# Bloatynosy Origin
**Open the app, see what Windows is doing, decide for yourself what stays.**
[](https://github.com/builtbybel/Bloatynosy/releases)
## I gave up on this app more than once
The classic Bloatynosy got renamed, then discontinued. Winpilot replaced it and did not last.
Everything I built after that added more and solved less. None of it ever beat version 0.85, which
was one window, a list, and a button.
I kept taking the app in new directions. New names, new interfaces, new ideas. Some of those
experiments were fun, but every one of them moved further away from the thing that made the first
version worth using. Honestly, I should never have let that idea go.
Nobody else was going to bring it back, so I did. That is what **Origin** means. Not a sequel, not a
fork, not version 12. It is me going back to the version that worked and building that one properly.
The king is back. This time, he came home. 👑
---
## Install
Grab the latest build from the [Releases page](https://github.com/builtbybel/Bloatynosy/releases),
extract it somewhere you can write to, run `Bloatynosy.exe`. That's it, it's portable.
Needs Windows 10 or 11 and .NET Framework 4.8.
Some machine wide settings can only be written with administrator rights. Bloatynosy does not demand
them up front. It runs as you, and if Windows refuses a change, the report says so and names the
setting. Start it as administrator if you want those included.
---
## Using it
Three steps, and the app shows you which one you are on.
| | |
|---|---|
| **1** | **Check your PC.** Bloatynosy reads settings and installed apps. Nothing is changed while it looks |
| **2** | **Review the results.** Tick what should go, untick what you want to keep |
| **3** | **Apply the changes.** A report tells you what worked, what did not, and what needs a restart |
The results are a tree, not 300 flat checkboxes. **Available changes** are the ones that still need
work. **Already applied** holds everything that is set the way the list recommends, so you can pick
from there if you want a setting back. A tick means the opposite in those two, so every category
under **Already applied** says "Restore defaults" next to its name. **Installed apps** is its own
group.
Pick a row and the bottom of the window explains it in plain words. **Show details** adds the
technical side, the actual registry path and value, for when you want to know exactly what happens.
The search box above the tree filters it while you type. Anything you ticked stays ticked, so you
can collect a selection out of several searches.
Right click a row, a category or a whole branch for **Apply now** and **Undo now**. That writes those
few values on the spot, without the three steps and without a report, and the row moves to the other
branch. It is meant for one setting you want to try, not for a full run.
### Putting things back
Settings that carry a documented default can be reset. Select them in **Already applied** and the
button changes from "Apply changes" to "Restore defaults".
Some settings only show up once Explorer has been restarted. The report says which ones, and offers
**Restart Windows Explorer now** so you do not have to sign out. Nothing restarts on its own.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Uninstalled apps are the exception. Windows has no real undo for an uninstall, so a Store app
> means going through the Store again, and a classic program means its maker's installer.
### Apps
Apps are never ticked for you. Every row says where it came from, a **Store app** or a classic
**Win32** program, and a known one carries its bloatware mark. Components Windows needs cannot be
selected at all. Uninstalling asks once more before it starts, because removing an app is a
different decision from changing a setting.
A Store app is uninstalled for your user account. A Win32 program is a different matter: Bloatynosy
starts the uninstaller its maker left in the registry, that window takes over, and it works machine
wide. The report counts those separately as uninstallers started, never as apps removed, because
whether the maker's window finished the job is not something Bloatynosy can know.
---
## Under the hood
What Bloatynosy actually changes
Every setting in the list writes one documented or well known registry value. The app does not patch
system files, does not stop services, and there is no mystery "Optimize" button that runs a script
nobody can read.
A value is checked before it is written, and read back after. If the readback does not match, the
setting counts as failed and lands in the report instead of silently pretending to have worked.
Store apps are removed through Windows PowerShell with `Remove-AppxPackage`. Packages that Windows
marks as non removable, as a framework, or as a resource package are refused.
Classic programs come out of the three `Uninstall` keys in the registry, the same ones the Control
Panel reads, and are filtered the same way, so updates, runtimes and parts of a bigger program stay
out of the list. Nothing is ever written there. The `UninstallString` Windows stored is handed to
`cmd.exe` unchanged, without parsing or rewriting, which is why an `MsiExec /I` entry opens its
maker's maintenance window instead of removing anything behind your back.
The tweak list, and how plugins work
Everything Bloatynosy knows lives in [`Data/WinRules.ini`](Data/WinRules.ini). One section is one
setting: where it lives, what value applies it, what value puts it back, which category it belongs
to and whether it should be ticked by default.
Any other `.ini` file you drop next to it in `Data\` is read as well. That is the entire plugin
system. No DLL to compile, no manifest, no API. A section whose name already exists replaces the one
before it, so a plugin can correct one of my entries instead of only adding new ones. A file that
cannot be read is one missing plugin, not a crash.
App handling has its own file, [`Data/AppRules.ini`](Data/AppRules.ini), which decides what counts as
a bloatware candidate and what Windows is not allowed to lose. It is the one `.ini` in the folder
that is not read as a tweak file.
A section in it sets `Action` to `apps` or `programs`, sets `Safety` to `Safe` or `Protected`, and
then lists what it means. `Package=` matches a package family, where a leading `*` matches the end of
the name instead of the start. `Program=` matches plain text in a classic program's displayed name or
in its publisher, so one line can cover a whole maker. Keep that text long enough to be
unmistakable, `Program=HP` would also hit a program that merely has HP in its name. Drivers and
runtimes belong in a `Protected` section, and no rule in the file can lower what Windows itself needs.
**Settings → Open the folder with the change catalogue** takes you straight there.
Every field a tweak section can carry
The section heading is the name of the tweak and has to be unique. Blank lines are ignored, a line
starting with `;` is a comment, and a comment may also sit behind a value when a space comes first.
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `Category` | Which group the tweak is listed under: `Ads`, `AI`, `Appearance`, `Edge`, `Explorer`, `Gaming`, `Privacy`, `System`, `Taskbar`, `Updates`. An unknown name shows as the raw key |
| `Description` | The plain words shown under the list when the row is selected |
| `Restart` | `explorer` or `system` when the change is only visible afterwards. The report collects these, each one once. Leave it out when the change takes effect right away |
| `OsVersion` | `11` for Windows 11 only, `10` for Windows 10 only. Left out means both |
| `DefaultSelected` | `true` ticks the tweak after a check, as long as no profile is chosen |
| `Group` | A free name shared by tweaks that write the same value to different settings. Ticking one unticks the others, and the description says which one it replaces. Leave it out and the tweak stands alone |
| `RequiresKey` | The tweak is only listed when this registry key exists, which is how an entry for a program nobody installed stays out of the way. Several keys separated by `\|` count as alternatives |
| `Path` | Hive and key in one line. Both spellings work: `HKCU\Software\...` or `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\...`, and the same for `HKLM`, `HKCR`, `HKU` and `HKCC` |
| `ValueName` | The value to write. `(Default)` writes the key's unnamed value |
| `ValueType` | `DWORD`, `QWORD`, `String`, `ExpandString` or `Binary`. Left out means `DWORD`. Numbers may be written as `0x1`, binary as hex pairs |
| `RecommendedValue` | What applying the tweak writes. The check compares the value on the pc against this one |
| `DefaultValue` | What resetting writes. Without it the tweak cannot be put back. `` removes just that one value and leaves the rest of the key alone, `` removes the whole key |
One tweak can write several values. The second one uses `Path2`, `ValueName2`, `ValueType2`,
`RecommendedValue2` and `DefaultValue2`, the third one `Path3`, and so on. The numbering stops at the
first missing `Path` or `ValueName`. A tweak is applied only when every one of its values can be
written, so a tweak that needs two keys never ends up half done.
A section without a single usable value is skipped. Paths under the machine hive, under
`HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT` or anything containing `\Policies\` need administrator rights, and the app says
so instead of trying and failing quietly.
Names and descriptions can be translated. A locale file entry `Tweak_Name_` replaces the
heading and `Tweak_Detail_` replaces the description.
Profiles
A profile is a plain JSON file holding the names of the tweaks and the families of the apps that a
check should tick by itself.
```json
{
"Name": "Workshop",
"Tweaks": ["Disable Start Menu Ads", "Disable Tips and Suggestions"],
"Apps": ["Microsoft.BingWeather"]
}
```
Choose one under **Settings → Profile** and the path is remembered, so it survives a restart. Without
a profile the catalogue decides, which is what `DefaultSelected` has always meant.
The report offers **Save this pc as a profile** when a run is finished. Hand the file to the next
machine and the check arrives ticked.
The tweak list is the state the pc reached, not what that one run happened to change, so a profile
taken from an already clean machine still names every setting. The app list can only hold what that
run uninstalled: Windows lists installed packages, so an app that was gone beforehand is invisible to
the inventory and cannot be written down.
Ignoring entries
A setting you have decided against keeps turning up at every check. Right click it and choose
**Ignore this entry** and it leaves the groups above. It is not gone: it moves into **Ignored**, a
closed group at the bottom of the list, and the same right click brings it back. Installed apps work
the same way.
Ignored entries can never be ticked, so a profile that asks for one cannot apply it behind your back.
The check itself still looks at everything, which is why the number on the start page stays honest.
The list lives in `Data\Settings.json` and holds section names and package families, never the text
you see, so switching the language leaves it intact. It is yours and stays out of profiles, so a
profile you hand on hides nothing on the next machine.
Translating the app
A language is one file in [`Localization\`](Localization), named after its locale. Copy `en.json`,
translate the values, and the app picks it up on the next start. Nothing has to be compiled.
The one thing to know beforehand: the interface lives in that file, the tweak names and descriptions
live in `Data\WinRules.ini` and are translated through optional keys. **[TRANSLATIONS.md](TRANSLATIONS.md)
walks through it.**
Optional AI explanations
**Explain** can ask an AI provider for a short second opinion about the selected entry. It is off
until you turn it on in Settings and add your own API key. Groq, OpenAI, Anthropic and any
OpenAI compatible endpoint work.
Without it the app is completely local. When you do ask, only the name and technical details of that
one entry are sent, never a scan of your PC.
The old source
The code behind every version up to the discontinued one sits in [`legacy/`](legacy). It is kept for
the record and is not maintained. Origin shares no code with it.
---
## Still early
Windows moves things around with every build, and a value that works today can be ignored tomorrow.
If a setting does not stick on your machine, or Bloatynosy reports a failure you do not understand,
please [open an issue](https://github.com/builtbybel/Bloatynosy/issues) and say which Windows version
you are on. That helps more than me guessing.
There is polish left to do. It is coming.