Windows 10: Clean Install may still reinstall Mfr's Bloatware

From full article here - Zombie Crapware: How the Windows Platform Binary Table Works

Microsoft added a new feature to Windows 8 that allows manufacturers to infect the UEFI firmware with crapware. Windows will continue installing and resurrecting this junk software even after you perform a clean-install. This feature continues to be present on Windows 10 ......

WPBT 101 Beginning with Windows 8, a PC manufacturer can embed a program — a Windows .exe file, essentially — in the PC’s UEFI firmware . This is stored in the “Windows Platform Binary Table” (WPBT) section of the UEFI firmware. Whenever Windows boots, it looks at the UEFI firmware for this program, copies it from the firmware to the operating system drive, and runs it. Windows itself provides no way to stop this from happening. If the manufacturer’s UEFI firmware offers it up, Windows will run it without question.

EG - Lenovo shipped a variety of PCs with something called the “Lenovo Service Engine” (LSE) enabled. the Lenovo Service Engine downloads a program called the OneKey Optimizer and reports some amount of data back to Lenovo. Lenovo sets up system services designed to download and update software from the Internet, making it impossible to remove them — they’ll even automatically come back after a clean install of Windows. The UEFI firmware checks the C:\Windows\system32\autochk.exe file and overwrites it with Lenovo’s own version. This program runs at boot to check the file system on Windows, and this trick allows Lenovo to make this nasty practice work on Windows 7, too.

Does Your PC Include WPBT Software?

On PCs using the WPBT, Windows reads the binary data from the table in the UEFI firmware and copies it to a file named wpbbin.exe at boot.
You can check your own PC to see if the manufacturer has included software in the WPBT. To find out, open the C:\Windows\system32 directory and look for a file named wpbbin.exe. The C:\Windows\system32\wpbbin.exe file only exists if Windows copies it from the UEFI firmware. If it’s not present, your PC manufacturer hasn’t used WPBT to automatically run software on your PC.







At least mine came up like the picture, no wpbbin above the checked one *Wink

:)

 

WIn 10 home upgrade to Pro

If you have upgraded (and activated) your win 10 Pro you can clean install from the ISO and simply skip the step where it asks for the key. The install will check with the online activation servers find your Pro credentials and complete the install

I ALWAYS remove mfr bloatware. +1

 

Memory Management BSOD afer Windows 10 Upgrade

John

Thanks for letting us know. Gigabyte like most mfrs bloatware is atrocious.

Good Luck