SnoreToast is added to the start menu when notifying on Windows

[evelynhathaway]

Version

3.0.4

Node and OS info

Node v9.4.0, npm v5.6.0, Windows 10

Steps to reproduce

• Install @vue/cli on Windows
• Run vue ui on a project
• Install/update/etc a dependency in the UI
  • Note that no notification was triggered and that %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs now has a SnoreToast shortcut
• Install/update/etc another dependency
  • Note that a notification was triggered successfully

What is expected?

SnoreToast would not have a shortcut since the user may not like its addition to their start menu without indication of its purpose.

Additionally, the notification should trigger the first time, but I'm guessing this is caused by SnoreToast failing to notify without an app ID in the start menu to use for the notification.

What is actually happening?

The shortcut is installed without an opt-in, notification fails the first time

---

The UI's notification API uses node-notifier which in turn uses SnoreToast for native Windows notifications.

SnoreToast seems to indicate that a program in the start menu is necessary for notifications, though I can't find anything to back up that it needs to be in the start menu in case SnoreToast can be used from the node_modules folder.

If the CLI was an Electron app, the intended use of node-notifier would be to use the shortcut for the CLI instead (which would fix also fix the issue with it not firing and it saying the wrong app name when notifying). Since there isn't a shortcut for the CLI, it sounds like a workaround would need to be found to keep the implementation the same.

The issue with it not firing the first time is most likely related to and could be fixed by "installing" the shortcut before the first notification.

[ananaszjoe]

I had no idea what it was when I found it in my start menu, so when I ran it and it ran some scripts in a console window that appeared just for a fraction of a second, I suddenly wasn't sure it's not malware...

IMO it shouldn't add a new shortcut, or if it does, and the user starts it directly, it should display a notification that reads something like "This app is used by other apps to display notifications"

[june07]

Yeah, def not cool. Ran across this just now.

[dtbenson43]

Without a valid shortcut installed in the Start screen or in All Programs, you cannot raise a toast notification from a desktop app.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh802762

[narration-sd]

What a mess. But why did this just suddenly show up to me today??? It's June 2019...

[jcsston]

Another vote to remove this.
npm install should not modify my Start Menu -> Programs folder without prompting.

A command-line program should notify the user via the command-line.

[h454n5]

Agree with jcsston

[mariuszwojtkowski]

I agree, this is outrageous and the shortcut should not be created!

@Riccarr
There are nice and well educated people talking to each other and there is you, too. You obviously shouldn't be talking...

[shelbykauth]

I am semi-okay with the shortcut. After this issue specifically
IF AND ONLY IF the user clicks "okay, install".
Like it should open up a standard Windows "Do you want to let this program install stuff on your computer" thing like a normal program.
I nearly had a panic attack. Especially when I couldn't find it in "Uninstall or change a program" list.

Or call it something other than SnoreToast. Like NodeNotifier, so I know where the heck it came from.

@Riccarr, while I completely disagree with your tone, you do have a point.

Why would you click to run some random program?

But to that point, why would you run some random software that is maintained by a community you're not a part of, that can install random shit on your start menu? AKA: Why would you run any open-source software, including vue, ever?

Because we're programmers! That's why! The breadth of our curiosity has no bounds.

Also, I thought I had maybe installed the program along with three others yesterday and hadn't uninstalled it. So I was trying to see what it was. I couldn't remember what I had or had not installed. When the application closed, I was suddenly afraid that it was running large scripts in the background. And if running the executable by itself popped up a notification about what SnoreToast was, then I would have known what the program was and probably wouldn't have been bothered by it at all.

[angelicochris]

Is this ever going to be addressed. Only noticed it because the project creation got stuck on it. Kind of weird to add something like this without telling the user explicitly.

[instancezero]

If anyone ever decides to get around to implementing this, I'd like to add a feature request for the install process to ask where the user would like that shortcut to be created, because it is rather tedious to clean up and reorganize a start menu after every self-important application decides it belongs in the root of the start menu, and then recreates the same shortcut on every single update. I'd much rather have it down in my dev tools sub-menu...

[geoffh-aurizon]

+1 fix this please.

I still get this on my start menu in Win10.

And the branded SnoreToast notifications that just start coming up on Windows 10 look pretty much like your box has been pwned.

[curious-monggo]

Snoretoasts says hi. After doing some laravel.( I might have installed it thru composer or npm)

[jaruzafa]

+1 to this! Two years and not fixed yet....

[lehno]

I thought today I had a virus or something because of this man

[Shavindra]

not really happy with random stuff getting installed without informing/consent!!! I am installing vue and cli. It shouldn't have anything to do with random notifications popping up. If anything why not just output the error in command line like others?

[rahulramsaha]

Got quite spooked today too when i opened it and a terminal popped up.
And yeah +1 to at least be notified before installing

[haoqunjiang]

It's labeled as "contribution welcome".

[JoelRummel]

+1, I too found this in my start menu and immediately thought it was malware.

[jamesperks-om]

+1, I too found this in my start menu and immediately thought it was malware.

Same!

[ccartee]

just saw this pop up

found exe, deleted, deleted shortcut.

don't install garbage without my explicit permission to do so.

[ellis2323]

Seriously, not sure it's legal in Europe!

[CoolOppo]

How is this still not fixed...?

[PawFV]

Its easier to uninstall McAffee than this thing... jesus christ.

[madsouris]

this is not cool, please fix this thing

[fatihbabacan92]

I got shocked that I might have malware on my pc. It is very unprofessional to add such a shortcut to start without notifying the user and very bad for Vue's reputation.

[Legion2]

Why does nobody open a PR to remove it?

[FluentCoding]

Yeah, rly not cool of them ;/ And I thought that it is a malware.

[sXe79]

Just installed itself in my Windows menu. NOT cool at all.

[mohsin]

@Legion2 Read the comments, that's why. Windows 8+ requires the start menu to be populated to have notifications appear. I think the best solution right now would be to make a postuninstall script to remove this start menu entry. Although ideally that code will have to reside in SnoreToast repo. Alternatively, node-notifier could change it's API to allow passing additional config to specify an app ID so it installs using a different app name based on the package using it. And the uninstall code can reside in this repo itself calling that specific app name to be removed from startup entry.

[tony19]

The solution is to provide an appID in the notify() call, which skips the Start Menu shortcut installation (resolved in PR #6000).

---

Once this fix lands, users may want to manually undo the SnoreToast changes from their system, as described below.

Remove SnoreToast shortcut from Start Menu

Option A: File Explorer

1. Right-click Start Menu > SnoreToast, and choose More > Open File Location, which opens File Explorer.
2. In File Explorer, delete the root folder of SnoreToast.

Option B: Windows Command Line

1. Open cmd.exe

2. Run this rmdir command:

    rmdir /s /q "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\SnoreToast"
   

Remove SnoreToast's registry key

Note: SnoreToast sets a registry key in order to register its notification center. The UUID seen in the key is for SnoreToast v0.7.0.

Option A: Registry Editor

1. Open regedit.exe
2. In the location textbox at the top, below the menu bar, enter: HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{eb1fdd5b-8f70-4b5a-b230-998a2dc19303} to jump to the key in the registry.
3. Right-click the {eb1fdd5b-8f70-4b5a-b230-998a2dc19303} folder, and choose Delete.

Option B: Windows Command Line

1. Open cmd.exe

2. Run this reg command:

    reg delete /f HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{eb1fdd5b-8f70-4b5a-b230-998a2dc19303}
   

[mayanxoni]

It's been more than 2 years now but still no official solution to this problem. I just closed 3 tabs before coming to this issue.

[mellester]

It's been more than 2 years now but still no official solution to this problem. I just closed 3 tabs before coming to this issue.

Wel the PR fixcing it is only 17 days old so there is a solution just not ofcal yet

[just-tugsuu]

Damn I thought it was malware or something like that :(((

[sss-ryun]

I thought I downloaded some bloatware or something from installing apps

[TheCrescentKing]

Same here, thought it was malware or a virus when I found it, I was immediately suspicious of it.

[ScarVite]

Same here, thought it was malware or a virus when I found it, I was immediately suspicious of it.

same

[jason-guru]

same

[s4m5apu3l]

same

[noskill24]

WTF? Why you install applications on my computer without prompting?