Feedback on the New Download Manager Feature

[tEctutoRIt]

Hi,

First of all, thank you for the continued development of Harden Windows Security. I've been using and following the project for some time, and one of the things I appreciate most is its clear focus on Windows security, hardening, and system protection.

I recently noticed the introduction of the Download Manager feature. I think the concept itself is genuinely good, and from what I've seen, it looks like a well-designed implementation. However, I can't help but feel that it drifts somewhat from the core purpose of Harden Windows Security.

To me, the project's strength has always been its focused approach to security hardening. A download manager, while potentially useful, feels like a separate category of software rather than a natural extension of the project's primary mission.

In fact, seeing this feature made me think that it could potentially become its own standalone application. I'd personally be interested in that. I used to enjoy using XDM (Xtreme Download Manager) and still miss having a modern, actively developed download manager with a strong focus on reliability and security.

Of course, this is just my personal perspective as a user. I fully respect your vision for the project and appreciate the amount of work that goes into maintaining and improving it. I simply wanted to share my thoughts and see what others in the community think about the direction of the feature.

Thank you again for all your work on this project.

[HotCakeX]

Hi, I have been wanting to explain about the Extras feature in the Harden System Security app. I totally understand your views; I had the same thoughts in mind too. Here is why the Extras section exists:

1. Each feature in the Extras section is roughly about 100KB of the entire app size that is about 50MB at the moment. Since these features share the same components and codes as the rest of the app, they have minimal footprint.
2. Creating a separate app for each of the features in the app is possible but it'd take a lot of effort to maintain multiple separate small apps, release update for each of them, make sure all projects are in sync, and for an end user who would want to access those features, it'd take many times more space on their system compared to a single app that has all of these features.
3. The main idea behind these features under the Extras section is so that users won't have to install 3rd party apps for the features available in the Harden System Security app. The projects in this repository do not use any 3rd party library or dependency, they strictly only use the .NET SDK, Windows App SDK and MSAL (Microsoft's authentication library) and Microsoft Win2D (for animations etc.). 3rd party apps barely care about these security measures, if they were doing it right, I wouldn't have to make this Extras section in the first place. Also, all of these features are open source in addition to being secure, so users can view the codes, trust it completely, build it from the source if they want to or contribute to change it.
4. Windows hardening and security is far beyond simply adding group policies or turning on Microsoft Defender features, because that would be too easy and we wouldn't be seeing so many compromises and breaches all over the cyber space. Managing your attack surface and exposure to unknown files is a crucial part of security, and that's what these features in the Extras section are all about.

Right now, if you or others are using 3rd party apps that are either discontinued, left unsupported, closed source and you would like to have that feature in the Harden System Security app so you can uninstall those programs, you can open a new feature request issue here so and I'll be happy to add it to the app if it provides great benefits to everyone.

So far I've only talked about the benefits of the Extras section, but I'd like to know about any negative aspects or concerns about it too.

I can add a section in the settings page that you can use to hide the extras section if you want.

It might also be possible to offer them as an add-on in the Microsoft Store for the main app but not sure how that would work yet.

[HotCakeX]

Even the strongest defense can be undone by a single weak point. It is like the story of Achilles: despite all of his strength, he was still vulnerable through his heel, and that one weakness was enough to bring him down. System security works the same way. It makes little sense to carefully harden Windows, apply the strictest security policies, and enable every important Microsoft Defender protection, only to then install a 3rd party app that is outdated, unsupported, closed source, or built on an old .NET version with known vulnerabilities. That single weak link can quietly undermine all of the other security measures in place. A system is not only defined by its strongest protections, but also by its weakest exposed component. That is one of the main reasons these Extras features exist: to help users avoid introducing unnecessary risk through external tools when safer, transparent, and actively maintained built-in options can be provided instead.

[tEctutoRIt]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that! I completely understand your point now.
​Since the Download Manager takes up very little space anyway, it definitely makes sense to keep it built-in rather than splitting the app. Also, you don't need to worry about adding a "hide the extras section" option in the settings or offer them as an add-on either, it's perfectly fine to just leave it as it is.