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I'm unable to uninstall HoloCamera from Windows 10 and my sysprep is failing as a result. Build is 1703. Edition is Pro

What I've tried:

    Get-AppxPackage | where-object {$_.name -notlike "*store*"} | RemoveAppxPackage

----also used the -allusers parameter with this PS command

    Remove-AppxPackage HoloCamera_1.0.0.5_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

Error; see update below.

    dism /online /get-provisionedappxpackages | select-string holocamera

This had no output

    dism /online /get-packages | select-string holocamera

Also had no output

Tried deleting the system folder that contains HoloCamera

Tried deleting HoloCamera registry keys and restarting the computer

Still can't uninstall. Help please!

Update: Ran 

    Remove-AppxPackage -allusers HoloCamera_1.0.0.5_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

did not work. Threw the following error:

remove-appxpackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA. Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA) error 0x80070032: Appx Deployment Remove operation on package HoloCamera_1.0.0.5_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from C:\Windows\SystemApps\holocamera_cw5n1h2txyewy failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn windows features on or off. However it may not be possible to uninstall the app

Nicole
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  • What build of Windows 10 are you using? You can use `winver` to determine that information. Why are you looking for packages that don't include the string "store" if you are trying to remove a Camera application? – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 14:18
  • 1703. I haven't updated it yet; I re-image because I couldn't remove the app the first time, so this is the second attempt. I tried Remove-AppxPackage -allusers HoloCamera_1.0.0.5_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy too and that didn't work. – Nicole Aug 17 '18 at 14:20
  • Update your question; When you tried the correct command what happened exactly? Did you get an error. Be as specific as possible. – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 15:42
  • The error I got was "Appx Deployment Remove operation on package (package name) from: C:\pathtoapplication failed. This app is a part of windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per user basis" – Nicole Aug 17 '18 at 15:46
  • Could you please take a minute to format your question so the error message can easily be read? Why did you put `pathtoinstallfile` instead of the actual path? If you run, `Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, HoloCamera`, what is the output. Please provide it in a way it can be read. – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 16:08
  • `Get-AppxPackage | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*store*"} | Remove-AppxPackage` would remove every application except Windows Store by the way. I am still confused why you attempted that command since you are running 1703 and default applications like Cortana cannot be removed using `Remove-AppxPackage`. I need the full package name to answer this question. `Remove-AppxPackage -allusers HoloCamera` isn't going to work and it's not suppose to work since syntax is wrong. – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 16:14
  • Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 16:18
  • You might also have to run, `Get-AppxProvisionedPackage | Select Name, HoloCamera` in addition to the other `Get-AppxPackage` I asked for, since HoloCamera is very likely considered a Provisioned Package. This question cannot be answered without the information from those commands. – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 16:21
  • I updated it to make it easier to read for you. When I typed Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, HoloCamera – Nicole Aug 17 '18 at 16:42
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/81838/discussion-between-ramhound-and-nicole-louise). – Ramhound Aug 17 '18 at 16:47

1 Answers1

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I found a workaround using local GPOs, security policy editor and the registry. This was done in Audit Mode. It won't work for any system that already has a user created. Sysprep was successful after the following steps were performed. It may not have uninstalled the app from the image entirely, but it prevented the app from being installed on a per-user basis, which was causing my sysprep to fail in the first place. In short, it makes sure the app isn't installed for any new user. This is different from the Get-AppxProvisionedPackage method, as that method only covers some of the provisioned apps.

a. Go into Group Policy editor and go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Store. Enable “Turn off automatic download of updates”

b. Go into registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsStore. Make sure AutoDownload is set to 2.

c. Windows key + R and type secpol.msc to pull up local security policy editor.

d. Select Application Control Policies

e. Right click packaged app rules and select Create New Rule

f. Click next when the wizard pops up. Select “Deny” as the action and “Everyone” as the User/Group.

g. Select the app you don’t want to install for users under “Use installed package as a reference.” Slide marker to “Package name” and click Create

h. Repeat steps e-h for each app you don’t want to install.

I then exited Audit Mode and went back to the OOBE, created my local user and confirmed by running Get-AppxPackage -allusers HoloCamera that HoloCamera wasn't installed for my newly created user; it was only staged (under PackageUserInformation). I did my updates and sysprepped.

Nicole
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