Harden Windows Security v.0.7.3 (#515)

Added a new section to the Apps | Features page where you can remove the pre-installed built-in network drivers that you do not use. Windows by default has WIFI and Ethernet network adapter drivers of Intel, Broadcom, Ralink, Realtek, Qualcomm and Marvel. If you do not have any of those hardware or you install your own drivers then you can remove the unnecessary ones, freeing up disk space.

You can view the full list of pre-installed network drivers via this PowerShell command: Get-WindowsCapability -Online

As always, detailed logs of each step of the operation will be generated and made available.

Improved the dialog window design. It has a gradient dark background and will stay at top so user won't miss important message that is displayed.

Added a check to display a message to the user when installing AppControl Manager and an incompatible policy is detected.

Improved the module's compatibility with other modules that load the same Microsoft DLLs in the session through PowerShell profile. When Harden Windows Security detects such situations, it will automatically use the -NoProfile switch.

Updated the Microsoft DLLs to the latest versions from NuGet.

Improved the logging mechanism when using the Harden Windows Security in unattended/headless mode

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/CimInstances/BitLocker-Disable.cs

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ internal static void Disable(string DriveLetter)
 
 		if (DecryptMethodInvocationResultCode is 0)
 		{
-			Logger.LogMessage($"Successfully Decrypted the drive {DriveLetter}", LogTypeIntel.InformationInteractionRequired);
+			Logger.LogMessage($"Successfully started decrypting the drive {DriveLetter}", LogTypeIntel.InformationInteractionRequired);
 		}
 		else
 		{

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/GUI/AppControlManager/Variables.cs

@@ -19,5 +19,4 @@ public static class GUIAppControlManager
 	);
 
 	internal static readonly Uri AppUpdateDownloadLinkURL = new("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security/refs/heads/main/AppControl%20Manager/DownloadURL.txt");
-
 }

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/GUI/AppControlManager/View.cs

@@ -353,22 +353,21 @@ await Task.Run(() =>
 
 						Logger.LogMessage($"AppControl Manager installation has been successful.", LogTypeIntel.InformationInteractionRequired);
 
+
+						#region Check for incompatible policy
 						try
 						{
-							string registryPath = @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System";
-							string registryName = "ValidateAdminCodeSignatures";
-
-							using (RegistryKey? key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(registryPath))
+							using (RegistryKey? key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"))
 							{
 								if (key is not null)
 								{
 									// Get the registry value
-									object? registryValue = key.GetValue(registryName);
+									object? registryValue = key.GetValue("ValidateAdminCodeSignatures");
 
 									if (registryValue is not null && string.Equals(registryValue.ToString(), "1", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
 									{
 
-										Logger.LogMessage("Warning: A policy named 'Only elevate executables that are signed and validated' " +
+										Logger.LogMessage("A policy named 'Only elevate executables that are signed and validated' " +
 											"is conflicting with the AppControl Manager app and won't let it start because it's self-signed " +
 											"with your on-device keys. Please disable the policy. It can be found in Group Policy Editor -> " +
 											"Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> " +
@@ -382,6 +381,8 @@ await Task.Run(() =>
 						{
 							Logger.LogMessage("Could not verify that 'Only Elevate signed' policy is not active.", LogTypeIntel.Warning);
 						}
+						#endregion
+
 
 					});
 				}

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/GUI/Confirm/View.cs

@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ private void UpdateTotalCount(bool ShowNotification)
 				NonCompliantItemsTextBlock.Text = $"{NonCompliantItemsCount} Non-Compliant Items";
 			}
 
-			// Display a notification if it's allowed to do so, and ShowNotification is set to true
+			// Display a notification if ShowNotification is set to true
 			if (ShowNotification)
 			{
 				ToastNotification.Show(ToastNotification.Type.EndOfConfirmation, CompliantItemsCount, NonCompliantItemsCount, null, null);

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/GUI/OptionalFeatures/View.cs

@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ private void OptionalFeaturesView(object obj)
 			Button RetrieveRemovableApps = (Button)(GUIOptionalFeatures.ParentGrid).FindName("RetrieveRemovableApps");
 			Button RemoveApps = (Button)(GUIOptionalFeatures.ParentGrid).FindName("RemoveApps");
 
+			ComboBox NetworkAdaptersCompanyListComboBox = (ComboBox)(GUIOptionalFeatures.ParentGrid).FindName("NetworkAdaptersCompanyListComboBox");
+			Button RemoveNetworkAdapters = (Button)(GUIOptionalFeatures.ParentGrid).FindName("RemoveNetworkAdapters");
+
 			// A dictionary to store all checkboxes
 			Dictionary<string, CheckBox> featureCheckboxes = [];
 
@@ -103,6 +106,7 @@ private void OptionalFeaturesView(object obj)
 			ActivityTracker.RegisterUIElement(RetrieveOptionalFeaturesStatus);
 			ActivityTracker.RegisterUIElement(RemoveApps);
 			ActivityTracker.RegisterUIElement(RetrieveRemovableApps);
+			ActivityTracker.RegisterUIElement(RemoveNetworkAdapters);
 
 
 			// Event handler for the apply button
@@ -795,6 +799,75 @@ await Task.Run(() =>
 			// Retrieve the removable apps on the system once the view is loaded
 			_ = _RetrieveRemovableApps();
 
+
+
+
+			// Event handler for the network adapters remove button
+			RemoveNetworkAdapters.Click += async (sender, e) =>
+			{
+
+				// Only continue if there is no activity other places
+				if (ActivityTracker.IsActive)
+				{
+					return;
+				}
+
+				// mark as activity started
+				ActivityTracker.IsActive = true;
+
+				try
+				{
+					// When "*" is used in the middle of the name, it means both WIFI and Ethernet drivers will be targeted for removal
+					switch (NetworkAdaptersCompanyListComboBox.SelectedIndex)
+					{
+						case 0: // Intel
+							{
+								await Task.Run(() => WindowsFeatureChecker.BulkCapabilityRemoval("Microsoft.Windows.*.Client.Intel*"));
+								break;
+							}
+						case 1: // Broadcom
+							{
+								await Task.Run(() => WindowsFeatureChecker.BulkCapabilityRemoval("Microsoft.Windows.Wifi.Client.Broadcom*"));
+								break;
+							}
+						case 2: // Marvel
+							{
+								await Task.Run(() => WindowsFeatureChecker.BulkCapabilityRemoval("Microsoft.Windows.Wifi.Client.Marvel*"));
+								break;
+							}
+						case 3: // Qualcomm
+							{
+								await Task.Run(() => WindowsFeatureChecker.BulkCapabilityRemoval("Microsoft.Windows.Wifi.Client.Qualcomm*"));
+								break;
+							}
+						case 4: // Ralink
+							{
+								await Task.Run(() => WindowsFeatureChecker.BulkCapabilityRemoval("Microsoft.Windows.Wifi.Client.Ralink*"));
+								break;
+							}
+						case 5: // Realtek
+							{
+								await Task.Run(() => WindowsFeatureChecker.BulkCapabilityRemoval("Microsoft.Windows.*.Client.Realtek*"));
+								break;
+							}
+						default:
+							{
+								break;
+							}
+					}
+
+
+				}
+				finally
+				{
+					// mark as activity completed
+					ActivityTracker.IsActive = false;
+				}
+
+			};
+
+
+
 			// Cache the view before setting it as the CurrentView
 			_viewCache["OptionalFeaturesView"] = GUIOptionalFeatures.View;
 

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/GUI/Unprotect/View.cs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using System.Windows;
 using System.Windows.Controls;
 using System.Windows.Markup;
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ private void UnprotectView(object obj)
 			// Event handler for when the refresh button is pressed
 			RefreshDrivesButton.Click += async (sender, e) =>
 			{
-				await System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() =>
+				await Task.Run(() =>
 				{
 					// Get the drives list
 					List<BitLocker.BitLockerVolume> allDrivesList = BitLocker.GetAllEncryptedVolumeInfo(false, false);
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ await System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() =>
 
 
 					// Perform the main tasks on another thread to avoid freezing the GUI
-					await System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() =>
+					await Task.Run(() =>
 					{
 						if (SelectedDriveFromComboBox is null)
 						{
@@ -190,7 +191,7 @@ await System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() =>
 					});
 
 					// Run the Unprotect commands asynchronously in a different thread
-					await System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() =>
+					await Task.Run(() =>
 					{
 						// if LGPO doesn't already exist in the working directory, then download it
 						if (!Path.Exists(GlobalVars.LGPOExe))

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/Others/DialogMsgHelper.cs

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-using System.Threading;
-using System.Windows;
+using System.Windows;
 using System.Windows.Controls;
+using System.Windows.Media;
 
 namespace HardenWindowsSecurity;
 
@@ -14,20 +14,34 @@ internal static class DialogMsgHelper
 	/// <param name="Title"></param>
 	internal static void Show(string Message, string? Title = "An Error Occurred")
 	{
-		Thread thread = new(() =>
+		// Needs to be on the UI thread
+		Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
 		{
-
-			// Create a custom error window
-			Window errorWindow = new()
+			// Create a custom dialog window
+			Window dialogWindow = new()
 			{
 				Title = Title,
 				Width = 450,
 				Height = 350,
 				WindowStartupLocation = WindowStartupLocation.CenterScreen,
-				ResizeMode = ResizeMode.NoResize
+				ResizeMode = ResizeMode.NoResize,
+				Owner = Application.Current.MainWindow, // Associate the dialog with the main Window
 
 				// Enable this when the time is right
 				// ThemeMode = ThemeMode.System
+
+				WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None,  // Hides the title bar
+
+				Background = new LinearGradientBrush(
+				Color.FromRgb(15, 32, 39),
+				Color.FromRgb(32, 58, 67),
+				45),
+
+				BorderThickness = new Thickness(1),
+				BorderBrush = new LinearGradientBrush(
+				Color.FromRgb(255, 105, 180),
+				Color.FromRgb(255, 20, 147),
+				90)
 			};
 
 			StackPanel stackPanel = new() { Margin = new Thickness(20) };
@@ -37,7 +51,10 @@ internal static void Show(string Message, string? Title = "An Error Occurred")
 				Text = Message,
 				Margin = new Thickness(0, 0, 0, 20),
 				TextWrapping = TextWrapping.Wrap,
+				Foreground = Brushes.White,
 				FontSize = 14,
+				HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,
+				TextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center,
 				FontWeight = FontWeights.SemiBold
 			};
 
@@ -52,7 +69,7 @@ internal static void Show(string Message, string? Title = "An Error Occurred")
 
 			okButton.Click += (sender, args) =>
 			{
-				errorWindow.Close();
+				dialogWindow.Close();
 			};
 
 			StackPanel buttonPanel = new() { Orientation = Orientation.Horizontal, HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center };
@@ -61,13 +78,8 @@ internal static void Show(string Message, string? Title = "An Error Occurred")
 			_ = stackPanel.Children.Add(errorMessage);
 			_ = stackPanel.Children.Add(buttonPanel);
 
-			errorWindow.Content = stackPanel;
-			_ = errorWindow.ShowDialog();
-
+			dialogWindow.Content = stackPanel;
+			_ = dialogWindow.ShowDialog();
 		});
-
-		// Required since we're displaying GUI elements
-		thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
-		thread.Start();
 	}
 }

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/Others/GlobalVars.cs

@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ public static class GlobalVars
 	// stored at the beginning of each cmdlet in the begin block through the Initialize() method
 	public static string? VerbosePreference;
 
+	// To track the load of the DLLs in the module that occurs at the beginning of each cmdlet
+	public static bool RequiredDLLsLoaded;
+
+	public const string ReRunText = "Re-running the module because of a possible dependency conflict with other modules such as CommandNotFound in PowerToys";
+
 	// Create an empty ConcurrentDictionary to store the final results of the cmdlets
 	public static readonly ConcurrentDictionary<ComplianceCategories, List<IndividualResult>> FinalMegaObject = [];
 

Harden-Windows-Security Module/Main files/C#/Others/Initializer.cs

@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ public static void Initialize(string VerbosePreference = "SilentlyContinue", boo
 
 		GlobalVars.LogHeaderHasBeenWritten = false;
 
+		// Clear the log path in the Logger class, it should be set by each cmdlet that uses the -Log parameter every time
+		Logger.LogFilePathCLI = null;
+
 		// This check is only necessary to be performed once.
 		// GlobalVars.path is set to non-nullable intentionally with pragma disable
 		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(GlobalVars.path))