News

Windows 10 Anniversary Update Restores Deleted Apps

• By Kurt Mackie
• August 24, 2016

Windows 10 users moving from version 1511 to version 1607, dubbed the "anniversary update," may find applications installed on their systems that they'd previously removed.

Microsoft issued a warning about the flaw in a Tuesday blog post. IT pros maintaining corporate computing environments likely put in the effort to get rid of certain apps, such as Candy Crush or Xbox apps, when setting up Windows 10 version 1511 images. Those apps come included with the operating system. However, any such built-in apps that IT pros removed when setting up Windows 10 version 1511 could pop up yet again when version 1607 arrives on end users' desktops, Microsoft warned.

In the blog post, Michael Niehaus, a Microsoft senior product marketing manager for Windows, said that Microsoft is working on a future fix.

The problem occurs regardless of the update management solution used to get Windows 10 version 1607. It happens with Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), Niehaus explained.

Niehaus' announcement offered a couple of workarounds for the problem, depending on the update service an organization uses. The workaround is easier for organizations that downloaded their Windows 10 ISOs from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. They can modify the INSTALL.WIM file to removed individual packaged apps when using SCCM or MDT, he explained.

On the other hand, users of the Windows Update or WSUS update services have it a bit rougher. Niehaus suggested that they should just let the unwanted apps install with Windows 10 version 1607. Next, they should run a script or a batch file that will remove the unwanted apps at boot-up time, before end users starts using them.

Things may be a bit different, though, for users of Windows 10 Professional version 1607, Niehaus noted:

Also remember that some apps aren't in-box but are instead installed from the Windows Store when a user signs on for the first time. See this blog for more details on that, and keep in mind that some of the policies related to this aren't supported in Windows 10 Pro version 1607 and later; see this TechNet article for the specifics.

Microsoft has limited IT pro controls to a certain degree with the Windows 10 Professional edition. They can't turn off tips and tricks notifications, for instance. Microsoft also removed Group Policy controls for blocking Windows Store App access with the Windows 10 Pro edition. IT pros have the greatest controls with the Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 10.