ObjectDesktop - Safe? + How to safely uninstall?

[CommandPromptAddict]

Good evening! 

I could not help but notice that an employee at my workplace had a task bar on his computer that was awfully similar to the style of Windows 98 , which I thought was strange considering the limitations of Windows 11 when it comes to customization. I did ask him about it, and turns out he used an series of applications that fell under some kind of suite by the name of ObjectDesktop, which I would love to use on my workspace computer too. After doing minor research I did find out that a dozen users experienced some issues with their computers when using the suite, and that many of the features that can be turned on are often irreversible to the point where reinstalling Windows is the way to go. Heard that it has something to do with the Windows registry and such.

Is ObjectDesktop and its applications "safe" to use, as in free from malware? If so, which procedures do you guys recommend me to take in order to secure an ideal full uninstallation of the suite and it's effects from the computer? Would a backup of the registry before installation be a good idea?

All input is much appreciated! Thanks in advance! 

[Porthos]

I personally do not think $40-50 a year is worth it.

Although it is not malware, it has the potential of screwing things up after Windows updates and upgrades.

[Porthos]

12 minutes ago, CommandPromptAddict said:

I could not help but notice that an employee at my workplace

If your computer is owned by the workplace there is another big issue.

[CommandPromptAddict]

Hey, @Porthos

Thanks for the feedback! After giving it some time, I do agree with you that the colleague's decision to have it on a workspace computer is relatively risky. I am however glad to hear that you don't think it's malware. 

I have also been considering to rather purchase one application of the suite rather than the entirety of it, as the colleague did underline that an application by the name of "WindowBlinds" was responsible for the theming itself. Would save me from the havoc of subscriptions. 

If we were to think about personal use, how do you think I can ensure that I can get rid of the suite and/or application from my personal computer in case the application does happen to tear the computer up?

[Porthos]

I personally do not use or recommend any software that changes the way Windows looks.

But if you wish to do so, have an image of Windows from before any changes to restore if needed.

 

[AdvancedSetup]

@CommandPromptAddict

Overall the software is safe from a malware threat point of view. However the changes it makes on the system could potentially weaken security though so far I've never seen any direct reports of Object Desktop causing an attack.

When it comes to uninstall  that is another animal in and of itself. Most applications on Windows do not fully remove themselves very well at all. Even Microsoft Office is a prime example. You can do an uninstall and reboot and there will be thousands of files, folders, and registry entries for Microsoft Office still on your system.

Object Desktop is quite the same. I have not run or tested it in years but in the past a few years ago it would still try to load modules even though the application was removed. It was so integrated and messy to clean up that I simply went ahead and did a clean install of Windows.

They may have improved the removal procedures over time, I'm not sure but I would agree with @Porthos that having a full image of your system that can be restored would be a wise move. Having full backups is always a good thing even if you're not messing with new software like this.

 

 

[CommandPromptAddict]

I appreciate the valuable pieces of advice. 

I have been able to find some articles from the Stardocks forums themselves which, at first glance, makes the uninstallation proccess of WindowsBlinds 11 look relatively challenging, as it involves using some kind of "purge" .bat file that I would need to install from the forums, in addition to "reverting to standard windows" (which I didn't understand). A fraction of the information sounded partially technical to me to the point where I wasn't really able to comprehend much of it, but what I can guess is that uninstallation is doable. I'd love to share the forum with you: https://forums.stardock.com/517362/how-do-i-remove-windowblinds-entirely. Suppose that I happen to install then uninstall one of the softwares, how can I check for whether the application still is attempting to run modules after a supposed removal, @AdvancedSetup?

I will however nonetheless take @Porthos's advice and not procede until I get my hands on a HDD/SSD for an image backup. These devices certainly aren't the cheapest things you can find on the web, but I suppose buying a used one would be equally as good. Thought I could do the backup on a 64-GB USB, but that turned out to quickly not be the case after researcing what an image backup really is, haha! 

Again, I thank you for the invaluable information. 

[AdvancedSetup]

Basically the program Windows Blinds needs to be exited out of before you uninstall it.

If you try to uninstall while it's running it won't uninstall properly

[CommandPromptAddict]

Thanks for the reply, @AdvancedSetup

In the meantime, I will attempt to install the application in a virtual machine and uninstall it to see how the operating system behaves. I'd love to hear how you confirmed that there were indeed modules still attempting to load in after you had tried to uninstall the program. If I've understood your statement correctly, the proccess of fully uninstall a software from a computer is in general complicated, but I wouldn't mind having some small junk files on my computer as long as they're not doing anything except taking up space. 

 

[David H. Lipman]

FYI:  I use Explorer Patchier in conjunction with Open Shell in Windows 11

https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher

https://open-shell.github.io/Open-Shell-Menu/

[CommandPromptAddict]

Thanks for listing the awesome softwares, @David H. Lipman! I was especially amazed by the amount of features that ExplorerPatcher has, and which I kind of miss from Windows 10. I'm personally a daily user of Powertoys myself, so this will come in handy. 

I'd love to ask this post on whether it really is necessary to have an image backup before installing the software on the computer, @AdvancedSetup I've managed to compile all of my personal files on the 64 GB USB-stick of mine, and I would absolutely appreciate knowing the risks that I'm taking if the machine were to go bonkers - I've namely begun reconsidering buying an external harddisk due to the cost of such disks from credible companies. 

[CommandPromptAddict]

In order to minimize the risks, I've proceeded with creating a system restore point, and I've also considered backing up the registry.

[CommandPromptAddict]

+would be absolutely great to hear the advice that you, the experts, have for any other procedures I can take to minimalise the risk even more without having to use an image backup. 

 

[AdvancedSetup]

An image backup for playing around isn't per se necessary, but having good solid backups today is imperative if one values their data.

If you woke up and went to start your computer tomorrow and it would not start and you found out the hard drive failed and could not be recovered and ALL DATA was lost forever would you be upset? If so then YOU NEED to back up your data to an external drive

 

[AdvancedSetup]

A 2TB external USB drive should be good for most users unless you have a lot of data

https://www.newegg.com/seagate-model-stgx2000400-2tb/p/2RC-02PD-00002

There are larger drives. I use 5TB drives myself and have several of them over the years.

 

 

[CommandPromptAddict]

The entire idea of external harddrives and solid state drives is entirely know to me. Interesting how we've gone from discussing the installation of a software to the discussion of hardwares (and I like it! I have never actually gotten the chance to gather so much information about PCs, and now that I have gotten a relatively small idea of the use of external harddrives, I actually might get one of these - plus I finally know what that giant rectangular prism that was always lying on my IT colleague's desk was).   

I've taken off some time to introduce myself to the difference between SSDs and HDDs, and I am leaning more towards the purchase of an external SSD of half a terrabyte. This is considering that, as far as I have researched, SSDs are a hell of a lot faster, and the prices of these is surprisingly enough very similar in the scandinavian online stores. I, myself, couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that 2TB HDD for less than 70$ - my 500 GB SSD fell under approximately the same price, while a 1 TB HDD costed roughly the 70$, too (though I want to emphasise that the same store sold 5 TB HDD's for 150$, the store is really pushing to pay more).  

From what I have understood, both HDD and SSD's can be used as boot drives themselves (like storage for computers) or for backup purposes. I frankly have a laptop with no more than 250 GB's of used storage - does that mean that I can have two image backups on the same 500 GB SSD drive, or alternatively four of these drives on an HDD?

I am eager to learn more about this, and I am kind of unsure of whether that would be a good use of SSDs. Do people use usually use external SSDs as additonal and faster storage devices for their computers, like what I now speculate the colleague at the IT department did? Considering that the goal is backing up, would it be wise to rather go with an HDD? If I were to want to increase storage, would it then be wise to rather use an SSD?

 

[David H. Lipman]

1 hour ago, CommandPromptAddict said:

The entire idea of external harddrives and solid state drives is entirely know to me. Interesting how we've gone from discussing the installation of a software to the discussion of hardwares ...

Simple - Planning ahead for just-in-case scenarios for an unknown software to mitigate possible issues, chaos and failures.

Solid State Drives are faster.  But also consume less power, generate less heat, do not have moving parts (motor and platter) and are more impervious to G-Force shock and temperature changes as compared to what is referred to as a traditional hard disk drive.  Also known retroactively as  "spindle drives."

I see no reason to choose a traditional hard disk drive (spindle drives) over a solid state drive.

If you want to discuss the storage drive to a greater degree, you can start a new topic on just that and leave this thread to what is referred to as a the OS Shell and software that provides a User interface that is more traditional and familiar than the Windows 10/11 Shell.

When I use the Terminology Shell, I am referring to the Human Interface to a given Operating System.  Each OS can provide 2 basic forms of an OS Shell. 

• Command Line Shell also know as a Command Line Interface  (CLI)  (Examples: CMD.EXE, Command.Com and PowerShell)
• Graphical User Interface (GUI) (Examples:  Explorer.exe and Open Shell)

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_(computing)
 

Edited July 30 by David H. Lipman
Edited for content, clarity, spelling and/or grammar

[CommandPromptAddict]

Thank you for the valuable insight.

I might consider starting a topic related the harddisks and try to find some early-written posts in hopes of finding some written answers to questions proposed earlier by people with similar interests. In the meantime I'm considering to stick to HDD as it seems like they give more space for the dollar (after doing some further digging), and will essentially end up in my attic.  I also thank you a lot for providing me with the terminology  

There's one questions that I have in mind about ObjectDesktop, and perhaps more specifically WindowsBlinds: I've now installed Revo Uninstaller, which I assume is considered to be a safe program to use, with the thoughts that it might assist me in removing settings, modules and other applications that remain after the unisntallation of ObjectDesktop/WindowsBlinds. However (and this is coming from a non-professional), considering that many of ObjectDesktop's applications change the look of the user interface (which could possibly mean the modification of potential cruicial pre-existing Windows registry), is there a probability that it might end up screwing around with the registry of the OS Shell itself, and hence breaking the whole OS? 

[AdvancedSetup]

You should be fine for testing. But remember, if you have the program on for months and then decide to uninstall you won't have that System Restore Point available as a fall back because new ones are generated by the system and at some point old ones removed unless you greatly increase the size allowed for them.

Overall I think you're worrying about it too much. Give it a go already one can always undo or if needed reinstall Windows.

Not all that big a deal in the long run

 

[CommandPromptAddict]

Thank you for the help. I am indeed slightly stepping over the paranoia line, and I apologise for that.

Are system restore points + registry backups stores as single files respectively? Would it then be possible to locate and save these two files on a USB stick in order to prevent such case from happening? 

Also, would using installing the software using Revo Uninstaller help make the cleaning proccess slightly less messy, assuming that things I happen to uninstall? I do think that reinstalling Windows should be a last-resort option here.

I'd like to emphasise that these questions don't have to necessarily apply to the installation of ObjectDesktop, as you have made me aware that I'm worrying too much about a software that is malware-free. I will proceed with using the knowledge that I recieve, and have recieved, with further applications that seem more suspecious than the one we're discussing. I would go as far as to claim that I haven't recieved as much helpful information in such a short time period in years. Without you guys, I wouldn't have bought my first HDD and done what might literally be saving tons of valuable data by backing up.

[CommandPromptAddict]

Thanks to @AdvancedSetupI was able to merge my alternate account with my main one. I'd love to hear you you's insights on the questions I had asked 

[AdvancedSetup]

Again, THE best thing to do is create a full image backup of your system onto an external USB drive with a program like Macrium Reflect

 

 

If you want to have a full set of registry hive files as another backup method you can do the following. With these file you could boot from a USB bootable drive and copy over file if needed in an emergency

 

You can do full backups of your HIVE files which are the actual physical files the Registry editor works with when you use it.

You'll need 2 programs. Z-zip and TScopy

Go to this link. Download and install 7-Zip

https://www.7-zip.org/

Next,

Go to the following website and download TScopy

TScopy is a Python script used to parse the NTFS $MFT file to locate and copy specific files.

Main page: https://github.com/trustedsec/tscopy
Download page: https://github.com/trustedsec/tscopy/tree/master/dist

You will want this one:  TScopy_x64.exe
Click on the View raw link to download it

To stay organized, I use the following layout structure to store all my batch files

C:\Backup\Admin\batch

Please make a new folder C:\Backup
Please make a new folder C:\Backup\Admin
Please make a new folder C:\Backup\Admin\batch

 

Since you probably won't store a lot of utilities you can move the TScopy_x64.exe file into this folder C:\Backup\Admin\batch

C:\BACKUP
└───Admin
    └───Batch

Save the attached zip file and extract the batch file to this folder:  C:\Backup\Admin\batch 

Then right-click over the batch file and select "Run as administrator" and it should create a new folder named C:\Backup-Hives

In that folder will be a new folder with today's date and time as well as a .7z archive file with today's date and time that contains all the hives on the system.

C:\BACKUP-HIVES
└───2024-8-3_92637.85

2024-8-3_92637.85_hivebackup.7z

C:\Backup-Hives\2024-8-3_92637.85\2024-8-3_92637.85_hivebackup.7z

 

The attached zip file contains TScopy_x64.exe needed to do the backups.

Backup-Hive_files.zip

The batch file contained in the zip file is the following

@Echo Off
Set /A "Jan=1,Feb=2,Mar=3,Apr=4,May=5,Jun=6,Jul=7,Aug=8,Sep=9,Oct=10,Nov=11,Dec=12"
Set /A "Mon=1,Tue=2,Wed=3,Thu=4,Fri=5,Sat=6,Sun=7"
Type Nul >"%TEMP%\~.ddf"
Makecab /D RptFileName="%TEMP%\~.rpt" /D InfFileName=Nul /F "%TEMP%\~.ddf" >Nul
Set /P "timestamp=" <"%TEMP%\~.rpt"
For /F "tokens=3-9 delims=: " %%a In ("%timestamp%") Do (
Set /A "year=%%g,month=%%b,day=1%%c-100,weekday=%%a"
Set /A "hour=1%%d-100,minute=1%%e-100,second=1%%f-100"
)
Del /Q "%TEMP%\~.*"
Set newdir=%year%-%month%-%day%

@ECHO off
SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
for /f "tokens=1-4 delims=:,.-/ " %%i in ('echo %time%') do (
set 'hh'=%%i
set 'mm'=%%j
set 'ss'=%%k
set 'ff'=%%l)
ENDLOCAL & SET v_Hour=%'hh'%& SET v_Minute=%'mm'%& SET v_Second=%'ss'%& SET v_Fraction=%'ff'%
set timestring=%V_Hour%%V_Minute%%v_Second%.%v_Fraction%
Set newdir=%newdir%_%timestring%
if not exist "C:\Backup-Hives" (
    mkdir "C:\Backup-Hives"
)

MD "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%"
:: Copy all user profile hives and System Hives using TSCopy
:: https://www.trustedsec.com/blog/access-locked-files-with-tscopy/
:: https://github.com/trustedsec/tscopy
C:\Backup\Admin\batch\TScopy_x64.exe -r -o "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%" -f c:\users\*\ntuser*,c:\Windows\system32\config
:: Remove the Default profile hive before creating 7z archive
CD /D C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%
del "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%\mft.pickle" /f
RD /q /s "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%\Users\Default"
:: Create the 7z archive file 
"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" a "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%\%newdir%_hivebackup.7z" "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%\"
:: Remove the physical file and folder data to reduce disk usage now that we have the 7z archive
RD /q /s "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%\Users"
RD /q /s "C:\Backup-Hives\%newdir%\windows"

:EOF

PAUSE