New Version of ExplorerPatcher

valinet said:

Pre-release 22000.708.46.5 should fix this issue, I have made the commits, it will be generated soon.

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Thanks @valinet I just rolled back to the previous version of WebView and all is fine, thanks

Steerpike said:

Beautiful explanation! Well written. After reading this, it's amazing to me that EP doesn't get flagged as a virus or malware or whatever. Also, what's to stop MS from adding the dll names you rely on to the 'known dll' list? Do you feel you could keep EP working even if MS were to tighten things up a bit, or do you think you are sailing close to edge on this one? I truly hope EP keeps working as it does a fantastic job, and obviously represents a lot of hard, hard work on your behalf.

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I mean, what's a virus, eh? Something we humans observe does something we don't want it to do. The machines use various heuristics to try to guess whether a program is likely to be a virus, which indeed, EP is the kind that would trigger these, but ultimately, the program is useful in what it does and does not have any malicious intent, so I definitely don't think should be regarded by anyone as a virus. The way EP works is actually what it takes for it to be able to provide the functionality, after all.

What's stopping Microsoft from adding names to the `KnownDLLs` list? Well, nothing really. For what is worth, the list is relatively stable. If they are to tighten things up, yeah, it would become harder and harder, to the point where you ask whether it is worth fighting the OS. I mean, the point of an OS is, in my opinion, to complement you in doing things, offering a level playing field for applications to run into etc. When you, as a user, have to vigorously fight the OS, then it might not actually be the best choice for you. It's also a trade off between what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it. For example, as I said, EP tries not to brake when Windows updates, so it stays away from replacing system files, and also tries to patch at runtime. For some things, static patches are WAY easier, and if the OS guards against all the tricks one can think of, then yeah, one will have to decide: is it worth doing static patches and going through the hassle when it comes to updating to keep the thing working, or is it too much work and we can go without the program considering the new set of conditions...?

Many blame backwards compatibility, but a lot of mechanisms still have a chance today because they enable behaviors that older software depend on. For what is worth, for example, if it weren't about shell extensions, Microsoft could restrict what Win32 calls it allows to operate on critical processes, like explorer.exe, and what libraries it can load (for example, mandate all libraries to be Microsoft-signed) and they could easily guard themselves away from stuff like EP. I mean, they, as an OS vendor, can actually make the user land such a hell that the solution may only be found in the kernel space, if any. I mean, they f_ucked up the kernel space pretty bad already (unless you're an authoritarian state like PRC, in which case they bend over just fine) in how they don't practically allow users to load their programs in there (drivers) without signing them, which is not for everyone.

So yeah, idk, it depends on how Microsoft sees things going further. I too hope that they will maintain the OS relatively open, as is today at least, but the temptation to jail everyone and be a dictator, as Apple and Google do on their platforms, for example, is probably too big to actually resist.

valinet said:

I mean, what's a virus, eh? Something we humans observe does something we don't want it to do. The machines use various heuristics to try to guess whether a program is likely to be a virus, which indeed, EP is the kind that would trigger these, but ultimately, the program is useful in what it does and does not have any malicious intent, so I definitely don't think should be regarded by anyone as a virus. The way EP works is actually what it takes for it to be able to provide the functionality, after all.

...

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Another great explanation, and very educational about 'how' EP works. Your 'what is a virus' discussion reminds me of what someone said in response to 'what is a weed' ... a weed is anything you don't want growning in your garden ...

EP is my first foray into 'shell extensions' (if that is the correct term), necessitated by Win 11's brain-dead approach to the taskbar and start menu. Before this, I've always been determined to try to stay mainstream. So I'm curious - does EP's approach match that taken by the likes of 'Start Is Back', and similar programs, or do they take a radically different approach? I was attracted to EP because of it's light weight and lack of 'fluff'.

Steerpike said:

Another great explanation, and very educational about 'how' EP works. Your 'what is a virus' discussion reminds me of what someone said in response to 'what is a weed' ... a weed is anything you don't want growning in your garden ...

EP is my first foray into 'shell extensions' (if that is the correct term), necessitated by Win 11's brain-dead approach to the taskbar and start menu. Before this, I've always been determined to try to stay mainstream. So I'm curious - does EP's approach match that taken by the likes of 'Start Is Back', and similar programs, or do they take a radically different approach? I was attracted to EP because of it's light weight and lack of 'fluff'.

Click to expand...

Yeah, personally, I try to keep up with the upstream as much as possible. It is very difficult to maintain patches, especially as time moves on and the code base radically diverges from what your patches expect. To be completely honest, I will probably switch to using the new taskbar once they implement labels on it 2/3 years from now on and that'd be it. To me, as well, the changes in Windows 11 are too drastic and don't actually make much sense (I prefer what the Windows 10 shell matured into, it was familiar and functional), but I wanted/want to use the newer kernel and the new system capabilities (WSL2 disk mounting, WSL2 GPU support, Android apps, better support for 12th gen CPUs etc). Truth is, Windows 11 is the way forward for new system builds, so hopefully EP is a stop gap band aid until thing go back on track and they reimplement the missing features.

Before I worked on EP, I had way less knowledge in how COM (Component Object Model), the backbone of program interactions under Windows works, and how a lot of the stuff actually worked internally. The way the loader works is generalistic, I supposed Windows had something similar to what is described in the literature a loader is doing (on GNU/Linux, the loader behaves largely the same when it comes to loading libraries dynamically, for example, and so on), so I built the initial pieces of the software around my initial knowledge. Further on, as I explored more, I found alternative approaches and learnt how other software does it etc. Since you asked, StartAllBack gets loaded by overriding component registration for some of the components loaded by explorer.exe. It registers its DLLs as providing the requested components, and then itself forwards the calls to the original implementations, in the middle hooking itself into explorer.exe. It definitely is an approach as well; injection happens a bit later in explorer.exe's lifetime, but for the program's purposes, it is enough for it to work. Can Microsoft brake that as well? Sure, they could guard certain GUIDs against being overridden via the registry and hardcoding the path to the implementation requested in the COM loader/registry itself. Will they do it? Again, idk, probably not. Anyway, a different, interesting approach as well, but I learnt about it way after I started doing the groundwork for EP; nevertheless, I am glad I learnt about it - projects like these teach you a lot, indeed, if you're open to it.

So yeah, nothing fundamentally different. It all comes down to getting injected into processes. I guess the ultimate tool to guard against most user land protections would be to write a driver that hooks process creation, for example, and injects from there at the right time (blocking, reliable, in-time process creation notifications are not available via a system API to user land processes, on Windows; there is an API through in the kernel). That would be pretty rock solid. The problem with that is how do you distribute that to other people. For all intents and purposes, for general consumers, the kernel land is jailed on Windows - drivers (programs that run in the kernel) have to be signed, and driver signing is expensive and subject to obeying a set of rules which might have something against what this potential driver might do. Not to mention, but this is of less concern, since eventually one would reach a stable version, by iterating and fixing bugs, but doing stuff in the kernel is more sensitive - at the slightest mistake, the OS crashes itself because it cannot guarantee the state it got into; the famous BSOD is an induced crash, that's very important to keep in mind. BSODs are a form of protection against situations where the machine CPU got into a state where it cannot guarantee the intergity of the memory/registers etc. In the user space, this intergity is maintained by isolating application into processes, virtualizing the memory, flushing register contents when switching tasks etc. In the kernel space, since all code runs in the same memory space, even though the OS can recover from most software bugs, as a precautionary measure against potential data corruption/undefined state it might get into, the OS usually stops when it reaches such a condition, BSODs, and restarts. But, as I said, writing a driver is not impossible and can be a solution - I'd be more concerned with how effective I could distribute such a driver to end users; that I'd think would be the real problem.

valinet said:

Pre-release 22000.708.46.5 should fix this issue, I have made the commits, it will be generated soon.

Click to expand...

Thanks @valinet I updated EP the Edge WebView Runtime, restarted explorer then restarted PC and can confirm it is all working Thank you.
I hope when 22h* comes out the context menu fix will still work

Hello, Valentin!

Is there a way to fix some dialogs (I believe they belong to File Explorer), such as "create new shortcut" or "add network drive", that appear with transparent captions in Classic theme?
The issue re-occurs again and again on forums.

We found a partial workaround on how to make the captions black, but if the classic theme is run in high-contrast mode, the dialogs appear completely well, so maybe it could be possible to disable this transparency as part of classic theme fixes (wihout using high-contrast)?

The shortcut creation dialog is transparent:


When running with high-contrast mode the dialogs are OK but there are other issues (system tray is displayed wrongly, browsers enable high-contrast mode and menu bars in file explorer become of Windows 95 style as opposed to Windows 98 style)

Also, the DLLs I mentioned earlier did the job in Windows 8.1, so may be it would have sense to look into what they were doing?

What’s to inspect? The DLLs probably provide entry points for functions that do things related to Aero Glass (like DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea) and do (almost) nothing in the calls so that the app doesn’t get some broken (under classic theme) Aero treatment.

This issue is a cat and mouse game. The OS and its frameworks are simply not designed to run without visual styles anymore, simple as that. The thing is non-functional under most scenarios. I have no interest in exploring the topic forward. I do not have time to waste developing and debugging for this scenario, sorry. Not to mention the disappointment with all these DLLs floating around the Internet without source code attached to them. What’s so innovative about them? I don’t mind opening IDA and looking on them, but do I really have to? Do we have to rediscover common knowledge on our own every time just because someone thought they discovered the next best thing since hot water and decided not to open source them…?

As I said in the past as well, my recommendation is to get down and dirty and study and understand how things really work in general and develop the knowledge about how maintainable and distributable such patches are. I have done this for myself and came to the conclusion that I do not have the time for it. I can help you with answers to questions, such as in this case, probably the dialogs need not to have the DwmExtendFrameIntoClientAreafunction applied to them, but I am not interested into integrating this further in ExplorerPatcher. To be honest, I’d even remove the entire feature from the app and have it work standalone, as it’s not really maintained, so it can be forked off and maintained by whoever’s interested. Likewise for other features that may be there but not maintained (like “Register as shell extension”). It’s hard for me to test easy to brake features that I do not daily drive (centered Windows 10 taskbar I do not use either, but the logic for it is self contained and with how the old taskbar is basically frozen in time now, it’s very unlikely that this brakes in itself and not the entire taskbar or something else regarding it, so nothing to do with this feature).

I do not know what those DLLs do actually, but when they were useful (on Windows 8.1 early versions), besides fixing the transparency in the dialogs and browsers like PaleMoon, they also fixed the thing we now fix in EP with "fixstrips" hack.

I can only guess that they reported to the apps that compositing was off when it was not or something like this, I do not know.

Anixx said:

I do not know what those DLLs do actually, but when they were useful (on Windows 8.1 early versions), besides fixing the transparency in the dialogs and browsers like PaleMoon, they also fixed the thing we now fix in EP with "fixstrips" hack.

I can only guess that they reported to the apps that compositing was off when it was not or something like this, I do not know.

Click to expand...

Indeed, something along those lines.

New Version released today 22000.708.46.6 Stable build, working fine on my rig

@valinet

If I am currently using Windows 11, thanks to ExplorerPatcher. Thank you for all your efforts.

Windows 11, version 22H2 (Build 22621) released on the Release Preview channel. Its releasing on General Availability channel is again in the fall.

When you add 22H2 support, I can be upgraded to this version immediately. I understand, changes in the new build require a lot of time and labor.

I have a few advice.

* Could be ExplorerPatcher be released in the following format instead of "ep_setup.exe"?
ExplorerPatcher_22000.708.46.5.exe

* Wish the ExplorerPatcher had an icon...

* How would it be if it was located in the taskbar as "Properties of ExplorerPatcher" with its own icon instead of only "Properties"?

* Would the installation on custom directory be useful?
ExplorerPatcher_22000.708.46.5.exe /Path="D:\Util\ExplorerPatcher"

* Import and Export feature: Backup to (/Restore from) a file of settings.

saltocean said:

@valinet

If I am currently using Windows 11, thanks to ExplorerPatcher. Thank you for all your efforts.

Windows 11, version 22H2 (Build 22621) released on the Release Preview channel. Its releasing on General Availability channel is again in the fall.

When you add 22H2 support, I can be upgraded to this version immediately. I understand, changes in the new build require a lot of time and labor.

I have a few advice.

1) Could be ExplorerPatcher be released in the following format instead of "ep_setup.exe"?
ExplorerPatcher_22000.708.46.5.exe

2) Wish the ExplorerPatcher had an icon...

3) How would it be if it was located in the taskbar as "Properties of ExplorerPatcher" with its own icon instead of only "Properties"?

4) Would the installation on custom directory be useful?
ExplorerPatcher_22000.708.46.5.exe /Path="D:\Util\ExplorerPatcher"

5) Import and Export feature: Backup to (/Restore from) a file of settings.

Click to expand...

1) Don't really see the point. It's easier to reference the name when its fixed when you write a guide/script, for example.
2) How would this improve anything functionally wise? It's just a gimmick, one more thing to carry on and think about.
3) Impossible with regards to the current approach of not providing translations and using already-localized string from the OS in places where you interact a lot with the app. An option would be "Properties (ExplorerPatcher)" as in the Start menu, but idk, I don't really think it would look that good. Besides, why is this needed...? Once you learn about it, you know it's there and call it a day.
4) Again, too much work for not much in return. Files are installed in more than `Program Files` anyway, so what would be the point...?
5) It's already implemented: Properties - About - Import/export settings.

@valinet

Thank you for sincerely replying to my very personal, strange advice. I realized that I could personally do with a script. Also notice that Properties is displayed in the installed language of Windows. I missed the fact that Import & Export exists. Yes, this is also possible with a script.

I should have been more careful and thought about it before I wrote. Sorry.

I would like to thank you for every second you have spent on ExplorerPatcher. Also for your detailed replies to users.

On my main desktop there was a patch today to Windows 11 (version now 10.22000 build 22000) and discovered on restart had black screen. After getting a cmd window going I was able to ep_patch.exe /uninstall and windowns 11 explorer started up. I tried a reinstall of explorer patch from the 22000.708.46.6 release at github. Same thing occurred and was able to get working after uninstall again.

Absolutely love this work and greatly wish I had time to contribute to it. Currently feeling very frustrated having to go back to the default Windows 11 Mac interface look alike, what a disaster. Will keep an eye on this forum and github to see if any suggestions or releases come out.

Oddly, I have another machine Surface book 2 that did the same patch and is still running the explorer with no issues.

Update: just double checked that machine and I see it was not updated to 708.46.6

I think I am going to try getting the previous release on this machine. Will report back what I find.

Update:
I dropped back one version and had same issue. I noticed my laptop was using 22000.613.44.1 and tried that with same results. I did not restart windows though. I had an open admin cmd window already at the ExplorerPatcher folder. After patcher ran and was on black screen i just ran uninstall.

ScottAdams said:

On my main desktop there was a patch today to Windows 11 (version now 10.22000 build 22000) and discovered on restart had black screen. After getting a cmd window going I was able to ep_patch.exe /uninstall and windowns 11 explorer started up. I tried a reinstall of explorer patch from the 22000.708.46.6 release at github. Same thing occurred and was able to get working after uninstall again.

Absolutely love this work and greatly wish I had time to contribute to it. Currently feeling very frustrated having to go back to the default Windows 11 Mac interface look alike, what a disaster. Will keep an eye on this forum and github to see if any suggestions or releases come out.

Oddly, I have another machine Surface book 2 that did the same patch and is still running the explorer with no issues.

Update: just double checked that machine and I see it was not updated to 708.46.6

I think I am going to try getting the previous release on this machine. Will report back what I find.

Update:
I dropped back one version and had same issue. I noticed my laptop was using 22000.613.44.1 and tried that with same results. I did not restart windows though. I had an open admin cmd window already at the ExplorerPatcher folder. After patcher ran and was on black screen i just ran uninstall.

Click to expand...

What version of Win 11 are you using, is it an insider build

The-Hive said:

What version of Win 11 are you using, is it an insider build

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Release Preview version Channel, currently 10.22000 build 22000

I just noticed 22H2 says it is available for download and install. Updating Windows now. I will try ExplorerPatcher on it after it is done

Update: Just checked my laptop and it is not enrolled in Previews. I am going to unenroll my desktop and see if H2 fixes it. Thanks The-Hive!

Insider versions including Release Preview, Beta, and Dev Channel are not necessarily supported.
The authors intent, due to time constraints of his own, has only been to keep Public Release working.

peace
wanna

ScottAdams said:

Release Preview version Channel, currently 10.22000 build 22000

I just noticed 22H2 says it is available for download and install. Updating Windows now. I will try ExplorerPatcher on it after it is done

Update: Just checked my laptop and it is not enrolled in Previews. I am going to unenroll my desktop and see if H2 fixes it. Thanks The-Hive!

Click to expand...

It not always easy to unenroll without a clean install. EP doesn't really support insider builds although so many work fine. This machine is not on the insider program and I am on windows 22000.739 and EP 22000.708.46.6 and all is working fine. Even my machine in the dev channel works fine with same EP build and windows 25140.1000 I suggest getting Windows to the build/ version you want. rename dxgi.dll reboot and delete the renamed file along with dxgi.prev from the Windows directory and reinstall EP and fingers crossed

The-Hive said:

It not always easy to unenroll without a clean install. EP doesn't really support insider builds although so many work fine. This machine is not on the insider program and I am on windows 22000.739 and EP 22000.708.46.6 and all is working fine. Even my machine in the dev channel works fine with same EP build and windows 25140.1000 I suggest getting Windows to the build/ version you want. rename dxgi.dll reboot and delete the renamed file along with dxgi.prev from the Windows directory and reinstall EP and fingers crossed

Click to expand...

I was just triggered the 22h2 install I saw in the windows update. I also set my preview channel to unenroll me at next major update.


After update was done I installed latest version of EP and it worked fine! I also noted that this machine is no longer enrolled in Window Insider which is what I was hoping for.