How to install UWP (Modern UI) apps on Windows 10 LTSC/LTSB

It is possible to install modern apps like Snip & Sketch and the new calculator on Windows 10 LTSC.

First, you'll need to enable the Developer Mode under Update & Security on the Settings app.

.appx and .appxbundle packages can now be installed from PowerShell. If you add the official App Installer first, you'll be able to double-click subsequent packages to install them with a GUI interface.

At the time of the writing of this post, https://store.rg-adguard.net/ is a working tool that you can use to download free Windows Store packages directly from Microsoft. Select the Retail ring to get stable packages.

Regardless of what tool you use, make sure that the files are being downloaded from microsoft.com servers. Avoid packages from random sources.

To install both the App Installer and Snip & Sketch, use the downloader to get the latest versions of these files:

from https://www.microsoft.com/p/app-installer/9nblggh4nns1: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_2019.xxx.xxx.x_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_2019.xxx.xxx.x_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.BlockMap Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_2019.xxx.xxx.x_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.EappxBundle Microsoft.VCLibs.xxx.xx_xx.x.xxxxxx.x_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx Microsoft.VCLibs.xxx.xx_xx.x.xxxxx.x_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.BlockMap Microsoft.VCLibs.xxx.xx.UWPDesktop_xx.x.xxxxx.x_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx Microsoft.VCLibs.xxx.xx.UWPDesktop_xx.x.xxxxx.x_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.BlockMap from https://www.microsoft.com/p/snip-sketch/9mz95kl8mr0l: Microsoft.ScreenSketch_2018.xxxx.xxxx.x_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle Microsoft.ScreenSketch_2018.xxxx.xxxx.x_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.BlockMap Microsoft.ScreenSketch_2018.xxxx.xxxx.xx_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.EAppxBundle

Save all of them in the same folder and run Add-AppxPackage to install the two VCLibs packages and the App Installer. Finally, you can click twice on the Snip & Sketch package to install it too.

Adobe Fireworks CS6 crashes when trying to use the align panel on Windows 10 Tech Preview build 10041

Fireworks CS6 was working normally for me on earlier Windows Tech Preview releases, but some time after I've upgraded it to build 10041, I found out that using the align panel makes it throw errors or stop working altogether. The most often displayed message was:

Fireworks unexpected exception: 80000004.

I've learned that the align panel extension is an SFW file that runs ActionScript functions. At first I thought that my problem could be then caused by some update of the Flash Player addon that comes bundled with Internet Explorer, but further research revealed that Fireworks and other older Adobe programs actually install and use their own embedded version of Flash, the authplay.dll file.

I'm still not sure if this issue has really been caused by some design change on Windows 10041 or some setting I've manually changed, but the only workaround I've found was to install an old version of the align panel. It took me a while to find it, but it's working.

Windows Update error 8024A000 on Windows 10 Tech Preview

I was getting the error 8024A000 / 0x8024a000 when trying to install updates on Windows 10 Tech Preview Build 10041, and the solutions suggested on most forums didn't work. I've finally found a post in German with a working solution.

The problem was that I had re-enabled the old Windows Update GUI manually through a registry modification. This change needs to be reverted on this build. If you're also using the old GUI and getting this error, go to this registry key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows Update \ UX]

And set the dword value of IsConvergedUpdateStackEnabled back to 1. After that, use the new Windows Update GUI on the Settings app.

How to block ads on the Vivaldi browser?

The new Vivaldi browser is still being developed by former Opera programmers, but you can already hide ads with it. Use the "Page actions" button next to the zoom bar, and select "Content blocker":

Update: Vivaldi now allows you to install extensions directly from the Chrome Web Store. You can try the powerful adblocker uBlock Origin by clicking on "Add to Chrome".

Bookmarklet managers - merge different bookmarklets in a single button

Use one of these sites to create a single bookmarklet with all the commands you need:

• Bookmarklet Combiner
• blummy - The bookmarklet management bookmarklet

List of online IRC clients (alternatives to mIRC, Xchat, Hexchat etc.)

These are online web apps that act as IRC clients you can run on your browser without installing additional plugins. Some are completely free while others offer more features for premium users:

• Kiwi IRC
• ircCloud
• Web IRC - qwebirc (only works on the freenode network)
• Mibbit

The simple web-based chat Chatzy may be useful for you too.

Browser extensions

If you prefer to install a browser addon, check out:

• ChatZilla for Firefox
• CIRC for Google Chrome

IMDb to Letterboxd Redirector

This post was made to host a simple JavaScript script I've written for quickly redirecting an IMDb link to its corresponding Letterboxd page with a Firefox keyword search. Syntax:

http://manyfeatures.blogspot.com/letterboxd#imdb=imdb link

Example:

http://manyfeatures.blogspot.com/letterboxd#imdb=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602620/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1

Goes to:

http://letterboxd.com/film/amour/