How to permanently disable libraries in Windows 8?


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OK, the title says it all. "How do I permanently disable libraries in Windows 8?" I won't go into details why I want to do it, as there are many. But mostly it's because the libraries feature is causing icons to not automatically refresh after they are deleted.

I did manage to disable it briefly via regedit, after following some guides on-line, but it came back after a reboot.

Also the guides that are available for disabling this feature in Windows 7, don't appear to work on Windows 8.

All suggestions are welcome.

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This looks like a challenge for only the ubergeeks among us. I have looked extensively and I can find no reference to how to permanently disable libraries in Windows 8. Indeed I believe this might even be a 'design feature' where Microsoft may have known that people in the past may have tried to disable the feature via regedit and they don't want users doing this. So even if you edit the registry, MS may have rigged it that Libraries will be aromatically re-enabled anyway?

But surely system admins would like to be able to turn this feature on and off as they please?

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short answer is you can't actually disable it or remove it's function, it's too tightly integrated. You can disable explorer and shell something else or you can use another file manager...i suggest the latter. Plenty of good free ones out there

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You can delete the default library's the files library-ms or something similar are located in %appdata%

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There must be a way? Surely? What I in fact have is very intermittent behaviour. Sometime the libraries feature will show up and prevent me from deleting folders (as above), sometimes it will vanish. I presume this is due to the registry keys I have already edited. Is there no one here who can come up with a concerted single guide to disable the feature entirely?

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Libraries tie into everything in Windows 8, short answer is you can't, long answer would just be a detailed version of that.

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Well that's a lot of cr*p then. It was a simple reg hack in Windows 7. Why would MS attempt to force feed us this feature in Windows 8? What happened to the principle of allowing system admins to configure things appropriately for their environment? What at least is the name of the libraries service? I hate being told I can't do something that was perfectly possible and desirable in some scenarios in previous OS versions.

You used to be able to disable it in group policy, but I can't find it there either I think.

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I hate being told I can't do something that was perfectly possible and desirable in some scenarios in previous OS versions.

sorry guy for the sad news. maybe its easier to realize this by experience instead (of being told)? Windows 7 is always an option if Windows 8 is too abhorrent.

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I suspect its because Modern apps can only access files in the libraries (unless the user specifies one in a file picker) and therefore they need to be around. Internally, Windows Phone 8 uses the same libraries as well. Like previously stated, they are baked deep into the OS.

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This is like asking how to disable folders. The question doesn't make sense.

It sounds like you've already introduced several problems by mucking with internal system data and state (i.e. in the registry). You might consider a system restore or PC Refresh/Reinstall to fix that.

But mostly it's because the libraries feature is causing icons to not automatically refresh after they are deleted.

This doesn't make sense. I suggest stepping back and asking for help with your original problem (with some more detail).

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I already did. Check my other post regarding regarding this topic. I know exactly what I'm talking about thanks.Please stop telling people to do major restorative work to resolve relatively simple problems. It isn't helpful. It doesn't make you look nearly as clever as you might think.

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If it was so darn impossible, how come I could do it in Windows 7? I get that some folks are claiming that it is now 'hard baked' into the OS, but MS have stated that the libraries feature hasn't changed at all between Windows 7 and Windows 8. I'm sure there may be a few small .reg key changes here or there and that this is more likely to be what I'm missing, but the Windows 7 machine I upgraded from had libraries already disabled. Upgrading to Windows 8 re-enabled them.

How about editing library locations, or getting the library indexer to point to an empty/unused location, or something of that order? If It's a service what exactly might the service be called?

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You know, because windows 8 isn't windows 7, in windows 7 libraries where barely implemented. Windows 8 is a whole new OS, and it uses libraries throughout the OS, not just superficially.

So no there's not big or small reg changes you can do. You'd need to rip out most of what makes Windows 8 windows 8.

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Well I can see how that might be the case. But I will still look for a work around. I have no evidence beyond your word that this is the case currently however. How are you so sure or are you simply making assumptions?

I would do the usual routine about being p*ssed off and about wanting to change to an OS where my hands aren't tied and I'm not forced to do things someone else's way. But I have to keep my IT skills current and none of the jobs I do will care about how I feel about MS products. I have previously disabled libraries as a fix for a number of scenarios. I need it as a fix in my own case right now. But if you guys are right (and right now I think that's only an if) then this may no longer be possible.

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I already did. Check my other post regarding regarding this topic. I know exactly what I'm talking about thanks.Please stop telling people to do major restorative work to resolve relatively simple problems. It isn't helpful. It doesn't make you look nearly as clever as you might think.

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1145744-windows-8-upgrade-icons-not-updating/

Is your previous topic, do a FRESH LOAD already. You already said your Windows 7 load prior to the Upgrade was highly "customized" which is the cause of your problems... mine works fine, everyone else's works fine, so go do a fresh load and move on please.

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No

http://www.neowin.ne...s-not-updating/

Is your previous topic, do a FRESH LOAD already. You already said your Windows 7 load prior to the Upgrade was highly "customized" which is the cause of your problems... mine works fine, everyone else's works fine, so go do a fresh load and move on please.

No. And frankly I find this advice a little ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with my PC beyond this simple fault. But thanks for digging over old and pointless ground nonetheless.

Given your mod status you will probably lock the thread, but I despair of Neowin, which is why I come here increasingly rarely. It does not make you a tech God to recommend that users do a fresh install and expend countless hours of their valuable time every time they encounter a minor fault.

I spent a lot of years doing that and I have no interest in it anymore whatsoever. Now except for fire, earthquake or flood, there is no way I would go wasting my time doing this, particularly as with experience I have learned that 95% of the time there is always generally a much more viable work around or fix.

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No

No. And frankly I find this advice a little ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with my PC beyond this simple fault. But thanks for digging over old and pointless ground nonetheless.

Ok :rolleyes: then continue down your path of wasting your's and everyone else's time on the forum, hopefully they will read the previous thread before posting since your original issue was addressed and you choose to not accept the reality of the issue here.

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When you change around things you don't understand that has connections and interactions you don't understand, the results is going to be problems you you don't understand.

make a image of your current install if you're so afraid of it, and do a full clean install of windows, and be surprised when the issues only you in your "customized windows are experiencing, is no longer there.

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When you change around things you don't understand that has connections and interactions you don't understand, the results is going to be problems you you don't understand.

make a image of your current install if you're so afraid of it, and do a full clean install of windows, and be surprised when the issues only you in your "customized windows are experiencing, is no longer there.

You are over stating the case. My 'customisations' are nothing more than you would expect from an experienced admin with 20+ years of experience in the field. I never said it was a general fault. However you are wrong. This is a common bug caused by the libraries feature. If you dig around via Google you will see that many users have experienced it in the past. There's no guarantee that unless MS addresses it, it wouldn't come back again at some future point. The way users have addressed this in Windows 7 was to disable the libraries feature via the registry. I have NEVER experienced any problems with this previously. Not one.

The buttom line is that it is much more likely to be a bug caused by the upgrade process. The fact that it might go away after a clean install proves nothing. It does not resolve this specific bug. If anything the best it does is paper over the cracks and cause the user a mass of pointless work to do.

What am I to do if a user in a work environment does come to me with this problem? Tell them to rebuild everything from scratch? How is that even a remotely sensible solution for people in busy working environments, or who lack the knowledge to do anything nearly so ambitious (for them)?

Translation: "I don't know the answer, but felt compelled to post anyway."

I like this. There's a lot of this going around. These guys all think they are incredibly smart don't you think? Reinstall your OS, start again from scratch. A 5 year old could give out that kind of advice, lol.

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jebus197, do what was recommended.. make a image backup of your current load and try a fresh load.. it's worth a shot. Or are you going to be one of those just continues to ask the same question only looking for the answer you want to hear, instead of listening to reality and facts?

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I don't think you even understand the point of what's being asked. So what if a clean load 'fixes' this particular instance of this problem? That is not a solution to this particular bug. What I'm looking for is a bug fix, or a work around. Not a reinstall. A reinstall is not a solution to a bug.

As I said what am I to do if this bug re-emerges at a later point? I have seen it before. My solution then was again to disable libraries. If I can't do that now then a work around would clearly be preferable (and infinitely more sensible) to a reinstall.

I'm afraid there is simply no way I would recommend to anyone to do a full reinstall of an OS and all apps every time a simple bug is encountered, particularly one that a solution at a later point may well emerge for. I would probably be sacked if I did that anyway, if I ever encountered a similar issue in a working environment. (Which I have in the past.)

Anyway for what it's worth I seem to have hit on something of a temporary solution, by deleting the libraries folders. So Now the indexer is pointing to a non-existent location.

This means I can cleanly delete files.

Let's see if it comes back after a reboot, or after some other event however.

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Translation: "I don't know the answer, but felt compelled to post anyway."

I like this. There's a lot of this going around. These guys all think they are incredibly smart don't you think? Reinstall your OS, start again from scratch. A 5 year old could give out that kind of advice, lol.

Oh that is precious... He would know more about this "bug" than any of you :)

Also no, if the bug goes away after a clean reinstall because the bug was the result of you upgrading over your modified Windows 7 install, that's not patching the cracks, that's fixing the issue.

I don't think you even understand the point of what's being asked. So what if a clean load 'fixes' this particular instance of this problem. That is not a solution to this particular bug. What I'm looking for is a bug fix, or a work around. Not a reinstall. A reinstall is not a solution to a bug.

As I said what am I to do if this bug re-emerges at a later point? I have seen it before. My solution then was again to disable libraries. If I can't do that now then a work around would clearly be preferable (and infinitely more sensible) to a reinstall.

A reinstall fixes problems cause by users messing where they shouldn't. this isn't a bug, it's a issues caused by you, which a reinstall would fix. if a reinstal fixes it, that means it's not a bug, but rather an issue cause by you and your upgrade from your previous windows 7

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Oh that is precious... He would know more about this "bug" than any of you :)

Also no, if the bug goes away after a clean reinstall because the bug was the result of you upgrading over your modified Windows 7 install, that's not patching the cracks, that's fixing the issue.

A reinstall fixes problems cause by users messing where they shouldn't. this isn't a bug, it's a issues caused by you, which a reinstall would fix. if a reinstal fixes it, that means it's not a bug, but rather an issue cause by you and your upgrade from your previous windows 7

Not an issue cause by me mate. Caused by a slightly flakey upgrade process perhaps. Your solution for now remains a non-solution. I won't be ripping the guts out of my system and rebuilding everything just to fix a relatively minor and slightly irritating bug. End of.

What I will do is look for a forum where maybe I can get some more sensible answers.

I think this is some kind of culture issue going on here. I cut my teeth on Unix and Linux systems for nearly 15 years before being forced due to work commitments to pretty much use Windows full time. There I learned how to problem solve and that reinstalling an OS should probably be the last thing you should try to do. Jump forward 5 more years and I find myself in company who seem to think that a full OS reinstall should probably always be your first resort - and who then happily accuse me of being a n00b for telling them that really, it should almost certainly be exactly the opposite.

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So

YOU modify a windows install beyond

YOU choose to upgrade this modified and unsupported Windows install

YOU thus initiate an untested unsupported upgrade process beyond the scopes of what it was designed for.

then you surprisingly have issues with this upgrade install so...

YOU again do unsupported modifications to windows...

But yeah, it's obviously not your fault, or the results of something you did. sorry, but you're beyond helping, you will obviously never see reason.

and sorry to say, but any forum with people who know anything will tell you a clean reinstall is the only answer. if they say anything else they will just lead you to run around in rings wasting your time, time you could have spent doing 50 reinstalls now. if you supposedly have 20 years experience as a admin, you should know that some problems, can only or are best fixed with a reinstall. but as a experienced administrator like that, you would also know that anyone with your kind of experience keep images of the computers they administrate to fix these problems in 10-20 minutes with a re-image.

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