Tag Archives: howto

HOWTO detect WIN11 using Windows API

The main problem here is that Windows 11 is a Windows 10++, and there is no function like IsWindows10OrGreater(). This forced us to write down our own IsWindows11OrGreater(). I want to write a function similar to the existing IsWindows*() using VerifyVersionInfo(). Here is the working body of such a function: BOOL IsWindows11OrGreater() { OSVERSIONINFOEX vi; ULONGLONG conditions; memset (&vi, 0, sizeof(vi)); vi.dwOSVersionInfoSize = sizeof(vi); vi.dwMajorVersion … Continue reading HOWTO detect WIN11 using Windows API »

HOWTO install ‘winget’ from command line

Sometimes we might need to use the amazing ‘winget’ command where it isn’t available (for example from a Windows Sandbox, …). The few steps below will solve this problem. The installation process To install ‘winget’ command, you will need to download C++ Runtime framework packages for Desktop Bridge from MS, selecting the proper package (x86, x64, …) from the ‘How to install and update Desktop … Continue reading HOWTO install ‘winget’ from command line »

HOWTO integrate NASM with VS2019

updated 18/04/2023 Occasionally I use Intel assembler language to squeeze processing power from my programs. A cheap solution was C inline assembler sections, but VS2019 doesn’t support them in a 64-bits program.  Other compilers use other more or less complex solutions (IBM assembler, …). This forced me to consider having & link .asm files in my projects.  I can split them with 32 and 64 … Continue reading HOWTO integrate NASM with VS2019 »

HOWTO uninstall a program from Inno Setup kit

Introduction One of the many challenges in releasing the latest version of Horodruin was that the main edition switched to 64-bits. This means that we cannot simply install/update the new program over the existing one, mainly because 64 bits programs have a different default system folder (‘Program Files‘) than 32 bits ones (‘Program Files (x86)‘). The best option here is to uninstall the old one, … Continue reading HOWTO uninstall a program from Inno Setup kit »

HOWTO block Windows 11 automatic upgrade

Introduction Recently I tried to upgrade my previous flagship notebook to Windows 11 but it didn’t work. The update constantly failed because of several problems that I wasn’t able to fix. When I decided to sign off from W11 upgrade, I discovered that I cannot change my previous decision anymore. This problem is that Windows Update constantly tries the upgrade process failing every single time … Continue reading HOWTO block Windows 11 automatic upgrade »

HOWTO set new SVN server in git-svn

These days, we migrated our SVN server to a cloud VM, and one of the needed tasks is to switch also my GIT repositories. An easy approach is to rebuild them, but it has one major drawback: it is possible only if your GIT repositories don’t include uncommitted revisions.  In these cases, you will lose them all. Since I have several unaligned GITs, I needed … Continue reading HOWTO set new SVN server in git-svn »

HOWTO remove F12 exceptions during debugging sessions

I was debugging a new feature when I discovered that every time VK_F12 is pressed, the debugger triggered an exception. After some investigations, I found this forum thread, and I discovered that it is a kernel debugger reserved key. The Solution To fix this annoying problem, we can remap this hotkey going into the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug and editing the following value: UserDebuggerHotKey Setting it … Continue reading HOWTO remove F12 exceptions during debugging sessions »

HOWTO enable Powershell script execution

updated: 09/10/2021   Powershell is indeed a very powerful tool, and sometimes we may need to commit several similar operations that we can quickly organize in a script.  By default, you cannot execute any unsigned PowerShell script.  This can be a problem if we don’t know how, or you need to do a quick maintenance task. We can update this setting, by opening a Powershell … Continue reading HOWTO enable Powershell script execution »

HOWTO restore hidden or deleted power plan

Sometimes you may need to restore the default Windows Power Plan, because you deleted them or because they were hidden by preloaded settings or by a preloaded utility, … The first option is the following command from an administrative Command Prompt: powercfg -duplicatescheme <Power Plan GUID> where the known Power Plan GUIDs are: Friendly Name GUID Power Saver a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a Balanced 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e High Performance 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c Ultimate … Continue reading HOWTO restore hidden or deleted power plan »