Microsoft PC Manager App 'Repairs' Your System by Making Bing the Search Default

Submitted ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://uk.pcmag.com/browsers/152377/microsoft-pc-manager-app-repairs-your-system-by-making-bing-the-search-default

Microsoft is trying to restore Bing as the default search engine on users’ browsers by spinning it as a “repair” through a utility app called PC Manager.

PC Manager is designed to boost a Windows PC’s performance by freeing up memory and eliminating unused apps and files. It offers “Health check” and “Repair tips” buttons, which users can click on to see the recommended actions.

However, Windows Latest noticed the app pushing a curious recommendation: Both Repair tips and Health check nudge you to restore Bing as the default search engine on the Edge browser.

source

Comments

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TootSweet@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Obligatory “install Linux” post.

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- CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Obligatory “I was a Windows user for decades until a couple months ago but Microsoft’s enshittification drove me to Linux and I have no regrets”
  
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  - ItsComplicated@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Do you by chance have a link to what to install for a non tech user without linux knowledge?
    
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- Noerttipertti@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Obligatory “Way ahead of you” post.
  
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  - rockSlayer@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Obligatory “I use arch btw” post
    
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- vext01@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  RunBSD
  
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  - Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Image
    
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- kandoh@reddthat.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve been looking at AtlusOS
  
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1995ToyotaCorolla@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
PC Manager sounds exactly like one of those garbageware “PC tune up” apps I used to clean off of customer computers back when I worked at a repair shop. Right down to changing your homepage/search engine. But at least the other guys would give you a snazzy coupon toolbar or three.

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- aeronmelon@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Microsoft has fallen quite far from they heydays of TweakUI.
  
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BombOmOm@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This is a product you pay for and it doesn’t respect your choices…

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- Eczpurt@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Probably closer to renting the OS lol
  
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reddig33@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I see that anti trust / Internet Explorer investigation had no affect at all.

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- paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Like most things, it was nearly 30 years ago. So everyone acts like they can’t remember it.
  
  Institutional knowledge is not something corpos seem to like anymore. That hampers next quarter thinking.
  
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  - sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The antitrust lawsuit had a huge impact. It’s just that pretty much everyone involved has moved on and been replaced, so we’re seeing them trying the same thing again.
    
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glouriousgouda@lemmy.myserv.one ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
They went full malware.

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Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You know how many times I’ve had to remove a spyware/adware browser, extensions, and homepage from a family members computer? Too many.

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- kennebel@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  How many times? Every single time…
  
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  - NaoPb@eviltoast.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    How many times? All of it.
    
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ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
So tired of companies telling me they know what I want more than I do. It’s all over the place in big ways like this and smaller annoyance ways too. My work mac just did a security update and it decided to change my desktop background

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- grue@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Everything that isn’t Free Software will become abusive eventually. It boils down to the simple fact that you can only trust your property, that you control.
  
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  - seejur@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Windows is not free software though, so it’s even worse
    
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cley_faye@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
“Freeing up memory and eliminating unused apps and files” sounds like the kind of bullshit app we have on Android already. Why bring that to PC.

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- SeeJayEmm@lemmy.procrastinati.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  We had those bullshit apps on PC before Android was a glimmer in its Mama’s eye. Why is Microsoft pushing that crapware?
  
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  - FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    Why is Microsoft pushing that crapware?
    
    It’s their own crapware.
    
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  - JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    To make Bing the default search engine lol
    
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Holzkohlen@feddit.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Seems like we get new windows enshittification news every week now. They are hard at work, huh?

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- RGB3x3@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  My laptop just updated (windows 11) and they now put bull crap tips, weather, and stocks card on the lock screen if you want to use the daily landscape images.
  
  Love the landscape images, but those cards are now not optional. Fucking moronic and I need to just get off windows entirely.
  
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  - morriscox@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Go to the widgets program and you will see that those cards have 3 dots in the upper right corner that will allow you to hide or customize the widget.
    
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andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It’s weird that CCleaner is trash but it’s still better than what MS suggests.

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- wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Bleachbit is the open source, non trash “replacement” for CCleaner
  
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  - Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    "If it’s good enough for Hillary it’s good enough for me! "
    
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  - tordenflesk@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Use winapp2ool to add a winapp2ool.ini to Bleachbit
    
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  - andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Thanks.
    
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  - NaoPb@eviltoast.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Thanks
    
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- Wanangwa_Bamidele@thelemmy.club ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  When I am studying at university, a dude actually buy CCleaner. I wonder how he got scammed.
  
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  - andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The effect of such tools depends on how neglected the system is. Probably he had A LOT to clean, so after a regular cleaning routine he was amazed by how everything is fast now.
    
    On Windows, I could’ve probably bought it too for having startup+plugins+programs+cache in one window, since in later versions of Windows it’s too inconvinient.
    
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- tordenflesk@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Bulk Crap Uninstaller
  
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RiQuY@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Maybe this will sound unrelated but have you seen a PC infected with tons of malware?

Usually the web browsers are the most affected apps by malware and if the user doesn’t want to reinstall, forcing the web browser to change the default search engine helps a lot, because it is literally impossible to do that manually when the PC is full of shit.

Other than that, yeah, Microsoft doing anti-consumer things, as always.

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- buttconjuror@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  forcing the web browser to change the default search engine helps a lot
  
  How does changing your browser’s default search engine (from another legitimate search engine) help get rid of malware?
  
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  - Meron35@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Been a while since I experienced malware, but they typically forcibly change your browser’s default search engine to a shady one with more malware, even after you try to change it to something else. Even for somewhat tech savvy users, this can be somewhat difficult to overcome.
    
    Sounds like Microsoft is somehow overriding this with Bing.
    
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  - Grimm665@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    It doesn’t. If a PC is so infected you can’t change simple settings like search engine, it’s time to reformat.
    
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ma11en@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I just had a big windows update and it asked part way through if I wanted to follow it’s suggestions, I said no and it carried on.

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possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m a little surprised they let you change it

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- JenMor@lemmy.today ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  About once a month, Edge pops up a message telling me that the search engine was “accidentally” changed from Bing to whatever I chose (e.g. DuckDuckGo). It leaves me no option but to restore Bing, and then manually change it back to what I wanted. If Edge weren’t preinstalled I’d get rid of it, but I don’t need two Chromium browsers.
  
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LittleBorat2@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I never thought I would say this but Microsoft may be doing you a favor there.

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- kn98@feddit.nl ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Why’s that?
  
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  - LittleBorat2@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Because the standard search Google has deteriorated so much.
    
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psychothumbs@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
So trashy

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HaroldHaarrison@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Poor Windows losers lol

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