windows-scripts

A collection of PowerShell scripts to fully set up a fresh Windows LTSC (or any clean Windows) install for gaming, content creation, and development — no Microsoft Store required.

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What it does

Step	Script	Run as	Description
0	Install-Winget.ps1	Admin	Installs winget from GitHub (no Store needed)
1	Install-Runtimes.ps1	Admin	VCRedist, .NET, DirectX, WebView2, XNA, 7-Zip, codecs
2	Set-Tweaks.ps1	Admin	Classic context menu, Explorer defaults, accessibility, Photo Viewer
3	Install-Dev.ps1	User	PS7 (interactive), Terminal, eza, Starship, PS profile

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Quick start

On LTSC PowerShell 7 is not pre-installed — open Windows PowerShell (the built-in one) as Administrator.

Step 1 – Admin setup (runtimes + tweaks). Open Windows PowerShell as Administrator:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hmwassim/windows-scripts/main/setup.ps1 | iex

The script shows a summary of everything that will be installed and applied, then asks you to confirm with Y/N before proceeding. It handles winget install if missing, all runtimes, and system tweaks.

Step 2 – Shell setup (run as your normal user, not elevated):

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hmwassim/windows-scripts/main/setup.ps1 | iex

The script shows the list of tools that will be installed and asks for Y/N confirmation. It launches the PS7 MSI interactively (so you can uncheck telemetry and the Windows Update auto-update option), then silently installs Windows Terminal, eza, and Starship, and deploys your PowerShell profile.

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Scripts

setup.ps1

The entry point. Runs cleanly from a remote irm … | iex one-liner or from a local clone. Automatically detects whether it is running elevated or not:

As Administrator — shows a bullet-point summary and asks Y/N:

Runtimes:
  - VC++ Redistributables (2005-2022)
  - .NET Desktop Runtimes
  - Windows App Runtime
  - Edge WebView2 Runtime
  - DirectX End-User Runtime
  - OpenAL
  - XNA Framework 4.0
  - 7-Zip
  - K-Lite Codec Pack

Tweaks:
  - Classic right-click menu
  - Show file extensions
  - Show hidden files
  - Disable accessibility hotkeys
  - Disable mouse acceleration
  - Restore Windows Photo Viewer (optional, prompted)

As Normal User — shows the dev/shell tools and asks Y/N:

Dev / Shell Tools:
  - PowerShell 7
  - Windows Terminal
  - eza (modern ls)
  - Starship prompt
  - PowerShell profile

At the end of the admin path it prints instructions to re-run as a normal user.

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scripts/Install-Winget.ps1

Installs winget on machines that don't have it (LTSC, Server, Sandbox). Downloads:

• Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx (via aka.ms redirect)
• Microsoft.UI.Xaml 2.8 (from NuGet, no Store required)
• Latest Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller msixbundle from the GitHub release

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scripts/Install-Runtimes.ps1

Installs all common runtimes that games and apps depend on:

• Visual C++ Redistributables (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015+) — x86 & x64
• .NET Desktop Runtime (3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
• Windows App Runtime 1.8
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime
• DirectX End-User Runtime
• OpenAL
• XNA Framework 4.0
• 7-Zip
• K-Lite Codec Pack Standard

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scripts/Install-Dev.ps1

Run as your normal user — not as Administrator.
winget installs user-scoped by default when not elevated, which is correct for these tools. The script will refuse to run if it detects an elevated session.

Installs the base shell environment:

• PowerShell 7 — launched via winget install -i (interactive MSI) so you can uncheck telemetry and the "update via Windows Update" option
• Windows Terminal
• eza (modern ls)
• Starship prompt
• Deploys profile/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 to the PS7 profile path

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scripts/Set-Tweaks.ps1

Registry and system tweaks (requires Admin):

• Classic context menu — restores the Windows 10-style right-click menu
• Show file extensions in Explorer
• Show hidden files and folders
• Disable Sticky / Filter / Toggle key prompts
• Disable mouse enhance pointer precision (acceleration)
• Windows Photo Viewer — prompts to restore the classic image viewer or undo the change (imports profile/windows_photo_viewer.reg / windows_photo_viewer_undo.reg)

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profile/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

Configures eza-based ls aliases and initialises the Starship prompt.

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profile/windows_photo_viewer.reg / windows_photo_viewer_undo.reg

Registry files that restore (or remove) the classic Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10/11. Imported automatically by Set-Tweaks.ps1 when the user chooses the Photo Viewer option. Can also be double-clicked manually.
Installed automatically by Install-Dev.ps1, or copy it manually to:

%USERPROFILE%\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

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Notes

• setup.ps1 and all Install-Runtimes / Set-Tweaks / Install-Winget scripts require Administrator privileges.
• Install-Dev.ps1 should be run as a normal user (installs per-user by default).
• Scripts are designed to be idempotent — safe to re-run; winget will skip already-installed packages.
• irm … | iex downloads each sub-script from GitHub at runtime so no local clone is needed on a bare machine.
• This repo intentionally does not install opinionated apps (editors, browsers, games, etc.). It is a base layer — install whatever you want on top.

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License

MIT