diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/files.cmake b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/files.cmake
index d00f357e6c..b4b7d9d037 100644
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/files.cmake
+++ b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/files.cmake
@@ -1,61 +1,58 @@
 set(SRC_CPP_FILES
   QmitkExtActionBarAdvisor.cpp
   QmitkExtWorkbenchWindowAdvisor.cpp
   QmitkExtFileSaveProjectAction.cpp
   QmitkOpenDicomEditorAction.cpp
   QmitkOpenMxNMultiWidgetEditorAction.cpp
   QmitkOpenStdMultiWidgetEditorAction.cpp
 )
 
 set(INTERNAL_CPP_FILES
   QmitkAboutHandler.cpp
   QmitkAppInstancesPreferencePage.cpp
-  QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.cpp
   QmitkCommonExtPlugin.cpp
   QmitkModuleView.cpp
 )
 
 set(UI_FILES
   src/internal/QmitkAppInstancesPreferencePage.ui
-  src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.ui
 )
 
 set(MOC_H_FILES
   src/QmitkExtFileSaveProjectAction.h
   src/QmitkExtWorkbenchWindowAdvisor.h
 
   src/internal/QmitkAboutHandler.h
   src/internal/QmitkAppInstancesPreferencePage.h
-  src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h
   src/internal/QmitkCommonExtPlugin.h
   src/internal/QmitkExtWorkbenchWindowAdvisorHack.h
   src/internal/QmitkModuleView.h
   src/QmitkOpenDicomEditorAction.h
   src/QmitkOpenMxNMultiWidgetEditorAction.h
   src/QmitkOpenStdMultiWidgetEditorAction.h
 )
 
 set(CACHED_RESOURCE_FILES
 # list of resource files which can be used by the plug-in
 # system without loading the plug-ins shared library,
 # for example the icon used in the menu and tabs for the
 # plug-in views in the workbench
   plugin.xml
   resources/ModuleView.png
 )
 
 set(QRC_FILES
 # uncomment the following line if you want to use Qt resources
  resources/org_mitk_gui_qt_ext.qrc
  resources/org_mitk_icons.qrc
 )
 
 set(CPP_FILES )
 
 foreach(file ${SRC_CPP_FILES})
   set(CPP_FILES ${CPP_FILES} src/${file})
 endforeach(file ${SRC_CPP_FILES})
 
 foreach(file ${INTERNAL_CPP_FILES})
   set(CPP_FILES ${CPP_FILES} src/internal/${file})
 endforeach(file ${INTERNAL_CPP_FILES})
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/plugin.xml b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/plugin.xml
index 2c87bf9f64..293a24f24a 100644
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/plugin.xml
+++ b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/plugin.xml
@@ -1,37 +1,32 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <plugin>
 
   <extension point="org.blueberry.ui.preferencePages">
     <page id="org.mitk.AppInstancesPreferencePage" name="Application Instances"
           class="QmitkAppInstancesPreferencePage" category="org.mitk.GeneralPreferencePage">
       <keywordreference id="org.mitk.AppInstancesPreferencePageKeywords"/>
     </page>
-    <page id="org.mitk.ExternalProgramsPreferencePage" name="External Programs"
-          class="QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage" >
-          <keywordreference id="org.mitk.ExternalProgramsPreferencePageKeywords"/>
-    </page>
   </extension>
 
   <extension point="org.blueberry.ui.keywords">
-    <keyword id="org.mitk.ExternalProgramsPreferencePageKeywords" label="External program gnuplot ffmpeg libav"/>
     <keyword id="org.mitk.AppInstancesPreferencePageKeywords" label="application instances running multiple behavior repeated invocations mitk"/>
     <keyword id="org.mitk.AppInstancesPreferencePageKeywords" label="scene file .mitk"/>
   </extension>
 
   <extension point="org.blueberry.ui.views">
     <view
       id="org.mitk.views.modules"
       name="Modules"
       category="org.mitk.views.general"
       class="QmitkModuleView"
       icon="resources/ModuleView.png"
       internal="true" />
   </extension>
 
   <extension point="org.blueberry.ui.handlers">
     <handler
       commandId="org.blueberry.ui.help.aboutAction"
       class="QmitkAboutHandler"/>
   </extension>
 
 </plugin>
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkCommonExtPlugin.cpp b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkCommonExtPlugin.cpp
index 99394e3e56..390dfdf75f 100644
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkCommonExtPlugin.cpp
+++ b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkCommonExtPlugin.cpp
@@ -1,238 +1,236 @@
 /*============================================================================
 
 The Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK)
 
 Copyright (c) German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
 All rights reserved.
 
 Use of this source code is governed by a 3-clause BSD license that can be
 found in the LICENSE file.
 
 ============================================================================*/
 
 #include "QmitkCommonExtPlugin.h"
 
 #include <QtWidgetsExtRegisterClasses.h>
 
 #include "QmitkAboutHandler.h"
 #include "QmitkAppInstancesPreferencePage.h"
-#include "QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h"
 
 #include "QmitkModuleView.h"
 
 #include <mitkIDataStorageService.h>
 #include <mitkSceneIO.h>
 #include <mitkProgressBar.h>
 #include <mitkRenderingManager.h>
 #include <mitkIOUtil.h>
 #include <mitkCoreServices.h>
 #include <mitkIPreferencesService.h>
 #include <mitkIPreferences.h>
 
 #include <mitkBaseApplication.h>
 
 #include <berryPlatformUI.h>
 #include <berryPlatform.h>
 
 #include <Poco/Util/OptionProcessor.h>
 
 #include <QApplication>
 #include <QProcess>
 #include <QMainWindow>
 
 #include <usModuleInitialization.h>
 
 US_INITIALIZE_MODULE
 
 ctkPluginContext* QmitkCommonExtPlugin::_context = nullptr;
 
 void QmitkCommonExtPlugin::start(ctkPluginContext* context)
 {
   this->_context = context;
 
   QtWidgetsExtRegisterClasses();
 
   BERRY_REGISTER_EXTENSION_CLASS(QmitkAboutHandler, context)
   BERRY_REGISTER_EXTENSION_CLASS(QmitkAppInstancesPreferencePage, context)
-  BERRY_REGISTER_EXTENSION_CLASS(QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage, context)
 
   BERRY_REGISTER_EXTENSION_CLASS(QmitkModuleView, context)
 
   if (qApp->metaObject()->indexOfSignal("messageReceived(QByteArray)") > -1)
   {
     connect(qApp, SIGNAL(messageReceived(QByteArray)), this, SLOT(handleIPCMessage(QByteArray)));
   }
 
   // This is a potentially long running operation.
   loadDataFromDisk(berry::Platform::GetApplicationArgs(), true);
 }
 
 void QmitkCommonExtPlugin::stop(ctkPluginContext* context)
 {
   Q_UNUSED(context)
 
   this->_context = nullptr;
 }
 
 ctkPluginContext* QmitkCommonExtPlugin::getContext()
 {
   return _context;
 }
 
 void QmitkCommonExtPlugin::loadDataFromDisk(const QStringList &arguments, bool globalReinit)
 {
   if (!arguments.empty())
   {
     ctkServiceReference serviceRef = _context->getServiceReference<mitk::IDataStorageService>();
     if (serviceRef)
     {
        mitk::IDataStorageService* dataStorageService = _context->getService<mitk::IDataStorageService>(serviceRef);
        mitk::DataStorage::Pointer dataStorage = dataStorageService->GetDefaultDataStorage()->GetDataStorage();
 
        int argumentsAdded = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < arguments.size(); ++i)
        {
          if (arguments[i].right(5) == ".mitk")
          {
            mitk::SceneIO::Pointer sceneIO = mitk::SceneIO::New();
 
            bool clearDataStorageFirst(false);
            mitk::ProgressBar::GetInstance()->AddStepsToDo(2);
            dataStorage = sceneIO->LoadScene( arguments[i].toLocal8Bit().constData(), dataStorage, clearDataStorageFirst );
            mitk::ProgressBar::GetInstance()->Progress(2);
            argumentsAdded++;
          }
          else if (arguments[i].right(15) == ".mitksceneindex")
          {
            mitk::SceneIO::Pointer sceneIO = mitk::SceneIO::New();
 
            bool clearDataStorageFirst(false);
            mitk::ProgressBar::GetInstance()->AddStepsToDo(2);
            dataStorage = sceneIO->LoadSceneUnzipped(arguments[i].toLocal8Bit().constData(), dataStorage, clearDataStorageFirst);
            mitk::ProgressBar::GetInstance()->Progress(2);
            argumentsAdded++;
          }
          else
          {
            try
            {
              const std::string path(arguments[i].toStdString());
              auto addedNodes = mitk::IOUtil::Load(path, *dataStorage);
 
              for (const auto& node : *addedNodes )
              {
                node->SetIntProperty("layer", argumentsAdded);
              }
 
              argumentsAdded++;
            }
            catch(...)
            {
              MITK_WARN << "Failed to load command line argument: " << arguments[i].toStdString();
            }
          }
        } // end for each command line argument
 
        if (argumentsAdded > 0 && globalReinit)
        {
          // calculate bounding geometry
          mitk::RenderingManager::GetInstance()->InitializeViews(dataStorage->ComputeBoundingGeometry3D());
        }
     }
     else
     {
       MITK_ERROR << "A service reference for mitk::IDataStorageService does not exist";
     }
   }
 }
 
 void QmitkCommonExtPlugin::startNewInstance(const QStringList &args, const QStringList& files)
 {
   QStringList newArgs(args);
 #ifdef Q_OS_UNIX
   newArgs << QString("--") + mitk::BaseApplication::ARG_NEWINSTANCE;
 #else
   newArgs << QString("/") + mitk::BaseApplication::ARG_NEWINSTANCE;
 #endif
   newArgs << files;
   QProcess::startDetached(qApp->applicationFilePath(), newArgs);
 }
 
 void QmitkCommonExtPlugin::handleIPCMessage(const QByteArray& msg)
 {
   QDataStream ds(msg);
   QString msgType;
   ds >> msgType;
 
   // we only handle messages containing command line arguments
   if (msgType != "$cmdLineArgs") return;
 
   // activate the current workbench window
   berry::IWorkbenchWindow::Pointer window =
       berry::PlatformUI::GetWorkbench()->GetActiveWorkbenchWindow();
 
   QMainWindow* mainWindow =
    static_cast<QMainWindow*> (window->GetShell()->GetControl());
 
   mainWindow->setWindowState(mainWindow->windowState() & ~Qt::WindowMinimized);
   mainWindow->raise();
   mainWindow->activateWindow();
 
   // Get the preferences for the instantiation behavior
   auto* prefService = mitk::CoreServices::GetPreferencesService();
   auto* prefs = prefService->GetSystemPreferences()->Node("/General");
   bool newInstanceAlways = prefs->GetBool("newInstance.always", false);
   bool newInstanceScene = prefs->GetBool("newInstance.scene", true);
 
   QStringList args;
   ds >> args;
 
   QStringList fileArgs;
   QStringList sceneArgs;
 
   foreach (QString arg, args)
   {
     if (arg.endsWith(".mitk"))
     {
       sceneArgs << arg;
     }
     else
     {
       fileArgs << arg;
     }
   }
 
   if (newInstanceAlways)
   {
     if (newInstanceScene)
     {
       startNewInstance(args, fileArgs);
 
       foreach(QString sceneFile, sceneArgs)
       {
         startNewInstance(args, QStringList(sceneFile));
       }
     }
     else
     {
       fileArgs.append(sceneArgs);
       startNewInstance(args, fileArgs);
     }
   }
   else
   {
     loadDataFromDisk(fileArgs, false);
     if (newInstanceScene)
     {
       foreach(QString sceneFile, sceneArgs)
       {
         startNewInstance(args, QStringList(sceneFile));
       }
     }
     else
     {
       loadDataFromDisk(sceneArgs, false);
     }
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.cpp b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index c9d0fb7efa..0000000000
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,129 +0,0 @@
-/*============================================================================
-
-The Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK)
-
-Copyright (c) German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
-All rights reserved.
-
-Use of this source code is governed by a 3-clause BSD license that can be
-found in the LICENSE file.
-
-============================================================================*/
-
-#include <mitkExceptionMacro.h>
-#include <mitkCoreServices.h>
-#include <mitkIPreferencesService.h>
-#include <mitkIPreferences.h>
-#include <QFileDialog>
-#include <QProcess>
-#include <QTextCodec>
-#include <ui_QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h>
-#include "QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h"
-
-namespace
-{
-  mitk::IPreferences* GetPreferences()
-  {
-    auto* preferencesService = mitk::CoreServices::GetPreferencesService();
-    return preferencesService->GetSystemPreferences()->Node("org.mitk.gui.qt.ext.externalprograms");
-  }
-}
-
-QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage()
-  : m_Ui(new Ui::QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage),
-    m_Control(nullptr),
-    m_GnuplotProcess(nullptr)
-{
-}
-
-QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::~QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage()
-{
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::CreateQtControl(QWidget* parent)
-{
-  m_Control = new QWidget(parent);
-  m_GnuplotProcess = new QProcess(m_Control);
-
-  m_Ui->setupUi(m_Control);
-
-  connect(m_GnuplotProcess, SIGNAL(error(QProcess::ProcessError)), this, SLOT(OnGnuplotProcessError(QProcess::ProcessError)));
-  connect(m_GnuplotProcess, SIGNAL(finished(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)), this, SLOT(OnGnuplotProcessFinished(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)));
-  connect(m_Ui->gnuplotButton, SIGNAL(clicked()), this, SLOT(OnGnuplotButtonClicked()));
-
-  this->Update();
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::OnGnuplotButtonClicked()
-{
-  QString filter = "gnuplot executable ";
-
-#if defined(WIN32)
-  filter += "(gnuplot.exe)";
-#else
-  filter += "(gnuplot)";
-#endif
-
-  QString gnuplotPath = QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(m_Control, "Gnuplot", "", filter);
-
-  if (!gnuplotPath.isEmpty())
-  {
-    m_GnuplotPath = gnuplotPath;
-    m_GnuplotProcess->start(gnuplotPath, QStringList() << "--version", QProcess::ReadOnly);
-  }
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::OnGnuplotProcessError(QProcess::ProcessError)
-{
-  m_GnuplotPath.clear();
-  m_Ui->gnuplotLineEdit->clear();
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::OnGnuplotProcessFinished(int exitCode, QProcess::ExitStatus exitStatus)
-{
-  if (exitStatus == QProcess::NormalExit && exitCode == 0)
-  {
-    QString output = QTextCodec::codecForName("UTF-8")->toUnicode(m_GnuplotProcess->readAllStandardOutput());
-
-    if (output.startsWith("gnuplot"))
-    {
-      m_Ui->gnuplotLineEdit->setText(m_GnuplotPath);
-      return;
-    }
-  }
-
-  m_GnuplotPath.clear();
-  m_Ui->gnuplotLineEdit->clear();
-}
-
-QWidget* QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::GetQtControl() const
-{
-  return m_Control;
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::Init(berry::IWorkbench::Pointer)
-{
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::PerformCancel()
-{
-}
-
-bool QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::PerformOk()
-{
-  auto* prefs = GetPreferences();
-
-  prefs->Put("gnuplot", m_GnuplotPath.toStdString());
-
-  return true;
-}
-
-void QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage::Update()
-{
-  auto* prefs = GetPreferences();
-
-  m_GnuplotPath = QString::fromStdString(prefs->Get("gnuplot", ""));
-
-  if (!m_GnuplotPath.isEmpty())
-    m_GnuplotProcess->start(m_GnuplotPath, QStringList() << "--version", QProcess::ReadOnly);
-}
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 2457e3b42f..0000000000
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-/*============================================================================
-
-The Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK)
-
-Copyright (c) German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
-All rights reserved.
-
-Use of this source code is governed by a 3-clause BSD license that can be
-found in the LICENSE file.
-
-============================================================================*/
-
-#ifndef QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage_h
-#define QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage_h
-
-#include <berryIQtPreferencePage.h>
-#include <QProcess>
-#include <QScopedPointer>
-
-namespace Ui
-{
-  class QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage;
-}
-
-class QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage : public QObject, public berry::IQtPreferencePage
-{
-  Q_OBJECT
-  Q_INTERFACES(berry::IPreferencePage)
-
-public:
-  QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage();
-  ~QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage() override;
-
-  void CreateQtControl(QWidget* parent) override;
-  QWidget* GetQtControl() const override;
-  void Init(berry::IWorkbench::Pointer) override;
-  void PerformCancel() override;
-  bool PerformOk() override;
-  void Update() override;
-
-private slots:
-  void OnGnuplotButtonClicked();
-  void OnGnuplotProcessError(QProcess::ProcessError error);
-  void OnGnuplotProcessFinished(int exitCode, QProcess::ExitStatus exitStatus);
-
-private:
-  QScopedPointer<Ui::QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage> m_Ui;
-  QWidget* m_Control;
-
-  QProcess* m_GnuplotProcess;
-  QString m_GnuplotPath;
-};
-
-#endif
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.ui b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.ui
deleted file mode 100644
index 69f491a9e4..0000000000
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/internal/QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage.ui
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<ui version="4.0">
- <class>QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage</class>
- <widget class="QWidget" name="QmitkExternalProgramsPreferencePage">
-  <property name="geometry">
-   <rect>
-    <x>0</x>
-    <y>0</y>
-    <width>400</width>
-    <height>152</height>
-   </rect>
-  </property>
-  <property name="windowTitle">
-   <string>External Programs</string>
-  </property>
-  <layout class="QFormLayout" name="formLayout">
-   <item row="0" column="0">
-    <widget class="QLabel" name="gnuplotLabel">
-     <property name="text">
-      <string>gnuplot:</string>
-     </property>
-     <property name="textFormat">
-      <enum>Qt::PlainText</enum>
-     </property>
-     <property name="buddy">
-      <cstring>gnuplotButton</cstring>
-     </property>
-    </widget>
-   </item>
-   <item row="0" column="1">
-    <layout class="QHBoxLayout" name="horizontalLayout">
-     <item>
-      <widget class="QLineEdit" name="gnuplotLineEdit">
-       <property name="readOnly">
-        <bool>true</bool>
-       </property>
-      </widget>
-     </item>
-     <item>
-      <widget class="QToolButton" name="gnuplotButton">
-       <property name="text">
-        <string>...</string>
-       </property>
-      </widget>
-     </item>
-    </layout>
-   </item>
-  </layout>
- </widget>
- <resources/>
- <connections/>
-</ui>