diff --git a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj
index d6d0c3e179..33acf93b69 100644
--- a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj
+++ b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj
@@ -1,45 +1,67 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
-  <Import Project="..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props" Condition="Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props')" />
+<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+  <!-- Project configurations -->
+  <!-- Props that should be disabled while building on CI server -->
+  <Import Project="..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props" Condition="Exists('..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props')" />
+  <!-- C++ source compile-specific things for all configurations -->
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup>
+    <ClCompile>
+      <WarningLevel>Level3</WarningLevel>
+      <ConformanceMode>false</ConformanceMode>
+      <TreatWarningAsError>true</TreatWarningAsError>
+      <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
+      <AdditionalOptions>/await %(AdditionalOptions)</AdditionalOptions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>_UNICODE;UNICODE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
+    </Link>
+    <Lib>
+      <TreatLibWarningAsErrors>true</TreatLibWarningAsErrors>
+    </Lib>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <!-- C++ source compile-specific things for Debug/Release configurations -->
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
+      <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
+      <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+      <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
+      <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
+      <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
+      <OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <!-- Global props -->
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
-    <CppWinRTOptimized>true</CppWinRTOptimized>
-    <CppWinRTRootNamespaceAutoMerge>true</CppWinRTRootNamespaceAutoMerge>
-    <CppWinRTGenerateWindowsMetadata>true</CppWinRTGenerateWindowsMetadata>
-    <MinimalCoreWin>true</MinimalCoreWin>
-    <VCProjectVersion>15.0</VCProjectVersion>
-    <ProjectGuid>{2cac093e-5fcf-4102-9c2c-ac7dd5d9eb96}</ProjectGuid>
+    <VCProjectVersion>16.0</VCProjectVersion>
     <Keyword>Win32Proj</Keyword>
+    <ProjectGuid>{2cac093e-5fcf-4102-9c2c-ac7dd5d9eb96}</ProjectGuid>
     <RootNamespace>ProjectsLauncher</RootNamespace>
-    <WindowsTargetPlatformVersion Condition=" '$(WindowsTargetPlatformVersion)' == '' ">10.0.22621.0</WindowsTargetPlatformVersion>
-    <WindowsTargetPlatformMinVersion>10.0.17134.0</WindowsTargetPlatformMinVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
-  <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" />
-  <ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
-    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Debug|Win32">
-      <Configuration>Debug</Configuration>
-      <Platform>Win32</Platform>
-    </ProjectConfiguration>
-    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Release|Win32">
-      <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
-      <Platform>Win32</Platform>
-    </ProjectConfiguration>
-    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Debug|x64">
-      <Configuration>Debug</Configuration>
-      <Platform>x64</Platform>
-    </ProjectConfiguration>
-    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Release|x64">
-      <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
-      <Platform>x64</Platform>
-    </ProjectConfiguration>
-  </ItemGroup>
+  <!-- Props that are constant for both Debug and Release configurations -->
   <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
     <ConfigurationType>Application</ConfigurationType>
     <PlatformToolset>v143</PlatformToolset>
-    <PlatformToolset Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == '16.0'">v142</PlatformToolset>
-    <PlatformToolset Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == '15.0'">v141</PlatformToolset>
-    <PlatformToolset Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == '14.0'">v140</PlatformToolset>
     <CharacterSet>Unicode</CharacterSet>
+    <SpectreMitigation>Spectre</SpectreMitigation>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'" Label="Configuration">
     <UseDebugLibraries>true</UseDebugLibraries>
     <LinkIncremental>true</LinkIncremental>
@@ -57,87 +79,81 @@
   <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets">
     <Import Project="$(UserRootDir)\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props" Condition="exists('$(UserRootDir)\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props')" Label="LocalAppDataPlatform" />
   </ImportGroup>
-  <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets">
-    <Import Project="PropertySheet.props" />
-  </ImportGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" />
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup>
-    <ClCompile>
-      <PrecompiledHeader>Use</PrecompiledHeader>
-      <PrecompiledHeaderFile>pch.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
-      <PrecompiledHeaderOutputFile>$(IntDir)pch.pch</PrecompiledHeaderOutputFile>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>_CONSOLE;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;WINRT_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
-      <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
-      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /permissive- /bigobj</AdditionalOptions>
-    </ClCompile>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <TargetName>PowerToys.$(MSBuildProjectName)</TargetName>
+    <OutDir>..\..\..\..\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\</OutDir>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <LinkIncremental>true</LinkIncremental>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
+    <LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>
+  </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
     <ClCompile>
-      <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
-      <LanguageStandard Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
+      <WarningLevel>Level3</WarningLevel>
+      <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_CONSOLE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>./../;$(SolutionDir)src\common\Telemetry;$(SolutionDir)src\common;$(SolutionDir)src\;./;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
-      <SubSystem>Console</SubSystem>
-      <GenerateWindowsMetadata>false</GenerateWindowsMetadata>
-      <AdditionalDependencies Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">shcore.lib;Shell32.lib;propsys.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
+      <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>shcore.lib;Shell32.lib;propsys.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Platform)'=='Win32'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
-    </ClCompile>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
     <ClCompile>
-      <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
+      <WarningLevel>Level3</WarningLevel>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
-      <LanguageStandard Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
+      <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;_CONSOLE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>./../;$(SolutionDir)src\common\Telemetry;$(SolutionDir)src\common;$(SolutionDir)src\;./;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
-      <SubSystem>Console</SubSystem>
+      <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
       <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
       <OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
-      <GenerateWindowsMetadata>false</GenerateWindowsMetadata>
-      <AdditionalDependencies Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">shcore.lib;Shell32.lib;propsys.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>shcore.lib;Shell32.lib;propsys.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <ClCompile Include="AppLauncher.cpp" />
+    <ClCompile Include="main.cpp" />
+    <ClCompile Include="pch.cpp">
+      <PrecompiledHeader Condition="'$(UsePrecompiledHeaders)' != 'false'">Create</PrecompiledHeader>
     </ClCompile>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
-    </ClCompile>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClInclude Include="AppLauncher.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="pch.h" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <ClCompile Include="AppLauncher.cpp" />
-    <ClCompile Include="main.cpp" />
-    <ClCompile Include="pch.cpp">
-      <PrecompiledHeader>Create</PrecompiledHeader>
-    </ClCompile>
+    <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
-    <None Include="PropertySheet.props" />
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\common\logger\logger.vcxproj">
+      <Project>{d9b8fc84-322a-4f9f-bbb9-20915c47ddfd}</Project>
+    </ProjectReference>
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\common\SettingsAPI\SettingsAPI.vcxproj">
+      <Project>{6955446d-23f7-4023-9bb3-8657f904af99}</Project>
+    </ProjectReference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
+  <Import Project="..\..\..\..\deps\spdlog.props" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
-    <Import Project="..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets" Condition="Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets')" />
+    <Import Project="..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets" Condition="Exists('..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets')" />
   </ImportGroup>
   <Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
     <PropertyGroup>
       <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Use NuGet Package Restore to download them.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
     </PropertyGroup>
-    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props'))" />
-    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.220531.1\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets'))" />
+    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props'))" />
+    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets'))" />
   </Target>
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj.filters b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj.filters
index 535b5ff226..d91f2a79df 100644
--- a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj.filters
+++ b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/ProjectsLauncher.vcxproj.filters
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
     </ClCompile>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <None Include="PropertySheet.props" />
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
+    <Natvis Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\natvis\wil.natvis" />
   </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/main.cpp b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/main.cpp
index f0c03fffda..ccce7e2ac9 100644
--- a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/main.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/main.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include "AppLauncher.h"
 
-int main(int argc, char* argv[])
+int APIENTRY WinMain(HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hInstPrev, PSTR cmdline, int cmdshow)
 {
     // read projects
     std::vector<Project> projects;
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 
     Project projectToLaunch = projects[0];
 
-    if (argc > 1)
+    int len = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, cmdline, -1, NULL, 0);
+    if (len > 1)
     {
-        std::string idStr = argv[1];
-        std::wstring id(idStr.begin(), idStr.end());
+        std::wstring id(len, L'\0');
+        MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, cmdline, -1, &id[0], len);
+
         for (const auto& proj : projects)
         {
             if (proj.id == id)
diff --git a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/packages.config b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/packages.config
index cbf6205e62..09bfc449e2 100644
--- a/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/packages.config
+++ b/src/modules/Projects/ProjectsLauncher/packages.config
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <packages>
-  <package id="Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT" version="2.0.220531.1" targetFramework="native" />
+  <package id="Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT" version="2.0.240111.5" targetFramework="native" />
 </packages>
\ No newline at end of file