UCyborg

Latest cumulative update for Build 17134 (aka. April 2018 Update) also fixes the issue with broken ICopyHook interface (dragging and dropping files from programs like FileZilla to Explorer works again) and the issue with missing ellipsis in various places where the text is too long to fit (it occurred only when extra length didn't exceed 3 characters).

It's possible to download an ISO of the latest build that's deemed stable from... https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 ...by changing web browser's user agent to say you have non-Microsoft OS.

Aero Peek is broken since 1803. Somehow running Aero Glass on 1803 fixes it. I tried asking @bigmuscle about it in the other thread, but didn't get any response.

Here's another f***up in 1809. Using Explorer to handle ZIP files for some reason? Well, if you try to extract a file into a destination folder where the file with the same name exists, extraction will silently fail without presenting a dialog asking whether to overwrite the file.

The older builds also have/had issues, some are never addressed. Recently, I needed to transfer some files to another computer, used plain file shares. The Windows 10 computer never appeared in the Network folder, neither on the machine in question itself nor on the other computer from which I wanted to access the files. It could be accessed by manually typing its hostname. That bug with deleting user files is on the whole new level. It just never ends. We're not even talking about abusing the software with crazy combinations of user input.

You can disable the task without removing custom trigger first, its presence just prevents other task properties from being edited in the GUI, disabling works either way. Whatever that task's custom trigger is for, it's disabled by default. This is its description in the task's file (XML): <WnfStateChangeTrigger> <Enabled>false</Enabled> <StateName>7508BCA3380C960C</StateName> <Data>01</Data> <DataOffset>0</DataOffset> </WnfStateChangeTrigger> Whatever that means.

That's strange, I just re-enabled Windows Defender, updated its definitions and the task did stay disabled. At least on my end, the only other user with write access to the file is the administrators group, so nobody except me should be able to modify it. Though setting just Everyone to read-only access should be the most thorough action that can be accomplished by messing with permissions alone. The only Windows 8 installations I have for testing is Windows 8.0 with zero updates and Windows 8.1 with only security updates 'till December 2017. There should be something out there available to monitor file access. Process Monitor perhaps? Maybe it can help determine what changes the task. Edit: Forgot to mention, I noticed having Windows Defender enabled does cause Windows Update service to start at boot, that is, with both scheduled task disabled and that machine policy trigger removed.

I don't know what that machinepolicy trigger is supposed to be, just noticed it causes the service to start on cold boot. I didn't take Windows Defender into account, just assumed it would work after seeing it didn't reset on reboot. What about taking the ownership of the file, disabling inherited permissions and just set one entry - Everyone - to allow just read-only access? Scheduled Start task by itself doesn't do anything beyond starting the service. I also don't remember ever seeing the service updating Windows Update state if updates were disabled, always have to check manually. No idea what messes with those tasks; I noticed it gets enabled on reboot with Windows Defender service disabled, so some core component/service must be responsible.

Because Task Scheduler GUI doesn't understand custom triggers. If you delete it, it works. Windows Update service has a trigger defined that will start it under certain circumstances; remove it with: sc triggerinfo wuauserv delete start/machinepolicy For the task being recreated/overwritten problem, disable it in Task Scheduler first then take away write permission for the SYSTEM account on the file C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\Scheduled Start.

I suspected this might be the case. At least when you run the installer on the official Office 2019 image, it runs successfully on both Windows 8 and 8.1 if you use the debugger to make RtlGetVersion function in ntdll.dll return Windows 10's major and minor version; 10.0.

It installs after fooling the installer into thinking it's running on Windows 10. Installed programs seem to function without issues at first glance without any workarounds. No luck running the installer on Windows 7. It wants SetCoalescableTimer function (Windows 8 and up), which I could redirect to SetTimer, but then the exception is thrown in msxml6.dll and I don't know how to proceed further.

I thought Configure Automatic Updates policy in gpedit.msc was completely ineffective these days. Turned out WU was already downloading updates in the background when I was testing its effectiveness a while back, making it seem like it doesn't do anything. Thanks for confirming. I see that it alters registry settings in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate key. I was aware of the settings there, just unsure about their long-term effectiveness. I see Windows Update Mini Tool and Windows Update Manager have similar interface, the latter also has some radical options to block the updates: capping the Update Orchestrator service and blocking access to update servers by utilizing policy settings for re-directing update service away from Microsoft's update servers.

How do you manage to keep updates disabled? Currently using registry value *NdisDeviceType set to 1 (type DWORD) under my network adapter key, these keys can be found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}, refer to DriverDesc value of each numbered key to find the right one. This works, but also disables some of the networking functionality, so it's not the best approach. If I disable the update services (BITS, UsoSvc, wuauserv, WaaSMedicSvc) through conventional means (sc config <service name> start= disabled) and the tasks in UpdateOrchestrator, WaaSMedic, WindowsUpdate folders, all of these just re-enable themselves eventually. What prevents these services from even starting is removing them from the lists in registry in the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Svchost Requires reboot to take effect and failures of service startup are logged. I've seen Windows Update MiniTool mentioned, which I haven't tried yet; does it have any magic options to keep updates disabled? I'd prefer something at least convenient as just disabling those services and re-enabling them when I want to update, so I'm open to suggestions.

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions. It's difficult to diagnose these things remotely. I guess it's something other than Visual C++ Redist, but can't say for certain.

It doesn't crash right away, but blur doesn't work and it breaks the programs' preview thumbnails in the taskbar.

@bigmuscle Did you do anything specifically to fix the problem that happens when using Aero Peek and not having Aero Glass running? The thing with window outlines shifting a bit. Or is it just coincidental positive side effect of Aero Glass' operation? I see that this is still broken out-of-the-box with the new Windows 10 Build that was released recently.

It doesn't work well with 1809. Symbols won't help, Aero Glass has to be updated again.

@WinClient5270 That small patch to make Rufus work on Vista is still applicable to version 3.3. I updated the binaries. It says version 3.4 because it's compiled from the source code iteration with this commit and the author bumps the version right away after making changes after publishing the official binaries. So apart from some Italian localization typo fixes, it's identical to 3.3. I'll probably put it on my GitHub account at a later point in time as it's more suitable place for such things. Just have some other things on my mind ATM.

Glad you got it working. It's just strange that you had to mess with Universal C Runtime specifically. It's supposed to install along with Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable as it cannot function without it. BTW, Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable is never needed if 2017 is already installed as the latter is binary compatible upgrade to the former (2017 will always replace 2015). Programs compiled with Visual Studio 2015 work without modification with 2017 redistributable.

Just inaccessible (even though registry entries are still in place) and slightly dumbed down in functionality (some links redirect to Settings app). Put this in Explorer's address bar: shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} Or this to get to the good old desktop background interface (as the regular link redirects to Settings app): shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}\pageWallpaper Check out Winaero Tweaker, it can put the link to the first with one click in Control Panel. Some things may still need manual registry editing to get them the way you like, eg. you can make both Open command window here and Open PowerShell window here available in right-click context menus (requires holding Shift by default) if you search for a value HideBasedOnVelocityId in registry. Those values are only present in keys referencing Command Prompt option in context menus, effectively causing the option to be hidden. I noticed PowerShell keys contain the setting that has the opposite effect (ShowBasedOnVelocityId). I just deleted those *BasedOnVelocityId values to get both options. Winaero Tweaker does have an option to add the Command Prompt option, but it adds a new context menu entry instead, which isn't localized. It usually takes few months before non-debug version of Aero Glass for the current Win10 build is made, eg. for Windows 10 Build 17134, it was compiled on July 20.

Apparently they fixed broken ICopyHook::CopyCallback function in 1809. I take it that won't ever be backported to 1803 via a cumulative update, despite the fact we're talking about a broken Windows API function? They always break something basic, one build breaks Visual Studio extensions, other makes mouse cursor jump at places in programs utilizing ListView control when horizontal scrollbar is present and you click inside of the list etc. What's broken this time?

Only for Windows 2000 and newer. Windows 8.1 x64 also works if you replace vmm.sys with the one from Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1. Before replacing it, run this from admin Command Prompt: sc stop vmm Replace the file and then: sc start vmm

Yes, Windows 10 supports themes of a sort, without having to patch dll files, or inject other dlls, into your system. Such themes are limited to colours, backgrounds, sounds and mouse cursors, however. Yet the Windows 10 engine is capable of altering much more than just the things just mentioned - buttons, titlebars, scrollbars and the like can all, in principle, be changed. Microsoft doesn't really want you to do this, preferring for its users to work with a mostly uniform interface. This is not surprising, really. The look of its interface helps Microsoft set Windows 10 aside from, for instance, Windows XP, Vista, 7, or 8. This is important from a marketing viewpoint as these OSes are otherwise very similar. Strip away Windows 'app' support, a few security features, and a lot of telemetry, and Windows 10 is not so very different from 7. It started with the theme settings that could be altered represented by checkboxes in the following screenshot: Then Windows XP came and introduced concept of visual styles. They store images and other resources that allow skinning of windows' title bars, controls used by programs like buttons, checkboxes, scrollbars, etc. Selected visual style file (.msstyles extension) is actually just another theme setting. But as is well known, Microsoft doesn't allow users to create their own visual styles, hence digital signature check that prevents loading 3rd party visual styles. Another important thing that Windows XP brought was the new version of Common Control Library (comctl32.dll), version 6.0 to be precise. Its descriptions says User Experience Controls Library. The library is responsible for providing controls like scrollbars, buttons, checkboxes, etc. to applications. Version 6.0 allows usage of skinned controls that are defined by visual style. Programs must be modified for them to load new version of the library, the default is still the old 5.80 version. When the old version is used, controls will have the classic appearance regardless of the used visual style. For themes that change window borders to have rounded corners. Aero Glass can fix their appearance if configured correctly since they're not rendered properly by default (glass geometry radius setting). They all strive to make the code that loads visual style always go in the same direction regardless of whether the visual style is signed by Microsoft or not, so it never bails out on unsigned visual style. Some makes changes in memory during runtime (like the one discussed here), others modify the affected files on disk. Former method isn't as messy and is easier to undo. The latter method must be manually re-applied any time Microsoft updates affected files. And you never know which update will change those files, so if/when it does happen, you find yourself unable to login if you didn't revert to default theme before updating. OldNewExplorer doesn't alter anything on its own unless you explicitly tell it to or the theme contains customized shellstyle.dll, which customizations are recognized and applied by OldNewExplorer. Extensions like that exist because Microsoft introduced a number of usability regressions with time.

Indeed. The point is you have to be prepared for unexpected issues with VirtualBox. If you don't encounter issues with what you need a virtual machine for, then VirtualBox can be a valid solution. One obvious advantage of both Virtual PC 2007 and VMware are the guest additions. MS would like their users to use Hyper-V and not run older operating systems, and when it comes to their own virtualization solutions, there's nothing stopping them from keeping Virtual PC 2007 unusable on Windows 10. BTW, read this. MS guys could actually work smartly, if they wanted to. Another interesting observation, Windows is still setup to use NDIS 5.x based driver when trying to use USB tethering feature on smartphones. Updating it to NDIS 6.x version has been reported to help with reliability issues that appear to be common with default driver. Search for "windows 10 usb tethering fix", though the issue is known to date back to Windows 8.1.

If you put UxTSB64Loader.dll in the same folder as UxTSB64.dll and put UxTSB64Loader.dll in AppInit_DLLs instead of UxTSB64.dll, the loader DLL will ensure that UxTSB64.dll is loaded only if process name is winlogon.exe or explorer.exe. The loader DLL is unloaded as soon as its DllMain runs. Loads without issues: I noticed it has weird red line above taskbar program preview thumbnails. It's the best to use styles made for the build of Windows you're on, if possible. Otherwise, there is a possibility of encountering glitches at certain places. Though there are also styles out there that simply aren't as polished and that could also be the reason for something looking strange. Sounds unlikely, though I don't have that card.