Maybe time again to look at Boxstarter
Posted by jpluimers on 2021/07/26
I wrote a tiny post about Boxstarter a long time ago, so maybe it is time to look at it again.
By now, there are way more scripts, so here are some links:
- [WayBack] PowerShell script to install Chocolatey and a list of packages – Stack Overflow (thanks [WayBack] User ddieppa – Stack Overflow)
- [WayBack] Accidentally From macOS to Windows and WSL · request / response
- [WayBack] My BoxStarter Scripts · GitHub
- [WayBack] GitHub – microsoft/windows-dev-box-setup-scripts: Scripts to simplify setting up a Windows developer box
- [WayBack] chocolatey setup and boxstarter
- [WayBack] Chocolatey Gallery | Packages matching WindowsUpdate
- [WayBack] GitHub – chocolatey/boxstarter: Repeatable, reboot resilient windows environment installations made easy using Chocolatey packages
- [WayBack] GitHub – microsoft/windows-dev-box-setup-scripts: Scripts to simplify setting up a Windows developer box
Click link to run Description Full Desktop App Windows Desktop App Development (Visual Studio, Windows SDK, C++, UWP, .NET (WPF and Winforms)) UWP Desktop App Windows Desktop App Development (Visual Studio, Windows SDK, UWP) .NET Desktop App Windows Desktop App Development (Visual Studio, Windows SDK, .NET (WPF and Winforms)) C++ Desktop App Windows Desktop App Development (Visual Studio, Windows SDK, C++) Web Web (VS Code, WSL, Multiple Browsers) Web NodeJS Web Dev with NodeJS (Web + NodeJS LTS)¹ Machine Learning Windows Machine Learning with only Windows native tools Machine Learning Linux Machine Learning with Linux tools running on WSL DevOps Azure Client setup for DevOps with Azure - [WayBack] Boxstarter
- [WayBack] Boxstarter: WebLauncher
- [WayBack] Boxstarter: Why Boxstarter
- [WayBack] Boxstarter
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Disable-BingSearch
Disables the Bing Internet Search when searching from the search field in the Taskbar or Start Menu.
Enable-RemoteDesktop
Allows Remote Desktop access to machine and enables Remote Desktop firewall rule.
Enable-MicrosoftUpdate
Turns on the Windows Update option to include updates for other Microsoft products installed on the system.
Enable-UAC
Enables UAC.
Install-WindowsUpdate
Finds, downloads and installs all Windows Updates. By default, only critical updates will be searched. However the command takes a
-Criteriaargument allowing one to pass a custom Windows Update query.For details about the
Install-WindowsUpdatecommand, run:Help Install-WindowsUpdate -Full
Move-LibraryDirectory
Libraries are special folders that map to a specific location on disk. These are usually found somewhere under $env:userprofile. This function can be used to redirect the library folder to a new location on disk. If the new location does not already exist, the directory will be created. Any content in the former library directory will be moved to the new location unless the DoNotMoveOldContent switch is used. Use Get-LibraryNames to discover the names of different libraries and their current physical directories.
Move-LibraryDirectory "Personal" "$env:UserProfile\skydrive\documents"
This moves the Personal library (aka Documents) to the documents folder off of the default SkyDrive directory.
Set-StartScreenOptions
Sets options for the Start Screen in Windows 8/8.1
Set-StartScreenOptions -EnableBootToDesktop -EnableDesktopBackgroundOnStart -EnableShowStartOnActiveScreen -EnableShowAppsViewOnStartScreen -EnableSearchEverywhereInAppsView -EnableListDesktopAppsFirst
It is also possible to do the converse actions, if required.
Set-StartScreenOptions -DisableBootToDesktop -DisableDesktopBackgroundOnStart -DisableShowStartOnActiveScreen -DisableShowAppsViewOnStartScreen -DisableSearchEverywhereInAppsView -DisableListDesktopAppsFirst
Set-CornerNavigationOptions
Sets options for the Windows Corner Navigation in Windows 8/8.1
Set-CornerNavigationOptions -EnableUpperRightCornerShowCharms -EnableUpperLeftCornerSwitchApps -EnableUsePowerShellOnWinX
It is also possible to do the converse actions, if required.
Set-CornerNavigationOptions -DisableUpperRightCornerShowCharms -DisableUpperLeftCornerSwitchApps -DisableUsePowerShellOnWinX
Set-WindowsExplorerOptions
Sets options on the Windows Explorer shell
Set-WindowsExplorerOptions -EnableShowHiddenFilesFoldersDrives -EnableShowProtectedOSFiles -EnableShowFileExtensions -EnableShowFullPathInTitleBar -EnableOpenFileExplorerToQuickAccess -EnableShowRecentFilesInQuickAccess -EnableShowFrequentFoldersInQuickAccess -EnableExpandToOpenFolder -EnableShowRibbon
It is also possible to do the converse actions, if required.
Set-WindowsExplorerOptions -DisableShowHiddenFilesFoldersDrives -DisableShowProtectedOSFiles -DisableShowFileExtensions -DisableShowFullPathInTitleBar -DisableOpenFileExplorerToQuickAccess -DisableShowRecentFilesInQuickAccess -DisableShowFrequentFoldersInQuickAccess -DisableExpandToOpenFolder -DisableShowRibbon
Set-TaskbarOptions
Sets options on the Windows Taskbar
AlwaysShowIconsOn/AlwaysShowIconsOff allows turning on or off always show all icons in the notification area
Set-TaskbarOptions -Size Small -Lock -Dock Top -Combine Always -AlwaysShowIconsOn
It is also possible to do the converse actions, if required.
Set-TaskbarOptions -Size Large -UnLock -Dock Bottom -Combine Never -AlwaysShowIconsOff
Update-ExecutionPolicy
The execution policy is set in a separate elevated PowerShell process. If running in the Chocolatey runner, the current window cannot be used because its execution policy has been explicitly set.
If on a 64 bit machine, the policy will be set for both 64 and 32 bit shells.
Related: Boxstarter: quickly setup a machine with just a Gist
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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