Built-in Appx W8.1

[pim]

Does somebody know how to uninstall system appx integrated with Windows 8.1? I mean:

Checkpoint.VPN
f5.vpn.client
Filemanager
JuniperNetworksJunosPulseVPn
MoCamera
SonicWallMobileconnect
windows.immersivecontrolpanel
winstore

With PowerShell it is not possible (errors are generated).
Best Regards.

[HarryTri]

CCleaner can uninstall Windows Apps (on Windows 8 you can do it in the Start Screen natively -rightclick on an icon and then click uninstall on the bottom line options ribbon, I suppose it must be about the same for Windows 8.1).
windows.immersivecontrolpanel is the Computer Settings down in the charms right ribbon, you shouldn't try to uninstall it.

[NoelC]

It's a fair question.

I figured out how for Win 10 to do it (with modifications to a system SQL database) but I never did go so far as to figure out how to remove all the Apps with Win 8.1 - even though that's the system I use actively.  This is what I have at the moment...

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\TEMP>powershell
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

PS C:\TEMP> Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Select Name

Name
----
CheckPoint.VPN
f5.vpn.client
FileManager
JuniperNetworks.JunosPulseVpn
Microsoft.MoCamera
SonicWALL.MobileConnect
windows.immersivecontrolpanel
winstore

These probably take up space, but otherwise seem benign.  My Win 8.1 system is stable and doesn't try to contact anything online unless initiated by me.

Thanks for the reminder.  I experimented with Remove-AppXPackage but that won't do it without clearing some internal block - pretty much what I saw with Windows 10. 

Spoiler

PS C:\TEMP> Remove-AppXPackage "f5.vpn.client_1.0.0.11_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Remove-AppXPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package f5.vpn.client_1.0.0.11_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\vpnplugins\f5 failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An
administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 829de900-6d65-0008-f55f-bd82656dd201 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 829de900-6d65-0008-f55f-bd82656dd201
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppXPackage "f5.vpn.client_1.0.0.11_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (f5.vpn.client_1...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\TEMP> Remove-AppXPackage "FileManager_6.3.9600.16384_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Remove-AppXPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package FileManager_6.3.9600.16384_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\FileManager failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An
administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 829de900-6d65-0008-0560-bd82656dd201 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 829de900-6d65-0008-0560-bd82656dd201
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppXPackage "FileManager_6.3.9600.16384_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (FileManager_6.3...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\TEMP> Remove-AppXPackage "JuniperNetworks.JunosPulseVpn_1.0.0.206_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Remove-AppXPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package JuniperNetworks.JunosPulseVpn_1.0.0.206_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\vpnplugins\juniper failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a
per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 829de900-6d65-0008-1560-bd82656dd201 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 829de900-6d65-0008-1560-bd82656dd201
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppXPackage "JuniperNetworks.JunosPulseVpn_1.0.0.206_neutral_neutral_cw5n ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (JuniperNetworks...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\TEMP> Remove-AppXPackage "Microsoft.MoCamera_6.3.9600.16384_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Remove-AppXPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package Microsoft.MoCamera_6.3.9600.16384_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\Camera failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An
administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 829de900-6d65-0008-2560-bd82656dd201 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 829de900-6d65-0008-2560-bd82656dd201
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppXPackage "Microsoft.MoCamera_6.3.9600.16384_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txy ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (Microsoft.MoCam...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\TEMP> Remove-AppXPackage "SonicWALL.MobileConnect_1.0.0.8_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Remove-AppXPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package SonicWALL.MobileConnect_1.0.0.8_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\vpnplugins\sonicwall failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user
basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 829de900-6d65-0008-3560-bd82656dd201 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 829de900-6d65-0008-3560-bd82656dd201
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppXPackage "SonicWALL.MobileConnect_1.0.0.8_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyew ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (SonicWALL.Mobil...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\TEMP> Remove-AppXPackage "winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Remove-AppXPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\WinStore failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can
attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 829de900-6d65-0008-4560-bd82656dd201 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 829de900-6d65-0008-4560-bd82656dd201
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppXPackage "winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy"
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (winstore_1.0.0....l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\TEMP>

Perhaps the same techniques would apply; experimentation is necessary.  You can see what I did for Win 10 here, as part of my re-tweaker script:

http://win10epicfail.proboards.com/thread/100/interested-participating-tweaker-development-test

I'd be interested to hear of any ways that have been tested by members here to rid a Win 8.1 system of these Metro/Modern tumors.

-Noel

[HarryTri]

On Windows 8 as I wrote there is the uninstall option in both the Start Screen and All Apps if you rightclick on the App icon. I never tried it but it surely is the simplest way to do it if it works (as I suppose). Again I don't know if there is any difference on Windows 8.1.

[NoelC]

I've long ago removed all the ones that can be removed that way.

If you can remove any of the ones I listed above, which are not listed anywhere but in PowerShell output, please let me know.

I cannot find a database file to tweak in Windows 8.1 in the same way it can be done with Windows 10.

-Noel

[HarryTri]

Oh, they are hidden... Fancy that.