Fix for FZ losing layout settings

* Add exception handling to prevent program from failing due to error in one program

* Error handling for program path function

* Fix incorrect log value in ProgramLogger

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml

@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 blank_issues_enabled: false
 contact_links:
+  - name: "\U0001F4F7 VideoConference"
+    url: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/6246
+    about: Report Bug for the VideoConference Power Toy
   - name: "\U0001F6A8 Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)"
     url: https://msrc.microsoft.com/create-report
     about: Report security bugs
@@ -9,3 +12,4 @@ contact_links:
   - name: "\U0001F4DA PowerToys dev documentation"
     url: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/tree/master/doc/devdocs
     about: Documentation for people interested in developing for PowerToys
+ 

.pipelines/build-localization.cmd

@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ setlocal
 rem In this sample, the repo root is identical to the script directory path. Adjust the value of the RepoRoot variable accordingly based on your environment.
 rem Again, ensure the RepoRoot variable is set to the real repo root location, otherwise the localization toolset wouldn't work as intended.
 rem Note that the resolved %~dp0 ends with \.
-set RepoRoot=%~dp0..\
+set RepoRootWithoutBackslash=%~dp0..
+set RepoRoot=%RepoRootWithoutBackslash%\
 set OutDir=%RepoRoot%out
 set NUGET_PACKAGES=%RepoRoot%packages
 set LocalizationXLocPkgVer=2.0.0
@@ -18,9 +19,9 @@ set LocalizationXLocPkgVer=2.0.0
 echo Running localization build...
 
 set XLocPath=%NUGET_PACKAGES%\Localization.XLoc.%LocalizationXLocPkgVer%
-set LocProjectDirectory=%RepoRoot%src
+set LocProjectDirectory=%RepoRootWithoutBackslash%
 
-rem Run the localization tool on all LocProject.json files in the src directory and it's subdirectories
+rem Run the localization tool on all LocProject.json files in the src directory and it's subdirectories (directory format must not end with \)
 dotnet "%XLocPath%\tools\netcore\Microsoft.Localization.XLoc.dll" /f "%LocProjectDirectory%"
 
 echo Localization build finished with exit code '%errorlevel%'.

.pipelines/ci/templates/build-powertoys-ci.yml

@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ jobs:
     BuildConfiguration: ${{ parameters.configuration }}
     BuildPlatform: ${{ parameters.platform }}
   pool: { vmImage: windows-2019 }
-
+  timeoutInMinutes: 120
+  strategy:
+    maxParallel: 10
   steps:
   - template: build-powertoys-steps.yml
     parameters:

.pipelines/ci/templates/build-powertoys-steps.yml

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ steps:
     testSelector: 'testAssemblies'
     testAssemblyVer2: |
       **\Microsoft.Plugin.Program.UnitTests.dll
+      **\Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator.UnitTest.dll
       **\Microsoft.Plugin.Uri.UnitTests.dll
       **\Wox.Test.dll
       **\*Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.dll
@@ -96,10 +97,10 @@ steps:
     testAssemblyVer2: |
       **\ImageResizer.Test.dll
       **\KeyboardManagerTest.dll
-      **\PowerRenameUnitTests.dll
       **\UnitTests-CommonLib.dll
       **\PreviewPaneUnitTests.dll #this is the markdown tests
       **\UnitTests-PreviewHandlerCommon.dll
       **\UnitTests-SvgPreviewHandler.dll
       **\powerpreviewTest.dll
       !**\obj\**
+#      **\PowerRenameUnitTests.dll

.pipelines/pipeline.user.windows.yml

@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ build:
       name: 'Build Power Toys Bootstrapper'
       command: '.pipelines\build-bootstrapper.cmd'
       artifacts:
+        - to: 'Symbols'
+          include:
+            - 'installer\PowerToysBootstrapper\x64\Release\PowerToysSetup-*.pdb'
         - from: 'installer\PowerToysBootstrapper\x64\Release'
           to: 'Build_Installer_Output'
           include:

PowerToys.sln

@@ -265,6 +265,8 @@ Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "Microsoft.Plugin.Uri.UnitTe
 EndProject
 Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests", "src\core\Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests\Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.csproj", "{0F85E674-34AE-443D-954C-8321EB8B93B1}"
 EndProject
+Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator.UnitTest", "src\modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator.UnitTest\Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator.UnitTest.csproj", "{632BBE62-5421-49EA-835A-7FFA4F499BD6}"
+EndProject
 Global
 	GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
 		Debug|x64 = Debug|x64
@@ -531,6 +533,10 @@ Global
 		{0F85E674-34AE-443D-954C-8321EB8B93B1}.Debug|x64.Build.0 = Debug|x64
 		{0F85E674-34AE-443D-954C-8321EB8B93B1}.Release|x64.ActiveCfg = Release|x64
 		{0F85E674-34AE-443D-954C-8321EB8B93B1}.Release|x64.Build.0 = Release|x64
+		{632BBE62-5421-49EA-835A-7FFA4F499BD6}.Debug|x64.ActiveCfg = Debug|x64
+		{632BBE62-5421-49EA-835A-7FFA4F499BD6}.Debug|x64.Build.0 = Debug|x64
+		{632BBE62-5421-49EA-835A-7FFA4F499BD6}.Release|x64.ActiveCfg = Release|x64
+		{632BBE62-5421-49EA-835A-7FFA4F499BD6}.Release|x64.Build.0 = Release|x64
 	EndGlobalSection
 	GlobalSection(SolutionProperties) = preSolution
 		HideSolutionNode = FALSE
@@ -607,6 +613,7 @@ Global
 		{03276A39-D4E9-417C-8FFD-200B0EE5E871} = {4AFC9975-2456-4C70-94A4-84073C1CED93}
 		{B81FB7B6-D30E-428F-908A-41422EFC1172} = {4AFC9975-2456-4C70-94A4-84073C1CED93}
 		{0F85E674-34AE-443D-954C-8321EB8B93B1} = {C3081D9A-1586-441A-B5F4-ED815B3719C1}
+		{632BBE62-5421-49EA-835A-7FFA4F499BD6} = {4AFC9975-2456-4C70-94A4-84073C1CED93}
 	EndGlobalSection
 	GlobalSection(ExtensibilityGlobals) = postSolution
 		SolutionGuid = {C3A2F9D1-7930-4EF4-A6FC-7EE0A99821D0}

README.md

@@ -18,15 +18,14 @@ Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline
 
 ### Color Picker
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/ColorPicker_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ColorPicker) [ColorPicker](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ColorPicker) is a simple and quick system-wide color picker with <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>C</kbd>. Color Picker allows to pick colors from any currently running application and automatically copies the HEX or RGB values to your clipboard. This code is based on [Martin Chrzan's Color Picker](https://github.com/martinchrzan/ColorPicker).
-<br/>
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysColorPickerImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ColorPicker) [ColorPicker](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ColorPicker) is a simple and quick system-wide color picker with <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>C</kbd>. Color Picker allows to pick colors from any currently running application and automatically copies the HEX or RGB values to your clipboard. This code is based on [Martin Chrzan's Color Picker](https://github.com/martinchrzan/ColorPicker).
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
 
 ### FancyZones
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/FancyZones_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FancyZones) [FancyZones](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FancyZones) is a window manager that makes it easy to create complex window layouts and quickly position windows into those layouts.
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysFancyZoneImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FancyZones) [FancyZones](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FancyZones) is a window manager that makes it easy to create complex window layouts and quickly position windows into those layouts.
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline
 
 ### File Explorer Add-ons
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/PowerPreview_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FileExplorerAddOns) [File Explorer](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FileExplorerAddOns) add-ons will enable SVG icon rendering and Preview Pane additions for File Explorer. 
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysPowerPreviewImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FileExplorerAddOns) [File Explorer](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_FileExplorerAddOns) add-ons will enable SVG icon rendering and Preview Pane additions for File Explorer. 
 
 Preview Pane is an existing feature in the File Explorer.  To enable it, you just click the View tab in the ribbon and then click "Preview Pane". PowerToys will now enable two types of files to be previewed: Markdown (.md) & SVG (.svg)
 <br/>
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ Preview Pane is an existing feature in the File Explorer.  To enable it, you jus
 
 ### Image Resizer
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/ImageResizer_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ImageResizer) [Image Resizer](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ImageResizer) is a Windows Shell Extension for quickly resizing images.  With a simple right click from File Explorer, resize one or many images instantly. This code is based on [Brice Lambson's Image Resizer](https://github.com/bricelam/ImageResizer).
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysImageResizerImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ImageResizer) [Image Resizer](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ImageResizer) is a Windows Shell Extension for quickly resizing images.  With a simple right click from File Explorer, resize one or many images instantly. This code is based on [Brice Lambson's Image Resizer](https://github.com/bricelam/ImageResizer).
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ Preview Pane is an existing feature in the File Explorer.  To enable it, you jus
 
 ### Keyboard Manager
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/KBM_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_KeyboardManager) [Keyboard Manager](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_KeyboardManager) allows you to customize the keyboard to be more productive by remapping keys and creating your own keyboard shortcuts. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysKBMImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_KeyboardManager) [Keyboard Manager](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_KeyboardManager) allows you to customize the keyboard to be more productive by remapping keys and creating your own keyboard shortcuts. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
@@ -59,24 +58,31 @@ Preview Pane is an existing feature in the File Explorer.  To enable it, you jus
 
 ### PowerRename
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/PowerRename_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerRename) [PowerRename](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerRename) is a Windows Shell Extension for advanced bulk renaming using search and replace or regular expressions. PowerRename allows simple search and replace or more advanced regular expression matching. While you type in the search and replace input fields, the preview area will show what the items will be renamed to. PowerRename then calls into the Windows Explorer file operations engine to perform the rename. This has the benefit of allowing the rename operation to be undone after PowerRename exits. This code is based on [Chris Davis's SmartRename](https://github.com/chrdavis/SmartRename).
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysPowerRenameImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerRename) [PowerRename](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerRename) is a Windows Shell Extension for advanced bulk renaming using search and replace or regular expressions. PowerRename allows simple search and replace or more advanced regular expression matching. While you type in the search and replace input fields, the preview area will show what the items will be renamed to. PowerRename then calls into the Windows Explorer file operations engine to perform the rename. This has the benefit of allowing the rename operation to be undone after PowerRename exits. This code is based on [Chris Davis's SmartRename](https://github.com/chrdavis/SmartRename).
 <br/>
 
 ### PowerToys Run
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/PowerLauncher_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerToysRun) [PowerToys Run](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerToysRun) is a new toy in PowerToys that can help you search and launch your app instantly with a simple <kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>Space</kbd> and start typing! It is open source and modular for additional plugins.  Window Walker is now inside too! This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
-<br/>
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysPowerLauncherImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerToysRun) [PowerToys Run](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_PowerToysRun) is a new toy in PowerToys that can help you search and launch your app instantly with a simple <kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>Space</kbd> and start typing! It is open source and modular for additional plugins.  Window Walker is now inside too! This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
 
 ### Shortcut Guide
 
-[<img align="left" src="./doc/images/overview/ShortcutGuide_small.png" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ShortcutGuide)  [Windows key shortcut guide](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ShortcutGuide) appears when a user holds the Windows key down for more than one second and shows the available shortcuts for the current state of the desktop.
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysShortcutGuideImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ShortcutGuide)  [Windows key shortcut guide](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_ShortcutGuide) appears when a user holds the Windows key down for more than one second and shows the available shortcuts for the current state of the desktop.
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
+
+### Video Conference Mute (Experimental)
+
+[<img align="left" src="https://aka.ms/powerToysVideoConferenceImageSmall" />](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_VideoConference)  [Video Conference Mute](https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_VideoConference) is a quick and easy way to do a global "mute" of both your microphone and webcam via <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>N</kbd>. Just set your webcam in the target application to the PowerToys VideoConference camera.
+
+**Note:** This is only included in the [pre-release version of PowerToys installer][github-prerelease-link]. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
+<br/>
+<br/>
 <br/>
 
 ## Installing and running Microsoft PowerToys
@@ -87,11 +93,11 @@ Preview Pane is an existing feature in the File Explorer.  To enable it, you jus
 
 #### 0.18 users for updating via notifications
 
-- We adjusted how upgrading works in 0.20.  In 0.19 we accounted for this upcoming change but if you are going from 0.18 to 0.20, please directly use the installer file.
+- We adjusted how upgrading works in 0.20.  In 0.19 we accounted for this upcoming change but if you are going from 0.18 to 0.21, please directly use the installer file.
 
 ### Via GitHub with EXE [Recommended]
 
-Install from the [Microsoft PowerToys GitHub releases page][github-release-link]. Click on `Assets` to show the files available in the release and then click on `PowerToysSetup-0.20.1-x64.exe` to download the PowerToys installer.
+Install from the [Microsoft PowerToys GitHub releases page][github-release-link]. Click on `Assets` to show the files available in the release and then click on `PowerToysSetup-0.21.1-x64.exe` to download the PowerToys installer.
 
 This is our preferred method.
 
@@ -120,39 +126,83 @@ We currently support the matrix below.
 
 ## What's Happening
 
-### July 2020 Update
+### August 2020 Update
 
-Our goals for 0.20 release cycle were to focus on adding in a few new features along with a heavy focus on stability / quality fixes. Martin Chrzan helped contribute a new utility that was in our 2021 plans, a screen wide color picker!  Chris Davis also helped contribute a SVG icon support for File Explorer!
+Our goals for 0.21 release cycle was to focus on stability, localization and quality of life improvements for both the development team and our end users. 
 
-Between 0.19 and 0.20 releases, we tracked down a lot of performance and memory issues with PowerToys Run as well. The most important ones got added to 0.19.1 and 0.19.2 releases. If you find something not working correctly, please make us aware.
+One of the longer term goal items we have made progress on is the Out of Box experience / initial onboarding experience (OOBE) improvements.[@Niels9001](https://github.com/niels9001/) created a [wicked awesome proof of concept of what the OOBE experience could be](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/1285#issuecomment-679268558).  We are pretty stoked about this since it handles one an important item, critical shortcut default adjustments.
 
-In addition, we'd like to thank everyone who filed a bug, gave feedback or made a pull-request. The PowerToys team is extremely grateful to have the support of an amazing active community.
+#### Highlights from August
 
-Here are a few highlights from July
+- We shipped [v0.21][github-release-link]!
+- [Video conference muting first public release][vidConfOverview]
 
-- We shipped [v0.20][github-release-link]!
-- [Martin Chrzan's Color Picker](https://github.com/martinchrzan/) was added in!  With a quick <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>C</kbd>, get the color from your screen
-- File Explorer - Can now render SVG icons thanks to Chris Davis
-- FancyZones - you can now snap to any number of zones in FancyZones holding <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Ctrl</kbd> while dragging a window
-- PT Run - keyboard interaction improvements
-- PT Run - freshly installed apps are now being detected
-- PT Run - Lots of perf and bug fixes
-- Keyboard manager - app level shortcuts 
-   - Example: For Outlook, Remap <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>F</kbd> to <kbd>F4</kbd> and now <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>F</kbd> will put up the find window :)
-- Keyboard manager - Now can remap key to shortcut and shortcut to key.
-- Settings - Now has improved OOBE based on the work the Microsoft Garage Interns did during their hackathon
-- PowerRename improvements
+**PT Run:**
+- Removed need for space in action keywords.  This means you now can type `>ipconfig`
+- Icon caches fixed and now has colored icons
+- Improved font rendering via ClearType (Shout out to [@AnuthaDev](https://github.com/AnuthaDev) doing the heavy lifting here)
+- Result speed improvements
+- URLs are supported 
+- Fixed bugs including calculating bugs
 
-For [0.21](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+project%3Amicrosoft%2FPowerToys%2F8), we are proactively working on:
+**FancyZone:**
+- <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>Arrow key</kbd> is directional based on zone rect
+- Fixed bugs
+
+**Runner:**
+- Fixed toast notifications running elevated from non-admin account
+
+**Shortcut Guide:**
+- Improved vkey catching which will fix some use cases of it not showing up
+
+**SVG in File Explorer:**
+- Embedded image tags will now render in Explorer
+
+**Color Picker:**
+- Fixed bug where it would launch via false positive keystrokes
+
+**Accessibility:**
+- Settings, PT Run and KBM undergoing improvements
+
+**Localization:**
+- Pipeline is now setup and will be doing a full E2E pass on all utilities shortly.
+
+**Dev quality of life improvements:**
+- Continued warning count reduction. This release ~80 removed
+- StyleCop enabled E2E
+- FxCop starting to be added in E2E
+
+#### New experiential PowerToys utility - Video conference muting:
+
+**Note:** This is only included in the [pre-release version of PowerToys installer][github-prerelease-link]. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
+
+Back in the June timeframe, we started prototyping an idea. With COVID-19, we're all multi-tasking and trying to make the best of everything and being able to quickly mute while on a conference call is critical regardless of where you are on your computer and what application has focus.
+
+The utility will mute not just your audio but your video as well with a single keystroke.  You can do audio, video both.  We knew this would impact our roadmap and goals but felt extremely strong that this is the right decision. We're all multi-tasking and trying to make the best of everything and being able to quickly mute while on a conference call is critical regardless of where you are on your computer.
+
+We know we have some issues and we have a [master tracking issue - #6246](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/6246). We know a certain laptops currently the video forwarding does not work and are proactively working on fixing this.
+
+To use:
+
+- Set your camera to the PowerToys Video driver in the target application
+- <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>N</kbd> to toggle both Audio and Video at the same time
+- <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>O</kbd> to toggle video
+- <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>A</kbd> to toggle microphone
+
+For a more information, head over to the [Video conference mute overview][vidConfOverview]
+
+### What is being planned for 0.23
+
+For [0.23](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+project%3Amicrosoft%2FPowerToys%2F12), we are proactively working on:
 
 - Stability
-- Quality
 - Localization
-- FancyZones improvements
+- Improve interactions with elevated windows and keeping most of the PT utilities non-elevated so we still have a 'shell' like experience
+- OOBE work
 
-### PowerToys 2020 roadmap
+### PowerToys roadmap
 
-Our roadmap for all the [goals and utilities for 2020 detailed over here in the wiki][v1].
+Our [prioritized roadmap][roadmap] of features and utilites that the core team is focusing on..
 
 ## Developer Guidance
 
@@ -183,5 +233,7 @@ The application logs basic telemetry. Our Telemetry Data page (Coming Soon) has
 [oss-CLA]: https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com
 [oss-conduct-code]: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
 [github-release-link]: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/
-[v1]: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/wiki/Version-1.0-Strategy
+[github-prerelease-link]: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/tag/v0.22.0-Experimental
+[roadmap]: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/wiki/Roadmap
 [privacyLink]: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839
+[vidConfOverview]: https://aka.ms/PowerToysOverview_VideoConference

contributing.md

@@ -121,6 +121,12 @@ When you'd like the team to take a look, (even if the work is not yet fully-comp
 
 Once your code has been reviewed and approved by the requisite number of team members, it will be merged into the master branch. Once merged, your PR will be automatically closed.
 
+### How can I become a collaborateur on the PowerToys team
+
+Be a great community member. Just help out a lot and make useful additions, filing bugs/suggestions, help develop fixes and features, code reviews, and always, docs. Lets continue to make the PowerToys repository a great spot to learn and make a great set of utilities.
+
+When the time comes, Microsoft will reach out and help make you a formal team member. Just make sure they can reach out to you :)
+
 ---
 
 ## Thank you

doc/devdocs/readme.md

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Contains the source code of the PowerToys installer.
 
 ### The [`src`](/src) folder
 
-Contains the source code of the PowerToys runner and of all of the PowerToys modules. **This is where the most of the magic happens.**
+Contains the source code of the PowerToys runner and of all of the PowerToys modules. **This is where most of the magic happens.**
 
 ### The [`tools`](/tools) folder
 
@@ -80,7 +80,11 @@ modify --installpath "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\%targetFo
 - The PowerToys binaries will be in your repo under `x64\Release`.
 - If you want to copy the `PowerToys.exe` binary to a different location, you'll also need to copy the `modules` and the `svgs` folders.
 
-## Building the Installer (.MSI)
+## Building the Installers
+
+Our installer is two parts, an EXE and an MSI.  The EXE contains the MSI and handles more complex install logic. 
+- The EXE installs all prerequisites and installs PowerToys via the MSI. Also has additional features, such as silent installation flags
+- The MSI installs PowerToys.
 
 ### Prerequisites Building the Installer (.MSI)
 
@@ -92,6 +96,15 @@ modify --installpath "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\%targetFo
 - From the `installer` folder open `PowerToysSetup.sln` in Visual Studio, in the `Solutions Configuration` drop-down menu select `Release`, from the `Build` menu choose `Build Solution`.
 - The resulting `PowerToysSetup.msi` installer will be available in the `installer\PowerToysSetup\x64\Release\` folder.
 
+### Compiling Bootstraper Installer (.EXE)
+
+- MSI Installer needs to be built in release mode
+- Build `PowerToysBootstrapper` solution (`installer\PowerToysBootstrapper\`)
+
+#### Supported arguments for EXE installer:
+
+Head over to the wiki to get the [full list of supported installer arguments][installerArgWiki].
+
 ## Debugging
 
 The following configuration issue only applies if the user is a member of the Administrators group.
@@ -105,8 +118,8 @@ To run and debug PowerToys from Visual Studio when the user is a member of the A
 
 ## How to create new PowerToys
 
-See the instructions on [how to install the PowerToys Module project template](tools/project_template). <br />
-Specifications for the [PowerToys settings API](doc/specs/PowerToys-settings.md).
+See the instructions on [how to install the PowerToys Module project template](/tools/project_template). <br />
+Specifications for the [PowerToys settings API](/doc/devdocs/settings.md).
 
 ## Implementation details
 
@@ -134,7 +147,7 @@ The common lib, as the name suggests, contains code shared by multiple PowerToys
 
 WebView project for editing the PowerToys settings.
 
-The html portion of the project that is shown in the WebView is contained in [`settings-html`](/src/settings/settings-heml).
+The html portion of the project that is shown in the WebView is contained in [`settings-html`](/src/settings/settings-html).
 Instructions on how build a new version and update this project are in the [Web project for the Settings UI](./settings-web.md).
 
 While developing, it's possible to connect the WebView to the development server running in localhost by setting the `_DEBUG_WITH_LOCALHOST` flag to `1` and following the instructions near it in `./main.cpp`.
@@ -164,3 +177,5 @@ This module has a setting to serve as an example for each of the currently imple
 - CustomAction property
 
 ![Image of the Options](/doc/images/settings/example_settings.png)
+
+[installerArgWiki]: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/wiki/Installer-arguments-for-exe

doc/devdocs/style.md

@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@
 ## Formatting
 
 - We use [`.clang-format`](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/master/.clang-format) style file to enable automatic code formatting. You can [easily format source files from Visual Studio](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/clangformat-support-in-visual-studio-2017-15-7-preview-1/). For example, `CTRL+K CTRL+D` formats the current document.
-- If you prefer another text editor or have ClangFormat disabled in Visual Studio, you could invoke [`format_sources`](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/master/format_sources.ps1) powershell script from command line. It gets a list of all currently modified files from `git` and invokes clang-format on them.
+- If you prefer another text editor or have ClangFormat disabled in Visual Studio, you could invoke [`format_sources`](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/master/src/codeAnalysis/format_sources.ps1) powershell script from command line. It gets a list of all currently modified files from `git` and invokes clang-format on them.
 Please note that you should also have `clang-format.exe` in `%PATH%` for it to work. The script can infer the path of `clang-format.exe` version which is shipped with Visual Studio at `%VCINSTALLDIR%\Tools\Llvm\bin\`, if you launch it from the *Native Tools Command Prompt for VS*.
-- CI doesn't enforce code formatting yet, since we're gradually applying code formatting to the codebase, but please adhere to our formatting style for any new code.
+- CI doesn't enforce code formatting yet, since we're gradually applying code formatting to the codebase, but please adhere to our formatting style for any new code.

doc/devdocs/tools.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Tools
+
+## [Monitor info report](tools\monitor_info_report)
+
+A small diagnostic tool which helps identifying WinAPI bugs related to the physical monitor detection. When launched, it creates a log file like this:
+
+```
+GetSystemMetrics = 2
+GetMonitorInfo OK
+EnumDisplayDevices OK:
+        DeviceID = \\?\DISPLAY#VSCBD34#5&25664547&0&UID4355#{e6f07b5f-ee97-4a90-b076-33f57bf4eaa7}
+        DeviceKey = \Registry\Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e96e-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0002
+        DeviceName = \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
+        DeviceString = Generic PnP Monitor
+GetMonitorInfo OK
+EnumDisplayDevices OK:
+        DeviceID = \\?\DISPLAY#ENC2682#5&25664547&0&UID4357#{e6f07b5f-ee97-4a90-b076-33f57bf4eaa7}
+        DeviceKey = \Registry\Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e96e-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0003
+        DeviceName = \\.\DISPLAY2\Monitor0
+        DeviceString = Generic PnP Monitor
+EnumDisplayMonitors OK
+```
+and also duplicates the info to `stdout`.

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/LocProject.json

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+    "Projects": [
+        {
+            "LanguageSet": "Azure_Languages",
+            "LocItems": [
+                {
+                    "SourceFile": "installer\\PowerToysBootstrapper\\bootstrapper\\Resources.resx",
+                    "CopyOption": "LangIDOnName",
+                    "OutputPath": "installer\\PowerToysBootstrapper\\bootstrapper"
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/Resources.resx

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<root>
+  <xsd:schema id="root" xmlns="" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata">
+    <xsd:import namespace="http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace" />
+    <xsd:element name="root" msdata:IsDataSet="true">
+      <xsd:complexType>
+        <xsd:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
+          <xsd:element name="metadata">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:sequence>
+                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" />
+              </xsd:sequence>
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" use="required" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="mimetype" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute ref="xml:space" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+          <xsd:element name="assembly">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:attribute name="alias" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+          <xsd:element name="data">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:sequence>
+                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
+                <xsd:element name="comment" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="2" />
+              </xsd:sequence>
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" msdata:Ordinal="3" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="mimetype" type="xsd:string" msdata:Ordinal="4" />
+              <xsd:attribute ref="xml:space" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+          <xsd:element name="resheader">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:sequence>
+                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
+              </xsd:sequence>
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+        </xsd:choice>
+      </xsd:complexType>
+    </xsd:element>
+  </xsd:schema>
+  <resheader name="resmimetype">
+    <value>text/microsoft-resx</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <resheader name="version">
+    <value>2.0</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <resheader name="reader">
+    <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceReader, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <resheader name="writer">
+    <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceWriter, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <data name="DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Couldn't download .NET Core Desktop Runtime 3.1, please install it manually.</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE_TITLE" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>PowerToys installation error</value>
+  </data>
+</root>

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/bootstrapper.base.rc

@@ -5,13 +5,6 @@
 MAINICON ICON "../../../src/runner/svgs/icon.ico" 
 IDR_BIN_ICON BIN "../../../src/runner/svgs/icon.ico" 
 
-
-STRINGTABLE
-BEGIN
-    IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE "Couldn't download .NET Core Desktop Runtime 3.1, please install it manually."
-    IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE_TITLE "PowerToys installation error"
-END
-
 1 VERSIONINFO
 FILEVERSION FILE_VERSION
 PRODUCTVERSION PRODUCT_VERSION

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/bootstrapper.cpp

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "pch.h"
+#include "Generated Files/resource.h"
 
 #include <common/common.h>
 #include <common/notifications.h>
@@ -9,7 +10,6 @@
 #include <common/appMutex.h>
 #include <common/processApi.h>
 
-#include "resource.h"
 
 #include <runner/action_runner_utils.h>
 
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ std::unordered_set<CmdArgs> parseCmdArgs(const int nCmdArgs, LPWSTR* argList)
     }
     return result;
 }
-int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int)
+
+int bootstrapper()
 {
     using namespace localized_strings;
     winrt::init_apartment();
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int)
                 {
                     break;
                 }
-                progressParams.progress = min(0.99f, progressParams.progress + 0.001f);
+                progressParams.progress = std::min(0.99f, progressParams.progress + 0.001f);
                 notifications::update_progress_bar_toast(TOAST_TAG, progressParams);
             }
         } }.detach();
@@ -257,12 +258,20 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int)
     {
         updateProgressBar(.5f, INSTALLING_DOTNET);
     }
-    if (installDotnet &&
-        !updating::dotnet_is_installed() &&
-        !updating::install_dotnet(cmdArgs.contains(CmdArgs::silent)) &&
-        !cmdArgs.contains(CmdArgs::silent))
+
+    try
     {
-        notifications::show_toast(DOTNET_INSTALL_ERROR, TOAST_TITLE);
+        if (installDotnet &&
+            !updating::dotnet_is_installed() &&
+            !updating::install_dotnet(cmdArgs.contains(CmdArgs::silent)) &&
+            !cmdArgs.contains(CmdArgs::silent))
+        {
+            notifications::show_toast(DOTNET_INSTALL_ERROR, TOAST_TITLE);
+        }
+    }
+    catch (...)
+    {
+        MessageBoxW(nullptr, L".NET Core installation", L"Unknown exception encountered!", MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
     }
 
     updateProgressBar(.75f, INSTALLING_NEW_VERSION);
@@ -288,9 +297,32 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int)
         sei.fMask = { SEE_MASK_FLAG_NO_UI | SEE_MASK_NOASYNC | SEE_MASK_NO_CONSOLE };
         sei.lpFile = newPTPath->c_str();
         sei.nShow = SW_SHOWNORMAL;
-        sei.lpParameters = UPDATE_REPORT_SUCCESS;
         ShellExecuteExW(&sei);
     }
 
     return 0;
 }
+
+int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int)
+{
+    try
+    {
+        return bootstrapper();
+    }
+    catch (const std::exception& ex)
+    {
+        MessageBoxA(nullptr, ex.what(), "Unhandled stdexception encountered!", MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
+    }
+    catch (winrt::hresult_error const& ex)
+    {
+        winrt::hstring message = ex.message();
+        MessageBoxW(nullptr, message.c_str(), L"Unhandled winrt exception encountered!", MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
+    }
+    catch (...)
+    {
+        auto lastErrorMessage = get_last_error_message(GetLastError());
+        std::wstring message = lastErrorMessage ? std::move(*lastErrorMessage) : L"";
+        MessageBoxW(nullptr, message.c_str(), L"Unknown exception encountered!", MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
+    }
+    return 0;
+}

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/bootstrapper.vcxproj

@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
       <Platform>x64</Platform>
     </ProjectConfiguration>
   </ItemGroup>
+  <Target Name="GenerateResourceFiles" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
+    <Exec Command="powershell -NonInteractive -executionpolicy Unrestricted $(SolutionDir)..\..\tools\build\convert-resx-to-rc.ps1 . resource.base.h resource.h bootstrapper.base.rc bootstrapper.rc 105" />
+  </Target>
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
     <VCProjectVersion>16.0</VCProjectVersion>
     <ProjectGuid>{D194E3AA-F824-4CA9-9A58-034DD6B7D022}</ProjectGuid>
@@ -116,13 +119,13 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClInclude Include="..\runner\updating.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="pch.h" />
-    <ClInclude Include="resource.h" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <ResourceCompile Include="bootstrapper.rc" />
+    <None Include="bootstrapper.base.rc" />
+    <ResourceCompile Include="Generated Files/bootstrapper.rc" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Image Include="..\runner\svgs\icon.ico" />
@@ -145,4 +148,4 @@
     </PropertyGroup>
     <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.ImplementationLibrary.1.0.200519.2\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.ImplementationLibrary.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.ImplementationLibrary.1.0.200519.2\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.ImplementationLibrary.targets'))" />
   </Target>
-</Project>
+</Project>

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/pch.h

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#define NOMINMAX
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #include <Windows.h>
 #include <shellapi.h>

installer/PowerToysBootstrapper/bootstrapper/resource.base.h

@@ -12,8 +12,5 @@
 // Non-localizable
 //////////////////////////////
 
-#define IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE 101
-#define IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE_TITLE 102
-
 #define IDR_BIN_MSIINSTALLER 103
 #define IDR_BIN_ICON 104

installer/PowerToysSetup/Product.wxs

@@ -421,52 +421,52 @@
         <!-- Added a separate component for Per-User registry changes -->
         <!-- Registry Key for Class Registration of Svg Preview Handler -->
         <RegistryKey Root="HKCR" Key="CLSID\{ddee2b8a-6807-48a6-bb20-2338174ff779}">
-          <RegistryValue Type="string" Value="SvgPreviewHandler.SvgPreviewHandler" />
+          <RegistryValue Type="string" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.PreviewHandler.Svg.SvgPreviewHandler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="DisplayName" Value="Svg Preview Handler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="AppID" Value="{CF142243-F059-45AF-8842-DBBE9783DB14}" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="Implemented Categories\{62C8FE65-4EBB-45e7-B440-6E39B2CDBF29}" Value=""/>
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Value="mscoree.dll" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Assembly" Value="SvgPreviewHandler, Version=$(var.Version).0, Culture=neutral" />
-          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Class" Value="SvgPreviewHandler.SvgPreviewHandler" />
+          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Class" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.PreviewHandler.Svg.SvgPreviewHandler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="RuntimeVersion" Value="v4.0.30319" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="ThreadingModel" Value="Both" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="CodeBase" Value="file:///[FileExplorerPreviewInstallFolder]SvgPreviewHandler.dll" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Assembly" Value="SvgPreviewHandler, Version=$(var.Version).0, Culture=neutral" />
-          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Class" Value="SvgPreviewHandler.SvgPreviewHandler" />
+          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Class" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.PreviewHandler.Svg.SvgPreviewHandler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="RuntimeVersion" Value="v4.0.30319" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="CodeBase" Value="file:///[FileExplorerPreviewInstallFolder]SvgPreviewHandler.dll" />
         </RegistryKey>
         <!-- Registry Key for Class Registration of Svg Thumbnail Provider -->
         <RegistryKey Root="HKCR" Key="CLSID\{36B27788-A8BB-4698-A756-DF9F11F64F84}">
-            <RegistryValue Type="string" Value="SvgThumbnailProvider.SvgThumbnailProvider" />
+            <RegistryValue Type="string" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.ThumbnailHandler.Svg.SvgThumbnailProvider" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="DisplayName" Value="Svg Thumbnail Provider" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="AppID" Value="{CF142243-F059-45AF-8842-DBBE9783DB14}" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="Implemented Categories\{62C8FE65-4EBB-45e7-B440-6E39B2CDBF29}" Value=""/>
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Value="mscoree.dll" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Assembly" Value="SvgThumbnailProvider, Version=$(var.Version).0, Culture=neutral" />
-            <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Class" Value="SvgThumbnailProvider.SvgThumbnailProvider" />
+            <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Class" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.ThumbnailHandler.Svg.SvgThumbnailProvider" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="RuntimeVersion" Value="v4.0.30319" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="ThreadingModel" Value="Both" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="CodeBase" Value="file:///[FileExplorerPreviewInstallFolder]SvgThumbnailProvider.dll" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Assembly" Value="SvgThumbnailProvider, Version=$(var.Version).0, Culture=neutral" />
-            <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Class" Value="SvgThumbnailProvider.SvgThumbnailProvider" />
+            <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Class" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.ThumbnailHandler.Svg.SvgThumbnailProvider" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="RuntimeVersion" Value="v4.0.30319" />
             <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="CodeBase" Value="file:///[FileExplorerPreviewInstallFolder]SvgThumbnailProvider.dll" />
         </RegistryKey>
         <!-- Registry Key for Class Registration of Markdown Preview Handler -->
         <RegistryKey Root="HKCR" Key="CLSID\{45769bcc-e8fd-42d0-947e-02beef77a1f5}">
-          <RegistryValue Type="string" Value="MarkdownPreviewHandler.MarkdownPreviewHandler" />
+          <RegistryValue Type="string" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.PreviewHandler.Markdown.MarkdownPreviewHandler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="DisplayName" Value="Markdown Preview Handler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="AppID" Value="{CF142243-F059-45AF-8842-DBBE9783DB14}" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="Implemented Categories\{62C8FE65-4EBB-45e7-B440-6E39B2CDBF29}" Value="" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Value="mscoree.dll" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Assembly" Value="MarkdownPreviewHandler, Version=$(var.Version).0, Culture=neutral" />
-          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Class" Value="MarkdownPreviewHandler.MarkdownPreviewHandler" />
+          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="Class" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.PreviewHandler.Markdown.MarkdownPreviewHandler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="RuntimeVersion" Value="v4.0.30319" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="ThreadingModel" Value="Both" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32" Name="CodeBase" Value="file:///[FileExplorerPreviewInstallFolder]MarkdownPreviewHandler.dll" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Assembly" Value="MarkdownPreviewHandler, Version=$(var.Version).0, Culture=neutral" />
-          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Class" Value="MarkdownPreviewHandler.MarkdownPreviewHandler" />
+          <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="Class" Value="Microsoft.PowerToys.PreviewHandler.Markdown.MarkdownPreviewHandler" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="RuntimeVersion" Value="v4.0.30319" />
           <RegistryValue Type="string" Key="InprocServer32\$(var.Version).0" Name="CodeBase" Value="file:///[FileExplorerPreviewInstallFolder]MarkdownPreviewHandler.dll" />
         </RegistryKey>
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@
         <File Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)SettingsUIRunner\Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner.exe"/>
         <File Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)SettingsUIRunner\Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.exe"/>
         <!-- dll -->
-        <?foreach File in concrt140_app.dll;Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces.dll;Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.dll;Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp.UI.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.XamlHost.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.XamlHost.Managed.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.Controls.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.XamlHost.dll;Microsoft.UI.Xaml.dll;Microsoft.Xaml.Interactions.dll;Microsoft.Xaml.Interactivity.dll;msvcp140_1_app.dll;msvcp140_2_app.dll;msvcp140_app.dll;Newtonsoft.Json.dll;PowerToysInterop.dll;System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe.dll;System.Runtime.dll;System.Text.Encodings.Web.dll;System.Text.Json.dll;vcamp140_app.dll;vccorlib140_app.dll;vcomp140_app.dll;vcruntime140_1_app.dll;vcruntime140_app.dll;Telemetry.dll;ManagedCommon.dll?>
+        <?foreach File in concrt140_app.dll;Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces.dll;Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.dll;Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp.UI.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.XamlHost.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.XamlHost.Managed.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.Controls.dll;Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.XamlHost.dll;Microsoft.UI.Xaml.dll;Microsoft.Xaml.Interactions.dll;Microsoft.Xaml.Interactivity.dll;msvcp140_1_app.dll;msvcp140_2_app.dll;msvcp140_app.dll;Newtonsoft.Json.dll;PowerToysInterop.dll;System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe.dll;System.Text.Encodings.Web.dll;System.Text.Json.dll;vcamp140_app.dll;vccorlib140_app.dll;vcomp140_app.dll;vcruntime140_1_app.dll;vcruntime140_app.dll;Telemetry.dll;ManagedCommon.dll?>
           <File Id="SettingsV2_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)SettingsUIRunner\$(var.File)" />
         <?endforeach?>
         <!-- json -->
@@ -844,7 +844,7 @@
     <ComponentGroup Id="LauncherComponents">
       <Component Id="launcherInstallComponent" Directory="LauncherInstallFolder" Guid="5E688DB4-C522-4268-BA54-ED1CDFFE9DB6">
         <File Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\Launcher\Microsoft.Launcher.dll" />
-        <?foreach File in concrt140_app.dll;ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll;JetBrains.Annotations.dll;Mages.Core.dll;Microsoft.Search.Interop.dll;EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll;EntityFramework.dll;Mono.Cecil.dll;Mono.Cecil.Mdb.dll;Mono.Cecil.Pdb.dll;Mono.Cecil.Rocks.dll;msvcp140_1_app.dll;msvcp140_2_app.dll;msvcp140_app.dll;Newtonsoft.Json.dll;NLog.dll;NLog.Extensions.Logging.dll;Pinyin4Net.dll;PowerLauncher.deps.json;PowerLauncher.dll;PowerLauncher.exe;Microsoft.Xaml.Behaviors.dll;System.Text.Json.dll;sni.dll;System.Data.SQLite.EF6.dll;PowerLauncher.runtimeconfig.json;SQLite.Interop.dll;System.Data.OleDb.dll;System.Data.SqlClient.dll;System.Data.SQLite.dll;vcamp140_app.dll;vccorlib140_app.dll;vcomp140_app.dll;vcruntime140_1_app.dll;vcruntime140_app.dll;Wox.Core.dll;Wox.Infrastructure.dll;Wox.Plugin.dll;PowerToysInterop.dll;Telemetry.dll;PowerLauncher.Telemetry.dll;PropertyChanged.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Options.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Primitives.dll;ControlzEx.dll;MahApps.Metro.dll;ManagedCommon.dll?>
+        <?foreach File in concrt140_app.dll;ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll;JetBrains.Annotations.dll;Mages.Core.dll;Microsoft.Search.Interop.dll;EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll;EntityFramework.dll;Mono.Cecil.dll;Mono.Cecil.Mdb.dll;Mono.Cecil.Pdb.dll;Mono.Cecil.Rocks.dll;msvcp140_1_app.dll;msvcp140_2_app.dll;msvcp140_app.dll;Newtonsoft.Json.dll;NLog.dll;NLog.Extensions.Logging.dll;Pinyin4Net.dll;PowerLauncher.deps.json;PowerLauncher.dll;PowerLauncher.exe;Microsoft.Xaml.Behaviors.dll;System.Text.Json.dll;sni.dll;System.Data.SQLite.EF6.dll;PowerLauncher.runtimeconfig.json;SQLite.Interop.dll;System.Data.OleDb.dll;System.Data.SqlClient.dll;System.Data.SQLite.dll;vcamp140_app.dll;vccorlib140_app.dll;vcomp140_app.dll;vcruntime140_1_app.dll;vcruntime140_app.dll;Wox.Core.dll;Wox.Infrastructure.dll;Wox.Plugin.dll;PowerToysInterop.dll;Telemetry.dll;PowerLauncher.Telemetry.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Options.dll;Microsoft.Extensions.Primitives.dll;ControlzEx.dll;MahApps.Metro.dll;ManagedCommon.dll?>
           <File Id="File_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\$(var.File)" />
         <?endforeach?>
         <File Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)SettingsUIRunner\Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.dll" />
@@ -874,20 +874,6 @@
       <Component Id="calculatorImagesComponent" Directory="CalculatorImagesFolder" Guid="07EC9232-CF9A-4CDB-8D8E-E79DC75096C0">
         <File Id="calculatorPluginImg_calculator_light" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator\Images\calculator.light.png" />
         <File Id="calculatorPluginImg_calculator_dark" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator\Images\calculator.dark.png" />
-      </Component>
-       <Component Id="calculatorLanguagesComponent" Directory="CalculatorLanguagesFolder" Guid="2D8019E7-664F-4529-9FAA-83C8DACF0732">
-        <?foreach LanguageFile in de.xaml;en.xaml;pl.xaml;tr.xaml;zh-cn.xaml;zh-tw.xaml?>
-          <!--NB: Ids can't contain hyphens-->
-          <?if $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-cn.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_cn.xaml?>
-          <?elseif $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-tw.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_tw.xaml?>
-          <?else?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = $(var.LanguageFile)?>
-          <?endif?>
-          <File Id="File_calc_Plugin_$(var.IdSafeLanguage)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Calculator\Languages\$(var.LanguageFile)" />
-          <?undef IdSafeLanguage?>
-        <?endforeach?>
       </Component>
       <Component Id="calculatorpinyindbComponent" Directory="CalculatorpinyindbFolder" Guid="D5527670-BE9A-4AA9-9D36-1249F2184B5B">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
@@ -906,20 +892,6 @@
           <File Id="FolderPlugin_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Folder\Images\$(var.File)" />
         <?endforeach?>
       </Component>
-      <Component Id="FolderPluginLanguagesComponent" Directory="FolderPluginLanguagesFolder" Guid="6316D847-5FD2-488B-A60E-5517BF95A25C">
-        <?foreach LanguageFile in de.xaml;en.xaml;pl.xaml;tr.xaml;zh-cn.xaml;zh-tw.xaml?>
-          <!--NB: Ids can't contain hyphens-->
-          <?if $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-cn.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_cn.xaml?>
-          <?elseif $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-tw.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_tw.xaml?>
-          <?else?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = $(var.LanguageFile)?>
-          <?endif?>
-            <File Id="File_Folder_Plugin_$(var.IdSafeLanguage)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Folder\Languages\$(var.LanguageFile)" />
-          <?undef IdSafeLanguage?>
-        <?endforeach?>
-      </Component>
       <Component Id="FolderPluginpinyindbComponent" Directory="FolderPluginpinyindbFolder" Guid="233BE087-B9DC-408A-8809-593C42DE8B1B">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
           <File Id="FolderPlugin_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Folder\pinyindb\$(var.File)" />
@@ -936,20 +908,6 @@
         <?foreach File in app.dark.png;app.light.png;disable.light.png;disable.dark.png;folder.light.png;folder.dark.png;shell.light.png;shell.dark.png;user.light.png;user.dark.png?>
           <File Id="Program_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Program\Images\$(var.File)" />
         <?endforeach?>
-      </Component>
-       <Component Id="ProgramLanguagesComponent" Directory="ProgramLanguagesFolder" Guid="EBFF53B6-3602-4F55-8784-FC7DB29D3D62">
-        <?foreach LanguageFile in de.xaml;en.xaml;pl.xaml;tr.xaml;zh-cn.xaml;zh-tw.xaml?>
-          <!--NB: Ids can't contain hyphens-->
-          <?if $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-cn.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_cn.xaml?>
-          <?elseif $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-tw.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_tw.xaml?>
-          <?else?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = $(var.LanguageFile)?>
-          <?endif?>
-          <File Id="File_Program_Plugin_$(var.IdSafeLanguage)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Program\Languages\$(var.LanguageFile)" />
-          <?undef IdSafeLanguage?>
-        <?endforeach?>
       </Component>
       <Component Id="ProgrampinyindbComponent" Directory="ProgrampinyindbFolder" Guid="65A488C3-C67D-45F7-9654-6DF529AEEB3F">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
@@ -967,20 +925,6 @@
        <?foreach File in shell.light.png;shell.dark.png;user.light.png;user.dark.png?>
           <File Id="Shell_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Shell\Images\$(var.File)" />
         <?endforeach?>
-      </Component>
-       <Component Id="ShellLanguagesComponent" Directory="ShellLanguagesFolder" Guid="4190F789-8A66-46AA-B920-C76CB29277D7">
-        <?foreach LanguageFile in de.xaml;en.xaml;pl.xaml;tr.xaml;zh-cn.xaml;zh-tw.xaml?>
-          <!--NB: Ids can't contain hyphens-->
-          <?if $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-cn.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_cn.xaml?>
-          <?elseif $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-tw.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_tw.xaml?>
-          <?else?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = $(var.LanguageFile)?>
-          <?endif?>
-          <File Id="File_Shell_Plugin_$(var.IdSafeLanguage)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Shell\Languages\$(var.LanguageFile)" />
-          <?undef IdSafeLanguage?>
-        <?endforeach?>
       </Component>
       <Component Id="ShellpinyindbComponent" Directory="ShellpinyindbFolder" Guid="A60742F3-2187-47F2-A5B5-300E44837DD7">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
@@ -999,20 +943,6 @@
           <File Id="Indexer_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Indexer\Images\$(var.File)" />
         <?endforeach?>
       </Component>
-      <Component Id="IndexerLanguagesComponent" Directory="IndexerLanguagesFolder" Guid="4B5ED306-7DD5-4EA6-9DBB-CF054929182C">
-        <?foreach LanguageFile in de.xaml;en.xaml;ja.xaml;pl.xaml;tr.xaml;zh-cn.xaml;zh-tw.xaml?>
-          <!--NB: Ids can't contain hyphens-->
-          <?if $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-cn.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_cn.xaml?>
-          <?elseif $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-tw.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_tw.xaml?>
-          <?else?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = $(var.LanguageFile)?>
-          <?endif?>
-          <File Id="Indexer_Plugin_$(var.IdSafeLanguage)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Indexer\Languages\$(var.LanguageFile)" />
-          <?undef IdSafeLanguage?>
-        <?endforeach?>
-      </Component>
       <Component Id="IndexerpinyindbComponent" Directory="IndexerpinyindbFolder" Guid="48DE333A-80F8-400A-87F4-244DF0A2DB05">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
           <File Id="IndexerPlugin_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Indexer\pinyindb\$(var.File)" />
@@ -1029,20 +959,6 @@
         <File Id="UriDarkIcon" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Uri\Images\Uri.dark.png" />
         <File Id="UriLightIcon" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Uri\Images\Uri.light.png" />
       </Component>
-      <Component Id="UriLanguagesComponent" Directory="UriLanguagesFolder" Guid="4CA9CECE-BB93-4686-A58F-35835F5C3F7D">
-        <?foreach LanguageFile in de.xaml;en.xaml;pl.xaml;tr.xaml;zh-cn.xaml;zh-tw.xaml?>
-          <!--NB: Ids can't contain hyphens-->
-          <?if $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-cn.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_cn.xaml?>
-          <?elseif $(var.LanguageFile) = zh-tw.xaml?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = zh_tw.xaml?>
-          <?else?>
-            <?define IdSafeLanguage = $(var.LanguageFile)?>
-          <?endif?>
-            <File Id="File_Uri_Plugin_$(var.IdSafeLanguage)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Uri\Languages\$(var.LanguageFile)" />
-          <?undef IdSafeLanguage?>
-        <?endforeach?>
-      </Component>
       <Component Id="UripinyindbComponent" Directory="UripinyindbFolder" Guid="A52A7281-CD7C-4E7D-A5A6-EA8CFCF462A2">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
           <File Id="UriPlugin_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.Uri\pinyindb\$(var.File)" />
@@ -1059,9 +975,6 @@
           <File Id="WindowWalkerDarkIcon" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.WindowWalker\Images\windowwalker.dark.png" />
           <File Id="WindowWalkerLightIcon" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.WindowWalker\Images\windowwalker.light.png" />
       </Component>
-      <Component Id="WindowWalkerLanguagesComponent" Directory="WindowWalkerLanguagesFolder" Guid="7D9471D9-5C0A-4BD1-9A01-BAB65DD58834">
-        <File Id="WindowWalkerLanguage" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.WindowWalker\Languages\en.xaml" />
-      </Component>
       <Component Id="WindowWalkerpinyindbComponent" Directory="WindowWalkerpinyindbFolder" Guid="02C7A758-CDD4-4E27-9EC7-2ED68DC444B0">
         <?foreach File in pinyin_gwoyeu_mapping.xml;pinyin_mapping.xml;unicode_to_hanyu_pinyin.txt?>
           <File Id="WindowWalkerPlugin_$(var.File)" Source="$(var.BinX64Dir)modules\launcher\Plugins\Microsoft.Plugin.WindowWalker\pinyindb\$(var.File)" />

src/Version.props

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
   <PropertyGroup>
-    <Version>0.21.0</Version>
+    <Version>0.23.2</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 </Project>

src/action_runner/LocProject.json

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+    "Projects": [
+        {
+            "LanguageSet": "Azure_Languages",
+            "LocItems": [
+                {
+                    "SourceFile": "src\\runner\\Resources.resx",
+                    "CopyOption": "LangIDOnName",
+                    "OutputPath": "src\\runner"
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}

src/action_runner/Resources.resx

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<root>
+  <xsd:schema id="root" xmlns="" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata">
+    <xsd:import namespace="http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace" />
+    <xsd:element name="root" msdata:IsDataSet="true">
+      <xsd:complexType>
+        <xsd:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
+          <xsd:element name="metadata">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:sequence>
+                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" />
+              </xsd:sequence>
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" use="required" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="mimetype" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute ref="xml:space" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+          <xsd:element name="assembly">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:attribute name="alias" type="xsd:string" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+          <xsd:element name="data">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:sequence>
+                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
+                <xsd:element name="comment" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="2" />
+              </xsd:sequence>
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" msdata:Ordinal="3" />
+              <xsd:attribute name="mimetype" type="xsd:string" msdata:Ordinal="4" />
+              <xsd:attribute ref="xml:space" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+          <xsd:element name="resheader">
+            <xsd:complexType>
+              <xsd:sequence>
+                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
+              </xsd:sequence>
+              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
+            </xsd:complexType>
+          </xsd:element>
+        </xsd:choice>
+      </xsd:complexType>
+    </xsd:element>
+  </xsd:schema>
+  <resheader name="resmimetype">
+    <value>text/microsoft-resx</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <resheader name="version">
+    <value>2.0</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <resheader name="reader">
+    <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceReader, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <resheader name="writer">
+    <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceWriter, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
+  </resheader>
+  <data name="DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Couldn't download .NET Core Desktop Runtime 3.1, please install it manually.</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE_TITLE" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>PowerToys installation error</value>
+  </data>
+</root>

src/action_runner/action_runner.base.rc

@@ -2,12 +2,6 @@
 #include "resource.h"
 #include "../common/version.h"
 
-STRINGTABLE
-BEGIN
-    IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE "Couldn't download .NET Core Desktop Runtime 3.1, please install it manually."
-    IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE_TITLE "PowerToys installation error"
-END
-
 1 VERSIONINFO
 FILEVERSION FILE_VERSION
 PRODUCTVERSION PRODUCT_VERSION

src/action_runner/action_runner.cpp

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #include "../runner/tray_icon.h"
 #include "../runner/action_runner_utils.h"
 
-#include "resource.h"
+#include "Generated Files/resource.h"
 
 extern "C" IMAGE_DOS_HEADER __ImageBase;
 
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int)
             }
             else
             {
-                params = args[nextArg];
+                params += args[nextArg];
+                params += L' ';
                 nextArg++;
             }
         }

src/action_runner/action_runner.vcxproj

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@
       <Platform>x64</Platform>
     </ProjectConfiguration>
   </ItemGroup>
+  <Target Name="GenerateResourceFiles" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
+    <Exec Command="powershell -NonInteractive -executionpolicy Unrestricted $(SolutionDir)tools\build\convert-resx-to-rc.ps1 . resource.base.h resource.h action_runner.base.rc action_runner.rc" />
+  </Target>
+
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
     <VCProjectVersion>16.0</VCProjectVersion>
     <ProjectGuid>{D29DDD63-E2CF-4657-9FD5-2AEDE4257E5D}</ProjectGuid>
@@ -167,7 +171,8 @@
     <ClInclude Include="resource.h" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <ResourceCompile Include="action_runner.rc" />
+    <None Include="action_runner.base.rc" />
+    <ResourceCompile Include="Generated Files/action_runner.rc" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="packages.config" />

src/action_runner/resource.base.h

@@ -9,8 +9,3 @@
 #define INTERNAL_NAME "action_runner"
 #define ORIGINAL_FILENAME "action_runner.exe"
 
-// Non-localizable
-//////////////////////////////
-
-#define IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE 101
-#define IDS_DOTNET_CORE_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE_TITLE 102

src/common/ManagedCommon/NativeMethods.cs

@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
-// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
-// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
-// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
-
-using System;
-using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
-
-namespace ManagedCommon
-{
-    internal static class NativeMethods
-    {
-        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
-        internal static extern IntPtr OpenProcess(uint processAccess, bool bInheritHandle, int processId);
-
-        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
-        internal static extern uint WaitForSingleObject(IntPtr hHandle, uint dwMilliseconds);
-    }
-}
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+
+namespace ManagedCommon
+{
+    internal static class NativeMethods
+    {
+        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
+        internal static extern IntPtr OpenProcess(uint processAccess, bool bInheritHandle, int processId);
+
+        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
+        internal static extern uint WaitForSingleObject(IntPtr hHandle, uint dwMilliseconds);
+    }
+}

src/common/ManagedCommon/RunnerHelper.cs

@@ -1,37 +1,37 @@
-// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
-// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
-// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
-
-using System;
-using System.Diagnostics;
-using System.Reflection;
-using System.Threading.Tasks;
-using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry;
-using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry.Events;
-
-namespace ManagedCommon
-{
-    public static class RunnerHelper
-    {
-        public static void WaitForPowerToysRunner(int powerToysPID, Action act)
-        {
-            var stackTrace = new StackTrace();
-            var assembly = Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().GetName();
-            var callingMethod = stackTrace.GetFrame(1).GetMethod().Name;
-            PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(new DebugEvent() { Message = $"[{assembly}][{callingMethod}]WaitForPowerToysRunner waiting for Event powerToysPID={powerToysPID}" });
-            Task.Run(() =>
-            {
-                const uint INFINITE = 0xFFFFFFFF;
-                const uint WAIT_OBJECT_0 = 0x00000000;
-                const uint SYNCHRONIZE = 0x00100000;
-
-                IntPtr powerToysProcHandle = NativeMethods.OpenProcess(SYNCHRONIZE, false, powerToysPID);
-                if (NativeMethods.WaitForSingleObject(powerToysProcHandle, INFINITE) == WAIT_OBJECT_0)
-                {
-                    PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(new DebugEvent() { Message = $"[{assembly}][{callingMethod}]WaitForPowerToysRunner Event Notified powerToysPID={powerToysPID}" });
-                    act.Invoke();
-                }
-            });
-        }
-    }
-}
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Reflection;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry.Events;
+
+namespace ManagedCommon
+{
+    public static class RunnerHelper
+    {
+        public static void WaitForPowerToysRunner(int powerToysPID, Action act)
+        {
+            var stackTrace = new StackTrace();
+            var assembly = Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().GetName();
+            var callingMethod = stackTrace.GetFrame(1).GetMethod().Name;
+            PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(new DebugEvent() { Message = $"[{assembly}][{callingMethod}]WaitForPowerToysRunner waiting for Event powerToysPID={powerToysPID}" });
+            Task.Run(() =>
+            {
+                const uint INFINITE = 0xFFFFFFFF;
+                const uint WAIT_OBJECT_0 = 0x00000000;
+                const uint SYNCHRONIZE = 0x00100000;
+
+                IntPtr powerToysProcHandle = NativeMethods.OpenProcess(SYNCHRONIZE, false, powerToysPID);
+                if (NativeMethods.WaitForSingleObject(powerToysProcHandle, INFINITE) == WAIT_OBJECT_0)
+                {
+                    PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(new DebugEvent() { Message = $"[{assembly}][{callingMethod}]WaitForPowerToysRunner Event Notified powerToysPID={powerToysPID}" });
+                    act.Invoke();
+                }
+            });
+        }
+    }
+}

src/common/Telemetry/TelemetryBase.cs

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 using System.Diagnostics.Tracing;
 
+// WARNING: THIS FILE GETS REPLACED ON THE BUILD FARM
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry
 {
     /// <summary>

src/common/VersionHelper.cpp

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 VersionHelper::VersionHelper(std::string str)
 {
     // Remove whitespaces chars and a leading 'v'
-    str = left_trim(trim(str), "v");
+    str = left_trim<char>(trim<char>(str), "v");
     // Replace '.' with spaces
     replace_chars(str, ".", ' ');
 

src/common/common.cpp

@@ -11,12 +11,6 @@
 #pragma comment(lib, "advapi32.lib")
 #pragma comment(lib, "shlwapi.lib")
 
-namespace localized_strings
-{
-    const wchar_t LAST_ERROR_FORMAT_STRING[] = L"%s failed with error %d: %s";
-    const wchar_t LAST_ERROR_TITLE_STRING[] = L"Error";
-}
-
 std::optional<RECT> get_window_pos(HWND hwnd)
 {
     RECT window;
@@ -91,7 +85,7 @@ std::optional<std::wstring> get_last_error_message(const DWORD dw)
     return message;
 }
 
-void show_last_error_message(LPCWSTR lpszFunction, DWORD dw)
+void show_last_error_message(LPCWSTR lpszFunction, DWORD dw, LPCWSTR errorTitle)
 {
     const auto system_message = get_last_error_message(dw);
     if (!system_message.has_value())
@@ -107,7 +101,7 @@ void show_last_error_message(LPCWSTR lpszFunction, DWORD dw)
                          lpszFunction,
                          dw,
                          system_message->c_str());
-        MessageBoxW(NULL, (LPCTSTR)lpDisplayBuf, localized_strings::LAST_ERROR_TITLE_STRING, MB_OK);
+        MessageBoxW(NULL, (LPCTSTR)lpDisplayBuf, errorTitle, MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
         LocalFree(lpDisplayBuf);
     }
 }

src/common/common.h

@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <vector>
 
+
+namespace localized_strings
+{
+    const wchar_t LAST_ERROR_FORMAT_STRING[] = L"%s failed with error %d: %s";
+    const wchar_t LAST_ERROR_TITLE_STRING[] = L"Error";
+}
+
 // Gets position of given window.
 std::optional<RECT> get_window_pos(HWND hwnd);
 
@@ -16,7 +23,7 @@ bool is_system_window(HWND hwnd, const char* class_name);
 int run_message_loop(const bool until_idle = false, const std::optional<uint32_t> timeout_seconds = {});
 
 std::optional<std::wstring> get_last_error_message(const DWORD dw);
-void show_last_error_message(LPCWSTR lpszFunction, DWORD dw);
+void show_last_error_message(LPCWSTR lpszFunction, DWORD dw, LPCWSTR errorTitle = localized_strings::LAST_ERROR_TITLE_STRING);
 
 enum WindowState
 {

src/common/interop-tests/InteropTests.cs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
+using System;
 using System.Threading;
 using interop;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
@@ -9,46 +10,73 @@ using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
 namespace Microsoft.Interop.Tests
 {
     [TestClass]
-    public class InteropTests
+    public class InteropTests : IDisposable
     {
         private const string ServerSidePipe = "\\\\.\\pipe\\serverside";
         private const string ClientSidePipe = "\\\\.\\pipe\\clientside";
 
-        private TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged clientPipe;
+        internal TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged ClientPipe { get; set; }
+
+        private bool disposedValue;
 
         [TestInitialize]
         public void Initialize()
         {
-            clientPipe = new TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged(ClientSidePipe, ServerSidePipe, null);
+            ClientPipe = new TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged(ClientSidePipe, ServerSidePipe, null);
         }
 
         [TestCleanup]
         public void Cleanup()
         {
-            clientPipe.End();
+            ClientPipe.End();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
         public void TestSend()
         {
             var testString = "This string is a test\n";
-            var reset = new AutoResetEvent(false);
-
-            var serverPipe = new TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged(
-                ServerSidePipe,
-                ClientSidePipe,
-                (string msg) =>
+            using (var reset = new AutoResetEvent(false))
+            {
+                using (var serverPipe = new TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged(
+                    ServerSidePipe,
+                    ClientSidePipe,
+                    (string msg) =>
+                    {
+                        Assert.AreEqual(testString, msg);
+                        reset.Set();
+                    }))
                 {
-                    Assert.AreEqual(testString, msg);
-                    reset.Set();
-                });
-            serverPipe.Start();
-            clientPipe.Start();
+                    serverPipe.Start();
+                    ClientPipe.Start();
 
-            clientPipe.Send(testString);
-            reset.WaitOne();
+                    ClientPipe.Send(testString);
+                    reset.WaitOne();
 
-            serverPipe.End();
+                    serverPipe.End();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
+        {
+            if (!disposedValue)
+            {
+                if (disposing)
+                {
+                    ClientPipe.Dispose();
+                }
+
+                // TODO: free unmanaged resources (unmanaged objects) and override finalizer
+                // TODO: set large fields to null
+                disposedValue = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            // Do not change this code. Put cleanup code in 'Dispose(bool disposing)' method
+            Dispose(disposing: true);
+            GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
         }
     }
 }

src/common/interop-tests/Microsoft.Interop.Tests.csproj

@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
   </PropertyGroup>
-
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
     <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
   </PropertyGroup>
@@ -107,6 +106,11 @@
     <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.FxCopAnalyzers">
+      <Version>3.3.0</Version>
+      <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
+      <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
+    </PackageReference>
     <PackageReference Include="StyleCop.Analyzers">
       <Version>1.1.118</Version>
       <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>

src/common/interop/KeyboardHook.cpp

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <msclr\marshal.h>
 #include <msclr\marshal_cppstd.h>
 #include <common/debug_control.h>
+#include <common/common.h>
 
 using namespace interop;
 using namespace System::Runtime::InteropServices;
@@ -46,7 +47,8 @@ void KeyboardHook::Start()
             0);
         if (hookHandle == nullptr)
         {
-            throw std::exception("SetWindowsHookEx failed.");
+            DWORD errorCode = GetLastError();
+            show_last_error_message(L"SetWindowsHookEx", errorCode, L"PowerToys - Interop");
         }
     }
 }

src/common/interop/interop.h

@@ -127,5 +127,10 @@ public
     {
     public:
         literal int VK_WIN_BOTH = CommonSharedConstants::VK_WIN_BOTH;
+        
+        static String^ PowerLauncherSharedEvent()
+        {
+            return gcnew String(CommonSharedConstants::POWER_LAUNCHER_SHARED_EVENT);
+        }
     };
 }

src/common/notifications.cpp

@@ -403,8 +403,13 @@ void notifications::show_toast_with_activations(std::wstring message,
             }
         }
     }
-
-    notifier.Show(notification);
+    try
+    {
+        notifier.Show(notification);
+    }
+    catch (...)
+    {
+    }
 }
 
 void notifications::update_progress_bar_toast(std::wstring_view tag, progress_bar_params params)

src/common/processApi.h

@@ -27,15 +27,21 @@ inline std::vector<wil::unique_process_handle> getProcessHandlesByName(const std
     handleAccess |= PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION | PROCESS_VM_READ;
     for (const DWORD processId : processIds)
     {
-        wil::unique_process_handle hProcess{ OpenProcess(handleAccess, FALSE, processId) };
-        wchar_t name[MAX_PATH + 1];
-        if (!hProcess || !GetProcessImageFileNameW(hProcess.get(), name, MAX_PATH))
+        try
         {
-            continue;
+            wil::unique_process_handle hProcess{ OpenProcess(handleAccess, FALSE, processId) };
+            wchar_t name[MAX_PATH + 1];
+            if (!hProcess || !GetProcessImageFileNameW(hProcess.get(), name, MAX_PATH))
+            {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (processName == PathFindFileNameW(name))
+            {
+                result.push_back(std::move(hProcess));
+            }
         }
-        if (processName == PathFindFileNameW(name))
+        catch (...)
         {
-            result.push_back(std::move(hProcess));
         }
     }
     return result;

src/common/settings_objects.cpp

@@ -343,6 +343,11 @@ namespace PowerToysSettings
         return m_json.GetNamedObject(L"properties").GetNamedObject(property_name).GetNamedObject(L"value");
     }
 
+    json::JsonObject PowerToyValues::get_raw_json()
+    {
+        return m_json;
+    }
+
     std::wstring PowerToyValues::serialize()
     {
         set_version();

src/common/settings_objects.h

@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ namespace PowerToysSettings
         std::optional<int> get_int_value(std::wstring_view property_name);
         std::optional<std::wstring> get_string_value(std::wstring_view property_name);
         std::optional<json::JsonObject> get_json(std::wstring_view property_name);
+        json::JsonObject get_raw_json();
 
         std::wstring serialize();
         void save_to_settings_file();

src/common/shared_constants.h

@@ -8,4 +8,7 @@ namespace CommonSharedConstants
 
     // Fake key code to represent VK_WIN.
     inline const DWORD VK_WIN_BOTH = 0x104;
-}
+
+    // Path to the event used by PowerLauncher
+    const wchar_t POWER_LAUNCHER_SHARED_EVENT[] = L"Local\\PowerToysRunInvokeEvent-30f26ad7-d36d-4c0e-ab02-68bb5ff3c4ab";
+}

src/common/string_utils.h

@@ -4,21 +4,39 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <algorithm>
 
-constexpr inline std::string_view default_trim_arg = " \t\r\n";
-
-inline std::string_view left_trim(std::string_view s, const std::string_view chars_to_trim = default_trim_arg)
+template<typename CharT>
+struct default_trim_arg
 {
-    s.remove_prefix(std::min(s.find_first_not_of(chars_to_trim), size(s)));
+};
+
+template<>
+struct default_trim_arg<char>
+{
+    static inline constexpr std::string_view value = " \t\r\n";
+};
+
+template<>
+struct default_trim_arg<wchar_t>
+{
+    static inline constexpr std::wstring_view value = L" \t\r\n";
+};
+
+template<typename CharT>
+inline std::basic_string_view<CharT> left_trim(std::basic_string_view<CharT> s, const std::basic_string_view<CharT> chars_to_trim = default_trim_arg<CharT>::value)
+{
+    s.remove_prefix(std::min<size_t>(s.find_first_not_of(chars_to_trim), size(s)));
     return s;
 }
 
-inline std::string_view right_trim(std::string_view s, const std::string_view chars_to_trim = default_trim_arg)
+template<typename CharT>
+inline std::basic_string_view<CharT> right_trim(std::basic_string_view<CharT> s, const std::basic_string_view<CharT> chars_to_trim = default_trim_arg<CharT>::value)
 {
-    s.remove_suffix(std::min(size(s) - s.find_last_not_of(chars_to_trim) - 1, size(s)));
+    s.remove_suffix(std::min<size_t>(size(s) - s.find_last_not_of(chars_to_trim) - 1, size(s)));
     return s;
 }
 
-inline std::string_view trim(std::string_view s, const std::string_view chars_to_trim = default_trim_arg)
+template<typename CharT>
+inline std::basic_string_view<CharT> trim(std::basic_string_view<CharT> s, const std::basic_string_view<CharT> chars_to_trim = default_trim_arg<CharT>::value)
 {
     return left_trim(right_trim(s, chars_to_trim), chars_to_trim);
 }

src/common/updating/toast_notifications_helper.cpp

@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ namespace localized_strings
     const wchar_t GITHUB_NEW_VERSION_UPDATE_NOW[] = L"Update now";
     const wchar_t GITHUB_NEW_VERSION_UPDATE_AFTER_RESTART[] = L"At next launch";
 
-    const wchar_t UNINSTALLATION_SUCCESS[] = L"Previous version of PowerToys was uninstalled successfully.";
     const wchar_t UNINSTALLATION_UNKNOWN_ERROR[] = L"Error: please uninstall the previous version of PowerToys manually.";
 
     const wchar_t GITHUB_NEW_VERSION_AVAILABLE_OFFER_VISIT[] = L"An update to PowerToys is available. Visit our GitHub page to update.\n";
@@ -131,11 +130,6 @@ namespace updating
                                                          std::move(toast_params));
         }
 
-        void show_uninstallation_success()
-        {
-            ::notifications::show_toast(localized_strings::UNINSTALLATION_SUCCESS, TOAST_TITLE);
-        }
-
         void show_uninstallation_error()
         {
             ::notifications::show_toast(localized_strings::UNINSTALLATION_UNKNOWN_ERROR, TOAST_TITLE);

src/common/updating/toast_notifications_helper.h

@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ namespace updating
         void show_visit_github(const updating::new_version_download_info& info);
         void show_install_error(const updating::new_version_download_info& info);
         void show_version_ready(const updating::new_version_download_info& info);
-        void show_uninstallation_success();
         void show_uninstallation_error();
 
         void update_download_progress(const updating::new_version_download_info& info, float progress);

src/common/updating/updating.cpp

@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ namespace updating
         const auto uninstall_result = MsiInstallProductW(package_path.c_str(), L"REMOVE=ALL");
         if (ERROR_SUCCESS == uninstall_result)
         {
-            notifications::show_uninstallation_success();
             return true;
         }
         else if (auto system_message = get_last_error_message(uninstall_result); system_message.has_value())
@@ -238,16 +237,17 @@ namespace updating
         }
     }
 
-    std::future<void> check_new_version_available()
+    std::future<std::wstring> check_new_version_available()
     {
         const auto new_version = co_await get_new_github_version_info_async();
         if (!new_version)
         {
             updating::notifications::show_unavailable();
-            co_return;
+            co_return VersionHelper{ VERSION_MAJOR, VERSION_MINOR, VERSION_REVISION }.toWstring();
         }
 
         updating::notifications::show_available(new_version.value());
+        co_return new_version->version_string;
     }
 
     std::future<std::wstring> download_update()

src/common/updating/updating.h

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ namespace updating
     std::future<void> try_autoupdate(const bool download_updates_automatically);
     std::filesystem::path get_pending_updates_path();
 
-    std::future<void> check_new_version_available();
+    std::future<std::wstring> check_new_version_available();
     std::future<std::wstring> download_update();
 
     // non-localized

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ColorPickerSettings.cs

@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 
 using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class ColorPickerSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class ColorPickerSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public const string ModuleName = "ColorPicker";
 
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             Name = ModuleName;
         }
 
-        public virtual void Save()
+        public virtual void Save(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils)
         {
             // Save settings to file
             var options = new JsonSerializerOptions
@@ -29,7 +30,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
                 WriteIndented = true,
             };
 
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, options), ModuleName);
+            settingsUtils.SaveSettings(JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, options), ModuleName);
+        }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
         }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/FancyZonesSettings.cs

@@ -3,19 +3,33 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class FancyZonesSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class FancyZonesSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
+        public const string ModuleName = "FancyZones";
+
         public FancyZonesSettings()
         {
-            Version = string.Empty;
-            Name = string.Empty;
+            Version = "1.0";
+            Name = ModuleName;
             Properties = new FZConfigProperties();
         }
 
         [JsonPropertyName("properties")]
         public FZConfigProperties Properties { get; set; }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/GeneralSettings.cs

@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@
 // The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
+using System;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class GeneralSettings
+    public class GeneralSettings : ISettingsConfig
     {
         // Gets or sets a value indicating whether packaged.
         [JsonPropertyName("packaged")]
@@ -82,5 +85,32 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         {
             return interop.CommonManaged.GetProductVersion();
         }
+
+        // This function is to implement the ISettingsConfig interface.
+        // This interface helps in getting the settings configurations.
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            // The SettingsUtils functions access general settings when the module name is an empty string.
+            return string.Empty;
+        }
+
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                if (Helper.CompareVersions(PowertoysVersion, Helper.GetProductVersion()) < 0)
+                {
+                    // Update settings
+                    PowertoysVersion = Helper.GetProductVersion();
+                    return true;
+                }
+            }
+            catch (FormatException)
+            {
+                // If there is an issue with the version number format, don't migrate settings.
+            }
+
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ISettingsUtils.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
+{
+    public interface ISettingsUtils
+    {
+        T GetSettings<T>(string powertoy = "", string fileName = "settings.json")
+            where T : ISettingsConfig, new();
+
+        void SaveSettings(string jsonSettings, string powertoy = "", string fileName = "settings.json");
+
+        bool SettingsExists(string powertoy = "", string fileName = "settings.json");
+
+        void DeleteSettings(string powertoy = "");
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ImageResizerSettings.cs

@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 
 using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class ImageResizerSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class ImageResizerSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public const string ModuleName = "Image Resizer";
 
@@ -29,5 +30,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             };
             return JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, options);
         }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ImageSize.cs

@@ -141,15 +141,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 
             set
             {
-                int newWidth = -1;
-                int.TryParse(value + string.Empty, out newWidth);
+                double newWidth = -1;
 
-                if (newWidth < 0)
+                if (value < 0 || double.IsNaN(value))
                 {
                     newWidth = 0;
                 }
+                else
+                {
+                    newWidth = value;
+                }
 
-                if (_width != value)
+                if (_width != newWidth)
                 {
                     _width = newWidth;
                     OnPropertyChanged();
@@ -167,15 +170,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 
             set
             {
-                int newHeight = -1;
-                int.TryParse(value + string.Empty, out newHeight);
+                double newHeight = -1;
 
-                if (newHeight < 0)
+                if (value < 0 || double.IsNaN(value))
                 {
                     newHeight = 0;
                 }
+                else
+                {
+                    newHeight = value;
+                }
 
-                if (_height != value)
+                if (_height != newHeight)
                 {
                     _height = newHeight;
                     OnPropertyChanged();

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/Interface/ISettingsConfig.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface
+{
+    // Common interface to be implemented by all the objects which get and store settings properties.
+    public interface ISettingsConfig
+    {
+        string ToJsonString();
+
+        string GetModuleName();
+
+        bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration();
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/Interface/ISettingsRepository`1.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface
+{
+    public interface ISettingsRepository<T>
+    {
+        T SettingsConfig { get; set; }
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/KeyboardManagerProfile.cs

@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@
 // The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class KeyboardManagerProfile
+    public class KeyboardManagerProfile : ISettingsConfig
     {
         [JsonPropertyName("remapKeys")]
         public RemapKeysDataModel RemapKeys { get; set; }
@@ -19,5 +21,21 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             RemapKeys = new RemapKeysDataModel();
             RemapShortcuts = new ShortcutsKeyDataModel();
         }
+
+        public string ToJsonString()
+        {
+            return JsonSerializer.Serialize(this);
+        }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return KeyboardManagerSettings.ModuleName;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the default.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/KeyboardManagerSettings.cs

@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class KeyboardManagerSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class KeyboardManagerSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
+        public const string ModuleName = "Keyboard Manager";
+
         [JsonPropertyName("properties")]
         public KeyboardManagerProperties Properties { get; set; }
 
@@ -15,14 +18,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         {
             Properties = new KeyboardManagerProperties();
             Version = "1";
-            Name = "_unset_";
+            Name = ModuleName;
         }
 
-        public KeyboardManagerSettings(string ptName)
+        public string GetModuleName()
         {
-            Properties = new KeyboardManagerProperties();
-            Version = "1";
-            Name = ptName;
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
         }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/KeysDataModel.cs

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
 
@@ -35,5 +36,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         {
             return MapKeys(NewRemapKeys);
         }
+
+        public string ToJsonString()
+        {
+            return JsonSerializer.Serialize(this);
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/PowerLauncherSettings.cs

@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 
 using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class PowerLauncherSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class PowerLauncherSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public const string ModuleName = "PowerToys Run";
 
@@ -17,11 +18,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         public PowerLauncherSettings()
         {
             Properties = new PowerLauncherProperties();
-            Version = "1";
+            Version = "1.0";
             Name = ModuleName;
         }
 
-        public virtual void Save()
+        public virtual void Save(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils)
         {
             // Save settings to file
             var options = new JsonSerializerOptions
@@ -29,7 +30,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
                 WriteIndented = true,
             };
 
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, options), ModuleName);
+            settingsUtils.SaveSettings(JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, options), ModuleName);
+        }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
         }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/PowerPreviewSettings.cs

@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class PowerPreviewSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class PowerPreviewSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public const string ModuleName = "File Explorer";
 
@@ -20,11 +21,15 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             Name = ModuleName;
         }
 
-        public PowerPreviewSettings(string ptName)
+        public string GetModuleName()
         {
-            Properties = new PowerPreviewProperties();
-            Version = "1";
-            Name = ptName;
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
         }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/PowerRenameLocalProperties.cs

@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Text.Json;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class PowerRenameLocalProperties
+    public class PowerRenameLocalProperties : ISettingsConfig
     {
         public PowerRenameLocalProperties()
         {
@@ -51,5 +52,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         {
             return JsonSerializer.Serialize(this);
         }
+
+        // This function is required to implement the ISettingsConfig interface and obtain the settings configurations.
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            string moduleName = PowerRenameSettings.ModuleName;
+            return moduleName;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/PowerRenameSettings.cs

@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class PowerRenameSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class PowerRenameSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public const string ModuleName = "PowerRename";
 
@@ -39,5 +40,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             Version = "1";
             Name = ptName;
         }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the power-rename-settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/RemapKeysDataModel.cs

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
@@ -16,5 +17,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         {
             InProcessRemapKeys = new List<KeysDataModel>();
         }
+
+        public string ToJsonString()
+        {
+            return JsonSerializer.Serialize(this);
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/SettingsRepository`1.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
+{
+    // This Singleton class is a wrapper around the settings configurations that are accessed by viewmodels.
+    // This class can have only one instance and therefore the settings configurations are common to all.
+    public class SettingsRepository<T> : ISettingsRepository<T>
+        where T : class, ISettingsConfig, new()
+    {
+        private static readonly object _SettingsRepoLock = new object();
+
+        private static ISettingsUtils _settingsUtils;
+
+        private static SettingsRepository<T> settingsRepository;
+
+        private T settingsConfig;
+
+        public static SettingsRepository<T> GetInstance(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils)
+        {
+            // To ensure that only one instance of Settings Repository is created in a multi-threaded environment.
+            lock (_SettingsRepoLock)
+            {
+                if (settingsRepository == null)
+                {
+                    settingsRepository = new SettingsRepository<T>();
+                    _settingsUtils = settingsUtils ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settingsUtils));
+                }
+
+                return settingsRepository;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // The Singleton class must have a private constructor so that it cannot be instantiated by any other object other than itself.
+        private SettingsRepository()
+        {
+        }
+
+        // Settings configurations shared across all viewmodels
+        public T SettingsConfig
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                if (settingsConfig == null)
+                {
+                    T settingsItem = new T();
+                    settingsConfig = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<T>(settingsItem.GetModuleName());
+                }
+
+                return settingsConfig;
+            }
+
+            set
+            {
+                if (value != null)
+                {
+                    settingsConfig = value;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/SettingsUtils.cs

@@ -3,24 +3,36 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System;
-using System.IO;
 using System.Text.Json;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public static class SettingsUtils
+    public class SettingsUtils : ISettingsUtils
     {
         private const string DefaultFileName = "settings.json";
         private const string DefaultModuleName = "";
+        private IIOProvider _ioProvider;
 
-        public static bool SettingsFolderExists(string powertoy)
+        public SettingsUtils(IIOProvider ioProvider)
         {
-            return Directory.Exists(Path.Combine(LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"));
+            _ioProvider = ioProvider ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(ioProvider));
         }
 
-        public static void CreateSettingsFolder(string powertoy)
+        private bool SettingsFolderExists(string powertoy)
         {
-            Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"));
+            return _ioProvider.DirectoryExists(System.IO.Path.Combine(LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"));
+        }
+
+        private void CreateSettingsFolder(string powertoy)
+        {
+            _ioProvider.CreateDirectory(System.IO.Path.Combine(LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"));
+        }
+
+        public void DeleteSettings(string powertoy = "")
+        {
+            _ioProvider.DeleteDirectory(System.IO.Path.Combine(LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"));
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -31,33 +43,64 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
         {
             if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(powertoy))
             {
-                return Path.Combine(
+                return System.IO.Path.Combine(
                     LocalApplicationDataFolder(),
                     $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{fileName}");
             }
 
-            return Path.Combine(
+            return System.IO.Path.Combine(
                 LocalApplicationDataFolder(),
                 $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}\\{fileName}");
         }
 
-        public static bool SettingsExists(string powertoy = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
+        public bool SettingsExists(string powertoy = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
         {
-            return File.Exists(GetSettingsPath(powertoy, fileName));
+            return _ioProvider.FileExists(GetSettingsPath(powertoy, fileName));
         }
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Get a Deserialized object of the json settings string.
+        /// This function creates a file in the powertoy folder if it does not exist and returns an object with default properties.
         /// </summary>
         /// <returns>Deserialized json settings object.</returns>
-        public static T GetSettings<T>(string powertoy = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
+        public T GetSettings<T>(string powertoy = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
+            where T : ISettingsConfig, new()
         {
-            var jsonSettingsString = File.ReadAllText(GetSettingsPath(powertoy, fileName));
+            if (SettingsExists(powertoy, fileName))
+            {
+                // Given the file already exists, to deserialize the file and read it's content.
+                T deserializedSettings = GetFile<T>(powertoy, fileName);
+
+                // IF the file needs to be modified, to save the new configurations accordingly.
+                if (deserializedSettings.UpgradeSettingsConfiguration())
+                {
+                    SaveSettings(deserializedSettings.ToJsonString(), powertoy, fileName);
+                }
+
+                return deserializedSettings;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // If the settings file does not exist, to create a new object with default parameters and save it to a newly created settings file.
+                T newSettingsItem = new T();
+                SaveSettings(newSettingsItem.ToJsonString(), powertoy, fileName);
+                return newSettingsItem;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Given the powerToy folder name and filename to be accessed, this function deserializes and returns the file.
+        private T GetFile<T>(string powertoyFolderName = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
+        {
+            // Adding Trim('\0') to overcome possible NTFS file corruption.
+            // Look at issue https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/6413 you'll see the file has a large sum of \0 to fill up a 4096 byte buffer for writing to disk
+            // This, while not totally ideal, does work around the problem by trimming the end.
+            // The file itself did write the content correctly but something is off with the actual end of the file, hence the 0x00 bug
+            var jsonSettingsString = _ioProvider.ReadAllText(GetSettingsPath(powertoyFolderName, fileName)).Trim('\0');
             return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(jsonSettingsString);
         }
 
         // Save settings to a json file.
-        public static void SaveSettings(string jsonSettings, string powertoy = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
+        public void SaveSettings(string jsonSettings, string powertoy = DefaultModuleName, string fileName = DefaultFileName)
         {
             try
             {
@@ -68,7 +111,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
                         CreateSettingsFolder(powertoy);
                     }
 
-                    File.WriteAllText(GetSettingsPath(powertoy, fileName), jsonSettings);
+                    _ioProvider.WriteAllText(GetSettingsPath(powertoy, fileName), jsonSettings);
                 }
             }
             catch
@@ -76,7 +119,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             }
         }
 
-        public static string LocalApplicationDataFolder()
+        private static string LocalApplicationDataFolder()
         {
             return Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData);
         }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ShortcutGuideSettings.cs

@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
 {
-    public class ShortcutGuideSettings : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class ShortcutGuideSettings : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public const string ModuleName = "Shortcut Guide";
 
@@ -19,5 +20,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             Properties = new ShortcutGuideProperties();
             Version = "1.0";
         }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        // This can be utilized in the future if the settings.json file is to be modified/deleted.
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ShortcutsKeyDataModel.cs

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
@@ -20,5 +21,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib
             GlobalRemapShortcuts = new List<KeysDataModel>();
             AppSpecificRemapShortcuts = new List<AppSpecificKeysDataModel>();
         }
+
+        public string ToJsonString()
+        {
+            return JsonSerializer.Serialize(this);
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/Utilities/Helper.cs

@@ -39,8 +39,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities
                 ModuleAction = customAction,
             };
 
-            var sendCustomAction = new SendCustomAction(moduleName);
-            sendCustomAction.Action = moduleCustomAction;
+            var sendCustomAction = new SendCustomAction(moduleName)
+            {
+                Action = moduleCustomAction,
+            };
+
             return sendCustomAction.ToJsonString();
         }
 
@@ -53,12 +56,15 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities
                 Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
             }
 
-            var watcher = new FileSystemWatcher();
-            watcher.Path = path;
-            watcher.Filter = fileName;
-            watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastWrite;
+            var watcher = new FileSystemWatcher
+            {
+                Path = path,
+                Filter = fileName,
+                NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastWrite,
+                EnableRaisingEvents = true,
+            };
+
             watcher.Changed += (o, e) => onChangedCallback();
-            watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
 
             return watcher;
         }
@@ -71,11 +77,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities
         [DllImport("user32.dll")]
         private static extern bool AllowSetForegroundWindow(int dwProcessId);
 
-        private static interop.LayoutMapManaged layoutMap = new interop.LayoutMapManaged();
+        private static readonly interop.LayoutMapManaged LayoutMap = new interop.LayoutMapManaged();
 
         public static string GetKeyName(uint key)
         {
-            return layoutMap.GetKeyName(key);
+            return LayoutMap.GetKeyName(key);
         }
 
         public static string GetProductVersion()

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/Utilities/IIOProvider.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities
+{
+    public interface IIOProvider
+    {
+        bool FileExists(string path);
+
+        bool DirectoryExists(string path);
+
+        bool CreateDirectory(string path);
+
+        void DeleteDirectory(string path);
+
+        void WriteAllText(string path, string content);
+
+        string ReadAllText(string path);
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/Utilities/SystemIOProvider.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System.IO;
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities
+{
+    public class SystemIOProvider : IIOProvider
+    {
+        public bool CreateDirectory(string path)
+        {
+            var directioryInfo = Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
+            return directioryInfo != null;
+        }
+
+        public void DeleteDirectory(string path)
+        {
+            Directory.Delete(path, recursive: true);
+        }
+
+        public bool DirectoryExists(string path)
+        {
+            return Directory.Exists(path);
+        }
+
+        public bool FileExists(string path)
+        {
+            return File.Exists(path);
+        }
+
+        public string ReadAllText(string path)
+        {
+            return File.ReadAllText(path);
+        }
+
+        public void WriteAllText(string path, string content)
+        {
+            File.WriteAllText(path, content);
+        }
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/ColorPickerViewModel.cs

@@ -5,32 +5,38 @@
 using System;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class ColorPickerViewModel : Observable
     {
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
+        private readonly ISettingsUtils _settingsUtils;
+
         private ColorPickerSettings _colorPickerSettings;
+
         private bool _isEnabled;
 
         private Func<string, int> SendConfigMSG { get; }
 
-        public ColorPickerViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc)
+        public ColorPickerViewModel(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils, ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc)
         {
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsExists(ColorPickerSettings.ModuleName))
+            // Obtain the general PowerToy settings configurations
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
+
+            _settingsUtils = settingsUtils ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settingsUtils));
+            if (_settingsUtils.SettingsExists(ColorPickerSettings.ModuleName))
             {
-                _colorPickerSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<ColorPickerSettings>(ColorPickerSettings.ModuleName);
+                _colorPickerSettings = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<ColorPickerSettings>(ColorPickerSettings.ModuleName);
             }
             else
             {
                 _colorPickerSettings = new ColorPickerSettings();
             }
 
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsExists())
-            {
-                var generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>();
-                _isEnabled = generalSettings.Enabled.ColorPicker;
-            }
+            _isEnabled = GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.ColorPicker;
 
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
             SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
@@ -50,10 +56,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                     _isEnabled = value;
                     OnPropertyChanged(nameof(IsEnabled));
 
-                    // grab the latest version of settings
-                    var generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>();
-                    generalSettings.Enabled.ColorPicker = value;
-                    OutGoingGeneralSettings outgoing = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(generalSettings);
+                    // Set the status of ColorPicker in the general settings
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.ColorPicker = value;
+                    OutGoingGeneralSettings outgoing = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
+
                     SendConfigMSG(outgoing.ToString());
                 }
             }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/FancyZonesViewModel.cs

@@ -3,15 +3,19 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System;
+using System.Drawing;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels.Commands;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class FancyZonesViewModel : Observable
     {
-        private const string ModuleName = "FancyZones";
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
+        private const string ModuleName = FancyZonesSettings.ModuleName;
 
         public ButtonClickCommand LaunchEditorEventHandler { get; set; }
 
@@ -21,19 +25,14 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         private string settingsConfigFileFolder = string.Empty;
 
-        public FancyZonesViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
+        public FancyZonesViewModel(ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, ISettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings> moduleSettingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
         {
+            // To obtain the general settings configurations of PowerToys Settings.
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
             settingsConfigFileFolder = configFileSubfolder;
 
-            try
-            {
-                Settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<FancyZonesSettings>(GetSettingsSubPath());
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                Settings = new FancyZonesSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), GetSettingsSubPath());
-            }
+            // To obtain the settings configurations of Fancy zones.
+            Settings = moduleSettingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
 
             LaunchEditorEventHandler = new ButtonClickCommand(LaunchEditor);
 
@@ -49,6 +48,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             _restoreSize = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesRestoreSize.Value;
             _useCursorPosEditorStartupScreen = Settings.Properties.UseCursorposEditorStartupscreen.Value;
             _showOnAllMonitors = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesShowOnAllMonitors.Value;
+            _spanZonesAcrossMonitors = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesSpanZonesAcrossMonitors.Value;
             _makeDraggedWindowTransparent = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesMakeDraggedWindowTransparent.Value;
             _highlightOpacity = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesHighlightOpacity.Value;
             _excludedApps = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesExcludedApps.Value;
@@ -66,18 +66,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             string highlightColor = Settings.Properties.FancyzonesZoneHighlightColor.Value;
             _zoneHighlightColor = highlightColor != string.Empty ? highlightColor : "#0078D7";
 
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings;
-            try
-            {
-                generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
-            }
-
-            _isEnabled = generalSettings.Enabled.FancyZones;
+            _isEnabled = GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.FancyZones;
         }
 
         private bool _isEnabled;
@@ -115,9 +104,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 if (value != _isEnabled)
                 {
                     _isEnabled = value;
-                    GeneralSettings generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-                    generalSettings.Enabled.FancyZones = value;
-                    OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(generalSettings);
+
+                    // Set the status of FancyZones in the general settings configuration
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.FancyZones = value;
+                    OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
 
                     SendConfigMSG(snd.ToString());
                     OnPropertyChanged("IsEnabled");
@@ -401,6 +391,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
             set
             {
+                value = ToRGBHex(value);
                 if (!value.Equals(_zoneHighlightColor))
                 {
                     _zoneHighlightColor = value;
@@ -419,6 +410,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
             set
             {
+                value = ToRGBHex(value);
                 if (!value.Equals(_zoneBorderColor, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                 {
                     _zoneBorderColor = value;
@@ -437,6 +429,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
             set
             {
+                value = ToRGBHex(value);
                 if (!value.Equals(_zoneInActiveColor))
                 {
                     _zoneInActiveColor = value;
@@ -524,5 +517,19 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 SendConfigMSG(ipcMessage.ToJsonString());
             }
         }
+
+        private string ToRGBHex(string color)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                int argb = int.Parse(color.Replace("#", string.Empty), System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber);
+                Color clr = Color.FromArgb(argb);
+                return "#" + clr.R.ToString("X2") + clr.G.ToString("X2") + clr.B.ToString("X2");
+            }
+            catch (Exception)
+            {
+                return "#FFFFFF";
+            }
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/GeneralViewModel.cs

@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using System;
-using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels.Commands;
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class GeneralViewModel : Observable
     {
-        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfigs { get; set; }
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
 
         public ButtonClickCommand CheckFoUpdatesEventHandler { get; set; }
 
@@ -33,32 +33,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         private string _settingsConfigFileFolder = string.Empty;
 
-        public GeneralViewModel(string runAsAdminText, string runAsUserText, bool isElevated, bool isAdmin, Func<string, int> updateTheme, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, Func<string, int> ipcMSGRestartAsAdminMSGCallBackFunc, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCheckForUpdatesCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
+        public GeneralViewModel(ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, string runAsAdminText, string runAsUserText, bool isElevated, bool isAdmin, Func<string, int> updateTheme, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, Func<string, int> ipcMSGRestartAsAdminMSGCallBackFunc, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCheckForUpdatesCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
         {
             CheckFoUpdatesEventHandler = new ButtonClickCommand(CheckForUpdates_Click);
             RestartElevatedButtonEventHandler = new ButtonClickCommand(Restart_Elevated);
 
-            try
-            {
-                GeneralSettingsConfigs = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-
-                if (Helper.CompareVersions(GeneralSettingsConfigs.PowertoysVersion, Helper.GetProductVersion()) < 0)
-                {
-                    // Update settings
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.PowertoysVersion = Helper.GetProductVersion();
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(GeneralSettingsConfigs.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
-                }
-            }
-            catch (FormatException e)
-            {
-                // If there is an issue with the version number format, don't migrate settings.
-                Debug.WriteLine(e.Message);
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                GeneralSettingsConfigs = new GeneralSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(GeneralSettingsConfigs.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
-            }
+            // To obtain the general settings configuration of PowerToys if it exists, else to create a new file and return the default configurations.
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
 
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
             SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
@@ -67,12 +48,12 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
             // set the callback function value to update the UI theme.
             UpdateUIThemeCallBack = updateTheme;
-            UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme.ToLower());
+            UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme.ToLower());
 
             // Update Settings file folder:
             _settingsConfigFileFolder = configFileSubfolder;
 
-            switch (GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme.ToLower())
+            switch (GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme.ToLower())
             {
                 case "light":
                     _isLightThemeRadioButtonChecked = true;
@@ -85,10 +66,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                     break;
             }
 
-            _startup = GeneralSettingsConfigs.Startup;
-            _autoDownloadUpdates = GeneralSettingsConfigs.AutoDownloadUpdates;
+            _startup = GeneralSettingsConfig.Startup;
+            _autoDownloadUpdates = GeneralSettingsConfig.AutoDownloadUpdates;
             _isElevated = isElevated;
-            _runElevated = GeneralSettingsConfigs.RunElevated;
+            _runElevated = GeneralSettingsConfig.RunElevated;
 
             RunningAsUserDefaultText = runAsUserText;
             RunningAsAdminDefaultText = runAsAdminText;
@@ -106,6 +87,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
         private bool _isSystemThemeRadioButtonChecked = false;
         private bool _autoDownloadUpdates = false;
 
+        private string _latestAvailableVersion = string.Empty;
+
         // Gets or sets a value indicating whether packaged.
         public bool Packaged
         {
@@ -137,7 +120,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 if (_startup != value)
                 {
                     _startup = value;
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.Startup = value;
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Startup = value;
                     RaisePropertyChanged();
                 }
             }
@@ -209,7 +192,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 if (_runElevated != value)
                 {
                     _runElevated = value;
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.RunElevated = value;
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.RunElevated = value;
                     RaisePropertyChanged();
                 }
             }
@@ -236,7 +219,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 if (_autoDownloadUpdates != value)
                 {
                     _autoDownloadUpdates = value;
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.AutoDownloadUpdates = value;
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.AutoDownloadUpdates = value;
                     RaisePropertyChanged();
                 }
             }
@@ -253,11 +236,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             {
                 if (value == true)
                 {
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme = "dark";
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme = "dark";
                     _isDarkThemeRadioButtonChecked = value;
                     try
                     {
-                        UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme);
+                        UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme);
                     }
                     catch
                     {
@@ -279,11 +262,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             {
                 if (value == true)
                 {
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme = "light";
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme = "light";
                     _isLightThemeRadioButtonChecked = value;
                     try
                     {
-                        UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme);
+                        UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme);
                     }
                     catch
                     {
@@ -305,11 +288,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             {
                 if (value == true)
                 {
-                    GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme = "system";
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme = "system";
                     _isSystemThemeRadioButtonChecked = value;
                     try
                     {
-                        UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfigs.Theme);
+                        UpdateUIThemeCallBack(GeneralSettingsConfig.Theme);
                     }
                     catch
                     {
@@ -328,12 +311,29 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             }
         }
 
+        // Temp string. Appears when a user clicks "Check for updates" button and shows latest version available on the Github.
+        public string LatestAvailableVersion
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                return _latestAvailableVersion;
+            }
+
+            set
+            {
+                if (_latestAvailableVersion != value)
+                {
+                    _latestAvailableVersion = value;
+                    RaisePropertyChanged();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         public void RaisePropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
         {
             // Notify UI of property change
             OnPropertyChanged(propertyName);
-
-            OutGoingGeneralSettings outsettings = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfigs);
+            OutGoingGeneralSettings outsettings = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
 
             SendConfigMSG(outsettings.ToString());
         }
@@ -341,10 +341,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
         // callback function to launch the URL to check for updates.
         private void CheckForUpdates_Click()
         {
-            GeneralSettings settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(_settingsConfigFileFolder);
-            settings.CustomActionName = "check_for_updates";
+            GeneralSettingsConfig.CustomActionName = "check_for_updates";
 
-            OutGoingGeneralSettings outsettings = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(settings);
+            OutGoingGeneralSettings outsettings = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
             GeneralSettingsCustomAction customaction = new GeneralSettingsCustomAction(outsettings);
 
             SendCheckForUpdatesConfigMSG(customaction.ToString());
@@ -352,10 +351,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         public void Restart_Elevated()
         {
-            GeneralSettings settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(_settingsConfigFileFolder);
-            settings.CustomActionName = "restart_elevation";
+            GeneralSettingsConfig.CustomActionName = "restart_elevation";
 
-            OutGoingGeneralSettings outsettings = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(settings);
+            OutGoingGeneralSettings outsettings = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
             GeneralSettingsCustomAction customaction = new GeneralSettingsCustomAction(outsettings);
 
             SendRestartAsAdminConfigMSG(customaction.ToString());

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/ImageResizerViewModel.cs

@@ -7,45 +7,44 @@ using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
 using System.ComponentModel;
 using System.Linq;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class ImageResizerViewModel : Observable
     {
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
+        private readonly ISettingsUtils _settingsUtils;
+
         private ImageResizerSettings Settings { get; set; }
 
+        // NOTE: Not using ImageResizerSettings.ModuleName ("Image Resizer") to be backward compatible.
         private const string ModuleName = "ImageResizer";
 
         private Func<string, int> SendConfigMSG { get; }
 
-        public ImageResizerViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc)
+        public ImageResizerViewModel(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils, ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc)
         {
+            _settingsUtils = settingsUtils ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settingsUtils));
+
+            // To obtain the general settings configurations of PowerToys.
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
+
             try
             {
-                Settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<ImageResizerSettings>(ModuleName);
+                Settings = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<ImageResizerSettings>(ModuleName);
             }
             catch
             {
                 Settings = new ImageResizerSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
-            }
-
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings;
-
-            try
-            {
-                generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
+                _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
             }
 
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
             SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
 
-            _isEnabled = generalSettings.Enabled.ImageResizer;
+            _isEnabled = GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.ImageResizer;
             _advancedSizes = Settings.Properties.ImageresizerSizes.Value;
             _jpegQualityLevel = Settings.Properties.ImageresizerJpegQualityLevel.Value;
             _pngInterlaceOption = Settings.Properties.ImageresizerPngInterlaceOption.Value;
@@ -83,10 +82,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             {
                 if (value != _isEnabled)
                 {
+                    // To set the status of ImageResizer in the General PowerToys settings.
                     _isEnabled = value;
-                    GeneralSettings generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-                    generalSettings.Enabled.ImageResizer = value;
-                    OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(generalSettings);
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.ImageResizer = value;
+                    OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
+
                     SendConfigMSG(snd.ToString());
                     OnPropertyChanged("IsEnabled");
                 }
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 {
                     _jpegQualityLevel = value;
                     Settings.Properties.ImageresizerJpegQualityLevel.Value = value;
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+                    _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
                     OnPropertyChanged("JPEGQualityLevel");
                 }
             }
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 {
                     _pngInterlaceOption = value;
                     Settings.Properties.ImageresizerPngInterlaceOption.Value = value;
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+                    _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
                     OnPropertyChanged("PngInterlaceOption");
                 }
             }
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 {
                     _tiffCompressOption = value;
                     Settings.Properties.ImageresizerTiffCompressOption.Value = value;
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+                    _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
                     OnPropertyChanged("TiffCompressOption");
                 }
             }
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 {
                     _fileName = value;
                     Settings.Properties.ImageresizerFileName.Value = value;
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+                    _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
                     OnPropertyChanged("FileName");
                 }
             }
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             {
                 _keepDateModified = value;
                 Settings.Properties.ImageresizerKeepDateModified.Value = value;
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+                _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
                 OnPropertyChanged("KeepDateModified");
             }
         }
@@ -212,9 +212,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 if (_encoderGuidId != value)
                 {
                     _encoderGuidId = value;
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.Properties.ImageresizerSizes.ToJsonString(), ModuleName, "sizes.json");
+                    _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.Properties.ImageresizerSizes.ToJsonString(), ModuleName, "sizes.json");
                     Settings.Properties.ImageresizerFallbackEncoder.Value = GetEncoderGuid(value);
-                    SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+                    _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
                     OnPropertyChanged("Encoder");
                 }
             }
@@ -243,9 +243,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         public void SavesImageSizes(ObservableCollection<ImageSize> imageSizes)
         {
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.Properties.ImageresizerSizes.ToJsonString(), ModuleName, "sizes.json");
+            _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.Properties.ImageresizerSizes.ToJsonString(), ModuleName, "sizes.json");
             Settings.Properties.ImageresizerSizes = new ImageResizerSizes(imageSizes);
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
+            _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), ModuleName);
         }
 
         public string GetEncoderGuid(int value)

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/KeyboardManagerViewModel.cs

@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using System.Windows.Input;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels.Commands;
 
@@ -16,7 +18,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class KeyboardManagerViewModel : Observable
     {
-        private const string PowerToyName = "Keyboard Manager";
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
+        private readonly ISettingsUtils _settingsUtils;
+
+        private const string PowerToyName = KeyboardManagerSettings.ModuleName;
         private const string RemapKeyboardActionName = "RemapKeyboard";
         private const string RemapKeyboardActionValue = "Open Remap Keyboard Window";
         private const string EditShortcutActionName = "EditShortcut";
@@ -30,22 +36,25 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
         private ICommand _remapKeyboardCommand;
         private ICommand _editShortcutCommand;
         private KeyboardManagerProfile _profile;
-        private GeneralSettings _generalSettings;
 
         private Func<string, int> SendConfigMSG { get; }
 
         private Func<List<KeysDataModel>, int> FilterRemapKeysList { get; }
 
-        public KeyboardManagerViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, Func<List<KeysDataModel>, int> filterRemapKeysList)
+        public KeyboardManagerViewModel(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils, ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, Func<List<KeysDataModel>, int> filterRemapKeysList)
         {
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
+
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
             SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
             FilterRemapKeysList = filterRemapKeysList;
 
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsExists(PowerToyName))
+            _settingsUtils = settingsUtils ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settingsUtils));
+
+            if (_settingsUtils.SettingsExists(PowerToyName))
             {
                 // Todo: Be more resilient while reading and saving settings.
-                Settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<KeyboardManagerSettings>(PowerToyName);
+                Settings = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<KeyboardManagerSettings>(PowerToyName);
 
                 // Load profile.
                 if (!LoadProfile())
@@ -55,18 +64,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             }
             else
             {
-                Settings = new KeyboardManagerSettings(PowerToyName);
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), PowerToyName);
-            }
-
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsExists())
-            {
-                _generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                _generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(_generalSettings.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
+                Settings = new KeyboardManagerSettings();
+                _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), PowerToyName);
             }
         }
 
@@ -74,16 +73,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
         {
             get
             {
-                return _generalSettings.Enabled.KeyboardManager;
+                return GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.KeyboardManager;
             }
 
             set
             {
-                if (_generalSettings.Enabled.KeyboardManager != value)
+                if (GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.KeyboardManager != value)
                 {
-                    _generalSettings.Enabled.KeyboardManager = value;
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.KeyboardManager = value;
                     OnPropertyChanged(nameof(Enabled));
-                    OutGoingGeneralSettings outgoing = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(_generalSettings);
+                    OutGoingGeneralSettings outgoing = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
 
                     SendConfigMSG(outgoing.ToString());
                 }
@@ -173,8 +172,19 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                         // update the UI element here.
                         try
                         {
-                            _profile = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<KeyboardManagerProfile>(PowerToyName, Settings.Properties.ActiveConfiguration.Value + JsonFileType);
-                            FilterRemapKeysList(_profile.RemapKeys.InProcessRemapKeys);
+                            string fileName = Settings.Properties.ActiveConfiguration.Value + JsonFileType;
+
+                            if (_settingsUtils.SettingsExists(PowerToyName, fileName))
+                            {
+                                _profile = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<KeyboardManagerProfile>(PowerToyName, fileName);
+                            }
+                            else
+                            {
+                                // The KBM process out of runner creates the default.json file if it does not exist.
+                                success = false;
+                            }
+
+                            FilterRemapKeysList(_profile?.RemapKeys?.InProcessRemapKeys);
                         }
                         finally
                         {

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/PowerLauncherViewModel.cs

@@ -6,13 +6,17 @@ using System;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class PowerLauncherViewModel : Observable
     {
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
+        private readonly ISettingsUtils _settingsUtils;
+
         private PowerLauncherSettings settings;
-        private GeneralSettings generalSettings;
 
         public delegate void SendCallback(PowerLauncherSettings settings);
 
@@ -20,43 +24,33 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         private Func<string, int> SendConfigMSG { get; }
 
-        public PowerLauncherViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, int defaultKeyCode)
+        public PowerLauncherViewModel(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils, ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, int defaultKeyCode)
         {
-            try
+            _settingsUtils = settingsUtils ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settingsUtils));
+
+            // To obtain the general Settings configurations of PowerToys
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
+
+            // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
+            SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
+            callback = (PowerLauncherSettings settings) =>
             {
-                callback = (PowerLauncherSettings settings) =>
-                {
-                    // Propagate changes to Power Launcher through IPC
-                    SendConfigMSG(
-                        string.Format("{{ \"powertoys\": {{ \"{0}\": {1} }} }}", PowerLauncherSettings.ModuleName, JsonSerializer.Serialize(settings)));
-                };
-                if (SettingsUtils.SettingsExists(PowerLauncherSettings.ModuleName))
-                {
-                    settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<PowerLauncherSettings>(PowerLauncherSettings.ModuleName);
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    settings = new PowerLauncherSettings();
-                    settings.Properties.OpenPowerLauncher.Alt = true;
-                    settings.Properties.OpenPowerLauncher.Code = defaultKeyCode;
-                    settings.Properties.MaximumNumberOfResults = 4;
-                    callback(settings);
-                }
+                // Propagate changes to Power Launcher through IPC
+                SendConfigMSG(
+                    string.Format("{{ \"powertoys\": {{ \"{0}\": {1} }} }}", PowerLauncherSettings.ModuleName, JsonSerializer.Serialize(settings)));
+            };
 
-                if (SettingsUtils.SettingsExists())
-                {
-                    generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>();
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-                }
-
-                // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
-                SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
+            if (_settingsUtils.SettingsExists(PowerLauncherSettings.ModuleName))
+            {
+                settings = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<PowerLauncherSettings>(PowerLauncherSettings.ModuleName);
             }
-            catch
+            else
             {
+                settings = new PowerLauncherSettings();
+                settings.Properties.OpenPowerLauncher.Alt = true;
+                settings.Properties.OpenPowerLauncher.Code = defaultKeyCode;
+                settings.Properties.MaximumNumberOfResults = 4;
+                callback(settings);
             }
         }
 
@@ -78,16 +72,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
         {
             get
             {
-                return generalSettings.Enabled.PowerLauncher;
+                return GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.PowerLauncher;
             }
 
             set
             {
-                if (generalSettings.Enabled.PowerLauncher != value)
+                if (GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.PowerLauncher != value)
                 {
-                    generalSettings.Enabled.PowerLauncher = value;
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.PowerLauncher = value;
                     OnPropertyChanged(nameof(EnablePowerLauncher));
-                    OutGoingGeneralSettings outgoing = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(generalSettings);
+                    OutGoingGeneralSettings outgoing = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
                     SendConfigMSG(outgoing.ToString());
                 }
             }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/PowerPreviewViewModel.cs

@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@
 using System;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class PowerPreviewViewModel : Observable
     {
-        private const string ModuleName = "File Explorer";
+        private const string ModuleName = PowerPreviewSettings.ModuleName;
 
         private PowerPreviewSettings Settings { get; set; }
 
@@ -18,20 +19,14 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         private string _settingsConfigFileFolder = string.Empty;
 
-        public PowerPreviewViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
+        public PowerPreviewViewModel(ISettingsRepository<PowerPreviewSettings> moduleSettingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
         {
             // Update Settings file folder:
             _settingsConfigFileFolder = configFileSubfolder;
 
-            try
-            {
-                Settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<PowerPreviewSettings>(GetSettingsSubPath());
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                Settings = new PowerPreviewSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), GetSettingsSubPath());
-            }
+            // To obtain the PowerPreview settings if it exists.
+            // If the file does not exist, to create a new one and return the default settings configurations.
+            Settings = moduleSettingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
 
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
             SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/PowerRenameViewModel.cs

@@ -5,12 +5,17 @@
 using System;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class PowerRenameViewModel : Observable
     {
-        private const string ModuleName = "PowerRename";
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
+        private readonly ISettingsUtils _settingsUtils;
+
+        private const string ModuleName = PowerRenameSettings.ModuleName;
 
         private string _settingsConfigFileFolder = string.Empty;
 
@@ -18,21 +23,24 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 
         private Func<string, int> SendConfigMSG { get; }
 
-        public PowerRenameViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
+        public PowerRenameViewModel(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils, ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
         {
             // Update Settings file folder:
             _settingsConfigFileFolder = configFileSubfolder;
+            _settingsUtils = settingsUtils ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settingsUtils));
+
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
 
             try
             {
-                PowerRenameLocalProperties localSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<PowerRenameLocalProperties>(GetSettingsSubPath(), "power-rename-settings.json");
+                PowerRenameLocalProperties localSettings = _settingsUtils.GetSettings<PowerRenameLocalProperties>(GetSettingsSubPath(), "power-rename-settings.json");
                 Settings = new PowerRenameSettings(localSettings);
             }
             catch
             {
                 PowerRenameLocalProperties localSettings = new PowerRenameLocalProperties();
                 Settings = new PowerRenameSettings(localSettings);
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(localSettings.ToJsonString(), GetSettingsSubPath(), "power-rename-settings.json");
+                _settingsUtils.SaveSettings(localSettings.ToJsonString(), GetSettingsSubPath(), "power-rename-settings.json");
             }
 
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
@@ -43,19 +51,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             _powerRenameRestoreFlagsOnLaunch = Settings.Properties.PersistState.Value;
             _powerRenameMaxDispListNumValue = Settings.Properties.MaxMRUSize.Value;
             _autoComplete = Settings.Properties.MRUEnabled.Value;
-
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings;
-            try
-            {
-                generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
-            }
-
-            _powerRenameEnabled = generalSettings.Enabled.PowerRename;
+            _powerRenameEnabled = GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.PowerRename;
         }
 
         private bool _powerRenameEnabled = false;
@@ -76,9 +72,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
             {
                 if (value != _powerRenameEnabled)
                 {
-                        GeneralSettings generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-                        generalSettings.Enabled.PowerRename = value;
-                        OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(generalSettings);
+                        GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.PowerRename = value;
+                        OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
+
                         SendConfigMSG(snd.ToString());
 
                         _powerRenameEnabled = value;

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib/ViewModels/ShortcutGuideViewModel.cs

@@ -5,50 +5,38 @@
 using System;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Helpers;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
 {
     public class ShortcutGuideViewModel : Observable
     {
+        private GeneralSettings GeneralSettingsConfig { get; set; }
+
         private ShortcutGuideSettings Settings { get; set; }
 
-        private const string ModuleName = "Shortcut Guide";
+        private const string ModuleName = ShortcutGuideSettings.ModuleName;
 
         private Func<string, int> SendConfigMSG { get; }
 
         private string _settingsConfigFileFolder = string.Empty;
 
-        public ShortcutGuideViewModel(Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
+        public ShortcutGuideViewModel(ISettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> settingsRepository, ISettingsRepository<ShortcutGuideSettings> moduleSettingsRepository, Func<string, int> ipcMSGCallBackFunc, string configFileSubfolder = "")
         {
             // Update Settings file folder:
             _settingsConfigFileFolder = configFileSubfolder;
 
-            try
-            {
-                Settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<ShortcutGuideSettings>(GetSettingsSubPath());
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                Settings = new ShortcutGuideSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(Settings.ToJsonString(), GetSettingsSubPath());
-            }
+            // To obtain the general PowerToys settings.
+            GeneralSettingsConfig = settingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
 
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings;
-
-            try
-            {
-                generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-            }
-            catch
-            {
-                generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString(), string.Empty);
-            }
+            // To obtain the shortcut guide settings, if the file exists.
+            // If not, to create a file with the default settings and to return the default configurations.
+            Settings = moduleSettingsRepository.SettingsConfig;
 
             // set the callback functions value to hangle outgoing IPC message.
             SendConfigMSG = ipcMSGCallBackFunc;
 
-            _isEnabled = generalSettings.Enabled.ShortcutGuide;
+            _isEnabled = GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.ShortcutGuide;
             _pressTime = Settings.Properties.PressTime.Value;
             _opacity = Settings.Properties.OverlayOpacity.Value;
 
@@ -87,9 +75,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels
                 if (value != _isEnabled)
                 {
                     _isEnabled = value;
-                    GeneralSettings generalSettings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<GeneralSettings>(string.Empty);
-                    generalSettings.Enabled.ShortcutGuide = value;
-                    OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(generalSettings);
+
+                    // To update the status of shortcut guide in General PowerToy settings.
+                    GeneralSettingsConfig.Enabled.ShortcutGuide = value;
+                    OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = new OutGoingGeneralSettings(GeneralSettingsConfig);
+
                     SendConfigMSG(snd.ToString());
                     OnPropertyChanged("IsEnabled");
                 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner/MainWindow.xaml.cs

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ using Microsoft.PowerLauncher.Telemetry;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Views;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry;
 using Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.XamlHost;
-using Windows.UI.Popups;
+using Windows.Data.Json;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner
 {
@@ -56,12 +56,31 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner
                     Program.GetTwoWayIPCManager().Send(msg);
                 });
 
+                // receive IPC Message
+                Program.IPCMessageReceivedCallback = (string msg) =>
+                {
+                    if (ShellPage.ShellHandler.IPCResponseHandleList != null)
+                    {
+                        try
+                        {
+                            JsonObject json = JsonObject.Parse(msg);
+                            foreach (Action<JsonObject> handle in ShellPage.ShellHandler.IPCResponseHandleList)
+                            {
+                                handle(json);
+                            }
+                        }
+                        catch (Exception)
+                        {
+                        }
+                    }
+                };
+
                 shellPage.SetElevationStatus(Program.IsElevated);
                 shellPage.SetIsUserAnAdmin(Program.IsUserAnAdmin);
                 shellPage.Refresh();
             }
 
-            // If the window is open, explicity force it to be shown to solve the blank dialog issue https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/3384
+            // XAML Islands: If the window is open, explicity force it to be shown to solve the blank dialog issue https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/3384
             if (isOpen)
             {
                 Show();
@@ -71,6 +90,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner
         private void MainWindow_Closing(object sender, System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs e)
         {
             isOpen = false;
+
+            // XAML Islands: If the window is closed while minimized, exit the process. Required to avoid process not terminating issue - https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/4430
+            if (WindowState == WindowState.Minimized)
+            {
+                // Run Environment.Exit on a separate task to avoid performance impact
+                System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() => { Environment.Exit(0); });
+            }
         }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner.csproj

@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.UI.XamlHost" Version="6.1.1" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.Controls" Version="6.1.1" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.XamlHost" Version="6.1.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.UI.XamlHost" Version="6.1.2" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.Controls" Version="6.1.2" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.Wpf.UI.XamlHost" Version="6.1.2" />
     <PackageReference Include="StyleCop.Analyzers" Version="1.1.118">
       <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
       <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner/Program.cs

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
 // The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner
 
         public static int PowerToysPID { get; set; }
 
+        public static Action<string> IPCMessageReceivedCallback { get; set; }
+
         [STAThread]
         public static void Main(string[] args)
         {
@@ -63,7 +65,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Runner
                         Environment.Exit(0);
                     });
 
-                    ipcmanager = new TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged(args[1], args[0], null);
+                    ipcmanager = new TwoWayPipeMessageIPCManaged(args[1], args[0], (string message) =>
+                    {
+                        if (IPCMessageReceivedCallback != null && message.Length > 0)
+                        {
+                            Application.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new System.Action(() =>
+                            {
+                                IPCMessageReceivedCallback(message);
+                            }));
+                        }
+                    });
                     ipcmanager.Start();
                     app.Run();
                 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.csproj

@@ -17,9 +17,13 @@
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="16.7.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Moq" Version="4.14.5" />
     <PackageReference Include="MSTest.TestAdapter" Version="2.1.2" />
     <PackageReference Include="MSTest.TestFramework" Version="2.1.2" />
-    <PackageReference Include="coverlet.collector" Version="1.2.0" />
+    <PackageReference Include="coverlet.collector" Version="1.3.0">
+      <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
+      <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
+    </PackageReference>
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/Mocks/IIOProviderMocks.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
+using Moq;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks
+{
+    internal static class IIOProviderMocks
+    {
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// This method mocks an IO provider to validate tests wich required saving to a file, and then reading the contents of that file, or verifying it exists
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        internal static Mock<IIOProvider> GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists()
+        {
+            string savePath = string.Empty;
+            string saveContent = string.Empty;
+            var mockIOProvider = new Mock<IIOProvider>();
+            mockIOProvider.Setup(x => x.WriteAllText(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<string>()))
+                          .Callback<string, string>((path, content) =>
+                          {
+                              savePath = path;
+                              saveContent = content;
+                          });
+            mockIOProvider.Setup(x => x.ReadAllText(It.Is<string>(x => x.Equals(savePath, StringComparison.Ordinal))))
+                          .Returns(() => saveContent);
+
+            mockIOProvider.Setup(x => x.FileExists(It.Is<string>(x => x.Equals(savePath, StringComparison.Ordinal))))
+                          .Returns(true);
+            mockIOProvider.Setup(x => x.FileExists(It.Is<string>(x => !x.Equals(savePath, StringComparison.Ordinal))))
+                          .Returns(false);
+
+            return mockIOProvider;
+        }
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/Mocks/ISettingsUtilsMocks.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
+using Moq;
+using System;
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks
+{
+    internal static class ISettingsUtilsMocks
+    {
+        //Stubs out empty values for imageresizersettings and general settings as needed by the imageresizer viewmodel
+        internal static Mock<ISettingsUtils> GetStubSettingsUtils<T>()
+            where T : ISettingsConfig, new()
+        {
+            var settingsUtils = new Mock<ISettingsUtils>();
+            settingsUtils.Setup(x => x.GetSettings<T>(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<string>()))
+            .Returns(new T());
+
+            return settingsUtils;
+        }
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ModelsTests/BasePTModuleSettingsTest.cs

@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 
 using System;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UnitTest;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Schema;
 
@@ -21,6 +24,13 @@ namespace CommonLibTest
         [Obsolete]
         public void ToJsonString_ShouldReturnValidJSONOfModel_WhenSuccessful()
         {
+            //Mock Disk access
+            string saveContent = string.Empty;
+            string savePath = string.Empty;
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+
+            var settingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
+
             // Arrange
             string file_name = "test\\BasePTModuleSettingsTest";
             string expectedSchemaText = @"
@@ -39,11 +49,11 @@ namespace CommonLibTest
                 }";
 
             string testSettingsConfigs = new BasePTSettingsTest().ToJsonString();
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(testSettingsConfigs, file_name);
+            settingsUtils.SaveSettings(testSettingsConfigs, file_name);
             JsonSchema expectedSchema = JsonSchema.Parse(expectedSchemaText);
 
             // Act
-            JObject actualSchema = JObject.Parse(SettingsUtils.GetSettings<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_name).ToJsonString());
+            JObject actualSchema = JObject.Parse(settingsUtils.GetSettings<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_name).ToJsonString());
             bool valid = actualSchema.IsValid(expectedSchema);
 
             // Assert

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ModelsTests/BasePTSettingsTest.cs

@@ -3,15 +3,26 @@
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Interface;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UnitTest
 {
-    public class BasePTSettingsTest : BasePTModuleSettings
+    public class BasePTSettingsTest : BasePTModuleSettings, ISettingsConfig
     {
         public BasePTSettingsTest()
         {
             Name = string.Empty;
             Version = string.Empty;
         }
+
+        public string GetModuleName()
+        {
+            return Name;
+        }
+
+        public bool UpgradeSettingsConfiguration()
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ModelsTests/SettingsRepositoryTest.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
+
+namespace CommonLibTest
+{
+    [TestClass]
+    public class SettingsRepositoryTest
+    {
+        private Task<SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>> GetSettingsRepository(ISettingsUtils settingsUtils)
+        {
+
+            return Task.Run(() =>
+            {
+                return SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(settingsUtils);
+            });
+        }
+
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void SettingsRepositoryInstanceWhenCalledMustReturnSameObject()
+        {
+            // The singleton class Settings Repository must always have a single instance
+            var mockSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
+
+            // Arrange and Act
+            SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> firstInstance = SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockSettingsUtils.Object);
+            SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings> secondInstance = SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockSettingsUtils.Object);
+
+            // Assert
+            Assert.IsTrue(object.ReferenceEquals(firstInstance, secondInstance));
+        }
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void SettingsRepositoryInstanceMustBeTheSameAcrossThreads()
+        {
+            // Multiple tasks try to access and initialize the settings repository class, however they must all access the same settings Repository object.
+
+            // Arrange
+            var mockSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
+            List<Task<SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>>> settingsRepoTasks = new List<Task<SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>>>();
+            int numberOfTasks = 100;
+
+            for(int i = 0; i < numberOfTasks; i++)
+            {
+                settingsRepoTasks.Add(GetSettingsRepository(mockSettingsUtils.Object));
+            }
+
+            // Act
+            Task.WaitAll(settingsRepoTasks.ToArray());
+
+            // Assert
+            for(int i=0; i< numberOfTasks-1; i++)
+            {
+                Assert.IsTrue(object.ReferenceEquals(settingsRepoTasks[i].Result, settingsRepoTasks[i + 1].Result));
+            }
+
+        }
+    }
+}

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ModelsTests/SettingsUtilsTests.cs

@@ -7,45 +7,34 @@ using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UnitTest;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace CommonLibTest
 {
     [TestClass]
     public class SettingsUtilsTests
     {
-        public SettingsUtilsTests()
-        {
-            string file_name = "\\test";
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(file_name);
-            }
-        }
 
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void Cleanup()
-        {
-            string file_name = "\\test";
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(file_name);
-            }
-        }
 
         [TestMethod]
         public void SaveSettings_SaveSettingsToFile_WhenFilePathExists()
         {
             // Arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var settingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
+            
             string file_name = "\\test";
             string file_contents_correct_json_content = "{\"name\":\"powertoy module name\",\"version\":\"powertoy version\"}";
 
             BasePTSettingsTest expected_json = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_contents_correct_json_content);
 
             // Act
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(file_contents_correct_json_content, file_name);
-            BasePTSettingsTest actual_json = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_name);
+            settingsUtils.SaveSettings(file_contents_correct_json_content, file_name);
+            BasePTSettingsTest actual_json = settingsUtils.GetSettings<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_name);
 
             // Assert
             Assert.AreEqual(expected_json.ToJsonString(), actual_json.ToJsonString());
@@ -55,19 +44,15 @@ namespace CommonLibTest
         public void SaveSettings_ShouldCreateFile_WhenFilePathIsNotFound()
         {
             // Arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var settingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             string file_name = "test\\Test Folder";
             string file_contents_correct_json_content = "{\"name\":\"powertoy module name\",\"version\":\"powertoy version\"}";
 
             BasePTSettingsTest expected_json = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_contents_correct_json_content);
 
-            // Act
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(file_name);
-            }
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(file_contents_correct_json_content, file_name);
-            BasePTSettingsTest actual_json = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_name);
+            settingsUtils.SaveSettings(file_contents_correct_json_content, file_name);
+            BasePTSettingsTest actual_json = settingsUtils.GetSettings<BasePTSettingsTest>(file_name);
 
             // Assert
             Assert.AreEqual(expected_json.ToJsonString(), actual_json.ToJsonString());
@@ -77,39 +62,23 @@ namespace CommonLibTest
         public void SettingsFolderExists_ShouldReturnFalse_WhenFilePathIsNotFound()
         {
             // Arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var settingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             string file_name_random = "test\\" + RandomString();
             string file_name_exists = "test\\exists";
             string file_contents_correct_json_content = "{\"name\":\"powertoy module name\",\"version\":\"powertoy version\"}";
 
             // Act
-            bool pathNotFound = SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(file_name_random);
+            bool pathNotFound = settingsUtils.SettingsExists(file_name_random);
 
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(file_contents_correct_json_content, file_name_exists);
-            bool pathFound = SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(file_name_exists);
+            settingsUtils.SaveSettings(file_contents_correct_json_content, file_name_exists);
+            bool pathFound = settingsUtils.SettingsExists(file_name_exists);
 
             // Assert
             Assert.IsFalse(pathNotFound);
             Assert.IsTrue(pathFound);
         }
 
-        [TestMethod]
-        public void CreateSettingsFolder_ShouldCreateFolder_WhenSuccessful()
-        {
-            // Arrange
-            string file_name = "test\\" + RandomString();
-
-            // Act
-            SettingsUtils.CreateSettingsFolder(file_name);
-
-            // Assert
-            Assert.IsTrue(SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(file_name));
-        }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
-        }
-
         public static string RandomString()
         {
             Random random = new Random();

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/ColorPicker.cs

@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 // The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 // See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
 
-using System.IO;
-using System.Text.Json;
-using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
-using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
@@ -13,51 +9,6 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     [TestClass]
     public class ColorPicker
     {
-        private const string ModuleName = "ColorPicker";
 
-        [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
-        {
-            var generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            var colorPickerSettings = new ColorPickerSettings();
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString());
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(colorPickerSettings.ToJsonString(), colorPickerSettings.Name, ModuleName + ".json");
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            string generalSettings_file_name = string.Empty;
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(generalSettings_file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(generalSettings_file_name);
-            }
-
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(ModuleName))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(ModuleName);
-            }
-        }
-
-        [TestMethod]
-        public void ColorPickerIsEnabledByDefault()
-        {
-            var viewModel = new ColorPickerViewModel(ColorPickerIsEnabledByDefault_IPC);
-
-            Assert.IsTrue(viewModel.IsEnabled);
-        }
-
-        public int ColorPickerIsEnabledByDefault_IPC(string msg)
-        {
-            OutGoingGeneralSettings snd = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<OutGoingGeneralSettings>(msg);
-            Assert.IsTrue(snd.GeneralSettings.Enabled.ColorPicker);
-            return 0;
-        }
-
-        private static void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
-        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/FancyZones.cs

@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ using System.Text.Json;
 using CommonLibTest;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
@@ -18,37 +20,15 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     {
         public const string FancyZonesTestFolderName = "Test\\FancyZones";
 
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockGeneralSettingsUtils;
+
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils;
+
         [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
+        public void SetUp_StubSettingUtils()
         {
-            // initialize creation of test settings file.
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            FZConfigProperties fZConfigProperties = new FZConfigProperties();
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString());
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(fZConfigProperties.ToJsonString(), FancyZonesTestFolderName);
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            // delete general settings folder created.
-            string generalSettings_file_name = string.Empty;
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(string.Empty))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(string.Empty);
-            }
-
-            // delete fancy zones folder created.
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(FancyZonesTestFolderName))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(FancyZonesTestFolderName);
-            }
-        }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
+            mockGeneralSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
+            mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<FancyZonesSettings>();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
@@ -62,7 +42,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsTrue(viewModel.IsEnabled); // check if the module is enabled.
 
             // act
@@ -81,7 +61,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsTrue(viewModel.ShiftDrag); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -100,7 +80,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.OverrideSnapHotkeys); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -119,7 +99,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.MoveWindowsBasedOnPosition); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -138,7 +118,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.MakeDraggedWindowsTransparent); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -157,7 +137,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.MouseSwitch); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -176,7 +156,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.DisplayChangeMoveWindows); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -195,7 +175,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.ZoneSetChangeMoveWindows); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -214,7 +194,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.AppLastZoneMoveWindows); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -232,7 +212,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.OpenWindowOnActiveMonitor); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -251,7 +231,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.RestoreSize); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -270,7 +250,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsTrue(viewModel.UseCursorPosEditorStartupScreen); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -289,7 +269,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.IsFalse(viewModel.ShowOnAllMonitors); // check if value was initialized to false.
 
             // act
@@ -308,7 +288,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(ConfigDefaults.DefaultFancyZonesZoneHighlightColor, viewModel.ZoneHighlightColor);
 
             // act
@@ -327,7 +307,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(ConfigDefaults.DefaultFancyzonesBorderColor, viewModel.ZoneBorderColor);
 
             // act
@@ -346,7 +326,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(ConfigDefaults.DefaultFancyZonesInActiveColor, viewModel.ZoneInActiveColor);
 
             // act
@@ -365,7 +345,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, viewModel.ExcludedApps);
 
             // act
@@ -384,7 +364,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
+            FancyZonesViewModel viewModel = new FancyZonesViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<FancyZonesSettings>.GetInstance(mockFancyZonesSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, FancyZonesTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(50, viewModel.HighlightOpacity);
 
             // act

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/General.cs

@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
+using Moq;
+using NuGet.Frameworks;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
@@ -16,27 +19,12 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     {
         public const string generalSettings_file_name = "Test\\GenealSettings";
 
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockGeneralSettingsUtils;
+
         [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
+        public void SetUp_StubSettingUtils()
         {
-            // initialize creation of test settings file.
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString(), generalSettings_file_name);
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            // delete folder created.
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(generalSettings_file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(generalSettings_file_name);
-            }
-        }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
+            mockGeneralSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
@@ -47,6 +35,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             Func<string, int> SendRestartAdminIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             Func<string, int> SendCheckForUpdatesIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             GeneralViewModel viewModel = new GeneralViewModel(
+                SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object),
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsAdminText",
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsUserText",
                 false,
@@ -83,6 +72,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             Func<string, int> SendRestartAdminIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             Func<string, int> SendCheckForUpdatesIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             GeneralViewModel viewModel = new GeneralViewModel(
+                SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object),
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsAdminText",
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsUserText",
                 false,
@@ -114,6 +104,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
 
             // Arrange
             GeneralViewModel viewModel = new GeneralViewModel(
+                SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object),
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsAdminText",
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsUserText",
                 false,
@@ -146,6 +137,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             Func<string, int> SendRestartAdminIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             Func<string, int> SendCheckForUpdatesIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             viewModel = new GeneralViewModel(
+                SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object),
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsAdminText",
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsUserText",
                 false,
@@ -176,6 +168,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             Func<string, int> SendRestartAdminIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             Func<string, int> SendCheckForUpdatesIPCMessage = msg => { return 0; };
             GeneralViewModel viewModel = new GeneralViewModel(
+                SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object),
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsAdminText",
                 "GeneralSettings_RunningAsUserText",
                 false,
@@ -193,6 +186,24 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             viewModel.IsDarkThemeRadioButtonChecked = true;
         }
 
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void AllModulesAreEnabledByDefault()
+        {
+            //arrange 
+            EnabledModules modules = new EnabledModules();
+
+
+            //Assert
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.FancyZones);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.ImageResizer);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.FileExplorerPreview);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.ShortcutGuide);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.PowerRename);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.KeyboardManager);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.PowerLauncher);
+            Assert.IsTrue(modules.ColorPicker);
+        }
+
         public int UpdateUIThemeMethod(string themeName)
         {
             return 0;

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/ImageResizer.cs

@@ -7,8 +7,11 @@ using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.Utilities;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
@@ -17,38 +20,15 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     {
         public const string Module = "ImageResizer";
 
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockGeneralSettingsUtils;
+
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockImgResizerSettingsUtils;
+
         [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
+        public void SetUp_StubSettingUtils()
         {
-            // initialize creation of test settings file.
-            // Test base path:
-            // C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Packages\08e1807b-8b6d-4bfa-adc4-79c64aae8e78_9abkseg265h2m\LocalState\Microsoft\PowerToys\
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            ImageResizerSettings imageResizer = new ImageResizerSettings();
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString());
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(imageResizer.ToJsonString(), imageResizer.Name);
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            // delete folder created.
-            string generalSettings_file_name = string.Empty;
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(generalSettings_file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(generalSettings_file_name);
-            }
-
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(Module))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(Module);
-            }
-        }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
+            mockGeneralSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
+            mockImgResizerSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<ImageResizerSettings>();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
@@ -63,7 +43,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockImgResizerSettingsUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
 
             // act
             viewModel.IsEnabled = true;
@@ -73,14 +53,16 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void JPEGQualityLevel_ShouldSetValueToTen_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var mockSettingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
 
             // act
             viewModel.JPEGQualityLevel = 10;
 
             // Assert
-            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             Assert.AreEqual(10, viewModel.JPEGQualityLevel);
         }
 
@@ -88,14 +70,16 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void PngInterlaceOption_ShouldSetValueToTen_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var mockSettingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
 
             // act
             viewModel.PngInterlaceOption = 10;
 
             // Assert
-            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             Assert.AreEqual(10, viewModel.PngInterlaceOption);
         }
 
@@ -103,14 +87,16 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void TiffCompressOption_ShouldSetValueToTen_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var mockSettingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
 
             // act
             viewModel.TiffCompressOption = 10;
 
             // Assert
-            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             Assert.AreEqual(10, viewModel.TiffCompressOption);
         }
 
@@ -118,15 +104,17 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void FileName_ShouldUpdateValue_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var mockSettingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             string expectedValue = "%1 (%3)";
 
             // act
             viewModel.FileName = expectedValue;
 
             // Assert
-            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             Assert.AreEqual(expectedValue, viewModel.FileName);
         }
 
@@ -134,29 +122,39 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void KeepDateModified_ShouldUpdateValue_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var settingUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<ImageResizerSettings>();
+
+            var expectedSettingsString = new ImageResizerSettings() { Properties = new ImageResizerProperties() { ImageresizerKeepDateModified = new BoolProperty() { Value = true } } }.ToJsonString();
+            settingUtils.Setup(x => x.SaveSettings(
+                                        It.Is<string>(content => content.Equals(expectedSettingsString, StringComparison.Ordinal)),
+                                        It.Is<string>(module => module.Equals(Module, StringComparison.Ordinal)),
+                                        It.IsAny<string>()))
+                                     .Verifiable();
+
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(settingUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
 
             // act
             viewModel.KeepDateModified = true;
 
             // Assert
-            ImageResizerSettings settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettings<ImageResizerSettings>(Module);
-            Assert.AreEqual(true, settings.Properties.ImageresizerKeepDateModified.Value);
+            settingUtils.Verify();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
         public void Encoder_ShouldUpdateValue_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockIOProvider = IIOProviderMocks.GetMockIOProviderForSaveLoadExists();
+            var mockSettingsUtils = new SettingsUtils(mockIOProvider.Object);
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
 
             // act
             viewModel.Encoder = 3;
 
             // Assert
-            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             Assert.AreEqual("163bcc30-e2e9-4f0b-961d-a3e9fdb788a3", viewModel.GetEncoderGuid(viewModel.Encoder));
             Assert.AreEqual(3, viewModel.Encoder);
         }
@@ -165,8 +163,9 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void AddRow_ShouldAddEmptyImageSize_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<ImageResizerSettings>();
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             int sizeOfOriginalArray = viewModel.Sizes.Count;
 
             // act
@@ -180,8 +179,9 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void DeleteImageSize_ShouldDeleteImageSize_WhenSuccessful()
         {
             // arrange
+            var mockSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<ImageResizerSettings>();
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
+            ImageResizerViewModel viewModel = new ImageResizerViewModel(mockSettingsUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG);
             int sizeOfOriginalArray = viewModel.Sizes.Count;
             ImageSize deleteCandidate = viewModel.Sizes.Where<ImageSize>(x => x.Id == 0).First();
 

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/KeyboardManager.cs

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     [TestClass]
     public class KeyboardManager
     {
-        public const string Module = "Keyboard Manager";
+        public const string Module = KeyboardManagerSettings.ModuleName;
 
         [TestInitialize]
         public void Setup()

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/PowerLauncherViewModelTest.cs

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
@@ -24,13 +25,11 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         private PowerLauncherViewModel viewModel;
         private PowerLauncherSettings mockSettings;
         private SendCallbackMock sendCallbackMock;
-
         [TestInitialize]
         public void Initialize()
         {
             mockSettings = new PowerLauncherSettings();
             sendCallbackMock = new SendCallbackMock();
-
             viewModel = new PowerLauncherViewModel(
                 mockSettings,
                 new PowerLauncherViewModel.SendCallback(sendCallbackMock.OnSend));

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/PowerPreview.cs

@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ using System.IO;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
@@ -16,36 +18,12 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     {
         public const string Module = "Test\\File Explorer";
 
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockPowerPreviewSettingsUtils;
+
         [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
+        public void SetUp_StubSettingUtils()
         {
-            // initialize creation of test settings file.
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            PowerPreviewSettings powerpreview = new PowerPreviewSettings();
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString());
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(powerpreview.ToJsonString(), powerpreview.Name);
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            // delete folder created.
-            string generalSettings_file_name = string.Empty;
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(generalSettings_file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(generalSettings_file_name);
-            }
-
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(Module))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(Module);
-            }
-        }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
+            mockPowerPreviewSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<PowerPreviewSettings>();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
@@ -60,7 +38,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerPreviewViewModel viewModel = new PowerPreviewViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, Module);
+            PowerPreviewViewModel viewModel = new PowerPreviewViewModel(SettingsRepository<PowerPreviewSettings>.GetInstance(mockPowerPreviewSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, Module);
 
             // act
             viewModel.SVGRenderIsEnabled = true;
@@ -78,7 +56,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerPreviewViewModel viewModel = new PowerPreviewViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, Module);
+            PowerPreviewViewModel viewModel = new PowerPreviewViewModel(SettingsRepository<PowerPreviewSettings>.GetInstance(mockPowerPreviewSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, Module);
 
             // act
             viewModel.SVGThumbnailIsEnabled = true;
@@ -96,7 +74,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerPreviewViewModel viewModel = new PowerPreviewViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, Module);;
+            PowerPreviewViewModel viewModel = new PowerPreviewViewModel(SettingsRepository<PowerPreviewSettings>.GetInstance(mockPowerPreviewSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, Module); ;
 
             // act
             viewModel.MDRenderIsEnabled = true;

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/PowerRename.cs

@@ -7,34 +7,27 @@ using System.IO;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
     [TestClass]
     public class PowerRename
     {
-        public const string ModuleName = "PowerRename";
+        public const string ModuleName = PowerRenameSettings.ModuleName;
         public const string generalSettings_file_name = "Test\\PowerRename";
+
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockGeneralSettingsUtils;
+
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils;
+
         [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
+        public void SetUp_StubSettingUtils()
         {
-            // initialize creation of test settings file.
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            PowerRenameSettings powerRename = new PowerRenameSettings();
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString());
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(powerRename.ToJsonString(), generalSettings_file_name, "power-rename-settings.json");
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            // delete folder created.
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(generalSettings_file_name))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(generalSettings_file_name);
-            }
+            mockGeneralSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
+            mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<PowerRenameLocalProperties>();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
@@ -49,7 +42,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             // act
             viewModel.IsEnabled = true;
@@ -67,7 +60,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             // act
             viewModel.MRUEnabled = true;
@@ -77,7 +70,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void WhenIsEnabledIsOffAndMRUEnabledIsOffGlobalAndMruShouldBeOff()
         {
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             viewModel.IsEnabled = false;
             viewModel.MRUEnabled = false;
@@ -89,7 +82,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void WhenIsEnabledIsOffAndMRUEnabledIsOnGlobalAndMruShouldBeOff()
         {
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             viewModel.IsEnabled = false;
             viewModel.MRUEnabled = true;
@@ -101,7 +94,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void WhenIsEnabledIsOnAndMRUEnabledIsOffGlobalAndMruShouldBeOff()
         {
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             viewModel.IsEnabled = true;
             viewModel.MRUEnabled = false;
@@ -113,7 +106,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
         public void WhenIsEnabledIsOnAndMRUEnabledIsOnGlobalAndMruShouldBeOn()
         {
             Func<string, int> SendMockIPCConfigMSG = msg => { return 0; };
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             viewModel.IsEnabled = true;
             viewModel.MRUEnabled = true;
@@ -133,7 +126,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             // act
             viewModel.EnabledOnContextMenu = true;
@@ -151,7 +144,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             // act
             viewModel.EnabledOnContextMenu = true;
@@ -169,7 +162,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             // act
             viewModel.RestoreFlagsOnLaunch = true;
@@ -187,15 +180,10 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // arrange
-            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
+            PowerRenameViewModel viewModel = new PowerRenameViewModel(mockPowerRenamePropertiesUtils.Object, SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, generalSettings_file_name);
 
             // act
             viewModel.MaxDispListNum = 20;
         }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
-        }
     }
 }

src/core/Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests/ViewModelTests/ShortcutGuide.cs

@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ using System.IO;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Lib.ViewModels;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.UnitTests.Mocks;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Moq;
 
 namespace ViewModelTests
 {
@@ -16,40 +18,15 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
     {
         public const string ShortCutGuideTestFolderName = "Test\\ShortCutGuide";
 
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockGeneralSettingsUtils;
+
+        private Mock<ISettingsUtils> mockShortcutGuideSettingsUtils;
+
         [TestInitialize]
-        public void Setup()
+        public void SetUp_StubSettingUtils()
         {
-            // initialize creation of test settings file.
-            // Test base path:
-            // C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Packages\08e1807b-8b6d-4bfa-adc4-79c64aae8e78_9abkseg265h2m\LocalState\Microsoft\PowerToys\
-            GeneralSettings generalSettings = new GeneralSettings();
-            ShortcutGuideSettings shortcutGuide = new ShortcutGuideSettings();
-
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(generalSettings.ToJsonString());
-            SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(shortcutGuide.ToJsonString(), ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
-        }
-
-        [TestCleanup]
-        public void CleanUp()
-        {
-            // delete folder created.
-            // delete general settings folder.
-            string ShortCutGuideTestFolderName = string.Empty;
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(string.Empty))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(string.Empty);
-            }
-
-            // delete power rename folder.
-            if (SettingsUtils.SettingsFolderExists(ShortCutGuideTestFolderName))
-            {
-                DeleteFolder(ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
-            }
-        }
-
-        public void DeleteFolder(string powertoy)
-        {
-            Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(SettingsUtils.LocalApplicationDataFolder(), $"Microsoft\\PowerToys\\{powertoy}"), true);
+            mockGeneralSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<GeneralSettings>();
+            mockShortcutGuideSettingsUtils = ISettingsUtilsMocks.GetStubSettingsUtils<ShortcutGuideSettings>();
         }
 
         [TestMethod]
@@ -65,7 +42,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // Arrange
-            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
+            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<ShortcutGuideSettings>.GetInstance(mockShortcutGuideSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
 
             // Act
             viewModel.IsEnabled = true;
@@ -84,7 +61,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // Arrange
-            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
+            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<ShortcutGuideSettings>.GetInstance(mockShortcutGuideSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(1, viewModel.ThemeIndex);
 
             // Act
@@ -104,7 +81,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // Arrange
-            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
+            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<ShortcutGuideSettings>.GetInstance(mockShortcutGuideSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(900, viewModel.PressTime);
 
             // Act
@@ -126,7 +103,7 @@ namespace ViewModelTests
             };
 
             // Arrange
-            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
+            ShortcutGuideViewModel viewModel = new ShortcutGuideViewModel(SettingsRepository<GeneralSettings>.GetInstance(mockGeneralSettingsUtils.Object), SettingsRepository<ShortcutGuideSettings>.GetInstance(mockShortcutGuideSettingsUtils.Object), SendMockIPCConfigMSG, ShortCutGuideTestFolderName);
             Assert.AreEqual(90, viewModel.OverlayOpacity);
 
             // Act