Intrusive Mystery Apps


FrancoDT

FrancoDT

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Windows 11 24H2
Ok, this is kind of weird but today I had three uninvited windows apps install without my permission by changing my start menu configuration. Here's what happened, I decided to change my start menu All Apps setting to the grid view vs the name list view. I had to put in three vivetool codes and reboot and all went smoothly and the new start menu options were enabled. However as I was going through the apps I noticed the following apps install themselves, Dolby Access, the game Hidden Treasures, and the Facebook App. I've never used or even looked at these apps and I quickly removed them using Revo Uninstaller. Just curious why this would occur changing my start menu configuration?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
Update, add Instagram, Microsoft Teams, MS Messenger, Minsweeper, Prime Video, and Google Quick Share to the list of unwanted apps. It seems to place the icons there but as soon as you click them they install and then have to be uninstalled. Never encountered this before.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
You must have enabled hidden Windows features with Vivetool.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home 24H2 26100.3915
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion TP01-2xxx
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 3 5300G
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics 4.00GHZ
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic
    Keyboard
    HP
    Mouse
    wireless Microsoft
    Browser
    FireFox
    Antivirus
    Avira
  • Operating System
    Updated Windows 10 to 11 24H2 26100.3624
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 8100 @3.60 GHz
    Motherboard
    HP 8653 (U3E1)
    Memory
    8.GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel UHD 360 (HP)
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Def
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic
if you click on them and it installs them, they're placeholders. windows 11 does this crap by default during installs. essentially just ads. they're not installed. right click and unpin from start and then look in all apps list. they shouldnt be there
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
Jacee said:
You must have enabled hidden Windows features with Vivetool.
Click to expand...
That I did although I don't blame Vivetool. It was the new menu features that triggered them.
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
dacrone said:
if you click on them and it installs them, they're placeholders. windows 11 does this crap by default during installs. essentially just ads. they're not installed. right click and unpin from start and then look in all apps list. they shouldnt be there
Click to expand...
Here's the thing though, they all appeared in the new all apps list only and some installed, some were just icons but if I right clicked those there was no way to remove and delete the icon. I ended up having to install all of them then go through Revo and manually delete each one. Pretty annoying just to get the new Start menu feature on my Beta build I must say.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
FrancoDT said:
Here's the thing though, they all appeared in the new all apps list only and some installed, some were just icons but if I right clicked those there was no way to remove and delete the icon. I ended up having to install all of them then go through Revo and manually delete each one. Pretty annoying just to get the new Start menu feature on my Beta build I must say.
Click to expand...
good to know. im assuming you invoked this new start menu ui?:
1740268725451.webp
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
wont effect me as i use windhawk to replace my start menu, but thats a good heads up for when i work on other PCs. thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
dacrone said:
wont effect me as i use windhawk to replace my start menu, but thats a good heads up for when i work on other PCs. thanks
Click to expand...
No problem, thought I should mention it here as it's a rather rude surprise to see uninvited apps installing out of the blue lol.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
i'll have to test some stuff. i always disable auto-update of store apps though, so that prevents the installation of random apps. hopefully that isnt bypassed through some bs from Microsoft with the new start ui
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
dacrone said:
i'll have to test some stuff. i always disable auto-update of store apps though, so that prevents the installation of random apps. hopefully that isnt bypassed through some bs from Microsoft with the new start ui
Click to expand...
Hmm, interesting, I leave my existing store apps to auto update I guess as sometimes they do on their own and sometimes when I select get updates. I wouldn't have expected bloatware to install from adding or changing a feature though.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware 18 Area-51
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24-Core)
    Motherboard
    Alienware
    Memory
    64GB DDR5 6400MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and Intel UHD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard, Realtek high-performance Audio chips (ALC3329 & ALC1708))
    Monitor(s) Displays
    300HZ 18-inch QHD 500 nit Comfort View+
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD
    Case
    Magnesium Alloy
    Keyboard
    Cherry MX ultra low profile mechanical keyboard with per key AlienFX RGB lighting
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core) ARM based CPU
    Motherboard
    Microsoft Corp.
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Qualcomm Adreno X1-85
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    120 Hz 13.8-inch 600 nit PixelSense Flow touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    2304x1536
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Anodized Aluminum
    Mouse
    Surface Arc Mouse
    Keyboard
    Mechanical QWERTY, backlit when in use
    Browser
    Vivaldi (prime), Firefox, Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    MS Defender and Malwarebytes Free
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent
DWORD "DisableWindowsConsumerFeatures"
Value 1
(This will also disable Windows Spotlight setting for lockscreen)

OR

Key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager\SilentInstalledAppsEnabled
Value 0
(Needs to be applied for each user)

OR

Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsStore\AutoDownload
Value 2
(This disables auto updates of installed Store Apps)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
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