Winwise 1.3

Generated scripts can now turn off Windows Search. Winwise 1.3 also adds Work Folders, lightens the START animation on 4K screens, and explains the PowerShell confirmation prompt you may see before running a script.

Open it at https://heliakon.github.io/winwise/ or download winwise.html below. It works offline.

What's new in 1.3

Windows Search is no longer skipped

On PCs where Work Folders depends on Windows Search, a 1.2 script skipped Windows Search with a warning like Skipped WSearch: enabled or active dependent services: workfolderssvc. Now, choosing Windows Search also selects Work Folders, and the builder tells you before you download that Work Folders will stop syncing files with your organization's server. The script turns off Work Folders first, then Windows Search, and backs up both.

Work Folders joins the directory

Work Folders (workfolderssvc) is service number 146. It syncs files between your PC and an organization's Work Folders server, and it is separate from OneDrive. If you don't use it, the new I don't use Work Folders option turns off just that service.

A lighter START animation on high-resolution screens

On 4K and other large displays, the START transition now does far less drawing work: a smaller effects canvas, fewer particles, smaller animated surfaces, and border glows that are painted once instead of on every frame. The design and the 3.8-second timing are unchanged. If START still stutters on your PC, please open an issue with your browser, screen resolution and display scaling.

Clearer steps for running and undoing a script

• How to run & undo is now a larger purple button, and the change guide shows it right next to Open the script builder.
• The instructions now cover the Execution Policy Change prompt: type Y and press Enter. The setting lasts only until you close that PowerShell window, so you can preview, apply and undo in one session.

Upgrading from 1.2

• If your 1.2 script skipped Windows Search, build a new script with 1.3 and run it. Services that are already disabled are left alone, and the run saves its own new backup. Keep your earlier backups as well.
• Your backups keep working. Restore them with -RestoreFrom using the script that created them, as before.
• All other script choices are unchanged, including the conservative preset (Remote Registry, Fax and Retail Demo).

Download and verify

1. Download winwise.html below and open it in your browser. No install, server or internet connection needed.
2. To check the download, run this in PowerShell in the folder where you saved it. It prints True when the file matches this release:

(Get-FileHash .\winwise.html -Algorithm SHA256).Hash -eq '2819336b2c8912507b3d6302109d701e77850aa7c3ded1d87aeac925d1fbbc5e'

The same checksum is attached as winwise.html.sha256.

Under the hood

• Script builder: 28 choices in 12 groups (previously 27 in 11). Services added automatically are labeled Included with Windows Search and stay locked until you remove Windows Search. Removing it also removes the automatic Work Folders selection, but keeps Work Folders if you picked it yourself. The PowerShell allowlist matches the builder.
• START transition: particles capped at 5,200 (previously up to 7,200), the effects canvas capped at about 3.69 million pixels (the size of a 2560 × 1440 screen), the service table clipped during the reveal so the sidebar no longer stretches down the full list, border glows animated by opacity only, and no blur on the outgoing welcome panel. Findings and test scope are in PERFORMANCE-REVIEW.md.
• Sources: new Microsoft references for Work Folders and PowerShell execution policies. Coverage notes are in SERVICE-REVIEW.md.
• Checks: all 146 services have unique IDs, the 28 script choices match the PowerShell allowlist exactly, and the generator rejects all 118 services that are excluded from scripts.

Full changelog: v1.2.0...v1.3.0