Microsoft allowing the removal of VBScript from Windows 11 Beta builds

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Lakados

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VBScript has long been a part of Windows and bad people know it, it gets exploited a lot while currently used for very little.
Microsoft is toying with the idea of letting users remove it from the OS, hopefully, that means one day soon it is absent by default and something you have to choose to install.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com...5309-allows-for-uninstallation-of/m-p/3759739

Additionally the new build is really pushing WinUI 3, which if you haven't looked into you should it's pretty cool if that is the sort of stuff you are into.
https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/blob/main/docs/roadmap.md
 
Wow. Imagine that.

They are letting people remove something from their own computers.

Imagine that. How kind of them... 🙄

Wake me when I can physically remove Cortana, the Windows Store or Edge and other forced bloatware from my machine. Not just hide them so they get auto-installed whenever you create a new account.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
Wow. Imagine that.

They are letting people remove something from their own computers.

How kind of them... 🙄

Wake me when I can physically remove Cortana, the Windows Store or Edge and other forced bloatware from my machine. Not just hide them so they get auto-installed whenever you create a new account.
Click to expand...
Edge removal:
Step 1: launch edge and get the version number from edge://settings/help
Step 2: Navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\{Version.Number}\Installer in File Explorer." where version number is the one you got from Step 1
Step 3: From the elevated command in that folder path from Step 2, "Setup.exe --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging --force-uninstall"
DO NOT remove Microsoft Edge WebView2, it breaks widgets and a bunch of other things that will render the system non-bootable, as it is part of WinUI 2.

Cortana removal:
Step 1: Disable Cortana in Task Manager
Step 2: Find Cortana under All Apps, right-click and open App Settings, Turn off "Runs at log-in"
Step 3: Open Powershell as Administrator
Step 4: run the following "Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage"

Cortana for Windows 11 is different as that is an opt-in service and isn't active or possibly even installed unless you agree to it in the OOBE ahead of time.
 
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Good riddence. I used vbscript exactly one about 10 years ago for a few lines of scripting logic that couldn't be done in a batch file. If I had to do the same thing today I'd probably use powershell.
 
DanNeely said:
Good riddence. I used vbscript exactly one about 10 years ago for a few lines of scripting logic that couldn't be done in a batch file. If I had to do the same thing today I'd probably use powershell.
Click to expand...
It's needed for some legacy stuff but now it's primarily how bad stuff happens to unsuspecting people.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Wake me when I can physically remove Cortana, the Windows Store or Edge and other forced bloatware from my machine. Not just hide them so they get auto-installed whenever you create a new account.
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This is the way: https://msmgtoolkit.in/

Only way to run W11 with the least amount of telemetry and bloat is rip it out by the roots from the installation files.
 
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DPI said:
This is the way: https://msmgtoolkit.in/

Don't make the mistake of getting sucked in to bad faith circular arguments with people that insist "just disable that stuff - same thing" - sooner or later you'll magically find the disabled shit reeanbled, maybe after a minor KB update if not larger update.

Only way to run W11 with the least amount of telemetry and bloat is rip it out by the roots from the installation files.
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Interesting. I was not familliar with this.

Can it be done on non-Enterprise/Education versions of the OS?

Does it require a clean install?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Interesting. I was not familliar with this.

Can it be done on non-Enterprise/Education versions of the OS?

Does it require a clean install?
Click to expand...

Uhhh… I wouldn’t touch that even from within a Windows VM running on an air gapped host lol:

Due to recent takedown of Toolkit's primary Mega account, all the Toolkit Pack contents has been lost.
So, from now on only Toolkit's custom packs will be available, the rest of pack files the user needs to get themselves and copy them to the respective packs folders as specified by the Toolkit error messages.
Click to expand...
 
schoolslave said:
Uhhh… I wouldn’t touch that even from within a Windows VM running on an air gapped host lol:
Click to expand...

Ugh, yeah. I would have read up on it before using it - of course - and this seems really sketchy.

Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem.
 
Darn, I use a VBS file to get around automatic timeouts when working on customer systems (mine is the classic hit numlock twice every 6 seconds). Some customers have insanely short timeouts, escort tends to wander off, and I can be hands off the computer for up to an hour at a time. Well, given how most companies upgrade their computers, especially lab instrument computers, this won't be widespread for a long time.
 
Tsumi said:
Darn, I use a VBS file to get around automatic timeouts when working on customer systems (mine is the classic hit numlock twice every 6 seconds). Some customers have insanely short timeouts, escort tends to wander off, and I can be hands off the computer for up to an hour at a time. Well, given how most companies upgrade their computers, especially lab instrument computers, this won't be widespread for a long time.
Click to expand...

You could always do the good old "place optical mouse on top of mechanical clock/watch" trick :p

8je73kmq7hq51.png
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Ugh, yeah. I would have read up on it before using it - of course - and this seems really sketchy.

Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem.
Click to expand...
Its legit, been using MSMG Toolkit for a decade to debloat Windows. It's a freeware, opensource, editable script so it appears on lots of free file hosts. TechSpot and MajorGeeks as well. You bring your own install ISO (download from Microsoft). The OG development thread here: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/msmg-toolkit.50572/

NTlite is another option that performs debloating similarly but costs $40: https://www.ntlite.com/

Chris Titus also has some excellent step-by-step debloats both with MSMG and NTLite.
 
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