Metro Unlocker

Metro Unlocker (also known as MetroUnlocker or simply MU) is a tool developed by MetroFetro, a YouTuber and developer. It was the first public application that allowed for all restricted features to be enabled, including the Start screen, and remained the only application to do this from its initial release in 2016 until the release of Redlock in 2020.

The first version, released on 2016-01-03, only supported build 8056, and worked by disabling the Software Protection Service, the Windows service responsible for Windows licensing, and importing in the licensing policies from build 8102, which included the policies needed for Redpill. It also dropped a modified version of 8102's shsxs.dll. Version 2, released on 2019-03-15, added the ability to "enable" the Immersive Browser by importing in the files and registry entries for it from build 8102. Version 3, released on 2019-05-10, used the Immersive Browser files for 8056, along with adding in support for builds 8032 and 7989. The latest version, version 4 released on 2019-08-05, dynamically writes in the RP policies instead of overwriting all policies with the ones from 8102, introduced a slc.dll hack to enable the Immersive Control Panel's personalization settings for build 8056, and introduced support for builds 7927 to 8056.

This tool faces criticism due to the continued choices of crude approaches, namely the reuse of resources contained in Windows Developer Preview and build 8056 instead of working with files already provided by the build it's being run on.