HP Inc. - SoftwareComponent

[Phil1793]

I performed a clean install of Windows (downloaded from Microsoft) and everything is running great.

Windows update runs then out of nowhere "HP Inc. - SoftwareComponent" downloaded automatically.

I was unable to stop it. 

I now see these services runnning. 

AppHelperCap.

BridgeCommunication.

DiagsCap.

NetworkCap.

SysInfoCap.
What are these background services!?

When I questioned the AI Chat, the reply was "It is generally recommended to keep it installed to maintain optimal performance and compatibility..."

This comment is designed to discourage removal.

This software runs in the background collecting personal data.

There is no transparency and most importantly, there is NO CONSENT.

What do I do?

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @Phil1793 

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for posting your query! We're here to help you get back up and running.

It’s understandable to be concerned about software installing automatically without explicit consent. 

The HP Inc. - SoftwareComponent package includes background services like AppHelperCap, BridgeCommunication, DiagsCap, NetworkCap, and SysInfoCap, which are part of HP’s system optimization and diagnostic tools.

 

What These Services Do

• BridgeCommunication: Part of HP JumpStart, used for system updates and communication between HP software.
• DiagsCap & SysInfoCap: Related to HP diagnostics and system monitoring.
• NetworkCap: Handle network-related optimizations or telemetry.
• AppHelperCap: Assists with HP software integration.

What You Can Do

Disable or Remove HP SoftwareComponent

• Open Settings → Apps → Installed Apps.
• Locate HP SoftwareComponent and uninstall it if possible.

Disable Background Services

• Press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter.
• Locate the services mentioned above, right-click, and select Disable or Stop.

If you suspect data collection, reviewing HP’s privacy policy  for more clarity. Let me know if you need further assistance! 🚀

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[Phil1793]

Hello Hawks_Eye.

My laptop is no longer under warranty and as such HP no longer offer support if I have an issue.

At this point I am on my own.

From this position, to find HP  installing analytics software on my complter without consent is absolutely ILLEGAL.

To be absolutely clear, HP have no right to install software on my complter without persmission.

On your advice I disabled those services.

But look, somehow they are running again!

To be really crystal clear, kindly remove all HP software from my personal computer IMMEDIATELY and never install it AGAIN.

[ragingbull69]

Hi,

I've been fighting this for the last few days and finally beat it. There is a device in the laptop (presumably a virtual device) that you will see in device manager. There should, in my view, be the ability to disable this device in the bios, but there isn't. Windows is detecting this device and installs "drivers" for it. This also installs a software component in device manager which you will also see. This triggers the installation of all the services and re-installs them automatically if you get rid of them. This process survives a Windows re-install because it relies on a "device" in the laptops bios.

You can disable the software component in device manager but that does not seem to stop the installation of the services, so I got the issue down to one "physical" device being automatically installed by windows.

You can't disable this device, the only way to stop it installing is through advanced system properties (which HP or MS prevents you from accessing) or Group Policy (which Windows Home prevents you from accessing).

If you upgrade to Windows Pro, you can use the inbuilt Group Policy Editor to do the following, but I found a tool called "Policy Plus" which allows Windows Home users access to Group Policy.  So here are the steps I took:

1. Uninstall all the HP Bloatware you can find in add/remove programs.

2. Go to device manager, go to "system devices" and find the HP Device

3. Go to Properties, Details and then select Hardware ID.

4. Copy the largest entry and store it somewhere.

5. Download "Policy Plus" and run it.

6. Click "yes" at the prompt to dump the registry (Policy plus makes changes to a copy that you then save back).

7. Navigate to "System", "Device Installation", "Device Installation Restrictions"

8. Find "Prevent Installation of devices that match any of these device ID's".

9. Double click it and Enable it.

10. Click Edit and add the Device ID you copied earlier to the Value.

11. OK out of all of this and and then go to File and "Save Policies".

12 Go to Device Manager and remove the two HP devices ("system devices" and "software component")

13 Run a command prompt as administrator

14 Go to services and click for each HP service, copy the name

15 In the command prompt type "sc delete <servicename>". (there should be five of them).

16 Download "Autoruns" (a Microsoft tool), run it and check for any HP software, especially Scheduled Tasks. Remove anything you find,

Shutdown and restart the machine, you should find an "Unknown device" in device manager and no HP Bloatware, try a system update and nothing further should be installed.

You're done.

[ragingbull69]

Policy Plus

https://github.com/Fleex255/PolicyPlus/releases

Autoruns

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

I offer no guarantee over this software, this is just what I used to kill HP's telemetry.

Also I wrote the instructions from memory, but once you stop the device from installing, all your other changes will stick.