build.prop file. Generally, it states the name of the phone and Android version in the fingerprint. With Root & system write access, this fingerprint can easily be changed... but we don't have that luxury right now.
Once Google approve the build, the fingerprint will be added to their allowed database to view protected apps on the market.
(2) The other cause for apps missing from the market in builds (such as twidroid, layar, barcode scanner etc) is that these apps require permissions to use the camera/auto focus. They are NOT protected apps. If the XML permission files are missing from system/etc/permissions, then Google Market will simply block these apps from showing.
So again... to answer your question... we'll see the protected apps as soon as either:
a) HTC chase up Google
b) Google get around to activating the fingerprint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Un-frikkin-believable.
It's like the equivalence of a dumb low-IQ bureaucrat holding up a long line for Drivers' License renewals at the "Department of Motor Vehicles". No reason at all for the stupid delay other than some asshole letting some work order sit on his desktop til he feels like getting to it.
No wonder the author (gogol) of that other related thread recommends consumer activism or we just stand in line each time and just wait to get ****'d in the ass by beaurocratic process that sounds WAY more like Microsoft than "the smartest guys in the room" at Google -- who pride themselves on only hiring Ivy-league grads and equivalents, like from Stanford. They ought to be ridiculed out of town with this.
gogol writes: I really cannot believe Google screws this great Android platform like this. Think about the next firmware update, from Google or HTC ... We will AGAIN get this issue ... Then wait again very long. I am really mad and hate this.
If one of you guys is capable of writing a good professional article or blog regarding this issue, we could spread the voice all over the internet / twitter / facebook / blogs / news so Google could "end" or "fix" this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm game to SHAME GOOGLE into getting their f-ing act together or be ridiculed for incompetence -- everywhere we can post that message on the web. And they have the nerve to criticize APPLE for their ridiculous App Store totalitarianism?
.
xrrkrrkx said:
I live in Sweden, no paid apps. Was at friends last night who has an old UK sim card, popped that in and I got access to some paid apps. but still with the limitations as previously discussed in this forum. (waiting for Google to get it straightened out)
so, yes & no, the apps are tied to your sim, cuz it tells the phone which apn/ network your phone is connecting from...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you clarify this further. Thank you for information related to SIM card needing to be in use in order to access paid apps -- god only knows why -- it's retarded to me.
But is it correct that I have read other places that there are LOCALIZATION ISSUES? where some apps are only available to certain regions? (Like YouTube does) -- Or can you shoot that one down as rumor. I don't get this. Open source OS. Google's entire revenue model based on ads. More phones = more ad impressions = more money to Google. What possible motivation is there to block access to apps in a marketplace that I am willing to pay for -- where Google gets % of all sales, as well as transactional revenue thru Google Checkout? -- Something doesn't make sense. And usually when that's the case, SOMEONE IS BEING PROTECTED in some corporate deal.
What's the story. Is this another CARRIER-TAINTED example of holding customers hostage? If so, I can't wait til the day we can blow up that Carrier-driven model that strangles the free marketplace. They should make it or break it based on direct delivery of services at competitive pricing. I am so tired of Boardroom Protectionist Policies agreed to by major competitors, to ensure a baseline profit well above anything deserved if there was open competition. ... But I could be off on my little side rant and it has nothing to do with this issue, in which case, .... ooops. sorry
salahag said:
From what I read, some paid and free apps should appear as soon as google finishes some signature thing related to that! so it's a matter of time.
By the way, do you see paid apps in general? For me, I always had to use Market Enabaler on the Hero to open Market to paid apps.
A temporary solution, you can use your Hero to extract the paid applications (apk files) using Root Explorer, copy them to the Desire SD card and install them using any file manager. The only limitation here is that you have to keep checking for updates on the Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks - I never even thought to do this. Rooted my Hero, copied the apks (they're in /data/app-private) to the Desire and installed. I now have National Rail and Locale Lockscreen back again
Ta.
you can use your Hero to extract the paid applications (apk files) using Root Explorer, copy them to the Desire SD card and install them using any file manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant to ask: Is Root Explorer an app from the Market (I'll check of course), and does it only work on rooted Heroes? Mine is unrooted. But I have used Astro app many times for moving stuff from my computer to Hero, and now my Desire. So, it would just be a matter of my knowing which folder/directory to look in on my Hero to access the .apk files.
(EDIT: I see now from daern above: they're in /data/app-private ... well Astro Explorer shows me root folder and data folder but both say "directory is empty", so I am guessing unless I root my Hero i can't access this stuff... right?)
So, thanks from ME also!
Easy. Install "InstantRook.apk" on the Hero (Google for it, download directly to the device and run from Astro).
Once installed, it will announce "your device is rooted". Now fire up Root Explorer and note that you can see the /data folder. Copy the private apk files to /sdcard and away you go.
It really is as easy as that. It may stuff your Hero (it didn't affect mine in the slightest) but as I'm assuming that you're replacing it anyway, the worst it would require would be a hard-boot anyway.
Took < 5 mins
EDIT: Found a faster and cleaner way!
You guys who run tablets that have uber tiny amounts of storage (e.g. 32gb dell venue 8 pro) might want to do this as it will free up space used by apps that you probably don't even touch. You can always just install any you want to keep from the Windows store, but personally I think 8 apps are all crap (except Netflix.)
Click start > type 'powershell' (no quotes) > press ctrl+shift+enter > (say yes if it asks)
Type the following:
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online
Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage
Tada! No more useless built in Windows apps taking up disk space, and new user accounts don't start with a cluttered start menu.
If you're like me and you keep an autoconfigure batch script for new installations, you can accomplish the above with the following lines:
powershell -Command "Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online"
powershell -Command "Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage"
Guessing this works with RT as well, but it's a sad OS that I wouldn't ever buy, so I can't test.
(Old post sticking around for archival purposes)
I never use these things. I don't like apps that force full screen when it is really unnecessary. I guess it makes sense for a touch screen, but for a desktop this is downright stupid, especially when you have a big monitor and like working with multiple things at once. Anyways, I noticed that these take up a gig of space, and I am on an SSD, so space is precious. Sadly, uninstalling them from the start menu doesn't actually delete them, in fact it's really no different at all from using the unpin from start option.
Simply navigating to that folder to delete them doesn't work. First you'll claim ownership via the UI, and then it will at least let you browse the folder. I tried taking it a step further and using the universal "take all" method from an admin prompt:
d:\windows\program files\> icacls windowsapps\* /T /C /Grant UsersOI)(CI)(MA)
It failed. So I figured, let's try rebooting to the command console and do the same thing. Success! Well, not really.
If you type del windowsapps, it pretends to delete them, but it doesn't actually do so. Microsoft is clever, they really went out of their way to make sure you keep them and like them! So I took it a step further, I tried the same thing from WinPE by booting from the install disk, hitting the repair button, and navigating to the command shell. Same result as above. Microsoft REALLY wants to make sure they remain intact.
Fortunately though, I have an ace up my sleeve. I booted a linux ISO, mounted the partition, and did an rm -rf WindowsApps, and lo and behold, its gone! You see, linux doesn't really care if you keep metro apps, it just does whatever you tell it to.
By the way, I did this inside of a VM just to make sure that it doesn't break anything, and so far, it doesn't appear to do so. The apps still remain in the start menu (if you didn't unpin them) but launching them just returns right back to the start menu. No worries, just unpin them and it will stay out of sight and out of mind.
Something confuses me though...the live tiles for these apps still actually work. At least, the live tiles for news, finance, and travel still work, but launching the app just drops you back to the start menu. My guess is that the live tile portion of the app runs in another process. Somebody who is more familiar with WinRT could chime in here. Also, the useless windows store and some important things like the desktop app and the "pc settings" app (aka metro control panel) remains intact, so no issues there.
Anyways, I'd like to figure out a way to delete these while windows is still running, that way I can automate doing so when I install windows. Any ideas? My current thought is to remove them from the install.wim, but it's kind of a PITA and often something goes wrong when I try to muck with that.
Thanks for the info. I won't be able to do the research until the weekend, but in searching for windows 8 (non-Microsoft) themes, I found info on a program (I hate that all of a sudden all programs are being called 'apps') which lets you take (for real) ownership if system files. The info where I ran into it's usage was because Windows 7 and 8 need either hacked system files (guess having a hacked 7 with legit license was a great idea) or a special program to load a custom theme.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Out of curiosity, what built-in apps did you find to be un-deleteable? Removing the built-in apps that I didn't use (Finance, News, etc.) was easy; just right-click or flick downward (to select the tile) then select Uninstall. Leftover files in the WindowsApps dir could be removed.
GoodDayToDie said:
Out of curiosity, what built-in apps did you find to be un-deleteable? Removing the built-in apps that I didn't use (Finance, News, etc.) was easy; just right-click or flick downward (to select the tile) then select Uninstall. Leftover files in the WindowsApps dir could be removed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The built in apps that it places on the start menu when you first log in to Windows 8. It prevents you from deleting them, because then new accounts won't see the apps, and it forces them on to the start menu by default.
You can delete them from Start easily enough, if for some reason you find their presence there offensive. You can also delete the updated versions from the device. The basline (1.2) versions are, I assume, what you are complaining about... meh. If you want to bang your head against this, go ahead. I get what you're asking for now, though I really don't understand why. Besides, full-screen or not, some of the "Metro" apps are pretty good, especially a few of the games (which are frequently FS anyhow). It's worth keeping the store around for free game downloads IMO... but I think we've already established that our opinions differ on how to use Win8.
GoodDayToDie said:
You can delete them from Start easily enough, if for some reason you find their presence there offensive. You can also delete the updated versions from the device. The basline (1.2) versions are, I assume, what you are complaining about... meh. If you want to bang your head against this, go ahead. I get what you're asking for now, though I really don't understand why. Besides, full-screen or not, some of the "Metro" apps are pretty good, especially a few of the games (which are frequently FS anyhow). It's worth keeping the store around for free game downloads IMO... but I think we've already established that our opinions differ on how to use Win8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're thinking of using the "uninstall" option from the start menu. That does NOT delete them, it just removes all references to them. They still reside on the hard disk and consume disk space. On my 120GB SSD on my laptop, every gig counts. Why leave them there when they are doing nothing at all? No banging your head involved, just boot up linux, rm -rf WinApps, problem solved.
Anyways, last I checked there were approximately zero AAA titles in the windows store. In fact, I've yet to see any windows app do anything that can't already be done better in a web browser. I'm not particularly impressed with solitaire collection, pinball, toy soldiers...and ooh mahjong, the game to end all games. The only one even remotely interesting is hydro thunder, in which case they ought to call it Retro instead of Metro.
Rakeesh_j said:
I never use these things. I don't like apps that force full screen when it is really unnecessary. I guess it makes sense for a touch screen, but for a desktop this is downright stupid, especially when you have a big monitor and like working with multiple things at once. Anyways, I noticed that these take up a gig of space, and I am on an SSD, so space is precious. Sadly, uninstalling them from the start menu doesn't actually delete them, in fact it's really no different at all from using the unpin from start option.
Simply navigating to that folder to delete them doesn't work. First you'll claim ownership via the UI, and then it will at least let you browse the folder. I tried taking it a step further and using the universal "take all" method from an admin prompt:
d:\windows\program files\> icacls windowsapps\* /T /C /Grant UsersOI)(CI)(MA)
It failed. So I figured, let's try rebooting to the command console and do the same thing. Success! Well, not really.
If you type del windowsapps, it pretends to delete them, but it doesn't actually do so. Microsoft is clever, they really went out of their way to make sure you keep them and like them! So I took it a step further, I tried the same thing from WinPE by booting from the install disk, hitting the repair button, and navigating to the command shell. Same result as above. Microsoft REALLY wants to make sure they remain intact.
Fortunately though, I have an ace up my sleeve. I booted a linux ISO, mounted the partition, and did an rm -rf WindowsApps, and lo and behold, its gone! You see, linux doesn't really care if you keep metro apps, it just does whatever you tell it to.
By the way, I did this inside of a VM just to make sure that it doesn't break anything, and so far, it doesn't appear to do so. The apps still remain in the start menu (if you didn't unpin them) but launching them just returns right back to the start menu. No worries, just unpin them and it will stay out of sight and out of mind.
Something confuses me though...the live tiles for these apps still actually work. At least, the live tiles for news, finance, and travel still work, but launching the app just drops you back to the start menu. My guess is that the live tile portion of the app runs in another process. Somebody who is more familiar with WinRT could chime in here. Also, the useless windows store and some important things like the desktop app and the "pc settings" app (aka metro control panel) remains intact, so no issues there.
Anyways, I'd like to figure out a way to delete these while windows is still running, that way I can automate doing so when I install windows. Any ideas? My current thought is to remove them from the install.wim, but it's kind of a PITA and often something goes wrong when I try to muck with that.
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Click to collapse
If you want to remove them from a windows install image
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/37039-Remove-Metro-appz-and-default-associations-to-them
phailyoor said:
If you want to remove them from a windows install image
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/37039-Remove-Metro-appz-and-default-associations-to-them
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Awesome, thanks!
You could had taken ownership of the WindowsApps folder and delete it, that's what I did.
Rakeesh_j said:
You're thinking of using the "uninstall" option from the start menu. That does NOT delete them, it just removes all references to them. They still reside on the hard disk and consume disk space. On my 120GB SSD on my laptop, every gig counts. Why leave them there when they are doing nothing at all? No banging your head involved, just boot up linux, rm -rf WinApps, problem solved.
Anyways, last I checked there were approximately zero AAA titles in the windows store. In fact, I've yet to see any windows app do anything that can't already be done better in a web browser. I'm not particularly impressed with solitaire collection, pinball, toy soldiers...and ooh mahjong, the game to end all games. The only one even remotely interesting is hydro thunder, in which case they ought to call it Retro instead of Metro.
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Click to collapse
Oh, so a game is only good if it has AAA backing?
Konstantinos said:
You could had taken ownership of the WindowsApps folder and delete it, that's what I did.
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Click to collapse
I tried that, even used some command line stuff that break all file locks and ensure that the current user has full control over the files. It would let you delete them, even go through and say it deleted them, but when you look in the directory again, they are still there.
link68759 said:
Oh, so a game is only good if it has AAA backing?
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Click to collapse
No. My current favorites are both indie titles, and are not AAA. Those being Natural-Selection 2, and League of Legends.
For Google Chrome, there are MORE and BETTER games than in the Windows store, and to a lesser extent, Firefox as well. Yep, web browsers have better games than the Windows store.
Every single game in the windows store is either old or just plain crap. I played Angry Birds on a CELL PHONE over a YEAR ago. These are all casual games, not games that you sit down for a marathon session to play. If the windows store is your idea of a good place to get games, then I dare you to go to your friends and say "Hey guys, let's all go to my house and play some reversi and then some tick tack toe!" and see what kind of reaction you get. Or how about one better, ask them to bring their PC's over for a windows 8 lan party, I'm sure they'll get right on that one.
The two games I listed above are legit desktop titles. Windows 8 games are not. In fact, as I've said numerous times, there isn't a single windows store app that does anything that isn't already done better in a browser.
So I'm doing the ol' nuclear option of a reformat for the windows 8.1 update, and I just updated OP to include some new info I found (Maybe common knowledge at this point after 18 months of futzing around with 8? Who knows, just something I discovered on my own a few minutes ago while tinkering with powershell.)
Really neat and really clean compared to the other way.
I use Embedded edition that doesn't include preinstalled metro apps (only IE, skydrive and photo viewer are included)
441Excelsior said:
I use Embedded edition that doesn't include preinstalled metro apps (only IE, skydrive and photo viewer are included)
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windows embedded is not windows 8...
windows 8.1 Embedded Industry Pro is the same as Windows 8.1 Pro
here is screen of my desktop
441Excelsior said:
I use Embedded edition that doesn't include preinstalled metro apps (only IE, skydrive and photo viewer are included)
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That's effectively what you get when you run the two commands I listed. For whatever reason, skydrive and photo viewer aren't possible to remove. In fact they don't even appear to reside in the WindowsApps folder...I'm not even sure where they reside.
ok but true reason why I use embedded edition is that I got free product key from MS DreamSpark
using MyFiles, saw it in the main file directory.
GROWTH_TEST
was empty, deleted it.
anyone come across this?
Here also but the file is filled with connections blocked log.
raul6 said:
connections blocked log
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interesting! what creates this log? is this system-related or a specific app?
Filled with following:
com.android.volley.NoConnectionError: java.net.ConnectException: Failed to connect to ureca.samsungapps.com
Me too. Info from Growth-Test Log Text.
com.android.volley.NoConnectionError: java.net.UnknownHostException: Unable to resolve host "ureca.samsungapps.com": No address associated with hostnamecom.android.volley.VolleyError: Network Disconnectedcom.android.volley.VolleyError: Network Disconnected
Sounds like it is a host. Could we be hacked? I have had issues since last august!
L .J.629 said:
Me too. Info from Growth-Test Log Text.
com.android.volley.NoConnectionError: java.net.UnknownHostException: Unable to resolve host "ureca.samsungapps.com": No address associated with hostnamecom.android.volley.VolleyError: Network Disconnectedcom.android.volley.VolleyError: Network Disconnected
Sounds like it is a host. Could we be hacked? I have had issues since last august!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's apparent that it is a log file for an app on the phone.
Could your phone be hacked? if you truly were then you wouldn't see a log file. Let alone a log file saying that something couldn't connect to a samsung server.
If in doubt perform a full factory data reset and set the phone back up without using a backup. Do not install anything on the phone other then updates to what was on the phone originally. Use it like this for half a week to a week... if the log fle appears then it's probly from one of the apps on the phone.
Your issues are probably (80-90% likely until you make a proper new thread asking for help) entirely seperate from this.
Chances are either you have outdated firmware/software, hardware failures/problems, expectation/reality matters, or just need to do a factory data reset. If you choose to do the factory data reset then avoid using a backup to restore apps and settings (cuz if the issue was from an app or setting then the issue is most likely included with the backup).
I found some weird things in Hidden Sys apps as well: "Circular ver1.0" five instances of it 0.0B, "Filled" - also 5 instances, "Gestural Navigation Bar" - 10 times, "Rounded" x4 and some other 0.0 B apps., does anyone know what for are they and why they propagate in so many instances? Thanks in advance.
It was really bothering me that I couldn't find solid information on this. I went pretty deep down the rabbit hole this morning. So far, this is what I've found out:
Worth Noting;
-- If you crawl the subdomains for the logged domain samsungapps,com it's related to Samsung Galaxy Apps.
-- ureca subdomain was registered in 2009 (first Galaxy phone release)
-- "Growth" seems to be related to marketing via the Galaxy Store.
-- There seems to be Knox relations as well. I will speculate further down below.
After sorting through a ton of data, as if it couldn't be safely assumed by the domain, the ureca URL is embedded in the Samsung Apps, Theme Store, and Game Launcher, that I've found so far. Take a look at some interesting strings I found in the APKs;
Package Name
com.samsung.android.themestore
Internal Version
520110303
Displayed Version
5.2.01.10303
]https://ureca.samsungapps.com/collect/billing_usage_log
]https://ureca.samsungapps.com/collect/theme_sa_log
]https://cn-ureca.galaxyappstore.com/collect/theme_sa_log
Package Name
com.sec.android.app.samsungapps
Main Activity
com.sec.android.app.samsungapps.SamsungAppsMainActivity
Internal Version
450509140
Displayed Version
4.5.05.9
]https://ureca.samsungapps.com/collect/iap_usage_log
(There are also iap subdomains @ samsungapps too, fwiw)
BUT, I have no idea what devices these are coming off of. Some APKs are varying wildly. Some report spyware, trojans, etc, too. Most by only 1 AV vendor though. If anyone has more time than me, take a look. Not sure if Knox is the "backdoor", the 'diamond' and 'zirconia' subdomains looked interesting. Or if it's a false hit, the Chinese govt, or if the APKs are from a repo and they're malicious. Didn't look into it in the slightest.
VirusTotal
VirusTotal
www.virustotal.com
Or if anyone already discovered exactly the source of the "GROWTH_TEST" folder, please let me know so I don't revisit this. But I'm pretty sure it's Galaxy Store Market related stuff.
FWIW - Me
Galaxy S10+, OEM Unlocked.
June 1st security update. USA
My Growth Test folder contained 2 files,
appsUsageLog.txt: (1 "volley can't resolve ureca.samsungapps.com")
optin_trace.txt: (1 "volley network error")
You're probably over thinking this.
Pretty sure I've seen it before too.
If you're still running on Pie Karma Firewall will let you monitor and block internet connections.
Shows you which apks are busy sucking up bandwidth and battery.
Scan any questionable apks online with Virustotal.
AM Radio said:
using MyFiles, saw it in the main file directory.
GROWTH_TEST
was empty, deleted it.
anyone come across this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any updates to this? I too have the Growth_test folder with appGrowthLog.txt in it.
Edit: in the appGrowthLog.txt file says "com.android.volley.NetworkErrorcom.android.volley.VolleyError: Network Disconnected".