microsoft/PowerToys

Have Windows Server stop throwing dll errors after 0.76

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#30,484 opened on Dec 16, 2023

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Description

Description of the new feature / enhancement

So I have a unique request in that, I use PowerToys in my Home Lab on Windows Server, specifically Server Core, it is only a lab environment, and I'm not going to run it in production. In the newest version 0.76, the app will generate an error message on start-up stating that it cannot load the DLLs related to Mouse Highlighter, Mouse With Borders and Mouse Crosshairs, initially, I thought this wouldn't be a problem as I don't use those tweaks so I can disable them in the Settings. I only use Always on Top, Fancy Zones and Keyboard Manager, all three work great, all other tweaks are disabled, so I thought the DLLs would not get loaded.

The Settings app will not load but again, that isn't a problem for me as I usually set up PowerToys the way I like it on Desktop Experience and then copy the Local AppData folder to a shared location and then into the Default user profile for both Desktop Experience and Server Core.

What I would like to implement would be an option to ignore the OOBE (What displays the new changes when the app is updated) and DLL load error messages, so that the app will just start up automatically. Currently, the error messages need to be dismissed before PowerToys will load completely and if the app updates, it will try and open the OOBE which results in a crash, it only does this two or three times but then just skips it. I would simply like a toggle to disable the DLL load messages and OOBE, if a DLL load error occurs, it is logged to the Event Log via Windows Error Reporting which is just fine.

I realise it is an unorthodox request but I am a stickler for window placement so Fancy Zones is an awesome tool.

Scenario when this would be used?

The ability to suppress the DLL load error messages could potentially be handy for not just people like me who use PowerToys in an unconventional setting. If a user has an issue with a PowerToys tweak where they know the DLL is going to fail, having the ability to ignore the error message and log it to another location, could be useful.

Supporting information

I have provided a screenshot of the error message that appears along with another that shows PowerToys running on Server Core (Specifically Windows Server 2022 with the App Compatibility module installed).

image image

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