Turn on hidden Windows tools

VIVETOOL AND WINDOWS 10 OR 11 github.com/PeterStrick/ ViVeTool-GUI

1

SIGN UP FOR WINDOWS INSIDER

First, you need to turn on optional diagnostic data in Windows. Press Windows key+I to open Settings, then in Windows 10, click Privacy (or ‘Privacy & security’ in Windows 11), followed by ‘Diagnostics & feedback’. Now, make sure the slider in the ‘Send optional diagnostic data’ section is on [ Image A] . Once that’s done, click Windows Update on the left, followed by Windows Insider Programme in the main part of the window. Next, click the blue ‘Get started’ button, followed by ‘Link an account’. Select your Microsoft account in the box that appears, then click Continue, and choose which ‘channel’ you want to sign up to.

» There are four to choose from, ranging from the Canary Channel (an ‘unstable’ release for ‘highly technical users’) to the Release Preview (which is the closest version to what will be officially released). Microsoft recommends the Beta edition [ Image B], which is one stage before the Release Preview, and more stable than the Canary Channel. Click the channel you’re comfortable working with, then click Continue.

» Now, confirm that you agree with the terms and privacy notice, then restart your computer. When it’s up and running again, return to the Windows Update section of the Settings tool, and check for updates. This time, it should find an Insider Preview build of Windows. Download all the updates that it offers.

2

DOWNLOAD VIVETOOL

First, head to tinyurl.com/4ef49skb. This is ViVeTool’s page on GitHub, which is a Microsoft-owned service that developers use to manage and share code. ViVeTool is on an update cycle, which means that there are several versions available to be downloaded at any time. Download the latest version, though it might be best to avoid any builds labeled ‘Emergency’.

» Download your chosen build by clicking the arrow to the left of the Assets header, followed by ‘ViVeTool.GUI.Setup. exe’ [ Image C]. Once the program has downloaded, launch it. Windows will check that you really want to run the file. Let it do so, then follow the instructions to install ViVeTool.

3

SELECT YOUR VERSION OF WINDOWS

Not every disabled feature appears in every version of Windows. This is why you have to tell ViVeTools what version of Windows you’re using. Open Windows Settings again, then click System in the sidebar. Now, scroll down to the bottom of the main panel, and click ‘About’. Carry on scrolling to the ‘Windows specifications’ section, then note the number listed beside ‘OS build’.

WINDOWS IS BEING CONSTANTLY DEVELOPED, and Microsoft makes new beta features available on a rolling basis. However, many are available only to Windows Insiders signed up to preview versions. The good news is that you can often enable these features yourself. One of the easiest ways to do this is with ViVeTool.

Here, we’ll show you how to download pre-release versions of Windows and use ViVeTool to enable features. Before starting, make a backup of your system. The features that ViVeTool can activate are experimental, so proceed with caution. –NIK RAWLINSON

» Now, return to ViVeTool, click the drop-down menu in the top left corner, then look for and select your build number [ Image D]. If you can’t find the specific build, look for the closest number below it—this will be the next earliest release of Windows. Be aware, though, that this might bring up features that aren’t available in your version of Windows.

4

CHOOSE A FEATURE TO TURN ON

Having selected a Windows build, ViVeTool assembles a list of features that it contains. As you’ll see if you expand the sections, each feature has both a name and a Feature ID number, the latter typically comprising seven or eight digits.

» These Feature IDs are important, as they identify what task they perform. It’s not always easy to find which IDs you might want to change, as several IDs can be tied to a single feature. The best strategy is to first search for a specific feature that you know your version of Windows contains, but isn’t activated, or to search more generally for a part of Windows that you’d like to improve. In our example, we searched for tabs [ Image E] .

» If you know what a feature does, and want to turn it on, select it by clicking so that it’s highlighted in blue. Next, click Perform Action at the top, and click the Activate Feature option. You’ll see a green message confirming that it has been successfully enabled. If it doesn’t work, or you don’t like it, click Deactivate Feature.

» The other way to find features is to search for Feature IDs. These won’t mean anything to you unless you do a bit of research. You could search for them online, but that could generate lots of irrelevant results. It’s better to visit a forum offering advice. For example, the Microsoft Community site (which is not affiliated with Microsoft) has posted a selection of IDs at tinyurl.com/ mrwuf9xx [ Image F].

» Some features require you to activate two or more IDs. One good example is getting instant search results in File Explorer as you type, for which you need to activate both 39281392 and 38665217. To search by ID number in ViveTool, just type in the box in the top left. As you type, it will try to predict which feature you’re looking for and highlight it. You can turn it on by clicking the ‘Perform Action’ button. Then, close ViVeTool, and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.