Chapter 5

Installing and configuring apps

Apps make it possible to get things done with Microsoft Windows. That’s true for businesses of all sizes, which use productivity apps like Outlook, Word, and Excel to enable employees to create, collaborate, and communicate. Large organizations often rely on a mix of custom line-of-business applications and off-the-shelf accounting and management software, some of it written decades ago. And apps aren’t just for work, as the success of PC-based games and streaming media services makes clear.

A default installation of Windows 11 includes dozens of apps. In Chapter 6, “Using and managing built-in Windows apps,” we provide instructions on how to be more productive (or have more fun) with some of the most useful ones. But the real strength of Windows is its ability to add and run a truly astonishing range of old and new applications, many of which are available through the Microsoft Store, which is itself a Windows app.

Later in this chapter, we cover the tools and techniques for installing, configuring, troubleshooting, and uninstalling third-party apps. Those tools are especially useful for dealing with the legacy desktop apps that are still the mainstay of many Windows PCs.

We start with a discussion of how those old-fashioned programs, many written for earlier Windows versions, are able to coexist happily alongside more modern apps.

Understanding the Windows app landscape

As far as most apps are concerned, Windows 10 and Windows 11 are functionally identical. And both of those operating systems were designed with backward compatibility as a prime directive. Taken together, those two statements help to explain the broad outlines of the Windows app landscape.

If you’ve been using Windows for more than a few years, you probably think of apps and desktop programs as separate beasts. In the first few years after the release of Windows 10, in fact, the operating system applied different labels to “trusted Microsoft Store apps,” which were acquired from the Store, and “desktop apps,” which had to be downloaded and installed separately. In the Windows 11 era, those lines have been erased: When you search for a program, the tile that appears in the search results list is labeled simply “App.”

That’s not just a semantic distinction. Instead, it reflects the significant changes in the Windows app landscape over the past few years. You can still download legacy desktop apps that were originally written years ago and set them up by double-clicking on an installer package. But developers now have the option to distribute desktop apps securely through the Microsoft Store, which has itself been significantly redesigned for Windows 11. In addition, developers can turn websites into Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) that function like native apps. You can find some PWAs packaged for delivery through the Store; in addition, you can also use Microsoft Edge to install a supported website as a PWA.

In Windows 11, Apps has its own top-level heading in Settings, which we discuss in more detail later in this chapter. There, you find settings for every installed app, regardless of its origin.

In the remainder of this section, we look more closely at the differences that define legacy desktop apps, Store apps, and PWAs.

Legacy desktop apps

The oldest category consists of Windows desktop apps that were developed using the Win32 application programming interface (API). Don’t let the name fool you: This API has its roots in 16-bit Windows versions but over the years evolved to support 32-bit and then 64-bit Windows versions, which is one reason its formal name is now simply the Windows API.

These legacy apps, sometimes called Win32 apps, are designed to run on all versions of Windows, using whatever features and capabilities are available in the version on which they’re running. Traditionally, they have been delivered as self-contained packages that can be downloaded and installed by anyone with administrative rights on a Windows PC.

Windows 11 continues to support these traditional apps, which make it possible for PC owners to remain productive with apps that have proven their utility for a decade or more, through multiple Windows versions. These legacy applications are designed, for the most part, for use with a keyboard and a mouse, and many of them first came into being during the era when desktop machines dominated the computing landscape.

Beginning in May 2022, Microsoft began allowing developers of Win32 apps to distribute those apps through the Microsoft Store. Apps delivered through this channel are subject to certification by the Store, a process that includes a variety of security checks as well as confirmation that the app can be installed silently, with no activity required by the user, and that it can be uninstalled cleanly, without leaving behind any files, folders, or stray registry entries.

Apps distributed in this fashion work exactly as they would if they were downloaded and installed from the web; they are not subject to the same restrictions as native Store apps, nor are they eligible to receive automatic updates through the Store. Although developers can submit updated versions of desktop apps to the Store, those updates are not automatically installed.

Windows apps

The second category consists of apps that were written and compiled to run only on Windows 10 and Windows 11. This category includes many of the built-in apps included with Windows 11 as well as third-party apps delivered through the Microsoft Store (previously known as the Windows Store). Apps in this category are delivered as packages and installed to secure locations in the file system that are not readily accessible to users. They are also “sandboxed,” which means they run in secure isolation, free from potentially hazardous interactions with other running processes.

The earliest generation of apps delivered through the Store were optimized for use on touchscreen-equipped mobile devices running Windows 8. Later, Microsoft developed a subset of Windows APIs specifically targeting Windows 10 devices called the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).

Today, UWP is mostly deprecated. Developers have a new set of tools called the Windows App Software Development Kit (SDK) that they can use to build desktop apps for Windows 11. This SDK provides a common user experience framework called the Windows UI Library (WinUI 3); apps built using these tools support native Windows 11 features but can also run on Windows 10 version 1809 and later.

Windows apps built using these tools can be distributed through the Store using a package format called MSIX. (The name is derived from a combination of the Win32 Microsoft Windows Installer format, MSI, and the UWP-era Windows application package file format, APPX.) These apps combine the capabilities of traditional desktop apps in a package that is installed and licensed like a UWP app and is updated through the Microsoft Store. Desktop apps packaged in this fashion must meet strict standards, including the ability to run as a standard interactive user, with no reliance on kernel-mode drivers or Windows services.

Packaged desktop apps are most commonly installed from the Microsoft Store, but they can also be delivered as standalone packages that you can install by double-clicking. When installed in this fashion, the app behaves just as if it had been acquired from the Microsoft Store.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

Modern website developers can use an assortment of interesting open web technologies (Service Workers, push notifications, Fetch networking, Cache API, and Web App Manifest, to name just a few) to make websites work very much like native apps. With a few fairly simple additions, a developer can transform that work into a packaged Progressive Web App that runs on just about any platform, just as if it were a native app. (Why are they called progressive? Because the user experience scales up or down depending on the capabilities of the device on which they’re running.)

Unlike a website, a PWA works even when a device is offline. PWAs run in their own window, independent of the browser, and can be pinned to Start and to the taskbar. They can interact with hardware (a built-in webcam and microphone, for example), access user resources (such as a calendar, saved documents, or local music files), and send push notifications to Windows while still under the control of the same Windows security features that keep packaged apps safely sandboxed.

Developers can submit PWAs to the Microsoft Store as packaged UWP apps, but Microsoft also uses its Bing App Crawler to identify sites that include a Web App Manifest and makes some of those apps available in the Store. (You can spot these apps easily—the publisher is listed as Microsoft Store.) In addition, sites that work as PWAs can be installed using the Apps menu in Microsoft Edge.

Installing, managing, and uninstalling apps

As we noted in the previous section, you can acquire and install legacy desktop apps directly from software publishers, from third-party stores, and even, unfortunately, from dodgy websites. All other apps typically arrive through the Microsoft Store (or, in the case of PWAs, through a browser). In this section, we look at how these different installation methods determine where program files are located, how apps are allowed to interact with other system resources, and how to uninstall an app.

For an inventory of available apps, you can look in two places. Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps (or right-click Start and choose Installed Apps from the Quick Link menu) for a list of every app installed on the current system. This list, which we explore in more detail later in this section, includes not just apps but program libraries, driver installers, update managers, notification tools, and other utility apps that you might not recognize, typically because they’re installed as part of a larger package.

You’ll find a smaller, more focused list of apps by clicking Start and then clicking All Apps. The resulting list includes every app that accepts user interaction. Utility apps that work exclusively in the background and don’t have a user interface don’t appear here. For example, Microsoft Edge Update and Microsoft Update Health Tools are both included with a default Windows 11 installation and are in the Installed Apps list; because they have no user-accessible functions, you won’t find them on the Start menu.

Any item on the All Apps list can be pinned to Start, to the taskbar, or to both locations. Right-click any app icon on Start or in the All Apps list to see a shortcut menu that includes a limited set of management tools. An Uninstall menu option is available for every app that allows you to remove it. (Windows system apps and some provisioned apps do not include the Uninstall option.)

As mentioned earlier, the most complete list of apps is available in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Each entry initially displays the name of the app, the name of the app’s developer (if available), the date on which the app was installed, and the amount of disk space it’s currently using (including any data that is saved as part of the app’s local data store but not data files stored in the user’s profile).

The list is arranged in alphabetical order by default, but you can use the Sort menu at the top of the list to change the order to Size (to identify potential disk hogs for removal when storage space is tight) or Install Date (to quickly remove one or more apps you recently installed for evaluation and decided not to keep). Figure 5-2 shows the default List View, with the Sort By option set to Size (Large To Small).

This screenshot shows the Installed Apps page from Settings. A label at the top of the list says 41 apps were found, and the list is sorted by size, from large to small.

Figure 5-2 The Installed Apps list includes legacy desktop apps alongside apps from the Microsoft Store. Sorting the list by size, large to small, shows which apps are using the most disk space.

You can also filter by drive, in the unlikely event you have apps installed on a secondary drive in addition to your system drive.

If the list feels too unwieldy to scroll through, try filtering its contents by using the search box. Note that the results include matches for the app name and the developer name; the latter option is a particularly effective way to see all the apps preinstalled by the PC’s manufacturer.

The options in the top-right corner of the Installed Apps list allow you to switch from the default List View to a more compact arrangement that drops the version number and developer name from each entry, allowing multiple items in each row. Tile View is the most space-efficient arrangement; Grid View, shown in Figure 5-3, displays each entry as a square tile with an Uninstall link beneath the app details.

This screenshot shows the Installed Apps page in Grid View, with several rows of square tiles, each displaying an app icon and name with an Uninstall link underneath.

Figure 5-3 Grid View offers a more compact view of the Installed Apps list, with the Uninstall option available beneath each app listing.

Regardless of which view you’ve chosen, you can click the three dots at the right of any entry on this list to see additional options for managing that app. What you see in this expanded listing varies depending on how the app was installed.

For desktop apps, the shortcut menu includes Modify and Uninstall options that launch the installer registered for that app. If the Modify option is grayed out and unavailable, it means the installer for that app doesn’t include a so-called maintenance installation option in which you can add or remove features or otherwise change the current configuration.

For packaged apps and PWAs (but not desktop apps) that were installed through the Microsoft Store, the shortcut menu includes three choices: Advanced Options, Move, and Uninstall. We look more closely at these options in the next section.

Using and managing Store apps

The Microsoft Store is an emporium where you can purchase a wide-ranging variety of digital goods and services: games, movies, TV shows, and apps. (It’s not an ever-expanding marketplace, however. In the years since the introduction of Windows 10, Microsoft has stopped selling music and ebooks through the Store, and most TV shows and movies are purchased or rented by owners of Xbox consoles; those consoles run a variant of Windows 10/11 and use the same Microsoft Store to deliver digital content.)

But focusing only on commerce risks missing the real point of the Store, which serves as a secure channel for distributing apps, including those that are preinstalled with Windows. Part of that security comes from the fact that apps have to go through a vetting process to be distributed through the Store; it’s unlikely that a malicious app can survive that vetting process, and in the unlikely event that a bad app managed to sneak into the Store, it would be shut down as soon as its misbehavior was discovered.

An equally important part of the Store’s security model is the way it manages the installation and updating of app packages—a highly structured process that installs files to a restricted hierarchy in the file system, marks their contents as read-only, locks everything down using file permissions, and keeps them up to date without requiring any user intervention. That combination prevents Store apps from contributing to “Windows rot” and degrading system performance. They can also be uninstalled cleanly, without leaving digital detritus behind.

The executable file (along with supporting files) for a desktop application is normally stored in a subfolder of %ProgramFiles% or %ProgramFiles(x86)%. By contrast, packaged apps are stored in a hidden folder called %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps. This folder is locked so that only the Microsoft Store app or the Windows System account can view, run, or modify its contents. Although that might frustrate those who like to crawl through every hidden nook and cranny of their hard drive, there’s a good reason for the high security: Instead of signing individual files, as is the case with most desktop applications, the entire app package is signed, making it possible to validate the contents of any or all files in the package. Instead of running an executable file and calling other resources, Windows runs the entire package in a protected app container environment. Because users (including you) and other apps are prevented from making changes, the app files are safe.

Legacy desktop apps that you download and install from outside the Store can be installed for all users or for a single user. By contrast, Windows apps that are managed by the Store are installed only for the current user account. After installation, you find data files for the newly installed app in a part of your user profile, where they are kept private and can’t be tampered with by other apps. You can view these folders (but you can’t change their contents) at %LocalAppData%\Packages.

Anyone who signs on to another user account on the same PC can share the installed app files, but only after going to the Store, installing the app for their own account, and setting up their own private data folders. Uninstalling a packaged app is, likewise, a per-user activity that cleans up the data folders for the current user without touching files for other user accounts that have installed the same app. If you uninstall an app that’s not in use by any other accounts on the same PC, Windows completely removes the app and its resources from the %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps folder.

Packaged desktop apps you install from the Store (as well as apps built using the same tools but distributed as standalone packages) follow a similar security-focused installation routine. Unlike legacy desktop apps, which typically require administrative permission to install and can splatter files throughout Windows system folders, these packaged desktop apps follow a rigid set of installation rules that dramatically lessen their ability to mess with the system.

Just as with Windows apps, packaged desktop apps are installed to a well-managed location, with file permissions keeping the package contents safe from tampering. Unlike other Store apps, however, they’re not required to run in a sandboxed app container. Instead, these so-called full-trust apps run in the context of the user account that launched them. As a result, they can mimic the behavior of a legacy desktop app.

Behind the scenes, however, these apps are managed in a way that keeps them from interfering with the rest of the system. On Windows 11, the following modifications are made to the file system and registry:

  • When the app attempts to write files or folders to the user’s AppData folder, Windows intercepts those requests and writes them instead to a private location that is merged with the actual AppData folder when the app runs. This architecture allows apps to uninstall cleanly and avoid “Windows rot.”

  • Any files that would normally be added to the Windows\System32 or Program Files (x86) folders (such as DLL files) are stored instead in a virtual file system (VFS) folder as part of the app package. These files are dynamically merged with the actual system folders when the app runs, so that the app thinks everything’s working as its developer intended.

  • App packages contain a registry.dat file, which mirrors the contents of the corresponding branch of HKLM\Software. When the app runs, this virtual registry merges its contents into the registry to allow the app to run as expected.

  • When the app makes changes to HKCU, those changes are written to a private location and merged when the app runs, which allows the system to clean this information when the app is uninstalled.

Finding apps in the Microsoft Store

The Microsoft Store app separates its wares using three tabs: Apps, Gaming, and Movies & TV. On the Apps tab, you can scroll through categorized, curated lists to find popular apps or collections of related apps. If you know more or less what you’re looking for, you can use the search box to find it. Search by name or publisher, and the search results include entertainment offerings as well as apps. Figure 5-4 shows the Microsoft Store in Windows 11, with the Apps tab selected.

This screenshot shows the Apps page from the Microsoft Store app. A large banner at the top promotes Best Entertainment Apps, and a smaller listing below it is labeled Top Free Apps.

Figure 5-4 Click the Apps icon in the navigation bar on the left side to display a categorized listing of apps available for Windows 11.

Click any listing to see a details page that includes most of the information you need to decide whether an app is worth installing, including the developer’s name, a description, screenshots depicting the app in action, and reviews and ratings from other people who’ve used the apps. Figure 5-5 shows the listing for Adobe Lightroom, a popular third-party app for organizing and editing digital photos.

This screenshot shows the Microsoft Store listing page for Adobe Lightroom. The app icon and name are on the left, above a large blue button labeled Get. On the right are various details about the app.

Figure 5-5 The System Requirements section should alert you to any incompatibilities.

The offerings in the Microsoft Store are not organized by price, but if you type free in the Search box, you can choose from filtered lists showing only free apps, games, or digital content. When you consider the cost of a so-called free app, however, you should check the (literal) fine print to see if the app listing includes an asterisk and a notation that the app “offers in-app purchases.” Some apps offer a free trial but require payment for continued use after the trial period ends. Other apps, including those for streaming video services like Netflix or Disney+, require paid subscriptions to view content. Still others offer a free, ad-supported tier with a paid option to remove ads. When you click on an item, the details page that appears might enumerate the extra offerings.

Scrolling to the bottom of the page usually reveals additional useful details, such as the approximate size of the app, the release date, system requirements, a privacy policy, and the number of devices on which the app can be installed. (This section is also where you can inspect the permissions that the app requires, a topic we cover in more detail later in this section.)

To begin the process of installing a free Store app for the first time, click the blue button labeled Get. That action immediately begins downloading and installing the app. When the installation is complete, the button text changes to Open, and you can click to run the app.

If payment is required, the blue button is labeled with the price, and clicking that button begins the purchase process. The payment itself is managed through your Microsoft account. If you sign in to Windows 11 using a local account or an Azure AD account, you’ll be prompted at this point for Microsoft account credentials to use with the Store, and you’ll be guided to configure a payment mechanism if you haven’t already done so.

Updating and reinstalling Store apps

Clicking the Library icon in the lower-left corner of the Store app opens a page like the one shown in Figure 5-6. Any available updates as well as downloads in progress appear at the top of the page. The lower section shows a list of apps, games, and digital content available in the current user profile. Controls at the top of that list allow you to filter its contents to show only Apps, as we’ve done here.

This screenshot shows the Library page from the Microsoft Store app. A single item is listed at the top under the Updates & Downloads heading. Below that is a list of apps, sorted by date

Figure 5-6 In its default view, the Library page shows updates and downloads at the top, with a list of available Store apps below it. Note the download icon to the right of Adobe Express, indicating that it’s not currently installed.

The Sort control above the list includes Sort By Date and Sort By Name options that work as expected, displaying a list of all currently installed and previously purchased apps. Two additional options on that menu, however, behave in an unexpected fashion. Although the menu options include the word sort, they really act as filters:

  • Sort By Installed Choosing this option filters the list to show only Store apps and packaged desktop apps that are installed in the current profile, sorted by the date they were last modified. It does not include traditional desktop apps delivered through the Store.

  • Sort By Not Installed This option displays a list of all apps that were previously installed or purchased by the signed-in Microsoft account and are not currently installed. The list includes games, browser add-ons, and theme packages installed on any Windows 10 or Windows 11 device but does not include traditional desktop apps delivered through the Store.

The latter view is particularly useful when you’re setting up a new PC (or refreshing your Windows installation on an old one). Go through the list to identify any apps you previously acquired; if you don’t recognize an app, click its name to go to the details page for that app in the Microsoft Store. Click the cloud icon to the right of any app to download and install the app on your fresh Windows installation.

Managing, troubleshooting, and uninstalling Store apps

For packaged apps that are managed by the Store, including UWP apps and packaged desktop apps, Windows includes a variety of tools you can use to perform maintenance tasks, up to and including uninstalling the app.

The easiest way to access these functions is to right-click the app’s pinned icon on Start, and then click App Settings. (If the app icon isn’t pinned, go to All Apps, right-click the App, and then click More > App Settings.) You can also reach this page from the app’s entry in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps: Click the three dots to the right of any entry in the list, and choose Advanced Options. That opens a page like the one shown in Figure 5-7.

This screenshot shows the Advanced Options page for the Microsoft Photos app. A block of information labeled Specifications is at the top of the page, with two switches labeled App Permissions and a menu labeled Background Apps Permissions below that.

Figure 5-7 The Advanced Options page shows version information and offers maintenance tools for apps that are managed by the Store.

The Specifications section at the top of the page shows the version number and disk space used by the app package. Below that is an App Permissions section, which gives you the option to change the permissions assigned to that app when it was installed. The Background Apps Permissions setting controls whether the app is allowed to run in the background—a setting that can help with battery life on portable devices.

Every app listed in the Microsoft Store is required to disclose which permissions it requires. A packaged desktop app is a “full trust” application, and its Store listing page includes the following permissions info under the This App Can heading: “Uses all system resources.” For a full list of the 30 or so available app permissions, see https://bit.ly/Windows11-app-permissions.

Scroll down the page a bit and you find two options that are useful when troubleshooting a misbehaving app:

  • Terminate On the rare occasions when an app is completely nonresponsive and can’t be closed, click Terminate to forcibly close the app and all related processes.

  • Reset You find two buttons under this heading. The Repair option attempts to fix any corruption in the app installation without affecting your user data. Reset is a more drastic option that deletes all user data for that app, including sign-in details.

The easiest way to uninstall a packaged app is to right-click its icon on Start and then click Uninstall. An Uninstall button is also on the Advanced Options page. (Note that some apps installed as part of Windows 11 can’t be uninstalled. For a full list of these apps, see Chapter 6.)

As noted earlier, packaged apps are installed on a per-user basis, and uninstalling works that way as well; if you’ve installed an app from multiple user accounts, the app package remains on the system until you uninstall it from all user accounts.

Managing legacy desktop apps

With rare exceptions, Windows 11 supports virtually all legacy Win32 desktop applications that are compatible with Windows 7. Any desktop apps you own that aren’t available in the Microsoft Store can be installed in the usual ways, by double-clicking an installer file you download from the internet.

Uninstalling a desktop app

When you install a legacy desktop app, the installer provides Windows with instructions for how to uninstall the app (you can find some examples of these instructions in the registry, at HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall). To execute those instructions, right-click the app’s icon on the Start menu, and then click Uninstall. If the app included instructions for quietly uninstalling itself (most don’t), you’re asked to confirm your intention; when you do, the app is uninstalled without any further interaction.

For desktop apps that don’t include the switches necessary to quietly uninstall, choosing that option from the right-click shortcut menu takes you to the old-style Programs And Features page in Control Panel. Select the name from the Uninstall Or Change A Program list and then click Uninstall to continue.

If you’d rather skip the side trip to Control Panel, start in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Find the entry for the app you want to remove, click the three dots to the right of its name, and click Uninstall.

Running desktop apps as an administrator or as another user

Windows 11 includes an assortment of Win32 apps used for system management tasks, including some management tools that have been part of Windows for decades. These apps, and similar third-party system utilities, must be run with an administrative token. To edit the registry, for example, you need to run Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) as an administrator. You can run most apps as an administrator by right-clicking the executable file or any app shortcut (on Start or elsewhere), choosing Run As Administrator, and satisfying the User Account Control (UAC) prompt with either consent or credentials. (This option does not work for File Explorer, Explorer.exe.) Here are two additional ways to accomplish the same result:

  • Start a Command Prompt or PowerShell session as Administrator. From that console, you can type the name of the executable file for whichever app you want to run, and it will inherit the administrator token from the elevated session.

    To run Registry Editor, for example, type regedit. Because you already passed UAC inspection for the Command Prompt session, and because whatever you run from Command Prompt is a child process of Command Prompt, you don’t have to deal with any further UAC prompts. (The same rules apply to PowerShell.) This method is excellent for situations where you need to run a sequence of apps as an administrator. Keep one administrative-level Command Prompt or PowerShell window open, and run your apps from the command line.

  • Type the name of the app you want to run in the taskbar search box, and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

To run an app under a different user account, you can use the Runas command. You can do this from Command Prompt or PowerShell. The syntax is

Click here to view code image

Runas /user: username appname

After you issue the command, you’re prompted to enter the password for the specified user account. Note that the Runas command does not work with File Explorer or with Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins.

Dealing with compatibility issues

Apps that run without problems on Windows 7 should run equally well on Windows 11. Certain older desktop applications might create problems, however. Windows attempts to flag potential compatibility problems when you first run such a program. The Program Compatibility Assistant that appears offers you the alternatives of checking online for solutions (such as downloading a more recent version) or going ahead and running the program.

If you install an app and subsequently run into compatibility issues, a compatibility troubleshooter might appear. Alternatively, you can run the troubleshooter yourself from Control Panel. You can find it by typing compatibility in the taskbar search box. Click Run Programs Made For Previous Versions Of Windows to launch the troubleshooter, and then click past the opening screen.

The troubleshooter begins by scanning for problems it can detect automatically. If it finds none, it presents a list of apps installed on your system from which you can select the one that’s giving you difficulty. Select the offending app and follow the prompts to try to resolve your problem.

Managing Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can be installed from the Store or directly from a web browser that supports PWAs, including Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. The only indication that a Store listing belongs to a PWA is a compatibility note that reads “This app requires the latest version of Microsoft Edge.” When you use Microsoft Edge to visit a website that is eligible to be installed as a PWA, the App Available icon appears in the address bar. In Google Chrome, an Install button appears in the address bar. Clicking the respective icon or button installs the PWA.

The XML files that make up a PWA are stored in the same protected location as packaged Windows apps, and the management options are identical to those available for apps from the Store.

To see a list of PWAs installed using the Microsoft Store or Microsoft Edge, open Edge and go to edge://apps. On this page, you can open any app by clicking Open. To learn more about an app or uninstall it, click Details.

Managing apps and processes with Task Manager

Task Manager is a tool that serves two essential purposes. You can use it to track aspects of your system’s performance and to see what apps and processes are running, and you can use it to terminate items when the normal shutdown methods aren’t working.

The easiest way to run Task Manager is by means of its keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Shift+Esc. As an alternative, right-click Start and choose Task Manager from the Quick Link menu. Figure 5-8 shows the Processes tab in Task Manager.

This screenshot shows the Processes tab from Task Manager, with seven items in a list under the Apps heading and another 44 items under the Background Processes heading. Four columns to the right contain performance measurements, with several blocks color coded in a darker shade than the others.

Figure 5-8 Task Manager is useful for terminating recalcitrant applications and processes, as well as for monitoring system performance.

By default, the items listed on the Processes tab are grouped by type—apps at the top, followed by background processes, and then by Windows processes, and so on. Grouping is optional; clear Group By Type on the View menu if you want a single list.

Note that some items in the Apps list have outline controls. You can expand these to see what files or documents are open. The lists are initially sorted by name (within each group if grouping is enabled), in ascending alphabetical order. Click any performance heading to sort by that column, in descending order, an arrangement that allows you to see at a glance which apps or processes are making the greatest use of the resource in that column; click again to reverse the sort. Clicking the CPU heading, for example, gives you a continually updating sorted list showing which apps and background processes are responsible for your laptop fan kicking into action.

Terminating an app with Task Manager

The Processes tab also includes a Status column. (If it’s not visible, right-click a column heading and choose Status.) Most of the time, the entries in this column will be blank, indicating that everything is humming along. If an app hangs for any reason, you’ll see the words Not Responding in this column. In that case, you can attempt to shut down the miscreant by right-clicking its name and clicking End Task. Don’t be too quick on the trigger, however; Not Responding doesn’t necessarily mean permanently out to lunch. If the app is using every bit of resources to handle a different task, it might simply be too busy to communicate with Task Manager.

Before you decide to end the app, give it a chance to finish whatever it’s doing. How long should you wait? That depends on the task. If the operation involves a large amount of data in memory (transcoding a large high-definition video, for instance), it’s appropriate to wait several minutes, especially if you see signs of disk activity. But if the task in question normally completes in a few seconds, you needn’t wait that long.

Finding detailed information about an app

To see detailed information about the process that’s running an app, right-click the app and choose Go To Details. This takes you to a related item on the Details tab.

For each process, Task Manager includes the following information by default: image name (the name of the process), process ID (PID), status (running or suspended, for example), user name (the name of the account that initiated the process), CPU (the percentage of the CPU’s capacity the process is currently using), memory (the amount of memory the process requires to perform its regular functions, also known as the private working set), and description (a text field identifying the process). To display additional information for each process, right-click one of the headings and choose Select Columns.

Managing startup apps

The author of a Win32 desktop app can easily set it up to run automatically when you start Windows. Many apps do this during their installation, sometimes without bothering to ask for your consent. Reputable publishers typically offer the option to enable or disable automatic startup within the Settings for the app.

Packaged apps distributed through the Store can also be configured to run at startup. This option is typically configurable in the app’s settings, and not in Windows itself.

Win32 apps that set themselves up to run automatically have a great many methods at their disposal. If you find yourself troubleshooting an app that starts automatically and doesn’t include a mechanism for preventing it from running at startup, the following list might help you find (and disable) the setting:

  • Run key (machine) Apps listed in the registry’s HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run key are available at startup to all users. For 32-bit apps, this data might be stored in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

  • Run key (user) Apps listed in the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run key run when the current user signs in. A similar subkey, HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\Run, can also be used.

  • Load value Apps listed in the Load value of the registry key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows run when any user signs in.

  • Scheduled tasks The Windows Task Scheduler can specify tasks that run at startup. In addition, an administrator can set up tasks for your computer to run at startup that are not available for you to change or delete.

  • RunOnce and RunOnceEx keys This group of registry keys identifies apps that run only once, at startup. This configuration is typically part of the initial setup for an app. These keys can be assigned to a specific user account or to the machine:

    • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

    • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

    • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

    • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

  • RunServices and RunServicesOnce keys As their names suggest, these rarely used keys can control the automatic startup of services. They can be assigned to a specific user account or to a computer.

  • Winlogon key The Winlogon key controls actions that occur when you sign in to a computer running Windows. Most of these actions are under the control of the operating system, but you can also add custom actions here. The HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit and HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell subkeys can automatically launch apps.

  • Group Policy The Group Policy console includes two policies (one in Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Logon and one in the comparable User Configuration folder) called Run These Programs At User Logon that specify a list of apps to be run whenever any user signs in.

  • Policies\Explorer\Run keys Using policy settings to specify startup apps, as described in the previous paragraph, creates corresponding values in either of two registry keys: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run or HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run.

  • Logon scripts Logon scripts, which run automatically at startup, can open other apps. Logon scripts are specified in Group Policy in Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts (Startup/Shutdown) and User Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts (Logon/Logoff).

In addition, packaged apps can programmatically configure themselves to run at startup and can also run utility apps that are installed along with the app package.

Suspending or removing startup items

The problem many users have with startup apps is not with creating them (that’s easy, and in many cases, it happens without your explicit consent when the program is installed) but getting rid of them. Having too many startup apps not only makes your system take longer to start, it also has the potential to waste memory. If you don’t require an app at startup, you should consider removing it from your list of auto-starting apps.

That task is not always as simple as it sounds, however, because—as we noted earlier—there are many ways by which an app can be made to run at startup.

To see a list of startup processes, open Task Manager and switch to the Startup Apps tab. As Figure 5-9 shows, this tab identifies each item and includes an estimate of its impact on the time required to start your Windows environment.

This screenshot shows the Startup Apps tab from Task Manager, with 10 items in the list and a Status column to the right that says whether each is Enabled or Disabled.

Figure 5-9 The Startup Apps tab in Task Manager shows you which startup apps are enabled and how much impact each is estimated to have on your startup time.

You can’t remove a startup item from this list, but you can disable it so that the item doesn’t automatically run each time your computer starts up. To do this, select the item and then click Disable.

By default, the Startup Apps tab shows a bare minimum of information about each item on the list. For a more complete picture of each startup item, including detailed performance information, right-click any column heading on the Startup Apps tab and make one or more of the following columns visible:

  • Startup Type Lists where the command item is stored

  • Disk I/O At Startup Measures total disk activity for the selected item during the most recent startup

  • CPU At Startup Measures how long the CPU was active for the selected item during the most recent startup

  • Running Now Distinguishes between commands that continue to run and those that exit after performing a startup task

  • Disabled Time Displays the date and time when the item was disabled

  • Command Line Displays the full path, including switches, for startup items

This list is far from exhaustive. It includes items that are in one of the CurrentVersion\Run keys in the Registry as well as items that are installed as part of a packaged app and are programmed to run automatically at startup. (You can identify the latter class of startup items from the Startup Type column, where the entry is blank; in addition, the Command Line column for this type of item shows the name of the executable but not the full path.)

If you’re not sure whether an item on the Startup tab is justifying its existence there, try disabling it and restarting. Alternatively, or additionally, you can right-click the item and use the handy Search Online command to learn more about it. (For an alternative way to manage this set of startup apps, go to Settings > Apps > Startup.)

Advanced tools for managing startup items

The Startup tab in Task Manager is a fine way to disable startup behavior established by registry keys. Note, however, that Task Manager might not list every startup item; in particular, the list does not include items established by Group Policy or Task Scheduler.

To get the most comprehensive listing of items that run at startup, as well as a handy tool to prevent certain apps from starting, we recommend using Autoruns, a free utility from Microsoft’s Windows Sysinternals collection. Autoruns, which you can download from https://bit.ly/autoruns, shows all the registry keys and startup locations listed earlier. As you can see from Figure 5-10, it also shows Explorer shell extensions, services, and many more exotic startup options.

This screenshot shows the AutoRuns app, with a very dense list of apps arranged in a dozen or so categories

Figure 5-10 The free AutoRuns utility shows every conceivable way to automatically start a Windows process. More importantly, it offers options to remove those auto-starting programs.

Autoruns is particularly useful for finding processes that don’t belong (such as a Trojan horse or other malware) or that you suspect of causing problems. You can then disable these items without removing them while you test your theory, or you can delete their autorun command altogether.

Select an item, and its details appear at the bottom of the screen, as shown in Figure 5-10. Disable an item by clearing the checkbox next to its name; you can later reenable it by selecting the checkbox. To clear an item from the autorun list, select it and click Entry > Delete. (Note that deleting an item from AutoRuns removes only the entry in the registry or other location that causes the item to run; it does not uninstall the app or delete its executable file.)

Although the tabs at the top of the Autoruns window filter the list of autorun items into various categories, the number of items can still be daunting. One nice feature of Autoruns is its ability to filter out components that are part of Windows or are digitally signed by Microsoft because these are presumably safe to run. Commands on the Options menu control the appearance of these items.

You can also use the Compare feature in Autoruns to compare before and after snapshots of the data it finds. Run Autoruns before you install a new app, save the data, run Autoruns again after you install the app, and compare the results to see what changes to autorun behavior were made during the installation process.

Setting default apps and file-type associations

Most apps you use in Windows are associated with particular file types and protocols. These associations are what enable you, for example, to double-click an MP3 file in File Explorer and have it open in your favorite music player, or click a hyperlink in an email message and have that webpage open in your preferred browser. Some of these associations were probably established by the operating system when you performed a clean install or an upgrade from an earlier version of Windows. Others were set (with or without your explicit consent) when you installed an app. Regardless of how the associations between apps and file types and protocols are currently set, Windows allows you to see and modify the settings.

Windows 11, unlike its predecessor, does not offer a consolidated page where you can choose default apps for common computer tasks—email, music, photos, and so on. Instead, you have to set associations by file type and link type, one at a time.

The one exception is setting a default web browser. As we note in Chapter 7, Microsoft Edge is the default web browser in Windows 11, and it can’t be removed. If you install a third-party web browser, however, Windows 11 provides a simple mechanism for configuring the newly installed browser as the default app for handling web links.

After installing Google Chrome, for example, you can go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps and select Google Chrome from the list of installed apps. When you do, you see a new option at the top of the page, as shown in Figure 5-11. Click Make Google Chrome Your Default Browser to immediately transfer the association of most web protocols from Edge to the alternative browser.

This screenshot shows the Default Apps page for Google Chrome, with a Set Default button at the top alongside a label that reads Make Google Chrome Your Default Browser.

Figure 5-11 After installing a third-party web browser, use this option on the Default Apps page in Settings to specify that you want to use the new browser for opening links to webpages in email messages and documents.

The task of assigning defaults is not as easy for other app categories. After installing a new app, for example, you might discover that it has assumed the right to open a file type that you’d prefer to use with its previously assigned default app. Alternatively, you might find that a newly installed app hasn’t claimed associations with file types it’s capable of opening.

In those circumstances, you can reassign default app associations, but doing so requires that you have a deep understanding of file type extensions—a topic that can be bewildering even to experts.

If you start from Settings > Apps > Default Apps, you can choose an app from the list and then proceed, one by one, through the list of file types it’s capable of handling. Figure 5-12, for example, shows the settings available after installing the popular VLC media player. Although it’s capable of handling playback of .mov files, those file types remain associated with the built-in Windows 11 Media Player app.

This screenshot shows the Default Apps page for VLC Media Player, with several file name extensions below it. One is associated with the VLC app, while the others are associated with Media Player.

Figure 5-12 To change file type associations from the Default Apps page in Settings, you must go through each file type individually.

If you’d prefer to use the newly installed app when you double-click a .mov file, you have three choices:

  • From File Explorer, find a file with the .mov extension, right-click, and choose Open With > Choose Another App. Select your preferred app and then click Always Use This App To Open .MOV Files. Click OK to save your preference.

  • From Settings > Apps > Default Apps, type mov in the Set A Default For A File Type Or Link Type search box at the top of the page. Click the currently associated program, which appears immediately below, and then choose VLC Media Player from the How Do You Want To Open .MOV Files From Now On dialog.

  • From the Default Apps page in Settings, click the entry for the newly installed VLC program, click the .mov file type, and then choose VLC Media Player from the How Do You Want To Open .MOV Files From Now On dialog.

Turning Windows features on or off

If you want to manage Windows features that can be installed independently of the core operating system, go to Settings > Apps > Optional Features. Under the Installed Features heading are default features that are currently installed. This list includes some important features, such as Windows Hello Facial Recognition and Internet Explorer mode functionality for Microsoft Edge; it also includes some classic system apps like WordPad and the legacy Windows Media Player app. Unless you have a compelling reason to remove them, we recommend leaving these default features installed.

Click View Features to open a list of optional features that can be installed if needed. This group includes supplemental fonts for alternate languages that aren’t currently installed, as well as support for some legacy hardware not typically found on modern PCs, such as IrDA infrared devices. You’ll also find some specialized management tools here, including a group of utilities required for Windows domain administrators’ use with Remote Server Administration Tools. Most users have no need for any of these features.

An additional group of Windows features is available by way of a link at the bottom of the Optional Features page; click More Windows Features to open the Windows Features dialog shown in Figure 5-13.

This screenshot shows the Windows Features dialog. Several items in the list are selected, with blue check marks to their left.

Figure 5-13 The Windows Features dialog provides a simple way to disable or enable selected features and capabilities.

Here you can enable Hyper-V Management Tools (if they’re not already enabled) and Windows Sandbox (for more on these features, see Chapter 17, “Running Windows 11 in a virtual machine or in the cloud”). You can also disable features that are available by default. You might want to remove the Microsoft Print To PDF feature, for example, if you already have this capability available through a third-party app. Note that some items in the list have subentries. Those marked by a filled checkbox (rather than a check mark) have some components enabled and some not.

Setting AutoPlay options

AutoPlay is the feature that enables Windows to take appropriate action when you insert removable storage media such as a USB flash drive, audio CD, DVD, or memory card into a drive. When this feature is turned on, the operating system detects the kind of disc or media you inserted and takes the action you requested for that type of media. If you have not already made a decision about what the operating system should do, you see a window similar to the one shown in Figure 5-14.

This screenshot shows a pop-up notification labeled AutoPlay, offering options to choose what happens when this removable drive is inserted.

Figure 5-14 When you insert a removable drive, AutoPlay offers to perform an action on your behalf.

If you don’t want Windows to take any action, you can simply ignore the message; it disappears after a few seconds. Otherwise, clicking or tapping the message brings you to the screen shown in Figure 5-15.

This screenshot shows a menu labeled USB Drive, with three options available under a heading that reads Choose What To Do With Removable Drives.

Figure 5-15 When you insert a removable drive, Windows asks what you’d like to do with similar actions in the future.

Notice that your choices here are limited to ones that are appropriate for the device type and Take No Action. (For example, if you insert an audio CD, your choices include any installed apps capable of playing audio CDs, in addition to Take No Action.) If you don’t want to commit to any of the options on this menu, press Esc.

To turn this feature on or off, go to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > AutoPlay and slide the switch at the top of the page to the Off position. When this option is on, you can change the default action for removable drives and memory cards here. To configure AutoPlay settings for DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and CDs, you need to go the corresponding page in Control Panel. To open that page, click Start, type autoplay, and then click Start Or Stop Using AutoPlay For All Media And Devices from the results list.