Resolving invalid mail server certificates with Thunderbird

It has been a long time not dealing with this error and I almost forget about it.   Now it is a lot simpler to fix this than before.  There is no need to export Avast certificate and then import it back to Thunderbird.

• Go to Thunderbird Settings and select Privacy & Security.   

• Scroll down to locate Manage Certificates....

• A Certificate Manager window will be shown.

• Ensure to select Authorities in the Certificate Manager window.  Then scroll to the row of Avast Web/Mail Shield, select the certificate and then choose Edit Trust....

• Grant trust to the certificate and then click OK to exit.  In my case, I only need this: "This certificate can identify websites" since I manage my personal mailboxes.

That's.  

Get Rid of Quick Access Search Bar and Bing Alerts

A week ago, I opened Chrome as usual.   But the following message (Figure 1) was popped up from nowhere nearby the right bottom corner of the taskbar on my Windows 10, asking me to switch and use Microsoft Bing as my default search engine.  

Figure 1. Microsoft Bing Alert Asking to be Default Search Engine on Chrome

Under the Google Search, I have learned that this issue is somewhat related to Microsoft Edge.  I don't use Edge.  I am surprised to receive the alert (Figure 1) while there was no Edge process found in my Task Manager.   Then, I opened Edge (edge://flags/) and disabled the experiment flag (i.e., Show feature and workflow recommendations) as recommended (Figure 2).

Figure 2.  Disable Recommendations from Microsoft Edge

When I exited Edge, I didn't expect that there was a Quick Access Search Bar right in front of my desktop (Figure 3).   It turned out that Edge didn't completely exit after closing.  And Edge got auto-updated while I had it open.  

Figure 3.  Quick Access Search Bar by Microsoft Edge

As my response, I clicked "Turn off search bar" (Figure 3).  Then I reopened the Edge and disabled Edge continuously running in the background after it had been closed (Figure 4).  

Figure 4.  Disable Microsoft Edge Running in the Background after Closing

Unfortunately, this Quick Access Search Bar was still triggered by Windows search regardless of my  default browser.  If there was Quick Access Search Bar, there would be Microsoft Edge always running in the background.  A registry trick is required to fix this.

• Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
• Add a 32-bit DWORD key named "WebWidgetAllowed" in the location of   "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge"
  
  By default Edge key doesn't exist. Simply right-click on the folder and choose New > Key and then type Edge to create it.
  
  Inside the Edge folder, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and then type WebWidgetAllowed and set its value to 0.
  
  

Edge is a Chromium-based browser.  Thus, it behaves like Chrome.  It will always update automatically (Figure 5).  To prevent this from happening, I added the following URLs into my Pi-hole blacklist (Figure 6).

• msedge.api.cdp.microsoft.com   (endpoint for Edge to check updates)
• *.dl.delivery.mp.microsoft.com   (services endpoints for download, also for windows update).
  Note that this item must be enabled for windows update.  Otherwise, windows update may get stuck.
  
  
  Figure 5.  Microsoft Edge is Always Auto-Update Like Chrome
  
  
  Figure 6.  Microsoft Edge is No Longer to Update after Pi-hole Intervention
  
  
  
  

Since then, I haven't seen any unwanted popups.  Hope that they are really gone forever.  Otherwise, I will consider completely to uninstall Microsoft Edge.

Here are the steps to remove Microsoft Edge via the command prompt when  the "uninstall" button is grayed out on Windows 10.

• First, let's find out where the Edge's installer is via File Explorer (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application)
  
  Figure 7.  Navigate to Microsoft Edge Installation Folder 
  
  
• Go into the matching version folder.  In this case of the example, C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\116.0.1938.62\.
  
  Figure 8.  Location of Microsoft Edge Installer
  
  
  
• Open the command prompt: at the location bar, type cmd or cmd.exe.  Or type the "cmd" in the  Windows search box.
  
  
• Commands for Edge uninstallation:
  
  
  • In the command prompt, be sure you are in the setup.exe location (e.g., C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\116.0.1938.62\); otherwise, do
    
    cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\116.0.1938.62\
    
    
  • setup.exe --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging --force-uninstall
    

ExpressZip and Restoring Extract All Option

You may suddenly notice "Extract All..." option is missing  in return for "Extract with Express Zip" when you right-click on a ZIP file on a Windows system. 

ExpressZip is one of products by NCH Software.  It usually comes with any NCH Software product, e.g., video or audio software.   Your system may not have any installation content or trace of ExpressZip including the registry entries.  However, there is usually a registry entry associated with "Extract with Express Zip" command, typically inside a user profile subkey of the HKEY_USERS hive.  Surprisingly the open command for "Extract with Express Zip" is set to using 7-zip command if you have 7-zip installed.

If you are using any product(s) by NCH Software, uninstalling them will usually restore "Extract All..." option but a reboot is required.  Or you may try and go to NCH Software to install ExpressZip, and then uninstall it.

Remove Alibaba PC Safe Service

If your Windows system has the uninvited Alibaba PC Safe Service resident and you want to remove it, the following info may help you to remove.  The service name of Alibaba PC Safe Service is called AlibabaProtect.  It is typically installed under C:\Program Files (x86) directory.  

You won't be able directly to stop AlibabaProtect from running via Services app (services.msc), or kill it via Task Manager or using the "taskkill /f" command.   AlibabaProtect does not show in the list of "Add or remove programs" App (appwiz.cpl) either.  

Under the installation folder (e.g., C:\Program Files (x86)\AlibabaProtect), you may find an EXE to uninstall but the EXE always refuses to run.

This article explains how  AlibabaProtect gets into your system and provides you a working solution to remove AlibabaProtect without the third party or additional software installed.

How or why will AlibabaProtect be installed?

Most likely your system have AliWangWang installed.  As of this writing, AliWangWang is the only online messenger for chatting with China online marketers on Taobao if you are using Taobao Web version (on a PC or laptop). 

You may be able to bypass AlibabaProtect when you first install AliWangWang.  Unfortunately, AlibabaProtect will be still find a way to get into your system without your notice when you do subsequent update/upgrade AliWangWang.

With AlibabaProtect, most people will immediately notice the slowness on the system.

How to remove AlibabaProtect without additional app installed?

Before you start, you must have administrator rights to do the following.

1. Open a command prompt with admin rights
   
   
2. Type   takeown /f  "C:\Program Files (x86)\AlibabaProtect" /r /d y  
   Be sure this command runs successfully. If not, sorry you need to seek help from somewhere else.
   
   
3. Type   sc delete AlibabaProtect  
   Be sure this command runs successfully. If not, sorry you need to seek help from somewhere else.
   
   
4. Reboot your system.  If you don't want to reboot, it will be worth a try of either one option below.
   
   Option 1: End task via Task Manager to kill or stop "Alibaba PC Safe Service"
   or 
   Option 2: In a command prompt with admin rights, do the following:
   
              sc queryex AlibabaProtect  to find out the PID number, then
              taskkill /pid <pid number> /f  (e.g.,  taskkill /pid 11192 /f )
   
   If both methods fail or getting  "Access Denied" error, the only one solution is to reboot your system before going onto the next step.
   
   
5. Up to here, you should be able to remove all files and directories of AlibabaProtect
   Type    rmdir /s /q "C:\Program Files (x86)\AlibabaProtect"  in the command prompt with admin rights.
   

That's all.  Hope the above removal steps may help.  Good luck.