[HOW-TO]Remove System Apps from the HTC Desire with ADB in Windows

[Guest terryhau]

One minor thing.

The system apps that i remove with this method (wavesecure, jbed java, etc) still show in the "Manage Applications" list as 0kb, and if clicked on, "Manage Applications" will error and force close.

Anyone know how to remove them off the list?

[Guest svyat]

I have another problem when removing system widgets. If I remove a system widget (like Peep or Friendstream) and then go to add a widget to the homescreen, instead of the deleted widget I get an entry saying "false". If I click on it the app force closes. Someone else having this issue? Any workaround?

[Guest VeeDubZ]

I have another problem when removing system widgets. If I remove a system widget (like Peep or Friendstream) and then go to add a widget to the homescreen, instead of the deleted widget I get an entry saying "false". If I click on it the app force closes. Someone else having this issue? Any workaround?

only way i know is cooking your own ROM, i had same issue

[Guest DerZombie]

Have someone a list of apks witch can I uninstall without become problems later?

The same in german, because me English ist .... :)

Hat irgendwer ne Liste von den aks welche entfernt werden können ohne später Probleme oder Fehlermeldungen zu bekommen?

[Guest Nicke]

I moved the stock app and widget and now i want it back. I moved the files back but the app does not show up in the list...

Using MCR 3.1.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Nicke

[Guest josifbg]

Looks like iam missing something?

C:\Android\r>adb-windows shell mount /system

mount: can't read /etc/fstab: No such file or directory

EDIT: UPS Sorry my mistake... i didn`t enter the recovery :)

Edited June 8, 2010 by josifbg

[Guest Profete162]

First command line give me that:

Tof162$ ./adb shell mount /system

Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device directory

Second one:

./adb shell rm /system/app/teeter.apk

rm failed for /system/app/teeter.apk, Directory not empty

After a second try:

./adb shell rm /system/app/teeter.apk

rm failed for /system/app/teeter.apk, Read-only file system

[Guest blogger]

First command line give me that:

Second one:

After a second try:

Dude. Why would you want to remove teeter????

[Guest Profete162]

Dude. Why would you want to remove teeter????

Who cares? I also want to remove Footprints, Plurq, Peep, app sharing etc...

Don't pay attention on the name of the app please. The purpose of the topic is to remove system applications, that's what I would like to do.

If I make a mistake, I will reflash the ROM, no problem :-p

[Guest blogger]

I mean teeter is the best app ever, removing it is unthinkable :angry:

[Guest g4rvd4]

This is my first post on this great forum. I'd like to begin here by thanking everyone for the great work that makes life for people like me easier.

Thanks for this giude. I'm a n00b to all this.

I want to remove only 2 things: Plurk and Footprints, plus their widgets.

I can see that Plurk is well embedded in the system, with it appearing in the "Sync" section and everything. Can I remove them safely without causing any inconsistencies or glitches? Has anyone tried it?

Thanks again!

[Guest VybzTymz]

How I removed stock apps using SDK

I've had my HTC Desire for 2 weeks (T-Mobile UK, Eclair 2.1)). I'm a newbie to all of this. I spent untold hours on forums and other Android sites, and managed to do Nandroid backup of my phone, and then successfully rooted it (using Unrevoked and a SLAX (Linux) bootable cd). It was really straight forward.

I then installed the AdamG/OpenDesire Sense Froyo v1.0c custom ROM ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=726300 )

I then wanted to remove apps that I know I don't need and will never use. There are many online guides on how to do this but, maybe it was me being very dumb, but none of them seemed to work for me. After many more hours reading forums etc I found that all the guides I had read missed out KEY actions\information.

So I've put this together from all the things I've learned from the forums etc. I'd like to give credit \ thanks to all of those who contributed to Android sites, forums etc which provided me with all the info I needed.

!!!!THE FOLLOWING IS WHAT I DID TO REMOVE APPS FROM MY (rooted) T-MOBILE HTC DESIRE - IT WORKED FOR ME - BUT MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU CREATE A NANDROID BACKUP FIRST!!! AND USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!

I installed Java and the Android SDK on an old laptop as I don’t want Java on my main desktop \ laptop. (The info I used for doing this can be found here: http://myhtcdesire.com/category/tutorials)

I then created an Android folder on my pc (C:\Android)

I then copied the following folders from the "android-sdk-windows" folder into it

• Tools

• USB_DRIVER***

• Market-Licensing

*** The default drivers didn't work on my pc\laptop (Win 7 Ultimate, 64bit) so I extracted the drivers contained in the adb_driver_htc.zip file found here http://www.mediafire.com/?mhzhki52ntbmmiz#1 to the USB folder and successfully installed the driver(s).

With my phone switched on, and in Disk Drive mode, I connected it to my pc with the usb cable. If the phone drivers are not installed / found

• Go to Device Manager.

• Right click on the device that represents your phone.

• Select "update driver software".

• Select "browse my computer for driver software".

• Browse to the C:\Android\usb_driver folder (or to wherever our usb_drivers folder is located, and make sure the "include subfolders" box is ticked).

• Click Next etc to install driver(s).

To test that the drivers were installed and the phone recognised by my pc I

• Opened a command prompt window (Start-run-cmd) and typed the following (don’t include the text in the brackets).

• CD\ (enter\return).

• CD\Android\tools (enter\return).

• adb devices (this listed my phone as HT******SS Recovery).

To exit from adb type EXIT at the “#” prompt. This takes you back to C:\Android\tools directory. Type EXIT to close the command prompt window

Safely remove \ eject the phone from the pc and disconnect the usb

Switch off the phone, and re-start it in Recovery mode by

• Holding down the "volume-down" button and pressing power button.

• Use " volume-down " button to highlight Recovery.

• Press POWER to reboot. Phone will start in Recovery mode i.e. green text on black background.

• Still in Recovery mode, connect phone to Computer via the usb cable.

• On the pc, open a command prompt window

• Type CD\ and press enter\return

• Type CD\Android\tools and press enter/return

• Type adb shell and press enter/return

• On the phone, use the trackball to highlight Partition Menu and press trackball to select.

• Use the trackball to highlight Mount /system and press trackball to select. This bypasses the need for the following adb command:

mount –o rw,remount /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system - a command which caused me no end of grief!!!

• In the windows command prompt window, type cd /system/app

• Type ls –a to get a listing of all the *.apk files in the /system/app directory.

• To remove an app type rm appname.apk (where appname is the name of the app to be removed – this command is case sensitive so you must type the app name exactly as it appears in the /system/app directory)

I’ve removed the following apps with the above method without any ill effects, and they no longer appear in my Applications list, or in the system/app directory.

Plurk, FaceBook, Stocks (and com.htc.StockWidget.apk), Twitter, Quick Office and YouTube

From what I’ve read, its not advisable to remove any of the Google apk files due to dependencies etc. People have also reported problems after deleting News, PicoTts and Weather apk’s / widgets – so I’ve left these alone. I’ve not been able to find a definitive list of stock apps that are safe to remove

Anyhoo, I hope this proves useful.

Vybz

[Guest VeeDubZ]

How I removed stock apps using SDK

I've had my HTC Desire for 2 weeks (T-Mobile UK, Eclair 2.1)). I'm a newbie to all of this. I spent untold hours on forums and other Android sites, and managed to do Nandroid backup of my phone, and then successfully rooted it (using Unrevoked and a SLAX (Linux) bootable cd). It was really straight forward.

I then installed the AdamG/OpenDesire Sense Froyo v1.0c custom ROM ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=726300 )

I then wanted to remove apps that I know I don't need and will never use. There are many online guides on how to do this but, maybe it was me being very dumb, but none of them seemed to work for me. After many more hours reading forums etc I found that all the guides I had read missed out KEY actions\information.

So I've put this together from all the things I've learned from the forums etc. I'd like to give credit \ thanks to all of those who contributed to Android sites, forums etc which provided me with all the info I needed.

!!!!THE FOLLOWING IS WHAT I DID TO REMOVE APPS FROM MY (rooted) T-MOBILE HTC DESIRE - IT WORKED FOR ME - BUT MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU CREATE A NANDROID BACKUP FIRST!!! AND USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!

I installed Java and the Android SDK on an old laptop as I don’t want Java on my main desktop \ laptop. (The info I used for doing this can be found here: http://myhtcdesire.com/category/tutorials)

I then created an Android folder on my pc (C:\Android)

I then copied the following folders from the "android-sdk-windows" folder into it

• Tools

• USB_DRIVER***

• Market-Licensing

*** The default drivers didn't work on my pc\laptop (Win 7 Ultimate, 64bit) so I extracted the drivers contained in the adb_driver_htc.zip file found here http://www.mediafire.com/?mhzhki52ntbmmiz#1 to the USB folder and successfully installed the driver(s).

With my phone switched on, and in Disk Drive mode, I connected it to my pc with the usb cable. If the phone drivers are not installed / found

• Go to Device Manager.

• Right click on the device that represents your phone.

• Select "update driver software".

• Select "browse my computer for driver software".

• Browse to the C:\Android\usb_driver folder (or to wherever our usb_drivers folder is located, and make sure the "include subfolders" box is ticked).

• Click Next etc to install driver(s).

To test that the drivers were installed and the phone recognised by my pc I

• Opened a command prompt window (Start-run-cmd) and typed the following (don’t include the text in the brackets).

• CD\ (enter\return).

• CD\Android\tools (enter\return).

• adb devices (this listed my phone as HT******SS Recovery).

To exit from adb type EXIT at the “#” prompt. This takes you back to C:\Android\tools directory. Type EXIT to close the command prompt window

Safely remove \ eject the phone from the pc and disconnect the usb

Switch off the phone, and re-start it in Recovery mode by

• Holding down the "volume-down" button and pressing power button.

• Use " volume-down " button to highlight Recovery.

• Press POWER to reboot. Phone will start in Recovery mode i.e. green text on black background.

• Still in Recovery mode, connect phone to Computer via the usb cable.

• On the pc, open a command prompt window

• Type CD\ and press enter\return

• Type CD\Android\tools and press enter/return

• Type adb shell and press enter/return

• On the phone, use the trackball to highlight Partition Menu and press trackball to select.

• Use the trackball to highlight Mount /system and press trackball to select. This bypasses the need for the following adb command:

mount –o rw,remount /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system - a command which caused me no end of grief!!!

• In the windows command prompt window, type cd /system/app

• Type ls –a to get a listing of all the *.apk files in the /system/app directory.

• To remove an app type rm appname.apk (where appname is the name of the app to be removed – this command is case sensitive so you must type the app name exactly as it appears in the /system/app directory)

I’ve removed the following apps with the above method without any ill effects, and they no longer appear in my Applications list, or in the system/app directory.

Plurk, FaceBook, Stocks (and com.htc.StockWidget.apk), Twitter, Quick Office and YouTube

From what I’ve read, its not advisable to remove any of the Google apk files due to dependencies etc. People have also reported problems after deleting News, PicoTts and Weather apk’s / widgets – so I’ve left these alone. I’ve not been able to find a definitive list of stock apps that are safe to remove

Anyhoo, I hope this proves useful.

Vybz

thanks for the addition using the Android SDK files, but both methods will leave remnants in the widgets and application removal menus. tho only way i have found to avoid this is to

a, remove them right after installing a custom rom before the first reboot

b, remove them from the rom using winrar/winzip/ect then installing the rom

[Guest VybzTymz]

thanks for the addition using the Android SDK files, but both methods will leave remnants in the widgets and application removal menus. tho only way i have found to avoid this is to

a, remove them right after installing a custom rom before the first reboot

b, remove them from the rom using winrar/winzip/ect then installing the rom

Thanks for that tip.

If I remove the apps from the ROM prior to installing it, will I get any errors during the installation?

[Guest billydavey]

It all depends on the app that you are removing.

I'm guessing that none of them will give errors during the installation but when you remove certain apk's, such as the google sync etc then you might start having problems.

Certainly the teeter, plurk etc. shouldn't have any issues if removed.

[Guest cypherpunk]

The process described by OP removes the .APK ok but it doesn't do anything about cached data associated with the app which remains behind. The application manager may still believe that the app is installed too.

I removed the Stock app and widget and now the application manager still believes the widget is installed but crashes if I try to select it.

I suggest only moving apps, you might need to put them back to delete their settings data or something.

CP.

[Guest T3CHN0M4NC3R]

i tried removing stock... sort of a success but "Accounts and sync" won't open and FC everytime... :/

[Guest VeeDubZ]

The process described by OP removes the .APK ok but it doesn't do anything about cached data associated with the app which remains behind. The application manager may still believe that the app is installed too.

I removed the Stock app and widget and now the application manager still believes the widget is installed but crashes if I try to select it.

I suggest only moving apps, you might need to put them back to delete their settings data or something.

CP.

i tried removing stock... sort of a success but "Accounts and sync" won't open and FC everytime... :/

you need to remove them right after installing the rom to avoid this

[Guest Heppieboeddah]

you need to remove them right after installing the rom to avoid this

What to do with the odex-files in system/app

[Guest neuromacer]

This is a great 'How To' which I used to remove some useless orange apps!

However, I thought my internal memory would increase once these apps were removed, but there was no change?

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Edited August 11, 2010 by neuromacer

[Guest twon]

The orange apps will be installed on the /system partition and your internal memory to which regular apps you download and install is separate to the /system partition.

If im wrong some one correct me please and explain.

Edited August 16, 2010 by twon

[Guest lpinho]

The orange apps will be installed on the /system partition and your internal memory to which regular apps you download and install is separate to the /system partition.

If im wrong some one correct me please and explain.

Worked fine!!! thanks

[Guest himem]

Hi,

i'm trying ro remove stock apps for quite a few days, and i'm getting desperate!

I have everything... titatium, terminal, root explorer, etc etc

with terminal I also receive "directory not empty", but with root explorer I can delete the apk's from /system/app ... I confirm after that they are not there, bus as soon as I reboot the phone they come back.

what can I do ?

I have HTC desire with stock android, rooted .. and also a couple of programs I instaled I don't really knwo what they do.. like rom manager, clockword recovery, etc

plz help!

[Guest Thomas1107]

You can just download Root uninstaller from market(free), and remove system apps directly on the phone..

[Guest BashyUK]

Hi,

i'm trying ro remove stock apps for quite a few days, and i'm getting desperate!

I have everything... titatium, terminal, root explorer, etc etc

with terminal I also receive "directory not empty", but with root explorer I can delete the apk's from /system/app ... I confirm after that they are not there, bus as soon as I reboot the phone they come back.

what can I do ?

I have HTC desire with stock android, rooted .. and also a couple of programs I instaled I don't really knwo what they do.. like rom manager, clockword recovery, etc

plz help!

Do you definitely have r/w access in system?

Do you have S-off?