Degrading of WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER by Microsoft [WMP]
@TheRoadCrew wrote:
Ref waldo@susie: Some dim recall, now, of having seen something a bit like that in MS DOS, years and years back, 1993-ish, where my eldest (then nine) explained about putting dir at the command prompt, to list the contents of a directory. Same sort of principle, yes (?)
Yes. And dir will still give you a directory listing on CMD.EXE and PowerShell on Windows 10 / 11
... had to look up CMD.EXE
>> cmd.exe is the default command-line interpreter for the OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Microsoft Windows, and ReactOS operating systems. The name refers to its executable filename. It is also commonly referred to as cmd or the Command Prompt, referring to the default window title on Windows. [wikipedia]
... so I tried accessing 'command prompt' (via windows graphic left/foot corner) and it gave me C:\users\micro>
(no idea why but that's who it thinks I am, I think - always attributes authorship of things like pdfs to micro)
Anyway I put dir after micro> and it did indeed list directories.
The third of which was .affinity, interestingly enough.
So thank you for that 
I am learning a little at a time, but it's a slow process, and stuff like this isn't always recalled later (just for reference in case I ask the same thing again somewhere further down the track).
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@TheRoadCrew wrote:
@Penny wrote:Meanwhile no sign of Affinity in Windows (C:) Program Files nor in Windows (C:) Program Files (x86). The file listings are (both) alphabetical so it's not like I've missed seeing them somehow
I suspect you have missed them 'cos Affinty has been installed in the WindowsApps folder under Program Files and the WindowsApps folder is hidden by default.
As it happens I already have 'Hidden items' ticked on the View option for Program Files - probably because I also have 'File name extensions' ticked (will have done all that when first setting up the PC so as to more-easily differentiate between types of files). My eldest explained about the 'Hidden items' option many years back, when we couldn't find stuff.
However with regard to WindowsApps I'd never heard of that, so wouldn't have recognised its significance, with regard to Affinity or any other such program.
@TheRoadCrew wrote:
https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-access-windowsapps-folder/ will show you how to access the hidden folder if you really want to see what's there.
Interesting page.
>> The Windows Operating System has a hidden folder called "WindowsApps." It stores Microsoft application files and other important files to enhance your Windows experience. The folder usually contains a large amount of reusable space. This is because it also contains those application files you uninstalled from your PC earlier.
The first option - How to Access WindowsApps via File Explorer - Change Ownership Properties to Get Access - looks - maybe - possible for me (options 2 Power Shell and 3 Registry Hack well outside what I'd even attempt, probably).
However at this point in time not entirely - at all - confident of trying option 1. Basically because exceedingly wary of stuffing up *anything* in a PC which is nearly seven years old (previous PC hard drives have lasted a maximum of six years, thus far).
Weighted against that, though, now, is the likely *size* of the uninstalled application files. CZUR scanner arrives at about 600Mb (zipped) but just checked the properties of the unpacked file and it's 1.47Gb. The software updates maybe every 6-12 months so I've probably got at least four editions of that, tucked away in that folder. Let alone whatever else might be there.
So I *should* take a look, I guess. Maybe just not quite yet.
@TheRoadCrew wrote:
Affinty has been installed in the WindowsApps folder
@MisterW wrote:
msix is just the latest interation of Windows application install packaging. The file contains all the components i.e. executables (.exe) , libraries and configuration files needed for the application.
Traditionally these have been packaged into .msi files but .msix seems to be an improved packaging mechanism.
Executing the msi or msix file installs the application, creates shortcuts and menu entries automatically
What I was puzzled about, before, was where Affinity had been put (and why it didn't even appear on add/remove programs).
I now know *where* it is (and if I brave the Ownership Properties thing, will probably see all its folders etc.).
However it occurred to me a couple of days back, that *maybe* right-clicking Affinity would offer an 'uninstall' option.
I finally got round to trying that yesterday - and yes, it does.
So 20 seconds to install (2Gb?) and possibly just as simple/straightforward to remove. And maybe even cleans itself properly from the WindowsApps folder if it's uninstalled.
So, Affinity-wise, relatively happy to just leave things as they are, now But very many thanks for all the related info which has helped to put all this in perspective.
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@Penny wrote: [30/04/26, 15.31pm]
The first option - How to Access WindowsApps via File Explorer - Change Ownership Properties to Get Access - looks - maybe - possible for me
... so I thought I should maybe try.
Followed through the whole described sequence (from page here), and watched as it transferred ownership of all the (very very many) files at step 8, and clicked OK.
Then I highlighted WindowsApp and right-clicked on Properties again.
0 files, 0 folders.
Closed file explorer, re-opened, went through aspects of the sequence again.
End display here looks identical to that on step 8 of the instructions (aside from 'replace owner' which had done already).
I've painted out the identifier re this PC but aside from that all the rows look much the same (?)
File attributes (on the double zero properties-screen) show as 'read only' but disinclined to change that as nothing is visible to read.
@TheRoadCrew Any insights would be appreciated, thanks. Probably requires something stupidly obvious but I have no idea what 😐
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@spile wrote:
There is a forum - search Creofora Affinity where you can get tips. Sadly the old excellent Serif forum was closed down when Canva took them over. Check out the Elaine Giles and Affinity Revolution tutorials on YouTube.
@spile Thank you Just looked up all of those.
CreoFora - https://creofora.com/
Elaine Giles - https://www.youtube.com/@ElaineGiles/videos
Affinity Revolution - https://www.youtube.com/@AffinityRevolution/videos
... amazing range of graphics-related tuition on that last. I hadn't quite grasped the full potential of the Affinity software - there's nothing in today's glossy magazines that couldn't be achieved relatively simply - and swiftly - it would seem. MS Publisher was brilliant in many many ways - but tbh this is in a different league.
Looking forward to exploring, in due course.
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@shutter wrote:
you need to download LIBRE OFFICE and use that to read and edit .pub files .
https://libreoffice.en.softonic.com/download
@shutter Thank you for the link. Just went to their page and it says:
LibreOffice is a free office suite for Windows operating systems developed by The Document Foundation. A utilitarian and open-source software, LibreOffice offers a feature-rich, free alternative to Microsoft Office. The suite includes a wide variety of standard tools. Included is software for word processing, spreadsheets, slideshow creation, a vector-drawing program, and even an editor for math formulae.
Originally based on OpenOffice.org, LibreOffice has since risen to the most actively developed OpenOffice.org successor project. As a free and open source software, anybody can make use of this collection of apps. Whether on Windows, macOS, or Linux, LibreOffice has an invaluable suite of programs for presenting and organizing. It can also be used for writing, akin to Google Docs or Microsoft Word documents.
... and I've downloaded it. Straightforward - very swift download. And it's another .msi
Installation took about a minute, ish. Wouldn't load up straight away - wouldn't open, much like Affinity - so I added it to the taskbar and then it opened fine from there.
Just tested it with several .pub files. Reads the text brilliantly (on all the files opened) and managed to reproduce (a) colours and (b) simple box layouts (used for signs).
However a lot of my historical stuff is text laid out against (drawn) shapes like boxes, and it couldn't do that at all, on those I tried. But such are proportionately few of the remaining Publisher files, realistically. At least the text content will remain accessible, ongoing.
Also reassured by the fact that (a) it was an .msi file (ie destined for WindowsApps), (b) it installed okay, and (c) it worked okay, which hopefully means that I haven't stuffed up anything major with what I've changed so far on the WindowsApps settings 😐
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@paul_blitz wrote: [24/04/26, 17.38pm]
Purely for ripping CDs (and importing the relevant metadata) I can recommend Exact Audio Copy ( https://www.exactaudiocopy.de/)
@Penny wrote: [25/04/26, 17.25pm]
However the https://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ page is so full of graphics/adverts - all saying 'download' - that I wasn't sure which link would actually download the Exact Audio Copy software.If you could possibly advise the correct link/download address, that would be appreciated, thanks.
@Protech wrote: [25/04/26, 18.35pm]
https://www.exactaudiocopy.de/download/
Well I downloaded it, but that was as far as I got. A lot of other stuff has been going on in the meantime
Just installed it. Tiny program, compared with the other two. Surprisingly complex in all the things it asked during the setup, most of which I hadn't a clue how to answer.
Opted for FLAC for recording, as .mp3 seemed to require downloading some other software "as well". Only 1.5Mb (per minute?) as opposed to 6Mb for FLAC, space usage, it said.
Well it recorded a whole CD. In about five minutes flat. 17 tracks - the last of which was 3m43s and filesize 37.6Mb. So I'm guessing that's about 10Mb per minute.
But the sound quality is amazing.
It didn't read the track names (they just have names now like Track17.wav). Maybe I can figure such stuff out later.
Meanwhile I can - eventually - put all the music "in one place" rather than having to locate the disks or physically move my single CD-player from one anker dock to another, dependent on where I'm working. Just brilliant.
So thank you @paul_blitz
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It appears something has changed since the publication of https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-access-windowsapps-folder/.
In step 5 you need to use your Administrator user account name rather than just Administrator (if you have just one account on your system it will be an Administrator account):
For step 8 I have:
After changing permissions I have access to everything in the WindowsApps folder:
@TheRoadCrew wrote:
It appears something has changed since the publication of https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-access-windowsapps-folder/.
In step 5 you need to use your Administrator user account name rather than just Administrator (if you have just one account on your system it will be an Administrator account):
@TheRoadCrew Thank you for managing somehow to discover a way through this Guessing it wasn't a simple thing to fathom out, and appreciate you posting the solution.
However. Sorting things out here may not (now) be straightforward.
Yesterday I spent some time reviewing the content of the https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-access-windowsapps-folder/ page - especially the video. The latter recommended creating a System Restore point before embarking on the changes - unfortunately that wasn't seen in the text of the page so hadn't been done before the ownership changes were progressed.
Having (then) discovered I couldn't simply reverse the [File Explorer] steps I had taken initially, I went looking to see what else might be possible. The video said powershell could be used:
icacls "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" /reset /T
... but https://superuser.com/questions/1288014/reset-default-acls-for-c-program-files-windowsapps said:
Warning! The /reset /t command will break most UWP apps by deleting special permissions that are unique to every folder inside WindowsApps. In many cases, Windows will explicitly validate the presence of these special permissions before allowing a UWP app to start, and will abort with an error if they are missing. Attempting to restore these special permissions is exceptionally difficult without a backup. Make sure to use /save <ACLfile> /t to grab a backup before reset.
... so - eventually - I went looking (duckduckgo) to see if I could find any way of reverting ownership to TrustedInstaller, and found this page: https://www.kapilarya.com/restore-windowsapps-folder-owner-to-trustedinstaller
I didn't understand the logic of
4. Under Select User or Group, type the object name as NT Service\TrustedInstaller and click Check Names.
(NT Service ??) but it *worked*, and TrustedInstaller was apparently reinstalled as the owner (with the long sequence of file-changes displayed on screen).
So far so good. *but* there are four problems.
(1) Properties - Security - Advanced says: Unable to display current owner. *change*. If I click on *change*, then cancel on next screen, it then displays the first screen with TrustedInstaller shown as the owner. So something's missing somewhere 😐
(2) Double-clicking on Users (PC-name\Users) [still on the TrustedInstaller-owner screen] [8th entry down, under Principal] generates the message:
This access-control entry is corrupt. Delete it and create a new one.
[no idea how to do that]
(3) >> In step 5 you need to use your Administrator user account name rather than just Administrator (if you have just one account on your system it will be an Administrator account):
... I don't know what my "user account name" might be - though on command prompt (as noted somewhere previously) it appears as C:\Users\micro> (so I'm guessing that 'micro' is the user account name ??).
(4) Backtracking to the video on the makeuseof.com page, I followed the steps re System Restore, just to find out where things were (have used System Restore in the past but very long ago, last time I think was to rescue much of the content of the previous PC before its hard drive gave out altogether, so Nov 2019 or thereabouts).
... The System Restore page on this PC says:
"System protection is turned off. To turn it back on so that you can use System Restore, configure *system protection*.
Oh joy.
I have no idea when System protection might have been turned off (clearly would not have done so myself). However in the early days of the PC, first three years had 'protection' in the sense of being able to phone Support, and this was a regular thing because it kept jamming up and having to be rebooted, and they took control of the PC (Team Viewer or whatever) and did long sequences of stuff to make it work again - and eventually, by the end of the three years, it had become almost trouble-free, and I don't think I've contacted them since.
So. Four things I don't know how to sort, before I could potentially try your solution
Having said all that, I don't know that WindowsApps was in a fully-healthy state at the start of all this. When I first installed Affinity it hung for ages [ref post 25 "then an endlessly-moving blue circle. Eventually I clicked on the icon that had installed itself in the (footer) taskbar, and it said something like 'Affinity is not responding' then 'reporting the problem to Microsoft' and then it closed (and vanished from the taskbar)"] though it did work okay after that.
Now however, after the change of ownership back to TrustedInstaller, Affinity wouldn't load at all (repeated sequences like the above ending with 'reporting the problem to Microsoft').
So, last night, I deleted it (right-click, 10 seconds, gone) and also Libre Office (somewhat longer and via Uninstall Programs) and removed the original downloads for both, and all of a sudden the PC back to 40Gb free aside from the 750Mb-ish .wav files from the single CD that was processed with EAC a few days back.
Somewhat reassured that removing such large programs has apparently not left a huge additional residue in WindowsApps.
However all is clearly 'not quite right', as per items 1-4 above.
Having said that, the rest of the PC is apparently still operating okay 😎 so if you're discinclined to spend any more time helping me sort all this out, that is of course absolutely fine. Really appreciate what you've done so far.
... and finally. When I turned on the PC today, there was the horrible grinding-type noise (subdued but audible) that my previous PC made, on boot-up, for a few days before it gave up the ghost completely.
So it's looking possible/likely that this one may be struggling to keep going. Sadly, because it's been a very good PC.
Hopefully all will be fine, but if I suddenly disappear off the forums for a while, you'll know the probable reason why I'm not here
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