One YAML File Rebuilt a Windows PC. The Real Story Is Who It Leaves Behind

One YAML File Rebuilt a Windows PC. The Real Story Is Who It Leaves Behind. A consumer tech journalist spent 14 minutes rebuilding a clean Windows 11 install from a single configuration file. The experiment exposes how much of our digital lives still depends on memory, licenses, and logins that no file can carry. Rachel Whitman. October 18, 2026. A YAML configuration file rebuilt a clean Windows 11 machine in under 12 minutes, installing 14 applications and applying Windows settings in a single command, according to an experiment published by XDA-Developers on October 18, 2026. The test used winget, Microsoft's official command-line package manager, and its configure command, which reads a YAML file and applies apps and system settings together. The author exported a list of more than 150 installed packages from a working PC, edited the file by hand, and ran it against a fresh Windows 11 26H2 virtual machine. The first run took 14 minutes and 26.8 seconds. A second run in a clean VM finished in under 12 minutes. The experiment matters beyond one tech writer's weekend project. It shows that a big chunk of the most tedious work in computing, the hours after a clean install when a blank machine has to become yours, can now be described in a text file and replayed on command. It also shows, just as clearly, what that file cannot do. The export was only half the job. Winget's export command captured more than 150 packages, but it missed apps that are not in the winget source or the Microsoft Store, including Brave, Discord, Postman, and Android Studio. The JSON output had to be converted to YAML, duplicate entries removed, and missing packages added by hand. The author also added three Windows settings manually, including Developer Mode and dark mode, because export does not capture them. The final file was split in two: one for core apps and development tools, another for game launchers and flight simulation software. The test file used in the VM held 14 applications and three settings. What the file never promised. Every app installed. None of them remembered anything. Browsers came back without profiles, history, or passwords. Utility apps were signed out. VS Code had no extensions, which the author acknowledged was an oversight. Version pinning also failed quietly. The file recorded versions, but the new machine pulled newer ones: Node 22.23.2 instead of 22.14, Python 3.13.15 instead of 3.13.3, Git 2.55.0 instead of 2.53.0. Licensed software like Microsoft Office and Adobe Suite stayed a manual job, since each requires its own authentication. SSH keys and Git credentials were deliberately left out. The author did not test taskbar and Start layout, default apps, or display scaling. The result is a baseline, not a backup. That distinction is where the experiment gets interesting for anyone who cares about who gets to participate in computing. A configuration file assumes a user who already knows what they want installed, already owns the licenses, and already has the accounts. For a developer with 150 apps and years of accumulated preferences, that is a genuine gift of time. For a first-generation college student on a donated laptop, a family setting up its first home computer, or anyone whose old machine died before they could export anything, the file describes a life they never had. The tooling is free and official, which is progress. Winget ships with Windows and needs no third-party download. But the knowledge required to build the file is not distributed evenly, and the parts that matter most, passwords, licenses, browser profiles, are exactly the parts that cannot travel in plain text for good security reasons. The same week the experiment ran, Microsoft published a release health note for Windows 11, version 26H2 listing resolved issues, including desktop loading problems on some devices, according to Microsoft Learn. Windows 11 26H2 is rolling out now through Windows Update, the Installation Assistant, ISO, and USB media, according to Windows Central, which also documents common upgrade pitfalls. For anyone planning a clean install, the practical sequence is straightforward: install Windows, enable winget configuration with winget configure --enable, validate the YAML file, then run it. The author's advice is to treat the file as a starting point. Drivers are device-specific, so moving them brings no benefit, and storing logins in a YAML file is not safe. A documented, repeatable baseline beats starting from scratch and trusting your memory. There is a policy angle here too. Package managers are infrastructure, and infrastructure shapes who can rebuild after a failure. Owning your digital purchases is one version of that argument, as the proposed Power to the Players Act would establish for game licenses. A configuration file is a smaller version of the same principle: the ability to restore what you paid for without begging a vendor or remembering every decision you ever made. Microsoft has not announced plans to make export capture settings or licensed apps automatically. Until it does, the 150-app file remains a power user's tool, remarkable in what it does and honest about what it does not. FAQ. What is winget configure? Winget is Microsoft's official command-line package manager for Windows. The configure command reads a YAML file and applies applications and Windows settings in one run, according to XDA-Developers. Does a winget configuration file back up my PC? No. It installs apps and applies some settings, but it does not restore browser profiles, passwords, licenses, or SSH keys. The XDA-Developers experiment found that installed apps came back signed out and unconfigured. How long does it take to rebuild a Windows PC from a YAML file? In the XDA-Developers test, 14 applications plus three settings took 14 minutes and 26.8 seconds on the first run and under 12 minutes on a second run in a fresh virtual machine. A full 150-app setup would take longer. Can winget export every app on my PC? No. The export command missed apps not available in the winget source or Microsoft Store, including Brave, Discord, Postman, and Android Studio, which had to be added by hand. Photo: XDA-Developers