Open source alternative to the Universal Watermark Remover.
This is a sequel to my Universal Watermark Remover reverse engineering writeup. I analyzed the closed source-software and developed my own opensource version of it, which you can find here.
The batch script utilizes COM-hijacking and DLL-Proxying to inject a DLL into the explorer and to persist on the system. The DLL, then hooks ExtTextOutW to suppress the display of the testsigning watermark.
For a deeper dive (especially for beginners), take a look at my reverse-engineering writeup.
Get the installer.bat and uwd-oss.dll from the releases and put them into the same folder. Then simply execute installer.bat and everything should work.
Simply execute the script again and everything should be reverted.
Download uwd-oss.dll from the official release and copy it into C:\Winodws\System32\
Now, you need to modify the registry, which can be dangerous so follow the steps cautiously.
- Open the Registry Editor
- Find the following key:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID{ab0b37ec-56f6-4a0e-a8fd-7a8bf7c2da96}\InProcServer32
- Modify the value (Default) to: C:\Windows\System32\uwd-oss.dll
- Make sure you have no typos!
Open the Task manager and find the explorer process and click on restart.
After the explorer restarts, the watermark should be gone.
Follow the same steps described in Manual installation - Step 2, but:
- change the value of (Default) back to C:\Windows\System32\explorerframe.dll
Delete C:\Windows\System32\uwd-oss.dll
Restart the explorer, as described in Manual installation - Step 3
After the explorer restarts, the watermark should appear again (if testsigning mode is still activated) and everything should be reverted.
Since the script modifies the registry, Admin privileges are needed.
Tested on Windows 10 x64. Should also work on Windows 11, x64.
- currently buggy on windows 11 pro insider