HP Smart is auto installing on Windows 11 and Windows 10 on non HP-machines

Edwin said:

Run MRT.exe, see if it comes up malicious!

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That's not helpful. That's what people say when they don't have a clue.

The app is not malicious or Microsoft or tech sites would've said it was. Defender would've picked it up too.

Sammy888 said:

Nope. It's an .exe. It's over 285 MB in size and it reinstalled itself (again).

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That's interesting. Here is what my HP laptop shows. I have had HP Smart installed for several years and use it on a regular basis. I also have a HP printer on the network. I think the last update was 11/12/2023.

My W10 system (HP Pavilion desktop) also has HP Smart, but it shows differently. It shows the App size as 279 MB and Data as 489 KB. The last update was 11/13/2023.

Sammy888 said:

Are you using Windows Firewall?

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No... I use the firewall in Bitdefender Internet Security.

I have just had the HP Smart App icon appear on my Windows 11 Laptop, not on the Windows 10 one.

It is just an installer, right click > Uninstall and gone in seconds, no worries.

You do get the usual warnings about making changes to your PC etc if run, and I am using the Windows Firewall.

I have had HP Smart installed on just one machine, Windows 10 as it happens (not that it makes any difference). I have since restored it to a system image from before HP Smart appeared. Checking the Registry I found that SilentInstalledAppsEnabled was turned on in the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager. I have now turned it off.

None of my W11 PC's have got HP Smart installed, but all have this turned off already.



My thanks got to @Spartan for bringing this to my attention.

I disabled Windows Store within Windows Firewall.

Despite uninstalling HP Smart it returns and it's almost 300 MB in size. It's a malicious app that can't be permanently uninstalled.

Helmut said:

I have just had the HP Smart App icon appear on my Windows 11 Laptop, not on the Windows 10 one.

It is just an installer, right click > Uninstall and gone in seconds, no worries.

You do get the usual warnings about making changes to your PC etc if run, and I am using the Windows Firewall.

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Yes. It's worrisome. I suggest you check again if it's installed.

Bree said:

I have had HP Smart installed on just one machine, Windows 10 as it happens (not that it makes any difference). I have since restored it to a system image from before HP Smart appeared. Checking the Registry I found that SilentInstalledAppsEnabled was turned on in the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager. I have now turned it off.

None of my W11 PC's have got HP Smart installed, but all have this turned off already.

View attachment 79793

My thanks got to @Spartan for bringing this to my attention.

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It seems the HP installation bypasses this registry tweak...

Fabler2 said:

HP Smart App Unexpectedly Gets Installed on Windows Devices: even withouth HP products attached

Windows users have reported an unexpected occurrence - the HP Smart app appearing among their installed applications. Interestingly, this phenomenon has transpired even in cases of clean Windows 10/11 installations, and it's not exclusive to users with HP products; Dell and Lenovo users have...

www.guru3d.com

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From one of the comments on the above site, HP Smart App Unexpectedly Gets Installed on Windows Devices: even withouth HP products attached - Comments so not sure if this is really related or not:

A while back, maybe 18 months ago, I had a spate of HP Smart installs I hadn't asked for. I once had an HP printer on this machine, so I figured this was just a trivial glitch, and uninstalled HP Smart. Came back later. Uninstalled. Came back later. Uninstalled. End of story. Haven't seen 'er since.

Almighty1 said:

From one of the comments on the above site, HP Smart App Unexpectedly Gets Installed on Windows Devices: even withouth HP products attached - Comments so not sure if this is really related or not

Click to expand...

I can confirm that this is the case. I got the unwelcome and uninvited HP Smart installed on one of my Windows 10 laptops. I have no HP devices of any sort at all.

It's far more destructive on a Windows 10 machine, for every printer in Control Panel > Devices and Printers it turns all the icons, manufacturer's name, and model into an HP Laserjet M101-M106. This damage remains in place even after uninstalling HP Smart. There was no way I could find to undo it. The only option was to restore a system image from before HP Smart attacked my system.

Before HP Smart.



After HP Smart.



More on this trail of destruction here: