Edge Gone

I deeply hate the way that Microsoft pushed out the new Edge. I do not know why they are so desperate to get me to use Bing and their browser instead of Firefox/Brave and DuckDuckGo, but it is deeply annoying. Admittedly my Win10 system is only there for goofing around with Windows / MS tech, but that's more about looking at Powershell and the Linux Subsystem right now. 

After stupid anti-user old school MS junk like this, my HP laptop is in serious danger of just turning into a Linux system like so many Windows laptops before it have.

MS Pushed out the new Edge browser to the Windows box today. It took over everything. Tried to force me to set it up and take over. It did not want to be killed until it was done Borging the box.

I finally got it dead and started searching for how to get it off my system.

MS says to do it this way:

Press WIN+R to open Run then type: C:\Windows\SystemApps

Find Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder.

Right-click the Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder and click Rename.

Rename the folder Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.old and click Continue.

(page here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/how-do-i-remove-microsoft-edge-from-windows-10/860cd7b9-f903-4386-a71a-84f94a110c46)

Did not work at all. 

So I tried this:

1. Open a new browser window in Microsoft Edge and paste the following into the address bar to find the Edge version number: edge://settings/help

2. Cut and paste the following address: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\[version number]\Installer in File Explorer.

3. Open command prompt window within the folder and paste the following command: setup.exe –uninstall –system-level –verbose-logging –force-uninstall

4. The “new” Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) is now removed from Windows 10

(from here: https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/how-to-completely-uninstall-microsoft-edge-on-windows-10 )

Did not work either. Said it had no idea what 'setup.exe' even was. This may be because I was running inside Powershell as Admin, but the instructions were not specific as to shell.

The stuff here probably would have worked:

https://www.wintips.org/how-to-completely-remove-edge-browser-from-windows-10/

But it's a lot of steps. I kept looking.

https://windowsland.com/uninstall-microsoft-edge-windows/

Looked easy. Did not work. Said that Edge was a part of Windows that could not be removed (assume this worked when Edge was voluntary but now it was force installed)

Then: this: https://techrapidly.com/disable-remove-microsoft-edge-windows-10-uninstall-edge/

Update: I caught a sale on Windows Professional and installed it in a VM on my Mac under Parallels. It runs well, but this trick does not remove Edge there, and it's back to being unbearably annoying!

Edge is a fine browser that works well. I will never use it because of these tactics.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-remove-microsoft-edge-windows-10

The above link DID work. Edge is once again gone. Well: Reverted to the legacy edge, which is less whiney about not being used for things.

I wanted it GONE. So I followed the instructions there and :

TAKEOWN /F C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEMAPPS\MICROSOFT.MICROSOFTEDGE_8WEKYB3D8BBWE

That command made my Admin level account own the directory. Bwahaha! 

Then:

icacls C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe /gr

That command displays or modifies discretionary access control lists (DACLs) on specified files, and applies stored DACLs to files in specified directories. The '/gr' switch means 'grant me the user access rights' Bwahaha again!

Then I cd'ed to the above, and RM'ed everything. I'm in Powershell so Unix like commands work.

After that, I rebooted and deleted the Icon cruft MS left laying on my taskbar, desktop, and start menu.

Next, I looked at Cortana's search (Cortana is off already: This was just the command line search it leaves behind), which is littered with garbage. MS left no easy way to clean that up that I can find, so I deleted it from the taskbar, and installed a tool called 'Everything'. It has a taskbar launch option, so I can still search the PC easily, and if I want to look at the Interwebs, fire up Brave or Firefox and use DuckDuckGo.

It's not gone. Like any Android or Apple phone, you have to move the cruft out of the way that 'they' do not want you to be able to delete. I personally used to Jailbreak / Root every phone I had, but that game got old (as they meant for it to) so now I just create cruft folders for their corporate junk and shove it all there (Apple) or disable it (Android, but that doesn't work for some things like Bixby. At least they aren't on a Desktop anyplace.)

I might not have gone to all this trouble if MS had not pissed me off so hard with their tactics. Edge is OK. I have it on my Mac, and it works. I use Brave and Firefox there too though, so it's just for technical curiosity. 

The only MS application I personally use is OneNote. Its been dumbed down lately: The 2016 version that came with Office was better, but it's still nice for free form note-taking.