feat: Disable Application Experience scheduled tasks - #59
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Add a catalog-driven feature to keep the five Windows Application Experience scheduled tasks (Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser + siblings) disabled, with drift re-assert. Mirrors the existing Windows-services feature: - ScheduledTaskDefinition/ScheduledTaskCatalog (all five, RecommendedTarget=Disabled) - ScheduledTaskController: non-elevated schtasks /Query read; elevated batched /Change /Disable|/Enable with System32-absolute paths + injection guard - AppConfig.ScheduledTasks + ScheduledTaskPref - ScheduledTaskMonitor (absent task = not drift) - App.xaml.cs registration; RecommendedPreset stages all five (Recommended + Extreme), Reset un-manages - SettingDocs entries + SETTINGS-REFERENCE.md regenerated - 37 new tests (catalog, controller builder/parse/injection, monitor, config, preset, docs)
ScheduledTaskRow view-model (single 'Disable this task' checkbox + Monitor + Auto-apply + Learn more) and a 'Scheduled tasks' section rendering the five Application Experience tasks below the services list. Loads live state via ScheduledTaskController.QueryState; mirrors the service-row save/cleanup flow.
- CRITICAL: AppConfigCloner.CopyInto now copies ScheduledTasks -- without it the
feature silently no-opped on Apply (draft prefs dropped on commit). Regression
test added.
- ScheduledTaskController.QueryState: read state via schtasks /Query /XML and parse
the locale-independent <Settings><Enabled> element instead of the localized
/FO LIST 'Status:' field (was misclassifying state on non-English Windows ->
auto-apply churn). stderr no longer redirected (un-drained pipe could deadlock).
- ScheduledTaskMonitor: skip only fully-unmanaged tasks (Default + unmonitored) so
a manual Apply disables an unmonitored task ('do it now' ignores IsMonitored),
while avoiding background schtasks spawns for never-engaged tasks.
- SettingDocs: add task: branches (mechanism/verify/apply/reverse) so ApplyResults
and Learn More show real schtasks commands instead of '(unknown)'.
- Injection guard: block ( ) too.
- UI: query the five task states in parallel on Settings open.
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| foreach (var def in ScheduledTaskCatalog.All) | ||
| { | ||
| if (def.RecommendedTarget is not { } target) continue; | ||
| if (!draft.ScheduledTasks.TryGetValue(def.TaskPath, out var pref) || pref is null) | ||
| { | ||
| pref = new ScheduledTaskPref(); | ||
| draft.ScheduledTasks[def.TaskPath] = pref; | ||
| } | ||
| Count(SetScheduledTask(pref, $"Task: {def.DisplayName}", target, changes)); | ||
| } |
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| foreach (var def in ScheduledTaskCatalog.All) | ||
| { | ||
| if (def.RecommendedTarget is not { } target) continue; | ||
| if (!draft.ScheduledTasks.TryGetValue(def.TaskPath, out var pref) || pref is null) | ||
| { | ||
| pref = new ScheduledTaskPref(); | ||
| draft.ScheduledTasks[def.TaskPath] = pref; | ||
| } | ||
| Count(SetScheduledTask(pref, $"Task: {def.DisplayName}", target, changes, tag: "Extreme")); | ||
| } |
| var system32 = Environment.SystemDirectory; | ||
| var psi = new ProcessStartInfo | ||
| { | ||
| FileName = Path.Combine(system32, "schtasks.exe"), |
| if (p is null) return ScheduledTaskState.NotPresent; | ||
| var stdout = p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd(); | ||
| p.WaitForExit(10_000); | ||
| if (!p.HasExited) { try { p.Kill(entireProcessTree: true); } catch { } return ScheduledTaskState.NotPresent; } |
| if (p is null) return ScheduledTaskState.NotPresent; | ||
| var stdout = p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd(); | ||
| p.WaitForExit(10_000); | ||
| if (!p.HasExited) { try { p.Kill(entireProcessTree: true); } catch { } return ScheduledTaskState.NotPresent; } |
| var system32 = Environment.SystemDirectory; | ||
| var psi = new ProcessStartInfo | ||
| { | ||
| FileName = Path.Combine(system32, "cmd.exe"), |
| using var p = Process.Start(psi); | ||
| if (p is null) return false; | ||
| p.WaitForExit(15_000); | ||
| if (!p.HasExited) { try { p.Kill(entireProcessTree: true); } catch { } return false; } |
| using var p = Process.Start(psi); | ||
| if (p is null) return false; | ||
| p.WaitForExit(15_000); | ||
| if (!p.HasExited) { try { p.Kill(entireProcessTree: true); } catch { } return false; } |
|
|
||
| foreach (var def in ScheduledTaskCatalog.All) | ||
| { | ||
| Assert.True(cfg.ScheduledTasks.ContainsKey(def.TaskPath), $"missing {def.TaskPath}"); |
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| foreach (var def in ScheduledTaskCatalog.All) | ||
| { | ||
| // Must resolve via the exact id the ScheduledTaskMonitor emits. | ||
| var id = $"task:{def.TaskPath.ToLowerInvariant()}"; | ||
| var d = SettingDocsCatalog.Get(id); | ||
| Assert.NotNull(d); | ||
| Assert.False(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(d!.What), $"empty What for {id}"); | ||
| Assert.False(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(d.Risks), $"empty Risks for {id}"); | ||
| Assert.False(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(d.ReversibleVia), $"empty ReversibleVia for {id}"); | ||
| } |
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What & why
Adds a catalog-driven feature that keeps the five Windows Application Experience scheduled tasks (Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser + siblings) disabled, re-asserting on drift. These tasks drive
CompatTelRunner.exe, whose periodic compatibility/telemetry scans spike CPU and disk (the "Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry" process) — an unpredictable hitch source during gaming. Disabling is safe (Windows Update keeps working) and reversible, but feature updates re-enable them, so monitoring + auto-apply is the differentiated value. Additive to the existingDiagTracktelemetry-service disable, since the heavy scan is launched by the task.Mirrors the existing Windows-services feature: catalog → monitor → elevated controller.
Key decisions
ScheduledTaskCatalog/ScheduledTaskMonitor/ScheduledTaskControllertrio (not an overloaded service catalog) — task path vs. service name,schtasksvs.sc.schtasksmechanism, not registry: disabling the task is the only supported lever that stops the scans.schtasks /Query /XML(locale-independent<Settings><Enabled>) without elevation; disable/enable via elevatedschtasks /Change,System32-absolute paths + shell-metacharacter injection guard (mirrorsElevatedRegistry).IsMonitored); fully-unmanaged tasks (default + unmonitored) skip the background query so there's no idleschtasksspawn.What changed
ScheduledTaskDefinition+ catalog, controller,AppConfig.ScheduledTasks+ pref, monitor,App.xaml.csregistration,RecommendedPresetstaging, a "Scheduled tasks" group on the Windows services tab,SettingDocsentries (+SETTINGS-REFERENCE.mdregenerated).Testing
dotnet buildclean (warnings-as-errors),dotnet test594 passed.AppConfigCloner.CopyIntocarriesScheduledTasks.A code review (correctness + cross-file) ran on the diff; all findings were fixed in this branch — most notably a
CopyIntoomission that would have made the feature silently no-op on Apply, and locale-dependent state parsing that could cause auto-apply churn on non-English Windows.Post-Deploy Monitoring & Validation
No additional operational monitoring required — this is a local user-mode tray app with no service/runtime backend. Manual validation: open Settings → Windows services → Scheduled tasks, tick Disable + Monitor on a task, Apply (one UAC), confirm the row shows "Disabled" and
schtasks /Query /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser" /XMLshows<Enabled>false</Enabled>.🤖 Generated with Claude Code