Looks like installing the Stable version breaks the browser

[George Papadakis]

After deciding to install the stable version of Microsoft Edge from the official Microsoft Link it seems that now my edge browser is completely broken and will not start at all.

I cannot find any zombie processes in task manager it seems to be completely broken, also as stated in other posts too this version is greyed out when trying to uninstall reinstall.

Anyone else having this issue, thank you

[#2]

Hi,
unfortunately that is true and you shouldn't have installed it. at least if you wanted to try it out, just install it on Windows Sandbox where you would be safe.

the only official versions of Edge insider are here for download:
https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/download

it's been discussed multiple times on this forum, that so called stable version, even when it is on Microsoft servers, is still Not ready to be installed on your everyday machine, again you can test it on VM or Windows Sandbox but on your production machine you will have the problems that you are facing right now.

the only solution so far has been to use System restore.

also check out 3rd party uninstaller programs such as:

https://www.revouninstaller.com/

[#3]

@HotCakeX thanks a lot for your reply, well the word stable and an official link made it a good candidate to install i guess it was not.

System restore will do the trick i guess.

[#4]

@George Papadakis 

You're welcome,

I know right, hope your system restore goes alright and you get back to where you were :)

[#5]

@George Papadakis 

"...from the official Microsoft Link... the word stable and an official link made it a good candidate to install ..."

You aren't the first to be lured into the honeypot, and a honeypot it is.

However, for the record, the leaked URLs** are not "official Microsoft links"*** but instead leaked URLs to builds being used to test deployment processes, which entail embedding Edge Chromium into Windows 10, removing Edge (Classic) as a Windows 10 browser, and removing the ability to uninstall Edge Chromium. Installation creates an ugly mess for anyone who falls into the honeypot.

And too many have fallen into for the lure. We've had numerous discussions on this Forum, and early on, before the full scope of the problems were reported, even experienced Insiders were posting things like "Unlike the previously leaked beta versions, this time the stable leaks come straight from Microsoft servers, so they are safe."****

I understand that Microsoft needs to test deployment "in the wild", but the less scrupulous among the trade press have published these links many times without warnings about the disastrous side effects (we had a round of trade press articles in August and another round in the last week). 

@Elliot Kirk   @josh_bodner  @David Rubino    I think that Microsoft has an obligation to step up and put a flash screen in front of the URLs clearly warning the unwary of the dangers of downloading the builds being tested through those links. It is not helping anyone to create major problems for consumers who fall into the honeypot.

==================

** to Microsoft servers used by Microsoft to deploy software and test deployment processes
*** to my best knowledge as of this date, there are no links to the URLs on any Microsoft site
**** see, for example, comments to the "Stable Version" post, 2019-08-22

[#6]

@tomscharbach 

Spoiler

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@tomscharbach wrote:

@George Papadakis 

"...from the official Microsoft Link... the word stable and an official link made it a good candidate to install ..."

You aren't the first to be lured into the honeypot, and a honeypot it is.

However, for the record, the leaked URLs** are not "official Microsoft links"*** but instead leaked URLs to builds being used to test deployment processes, which entail embedding Edge Chromium into Windows 10, removing Edge (Classic) as a Windows 10 browser, and removing the ability to uninstall Edge Chromium. Installation creates an ugly mess for anyone who falls into the honeypot.

And too many have fallen into for the lure. We've had numerous discussions on this Forum, and early on, before the full scope of the problems were reported, even experienced Insiders were posting things like "Unlike the previously leaked beta versions, this time the stable leaks come straight from Microsoft servers, so they are safe."****

I understand that Microsoft needs to test deployment "in the wild", but the less scrupulous among the trade press have published these links many times without warnings about the disastrous side effects (we had a round of trade press articles in August and another round in the last week). 

@Elliot Kirk   @josh_bodner  @David Rubino    I think that Microsoft has an obligation to step up and put a flash screen in front of the URLs clearly warning the unwary of the dangers of downloading the builds being tested through those links. It is not helping anyone to create major problems for consumers who fall into the honeypot.

==================

** to Microsoft servers used by Microsoft to deploy software and test deployment processes
*** to my best knowledge as of this date, there are no links to the URLs on any Microsoft site
**** see, for example, comments to the "Stable Version" post, 2019-08-22

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https://c2rsetup.officeapps.live.com/c2r/downloadEdge.aspx?ProductreleaseID=Edge&platform=Default&ve...

That's the direct link to the Microsoft Edge stable and it is on Live servers which belong to Microsoft.

[#7]

And the link for Microsoft Edge Stable version is working Flawlessly :)

Also as expected and mentioned in the official document here

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployEdge/microsoft-edge-sysupdate-windows-updates

it did automatically replace the Edge classic on Windows 10 build 19008

[#8]

@HotCakeX  "That's the direct link to the Microsoft Edge stable and it is on Live servers which belong to Microsoft."

For the record, that URL is one of two URLs being distributed in the trade press without warning about the side effects of installation, both URLs linking to directories on servers used by Microsoft to deploy software.   

But that is the problem, isn't it -- Microsoft is not publishing the URL's or (to my best knowledge) linking to them from any public Microsoft site as of this date (presumably because Microsoft does not want consumers downloading from either URL at this point**), but others are publishing the URLs without any warnings to the innocent or the unwary, who are lured into the honeypot.

It is because others are publishing links to the URLs (and in that sense, the URLs have now become public) that Microsoft should put a splash screen with warnings in front of the URLs.

======================

** Microsoft appears to be testing deployment processes from live servers precisely because Edge Chromium will be, at some point in the future, deployed from those live servers, but that does not suggest (to me, anyway) that Microsoft intends to have consumers downloading from those links at this point.

[#9]

@HotCakeX  "And the link for Microsoft Edge Stable version is working Flawlessly :)"

That is a link to the c2rsetup.officeapps.live.com download URL. 

Did you get that link from a public-facing Microsoft website publishing that URL, or did you get it from the trade press? 

If you have a link to that URL from a public-facing Microsoft website, would you please give us the link to the Microsoft site (not the URL, but the Microsoft site containing the link) on which Microsoft publishing that URL?

[#10]

@tomscharbachThanls for your reply.

The actual problem is that on the press websites in fact a Greek tech website was the one for me, they show that it is possible to get the update through this simple google search "Microsoft Edge Stable" that sends you to the faulty URL that breaks everything.

Although even on the article i read in the end the link was the correct one.

But many people will find that google search an easier way to get the update. And for me it was no deal breaker it is just a pc i have for testing but what if it was a customers computer. It will be a big mess. I guess that google link has to be removed before more people have problems.

Have a nice day 

[#11]

I didn't mention any press site, it's only what you are saying.

It's not important either, the link is publicly accessible.

[#12]

If Microsoft didn't want people to test and download it, they would have made that file on their server private

[#13]

@HotCakeX  "If Microsoft didn't want people to test and download it, they would have made that file on their server private."

I think that we both know (and probably agree about) the nature of the essential facts:

(1) Microsoft has created a download link to a "Stable" version of Edge Chromium on subdirectories on each of two servers (officeapps.live.com and go.microsoft.com) that are used by Microsoft to deploy software and test deployment processes.

(2) The download links have existed since July.

(2a) In July, the links downloaded a version of Edge Chromium that, when installed, hid Edge (Classic) from the Start Menu and apps list, and from search results, but could be uninstalled through normal means.

(2b) In October, the build available for download changed; at that point the links downloaded a version of Edge Chromium that appears to remove Edge (Classic) from Windows 10, hide Edge (Classic) from the Start Menu and apps list, embed Edge Chromium into Windows 10 in the same way that Edge (Classic) is now embedded, and can not be uninstalled through normal means.

(3) Microsoft has not "published" the URLs of those download links or linked to the download URLs on the Microsoft Insider website or (to my best knowledge as of this date) on any other public-facing Microsoft website.  At this point, I think that it is impossible for a member of the public-at-large to obtain those links officially from Microsoft.

(4) However, Microsoft has not restricted access to the links, and anyone who knows the URL can download the "Stable" build.

(5) Microsoft does not warn persons downloading the "Stable" build of the behavior that can be expected (see 2b) when the build is installed.

(6) The URLs of the download links have been widely leaked in the trade press and on (for lack of a better word) "geek" sites. The links were obtained from people who poke around in the two Microsoft servers looking for unreleased software. Leaks of this sort are a perennial problem for Microsoft and other developers. The URLs do not appear to have been obtained with authorization from Microsoft.

I think that is a fair statement of the facts we know.

While the facts are clear enough, we reach different conclusions about what those facts mean.

Based on your comment quoted above ("If Microsoft didn't want people to test and download it, they would have made that file on their server private."), you seem to believe that Microsoft put the builds on officeapps.live.com and go.microsoft.com intending that the public-at-large would test and download the "Stable" version of Edge Chromium.

I don't agree with that conclusion.

An unwary member of the public-at-large, downloading and installing the build now available on the officeapps.live.com and go.microsoft.com servers, with no warning at all about what will happen upon install, is likely to have a shock when the build does what it is supposed to do (see 2b) and the only way to back out of the situation is to restore Windows 10.  That situation creates terrible PR for Microsoft.   

I am no great fan of Microsoft, but I don't think that Microsoft intends to put the public-at-large in that situation because to do so would, in my opinion, be irresponsible and, in the long run, damaging to Microsoft and to the Edge Chromium project. 

I believe, as I've said, that Microsoft put the builds on officeapps.live.com and go.microsoft.com to test deployment processes. I do not believe that Microsoft intends that the public-at-large should download the "Stable" version of Edge Chromium from those servers at this point. 

It seems to me that Microsoft, for whatever reason, was seeking "privacy through obscurity" in this instance.  I've seen it before with software not yet ready for testing by the public-at-large but made available to a small group of outsiders (typically enterprise customers) for testing, and "privacy through obscurity" is routinely used in pre-production processes in other situations.

The fact that the URLs are now effectively public through the trade press and "geek sites", it seems to me, creates a problem for both Microsoft and for unwary members of the public-at-large who might download and install the "Stable" version without understanding the consequences of doing do.  It is for that reason that I suggested to the @Elliot Kirk   @josh_bodner and @David Rubino  that Microsoft put a flash screen in front of the URLs clearly warning the unwary of the dangers of downloading the builds being tested through those links.

In any event, we differ in what we believe, and I don't see a way to resolve the difference in opinion.

[#14]

There is 1 fact.

if Microsoft wanted only their internal employees access this stable Edge then they would have blocked access to it to the outside world. if you don't think so then you need to read about how to secure a file on a server because this is neither the place nor do i have time to write an article for you here.

[#15]

@HotCakeX  "There is 1 fact. if Microsoft wanted only their internal employees access this stable Edge then they would have blocked access to it to the outside world."

There is another fact, and that fact is relevant.  Microsoft has not yet made the Stable channel public, and has said so in this Forum.  You can argue around that fact all you want, but you can't change it.

[#16]

@tomscharbach 

Spoiler

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@tomscharbach wrote:

@HotCakeX  "There is 1 fact. if Microsoft wanted only their internal employees access this stable Edge then they would have blocked access to it to the outside world."

There is another fact, and that fact is relevant.  Microsoft has not yet made the Stable channel public, and has said so in this Forum.  You can argue around that fact all you want, but you can't change it.

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https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Discussions/Facts-about-Edge-Stable-version-Link-And-what-we-...