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In order to prevent de-installation of the chrome extension "stayfocusd" In a windows 10 pc with both Chrome Version 67.0.3396.62 (Official Build) (64-bit) and chromium Version 67.0.3396.62 (Official Build) (64-bit) installed, I took the following steps:
Downloaded the synced version of Chromium from: https://chromium.woolyss.com/
Went to: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/ and installed stayfocusd
- Pressed start, typed> "regedit">enter
- In the registry browsed to:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies
- Right mouse Button (RMB) clicked on "Policies"
- Clicked: New>Key>
- Named the new Key "Google"
repeated the process untill I created the following path in the registry:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist
Then in the white field next to it RMB>New>string value
- Named the string
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- Gave the string the following value: laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji (That is the 32 character-ID of the stayfocusd extension)
- repeated the process for the following folder in the registry:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist
- Yielding:
This picture but then for both folders to illustrate the process.
- Closed Chromium
- Rebooted the pc.
Then I opened Chromium again, but I was still able to uninstall stayfocusd without any problems.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I did wrong, or what I forgot, or another way to prevent de-installation of the stayfocusd extension?
Problem analysis:
0. Currently I think the problem might be that I do not add a reference to the location where the stayfocusd extension is hosted as in some of the examples of the documentation is done here:
Windows (Windows clients): Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist\1 = "gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx"
Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist\2 = "abcdefghijklmnopabcdefghijklmnop"
However I do not understand/cannot find how to supply that equivalent link for the stayfocusd extension. And I would think that its source to perform a re-installation should not be a determining factor in whether it would be able to prevent de-installation, but that is an assumption, which I am currently not able to test because I did not find that equivalent hosting link yet.
- Another cause of the problem might be that I had to manually create the policy folders for google, which could be an indication that the chromium browser does not look at that location for its policies at a different registry location.
To test this I have searched for the "ExtensionInstallForcelist" but was unable to locate the folder in the registry before I had manually created them. Now that I have created them I do not know how to continue searching after it finds the first instance that I have created, so I cannot check if there is an additional location where the "ExtensionInstallForcelist" folder existst which I did not create.
Any suggestions are much appreciated!