This is guide made for Windows 8, but can be used with any version of Windows. The options might just vary a little.
**This guide is meant to provide a way to improve performance on your computer. This is in no way, shape, or form, a fool-proof method (although i tried to make it fool-proof). I will not be responsible for any damage done to your computer by using any of these tools in this thread.**
This guide will show you ways that I have found to optimize windows to get the most you can out of any computer. Some of these tools come with windows, while others I will provide links for your convenience.
To make some of this easier, i have created a '.bat' script for your use.
HDD – Hard Drive
Free up space: Using Windows Tools
This first tool comes with windows. It is the disk cleaner.
The easiest way to find this tool is to go to the start page and type in: “cleanmgr.exe” and click on that.
This takes a little while to sort through your hard drive. Here are the categories that I recommend cleaning:
Code:
[LIST]
[*]Downloaded Program Files
[*]Temporary Internet Files
[*]Recycle Bin
[*]System error memory dump files
[*]Temporary files
[*]Thumbnails
[*]Any of the user error reporting categories if you want
[/LIST]
There is the option to clean system files, which requires administrator privileges. Here are the additional categories that I recommend you clean:
Code:
[LIST]
[*]Previous Windows Installation(s)
[*]Windows Update cleanup
[/LIST]
Depending on how much data is going to be erased, this may take awhile. This tool also tends to use a lot of CPU
Free up space: Using CCleaner
This second tool is not part of windows, but is simple and easy to use. It is called CCleaner. This is a program that has a lot of options that are explained in the different sections (Registry)
- Link: CCleaner
For this category, you will be using the cleaner section which is opened by default when you open the program.
Everything that is checked, I recommend keeping checked. You may choose whatever you want though.
1st click analyze and let it sort through your HDD
It may pause and ask you if you want to force close Chrome or any other conflicting program. Go ahead and let it force close them.
2nd look at what it is going to remove a second time and make sure it’s all stuff that you don’t care about. After that, you may click clean.
There is a third tool that is under the “tools” section in CCleaner. It is the driver wiper.
When you go to this section, you will only wipe the free space on your HDD.
The 35 passes option is a little overkill. Feel free to choose what ever option you want though.
If you have an SSD, DO NOT do the 35 passes. this will only shorten the SSD's life. See more info regarding this in post #4
This could take many hours to complete so make sure you have time.
This also may not give you a whole lot of space, but it should give you some.
Make your disk load files faster:
The major thing that many people recommend to do often, is to defragment the HDD. For people with SSD's, this is not needed
This program is found by going to the start menu and typing in “defrag” in the settings section.
When this opens, click on your HDD, and then click on analyze. It will then scan your HDD and tell you the amount of your HDD is fragmented.
You then click on optimize and this process will take a while as it does about 13 passes over the HDD
Registry
*For this procedure, you will be using CCleaner again. For those who skipped the HDD section, link for this program is in that section.*
In CCleaner, click and on the registry section and then click: “scan for issues”
After it scans, you can take a look at what it has found before it removes them. You can also choose what to delete.
Click fix issues, and this is when it will ask to backup the registry. I HIGHLY recommend doing this.
It will then ask you one by one what you want to do with each entry. You also have the option to fix all issues with one click
Uninstalling programs
For uninstalling programs, the windows uninstaller does not do it for me. I use revo uninstaller
- Link: Revo Uninstaller
This program is pretty self-explanatory but it does more than just uninstalling the program. After the program is uninstalled revo will scan your HDD and your registry to find anything that it believes it left over from the program.
BEWARE: make sure you choose wisely what you delete. Revo does make a system restore point before it uninstalls the program, but this is not a fool-proof method.
**On windows 8, there is a small bug, as far as I know, that when scanning all of this, it will use a decent amount of your CPU.**
*If any of you have ideas on how I can make this guide better whether it is by adding methods, or just clarifying some of these directions as this is the first time that I have written a reference guide like this. Any help is greatly appreciated. :fingers-crossed:
Thanks:
Microsoft: for Windows
Piriform: for CCleaner
VSRevo Group: for Revo Uninstaller
BillP Studios: for WinPatrol (Next post)
GoodDayToDie: for giving some major tips.
Awidawad: letting me use his code as a guide
Tips:
GoodDayToDie: Post #4
SixSixSevenSeven: Post #5
Tips on how to make your computer start-up faster.
Programs start-up
Using task manager
In task manager, there are a ton of options that can be used to help performance. This is especially true with the new task manager that
Microsoft has pushed out with Windows 8.
For the majority of people, when you open up task manager, it will look like this:
To get the full format of task manager, which you will need for this process, you will need to click on the button at the bottom that says: “More Details” and it will open the full version of task manager.
Now to disable start-up programs:
At the top where all the tabs are, click on the “Start-up” tab and you should see something like this:
Now all you have to do is click on the process that you do not want starting with your computer, and click the “Disable” button. Here are some processes that I recommend but you can choose whatever you want.
Code:
[LIST]
[*]Adobe CS6 Service Manager
[*] Apple Push
[*] Bing Desktop Application
[*] Evernote Clipper
[*] Hamachi Client Application
[*] iTunesHelper
[*] KiesPDLR
[*]Logitech Download Assistant
[*]Quicktime Task
This is only what I have disabled. You may disable whatever you want because there are no system tasks that are there to disable.
**That does not meant that you can disable whatever you want because that might cause some programs to not work**
[*]Using WinPatrol
[/LIST]
This program does more than just control start-up programs. This section is only going to talk about the start-up section.
This section of the program, in essence, is a more advanced program to deal with start-up programs.
- Link: WinPatrol
After you install WinPatrol, go to the "Startup Programs" section. It should look like this:
Run through the list of programs and find ones you want to disable. My list of recommended programs is listed under the task manager section.
NOTE: If you do not know if what you are going to disable is going to effect any of your programs, then I would recommend using the "Disable" button. If you KNOW that it WON'T effect any program, then feel free to hit the "remove" button
This program does not only take care of start-up programs. There are many other features such as Active taks and IE Helpers that i will not be covering in this thread. I do however, recommend that you look at them.
Services:
Using Service Manager:
This is going to show you how to use the service manager that is built into Windows to disable some services form starting automatically with your computer. For this, you will not be disabling any services completely, but rather just have them set to manual which will allow them to run when needed.
Start by opening the start page and typing "services" into the settings section. you should end up with a screen that looks like this:
Click on "View Local Services"
Right-click on a service such as "Apple Mobile Device", click properties, and change the startup type from Auto, to Manual.
Choose other services and do the same.
WARNING: I highly advise you NOT to disable any system services as this could cause problems. I am at no fault for what you disable.
Tips from users:
GoodDayToDie said:
tip of my own: there's a bunch of Windows Services which are enabled by default because *somebody* might need them, but which are really unnecessary on most computers. Some good examples include the Bluetooth service (if you don't have or don't use Bluetooth), Encrypting File System (if you don't use EFS), Print Spooler (if you never print), and so on. These can be disabled from the Services management console (services.msc, or find Services using the Start search). I actually recommend just turning them from "Automatic" down to "Manual"; this way, if you ever do want to use such a thing, it's possible that it will still work when you try to invoke it. As with other tweaks, do bear in mind what you've changed and watch for any potential system problems; if you're unsure, either revert the change or don't make it in the first place. Changing certain system services will make the system nigh-unusable. Also, be aware that changing many of these services really won't help much; it might shave fractions of a second each off of the bootup time of the system and/or save a few megs of RAM, but an idle service really isn't that big a threat to system performance if it's not coded completely horribly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SixSixSevenSeven said:
In almost a year on win7 I never had to manually invoke defrag, whenever I went to and analysed the disk it was only ever 1%, on the 80gb hard disk I had at the time its an insignificant amount of dragged data and I ignored it. I got windows 8 in November and so far it still says 0%.
I would recommend at least checking the values though, especially for external drives (my one hit 20%, think it was unplugged during windows scheduled defrags)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the_scotsman said:
Windows 8 knows if an SSD is being used. If it sees one, it won't allow you to "defrag". it will still allow you to "optimise" the drive. What this does is to manage TRIM to help clean the drives.
Look up TRIM if you want to know more. But do not disable the scheduled "optimisation" of an SSD drive as it's not a defrag, it does other things.
More info here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/Windows-8-on-Solid-State-Drive.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One last one just in case
also if this is in the wrong section, can someone please let me know. Thanks :good:
this guide is also a work-in-progress and no where near complete. again, feel free to offer whatever advice you have
A couple things to point out here, quickly:
* Don't try to do a massive overwrite a la CCleaner if you have a SSD. It will do nothing except use up a small portion of the disk's lifetime. SSD logical sectors are dynamically mapped to physical NAND blocks by a wear-leveling algorithm; overwriting the same address on the "disk" 35 times probably just means burning one write operation (out of tens or hundreds of thousand each, mind you) on 35 different chunks of NAND memory. Trying to read the "erased" data back in after even a single overwrite is quite futile, though.
* Manual defragmentation shouldn't be necessary on Win7 or later, unless somebody has disabled or otherwise tampered with the automatically scheduled task that runs it in the background. If you never leave the computer on except when it's in active use, though, it might be necessary. Also, SSDs don't benefit from defragmentation in any meaningful way - the speed boost is completely trivial given the lack of seek times, but again it burns a bit of NAND lifetime - although Windows should be smart enough to figure this out on its own.
A tip of my own: there's a bunch of Windows Services which are enabled by default because *somebody* might need them, but which are really unnecessary on most computers. Some good examples include the Bluetooth service (if you don't have or don't use Bluetooth), Encrypting File System (if you don't use EFS), Print Spooler (if you never print), and so on. These can be disabled from the Services management console (services.msc, or find Services using the Start search). I actually recommend just turning them from "Automatic" down to "Manual"; this way, if you ever do want to use such a thing, it's possible that it will still work when you try to invoke it. As with other tweaks, do bear in mind what you've changed and watch for any potential system problems; if you're unsure, either revert the change or don't make it in the first place. Changing certain system services will make the system nigh-unusable. Also, be aware that changing many of these services really won't help much; it might shave fractions of a second each off of the bootup time of the system and/or save a few megs of RAM, but an idle service really isn't that big a threat to system performance if it's not coded completely horribly.
+1 on defrag. In almost a year on win7 I never had to manually invoke defrag, whenever I went to and analysed the disk it was only ever 1%, on the 80gb hard disk I had at the time its an insignificant amount of dragged data and I ignored it. I got windows 8 in November and so far it still says 0%.
I would recommend at least checking the values though, especially for external drives (my one hit 20%, think it was unplugged during windows scheduled defrags)
A note on freeing up space (which is a good idea!):
goldflame09 said:
I recommend that you use the “very complex overwrite "35 passes" option.
If you have an SSD, DO NOT do the 35 passes. this will only shorten the SSD's life. See more info regarding this in post #4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
35 passes is also overkill on hard disks. Most government standards only require 1-3 passes. Just one pass is sufficient to prevent data recovery via software - there are probably only a handful of labs in the world which can recover data after this (by removing the platters from the drive and reading the bits off).
You also don't need to do this at all if you use bitlocker or truecrypt to encrypt the drive.
Updated: added service management to second post
Windows 8 knows if an SSD is being used. If it sees one, it won't allow you to "defrag". it will still allow you to "optimise" the drive. What this does is to manage TRIM to help clean the drives.
Look up TRIM if you want to know more. But do not disable the scheduled "optimisation" of an SSD drive as it's not a defrag, it does other things.
More info here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/Windows-8-on-Solid-State-Drive.html
the_scotsman said:
Windows 8 knows if an SSD is being used. If it sees one, it won't allow you to "defrag". it will still allow you to "optimise" the drive. What this does is to manage TRIM to help clean the drives.
Look up TRIM if you want to know more. But do not disable the scheduled "optimisation" of an SSD drive as it's not a defrag, it does other things.
More info here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/Windows-8-on-Solid-State-Drive.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Added to tips from users section
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
Updated: Added '.bat' script to make this as easy as possible for all of you
will be adding description soon for extras that i have included
Related
Hi,
I've written a little finger-friendly app (rather a script) to perform a soft reset on the HD or power off the device
Background:
A similar app does already exist here in the forum, but it is rather slow. Therefor I've written a little script which does the same. Its advantage is that it's much faster, disadvantage is that it doesn't look that pretty and doesn't have a graphical UI.
The Program:
... is a little MortScript, which gives you the choice to
- perform a soft reset,
- power off the device,
- cancel the operation.
In addition, you have an option to get warning dialogs for the operations or directly perform the desired operation.
How to install / use:
1.) First you have to install MortScript (a nice functional FREEWARE script language), which is available as installer or cab file here.
2.) Copy the attached file 'HD_Power_Manager_v_1_0.mscr.zip' on your desktop and remove the '.zip' file extension (It's actually NOT a zip file, I've just renamed it for uploding purposes)
3.) Copy the 'HD_Power_Manager_v_1_0.mscr' file anywhere to your device.
4.) To choose whether you want to get warning dialogs, open the file with a text editor and change the first program line:
WD=0 --> Warning Dialogs off
WD=1 --> Warning Dialogs on (default)
Save and make sure that the file extension is still 'mscr'
5.) Run the script on your device. You can initiate the action either by choosing and pressing 'ok' or by double-clicking
6.) enjoy & give feedback
Regards Jan
Any comments on that from people who tried it? does it work like it should? do you think it's useful or rather useless?
regards jan
Hey, this looks nice. I gave up on the other app, because it was too slow for my needs, so if this is fast as you say, that is surely a big plus.
I don't care about graphic UI when I'm going to reset the device anyway
I was just wondering if you know will this work on new Manilla (Dutty ROM series)?
Rozenthal said:
...
I was just wondering if you know will this work on new Manilla (Dutty ROM series)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say that for sure as I use the origial o2 stock rom (GER), but I think it should work without problems...
As the program which is rather "only" a little script uses common system commands, I think it should work. For soft reset it uses the "Reset" command from MortScript, and for Shut Down (Power Off) the "PowerOffWarning.exe" from the windows directory, which should still be present in the Dutty Rom, i think.
Just give it a try.. Only "real" system installation is MortScript (which is really small and useful anyway and removable without problems), while my little app ist only a script which doesn't change any registry settings at all and is just copied and executed on the device... so no danger from that...
regards jan
If anyone's interested, I've made a replacement for PowerOffWarning.exe (which goes with my VJPoOf suite of apps) that will instantly switch off the phone. No shut down anims and things. It's rather frightening, and probably screwing the phone up something rotten, but it should be fine as it works in the same way HTC shuts down the phone, without all the anims etc, so it should be fine...
V
vijay555 said:
If anyone's interested, I've made a replacement for PowerOffWarning.exe (which goes with my VJPoOf suite of apps) that will instantly switch off the phone. No shut down anims and things. It's rather frightening, and probably screwing the phone up something rotten, but it should be fine as it works in the same way HTC shuts down the phone, without all the anims etc, so it should be fine...
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you'd be so kind to post that replacement file here? (or give the link)? I could try and incorporate it into the script. For the moment the script performs a "workaround" of the warning dialog from the original "poweroffwarning.exe" by automatically sending the "yes" command...
regards jan
VJF-Off
Here you go, the very subtly named, VJFastOff.
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/releases/vjpoof/vjfastoff.exe
It will instantly shut the phone off.
Please note that it's instant, and there are no warnings etc whatsoever, so make you're you've finished doing what you're doing before launching it.
Feel free to use it in your package, but please give it a credit back to my website if possible.
V
vijay555 said:
Here you go, the very subtly named, VJFastOff.
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/releases/vjpoof/vjfastoff.exe
It will instantly shut the phone off.
Please note that it's instant, and there are no warnings etc whatsoever, so make you're you've finished doing what you're doing before launching it.
Feel free to use it in your package, but please give it a credit back to my website if possible.
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for supplying, vijay.
Depending on the interest in my script by other people i'm going to incorporate your file in a later public version... first i need some feedback concerning the present version... until then, I'll test your file my own...
regards jan
vijay555 said:
Here you go, the very subtly named, VJFastOff.
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/releases/vjpoof/vjfastoff.exe
It will instantly shut the phone off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks vijay, do tou mind if I include it with my 18 buttons action screen?
Feel free to include it with anything you want, so long as you are not charging for it. I'd be pleased if you drop me a credit, but I won't break your legs if you don't.
BTW, VJF-Off was developed as part of my VJPoOf suite of apps, where I had it assigned to a long press of the power key, to skip the shutdown anims.
If you are leaving feedback for VJFastOff, please leave it in the VJPoOf thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=476412
Further btw, my old app VJEschaton can be used to soft reset, shutdown, hard reset and a few other things as well.
V
Hello,
The phone's RAM and other storage places (as memory card) can be defragmented witch This program. I've tried it, but it stucks on gwes.exe The phone is simply crashed, every time I try to defragment the RAM. on this file. I need to open the phone and do a soft-reset.
Any solutions for this one?
I don't think that you need to defrag your phone device
It's a scam, defragmenting is not required, nor effective, on flash storage. The idea behind defragging is to minimize the distance the read/write head on a mechanical drive needs to go, thus making the drive perform better.
If you actually want the device's performance increased, search for Advanced Config and Cleanram, and apply the recommended memory tweaks.
Dave
DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
It's a scam, defragmenting is not required, nor effective, on flash storage. The idea behind defragging is to minimize the distance the read/write head on a mechanical drive needs to go, thus making the drive perform better.
If you actually want the device's performance increased, search for Advanced Config and Cleanram, and apply the recommended memory tweaks.
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too True! Same theory applies to a desktop OS. If Windows 7 detects that it is installed on a flash device, it disables defrag.
DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
It's a scam, defragmenting is not required, nor effective, on flash storage. The idea behind defragging is to minimize the distance the read/write head on a mechanical drive needs to go, thus making the drive perform better.
If you actually want the device's performance increased, search for Advanced Config and Cleanram, and apply the recommended memory tweaks.
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks That worked like a charm. But, where I can find the recommend memory tweaks for Advanced Config Tool? Can't find it myself, so if someone can provide a link I'm happy
Edit: Another question. IS there any oftware for updating album arts automatically? I have many tracks, but none of them has a cover...
DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
It's a scam, defragmenting is not required, nor effective, on flash storage. The idea behind defragging is to minimize the distance the read/write head on a mechanical drive needs to go, thus making the drive perform better.
If you actually want the device's performance increased, search for Advanced Config and Cleanram, and apply the recommended memory tweaks.
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wrong for the micro SD...
The memory is different to disk, so there is (almost) no seek time. However, when two bits are on the same memory 'line' it is sometimes slower to retrieve both of them than when they're on two different lines. So, defragging can change the access time. (But it will not get significantly better as when used on hard disks)
This is my first app for WinCE so please be nice!
Rant
It seems I'm part of a minority of users who understand that mobile devices and PDA's are not designed to run multiple apps at once. You can, but anyone with a decent sense of quality will agree that it's a rubbish experience once you get under 50% free memory. In fact the iPhone by default design doesn't let you multi-task apps (jailbreak changes this) which may be one of the reasons peeps think its a faster device. I say I'm part of a minority because most apps around are coded so that when you hit the 'x' close button they minimize instead of close (even by holding x). Also Windows has no inbuilt mechanisms for keeping your apps closed, and none of the roms I've tried (cooked or otherwise) seem to have these types of tools included.
Disclaimer
Firstly I hope I haven't reinvented the wheel or stolen anyone else's idea. I didn't research for months but didn't find anything like this around so apologize in advance if I upset anyone. Also I provide this tool "as-is" in BETA form - so it could damage your device - so use at your own risk.
Kill****?! What is it?
It is a simple app that kills running processes.
Why would I want it - what's wrong with Task Manager?
A common example is you open up Calc to do divide a dinner bill, lookup how to get home in Google maps, send an SMS to a friend and hit Home key. Then you wonder why the thing is running like a dog. You open task manager and notice you have these 3 freakin apps are open still and taking up your memory. So you're expected to open Task Manager after every time you're finished with an app?...no I dont think so..because you've got Kill****! You manage an exemption file, assign the app to one of your softkeys (or events) and it will quickly, quietly kill all other **** running for you.
How Does It Work?
It stores a text file on disk with names of processes that you wish to exempt. You can manage this via the included config tool. When you run the app (which is a console app) it just kills every running process other than the ones on your exclude list. The exclusion file is stored in your default MyDocuments folder and is called something like "NoofnyKill****.settings". Real simple.
What Do I Need To Run It?
Microsoft Windows Mobile (4 and above)
Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5
How Do I Install It?
Simply run the attached CAB and everything is installed for you. 2 icons are added to your Start Menu (the config tool and the console app itself). The app is installed in the default Programs folder.
How Do I Use It?
If the exceptions file does not exist it will be created new and will contain all of the running process at the time the app ran.
The best instructions are;
1) Have your device in your preferred state with only your basic apps running.
2) Open the config tool from the start menu (Kill**** Config).
3) All of the running processes will list with a check next to them (which 4) means they will be exempted).
4) Click Menu -> Save Exceptions and close the config tool.
5) Assign the console app (KilL****.exe) to one of your softkeys or other buttons using your favorite tweak tool.
What Else Do I Need To Know?
I am not responsible for anything negative or positive this app will do to you, your device or life. Use at your own risk. I have not tested this app well and can only guarantee that I have fundamentally screwed something up. If anyone does use it and wants help I will do my best but try to help by giving as much detailed info as possible when reporting any bugs. I'm open to suggestions and are planning to put the source code up here if anyone shows interest.
That's about it - hope it makes someone's life a little brighter.
Hi!
This looks interesting. Is there anyway to cook this into a ROM properly? I dont like to have users make a file in their my documents folder.
Cheers
Epiphany
EpiphanyNL said:
Is there anyway to cook this into a ROM properly? I dont like to have users make a file in their my documents folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks...i can have the file live anywhere really, I just chose MyDocuments cause its easy and accessible. It's easy to even have them define in the config tool where they want to save the settings. I'm new to mobile dev and the whole rom cooking thing, so could you expand about what would be needed to cook this app into a rom?
actually after giving it more thought it would be more practical to store this in the registry. I chose to use a text file at first because I was not going to bother have a config app and you could modify it using notepad or something.
In registry would be the most preferred method yes.
Just found a huge and very annoying bug in WP7 BackgroundTransferService (it's a task for background file transfers, downloads or uploads).
If you create and add BackgroundTransferRequest, but cancel and dispose it shortly, during download process (i.e. download not finished yet), or even uninstall application (sic!), the OS does NOT release the reserved space (equal of the total file size, doesn't really matter how much data you've already downloaded!) The only way to avoid that problem is to wait until transfer completion. But if your app will be uninstalled during non-completed transfer, you're (i.e. user) out of luck
I did some investigation with interop-unlocked phone. Actual files are stored in \My Documents\Zune\PimentoCache\Lib\<numberic subfolders>; on interop-unlocked phone you may easily delete unwanted "space eaters" (in my case, files are .mp4 video files with real huge sizes, from 250 to 800 MB) but on regular dev-unlocked device you have no choice than do a hard reset - as I supposed to do with my Lumia 900
So, my note to WP7 developers: use these "BuggyTransferService" with care, you can easy damage the user's phone. I believe that bug is the main source of some rare complains about "I've magically lost phone storage free space". And shame on Microsoft to ruin the perfect "sandbox" concept by buggy and untested API!
P.S. As for me (personally) the most annoying thing is: because of "super-duper-STUPID" protection, I can't cleanup my Lumia 900 (and MS didn't provide any tool for that!) and should (damn!) do a hard reset, and reinstall whole stuff For the first time I start thinking, I've chosen a wrong platform to live and work with...
sensboston said:
Just found a huge and very annoying bug in WP7 BackgroundTransferService (it's a task for background file transfers, downloads or uploads).
If you create and add BackgroundTransferRequest, but cancel and dispose it shortly, during download process (i.e. download not finished yet), or even uninstall application (sic!), the OS does NOT release the reserved space (equal of the total file size, doesn't really matter how much data you've already downloaded!) The only way to avoid that problem is to wait until transfer completion. But if your app will be uninstalled during non-completed transfer, you're (i.e. user) out of luck
I did some investigation with interop-unlocked phone. Actual files are stored in \My Documents\Zune\PimentoCache\Lib\<numberic subfolders>; on interop-unlocked phone you may easily delete unwanted "space eaters" (in my case, files are .mp4 video files with real huge sizes, from 250 to 800 MB) but on regular dev-unlocked device you have no choice than do a hard reset - as I supposed to do with my Lumia 900
So, my note to WP7 developers: use these "BuggyTransferService" with care, you can easy damage the user's phone. I believe that bug is the main source of some rare complains about "I've magically lost phone storage free space". And shame on Microsoft to ruin the perfect "sandbox" concept by buggy and untested API!
P.S. As for me (personally) the most annoying thing is: because of "super-duper-STUPID" protection, I can't cleanup my Lumia 900 (and MS didn't provide any tool for that!) and should (damn!) do a hard reset, and reinstall whole stuff For the first time I start thinking, I've chosen a wrong platform to live and work with...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm what about subsequent reboots? I know that I've done what you've just stated above multiple times in testing BGTransferService, yet I see no files within those multiple folders. Maybe syncing the phone helps clear the cache? I don't know.
Reboot doesn't help. If you saw many empty folders, it means your transfers successfully completed and downloaded files are in your app's isf (it's a normal situation).
Try to:
- start a few transfers (AFAIR limit is 2 simultaneous transfers)
- remove and dispose transfers
Code:
BackgroundTransferService.Remove(transferToRemove);
transferToRemove.Dispose();
or just uninstall app.
You'll see "lost" files in these folders. Try to download huge files (like in my case - video recordings) to be sure they will not complete soon.
sensboston said:
Reboot doesn't help. If you saw many empty folders, it means your transfers successfully completed and downloaded files are in your app's isf (it's a normal situation).
Try to:
- start a few transfers (AFAIR limit is 2 simultaneous transfers)
- remove and dispose transfers
Code:
BackgroundTransferService.Remove(transferToRemove);
transferToRemove.Dispose();
or just uninstall app.
You'll see "lost" files in these folders. Try to download huge files (like in my case - video recordings) to be sure they will not complete soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh so basically you have that switch enabled that allows you to download over 10 MB (or whatever that limit is). That may be the issue then with that switch and the API.
Of course I do (transferRequest.TransferPreferences = TransferPreferences.None; ) but it's a default value. Actually Background Transfers API is very useful for the large files: you shouldn't care about power loss/battery drain/connectivity loss - the whole idea is a brilliant (and I like it). But implementation is kinda buggy And MS-side support is awful. The official from MS just confirmed what "bug is well known and will be fixed" but that's all - I did a damn hard reset and spent lot of time to reinstall stuff (also lost my game progress/sms/etc. and so on 'cause MS+NOKIA are really care not for bugs but for "protection") At least they may send me a provisioning file packed in .cab, to clean-up the mess. But... seems it sounds like a "project" for MS
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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