MTPW is the mostly excellent MiniTool Partition Wizard, which I’ve used and recommended for managing disk layouts on Windows for years. I just got bitten for MTPW v13.5 by what I call a “sneaky update” — a move from v13.0 to v13.5 that includes the company’s companion ShadowMaker image backup tool along with MTPW unless you read its update screens closely and carefully. When I followed the update on one laptop (X380) with another (X12Hybrid), I observed that WinGet foils MTPW sneaky update. Let me explain…
Why I Say: WinGet Foils MTPW Sneaky Update
After I ran the app-based MTPW update, I found it had installed ShadowMake as well as MTPW itself. You can see the “Trial” screen came up with 0 days remaining for use, which makes it:
- worthless for those who want to try the program out for free
- require immediately purchase of a Pro version to use
- earn my ire by installing itself as part of a different update
- force me to delete an app I never wanted in the first place
Immediately after I’d been bitten by this sneaky update, I saw MTPW pop up in WinGet on the X12Hybrid. “Hmmm,” I wondered to myself, “Will this also try to sneak MTSM onto this machine?” Nope! It did what it said it would do: updated only MTPW. That’s why I’m glad I tried it on that other machine, and can now warn readers that if they’re using MTPW, they need to use the built-in update carefully to avoid MTSM. Or, like me, they can use WinGet instead and skip all the drama.
Yeah, I know. I should’ve read the install screens more carefully when running the in-app upgrade utility. My rejoinder: MiniTool shouldn’t make it so easy for MTWM to appear on my machine as part of its MTPW update. It’s neither what I expected nor wanted. ‘Nuff said!
