How does Remove Reinstalls know what to remove?

P

pmikep

Active Member
If it's not a Trade Secret, a question for nuhi. How does Remove Reinstalls know what I had removed previously using NTLite?

Is there a log file that I need to keep that it looks at?

I ask because 1) I've always been curious about it, and 2) after just now installing KB4592438 (to bring me up to Win10 19042.685) I notice that Flash Player is back in Control Panel. This despite that I had removed it earlier using NTLite. And this despite that I have the Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player listed as an update in Windows.

I ran Remove Reinstalls before writing this post. But somehow Flash Player is back.
 
So, after refreshing 19042.572 with .685, (as told here), I found that Adobe Flash Player was back in Control Panel. IIRC this was after Remove Reinstalls. (But I can't be sure.) The KB that is supposed to remove Flash was still in .685.

Not a big deal. I was able to remove Flash with NTLite Live. But it's the first time I've seen Flash reappear.

While I'm at it, I noticed that I could not remove OneNote from .685. It seems that it's more of a screen than an app, so perhaps not important.
 
And while I'm talking about things reappearing, I notice that Windows Mail Comm Library keeps reappearing in NTLite Live, even after removing it during a previous Live. (It's like a zombie.)
 
i asked same to nuhi months before he said:

"Windows is doing host refresh, it's like a "in-place upgrade", it installs new Windows then migrates the settings. I'm just doing a few things aside to speed up the process by blocking unnecessary NTLite steps and protect needed components."
 
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pmikep, let me rephrase what I read, and you can fill in the gaps:
- so Adobe Flash is removed
- image installed, updated with a package for Flash removal
- at this point the Control panel has no Flash
- update with a cumulative update next month
Is Control Panel Flash returned immediately after the cumulative update or only after Remove Reinstalls?

This is a very unique situation, Microsoft haven't disabled many components before, so we might need to adapt the removal to maybe leave that removal package when removing or similar to signal to Windows that it's disabled on next update.

Thanks.
 
Control Panel Flash returned immediately after the cumulative update.

Update edit: Flash did NOT disappear after I ran Remove Reinstalls.

I should add that, when I have done previous Host Refreshes (like, 1903 to 1909, and 1909 to 20H2), Flash did not reappear.

This was the first time that I have ever done a cumulative update in Win10. So it seems to happen only after a CU.
 
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Still wonder what the advantages are for using HostRefresh versus using an accumulated preset including all tweaks after monthly updates!?!
 
I use HostRefresh because it gives me a reset of Win10. Almost like a clean install, except, of course, most of my Registry tweaks and most other customizations remain.

And a potential problem with using accumulated presets is that they might not always work correctly with a newer version of NTLite.

So I am at the point where I create a new preset whenever a new version of NTLite comes out. I compare the new preset that I create with a previous one, to try to make sure that I didn't miss anything from the old one. But there are usually subtle differences.
 
I think we both and probably also most other users of NTL use the method that works best for the individual depending on the goal. I admit that a master preset needs to be adjusted continuously depending on both Windows and NTL version and I have chosen and spend the time on fine adjusting my preset as I have experienced that HostRefresh takes way too long compared to an online removal with a master preset. Especially after Windows updates, which quickly add between 2-4 gigs of HD / SSD consumption after the monthly update. So far, however, it has worked for the purpose, with a few exceptions without errors - but they are usually quickly discovered and corrected and preset updated.
And if everything go down!?! - i always have a backup from barebone (USB) and be back to normal with everything intact in 5 min.!
 
pmikep said:
If it's not a Trade Secret, a question for nuhi. How does Remove Reinstalls know what I had removed previously using NTLite?

Is there a log file that I need to keep that it looks at?

I ask because 1) I've always been curious about it, and 2) after just now installing KB4592438 (to bring me up to Win10 19042.685) I notice that Flash Player is back in Control Panel. This despite that I had removed it earlier using NTLite. And this despite that I have the Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player listed as an update in Windows.

I ran Remove Reinstalls before writing this post. But somehow Flash Player is back.
Click to expand...
did you install the Microsoft Update that prevent flash to back? It's a optional update and need to download manually in catalog update.
 
If you are asking me about KB4577586 - then the answer is "Yes" I had slipped stream this KB in before the Refresh using NTLite. And it showed in the list of Updates in Windows after the Refresh.
 
francis11 said:
I think we both and probably also most other users of NTL use the method that works best for the individual depending on the goal.
Click to expand...
Agreed. As we say here "To each, their own."

But I'll give another reason for why I prefer Host Refresh. (Time, for me, isn't an issue. It takes about 10 minutes to do the Refresh itself. (Although it takes about a day to find and re-customize Windows. (Like removing the Library Files from File Explorer.))) Take Service Stacks, for example.

It seems that MS is pushing new SS's every few months. I read somewhere (back in the Win7 days) that you shouldn't uninstall an old SS, even if it's been superseded.

Okay, it's probably not a problem keeping the old SS's with the new. (Apparently you don't have any problems caused by this.) But my obsessiveness calls for a "clean" SS installation. (Because I worry about old SS's interfering with new SS's. And other OS files like it.) Host Refresh gives me that.

And, considering the bugs that some CU's bring, I don't know if newer CU's completely repair those bugs.
 
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