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Applications

Productivity software, development tools, security applications, and driver management for Windows environments.

Overview

What this page covers

This page documents essential Windows application deployment and management:

  • Microsoft 365 — Office Deployment Tool scripted installation and update channel selection
  • Portmaster — Application firewall with per-process rules and DNS-over-TLS
  • Visual Studio Code — Editor configuration, essential extensions, settings.json
  • Driver Management — DISM, pnputil, and PowerShell device management
  • Package Management — winget and Chocolatey for automated software deployment

For advanced Portmaster rules and svchost analysis, see Portmaster Deep. For Windows system administration, see Windows Wiki. For WSL and Kali Linux, see WSL Guide.

Microsoft 365

Office Deployment Tool

The Office Deployment Tool (ODT) enables scripted installation of Microsoft 365 Apps with custom configuration.

XML
<!-- configuration.xml -->
<Configuration>
  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="MonthlyEnterprise">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="en-us" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
  <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
  <Property Name="AUTOACTIVATE" Value="0" />
  <Updates Enabled="TRUE" Channel="MonthlyEnterprise" />
</Configuration>
Batchfile
REM Download ODT
setup.exe /download configuration.xml

REM Install
setup.exe /configure configuration.xml

Channel Selection

Channel Update Frequency Stability Use Case
Current Monthly Feature-first Development workstations
Monthly Enterprise Monthly (1 week deferral) Balanced General business
Semi-Annual Enterprise Every 6 months Maximum stability Regulated environments

Microsoft Store Apps

PowerShell
# Install Store apps via winget
winget install Microsoft.PowerToys
winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal
winget install Microsoft.Powershell
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode

# List installed Store apps
Get-AppxPackage | Select-Object Name, PackageFullName | Sort-Object Name

Portmaster

Portmaster is an application firewall for Windows and Linux that provides per-process network control, DNS-over-TLS, and filter list integration.

flowchart TD
    subgraph Apps["Applications"]
        A1["Browser"]
        A2["Email"]
        A3["System"]
    end

    subgraph PM["Portmaster"]
        direction TB
        INT["Socket<br/>Intercept"]
        PID["Process<br/>ID"]
        RULE["Per-App<br/>Rules"]
        DNS["DNS-over-TLS"]
        FL["Filter Lists"]
    end

    Apps --> INT
    INT --> PID
    PID --> RULE
    RULE --> DNS
    DNS --> FL
    FL -->|"Allowed"| OUT["Internet"]
    FL -->|"Blocked"| DROP["Drop<br/>(ads/trackers/malware)"]

    style PM fill:#4a90d9
    style DROP fill:#d0021b

Key Features

Feature Description
Per-App Rules Allow or block network access per process
DNS-over-TLS Encrypted DNS queries to configurable resolvers
Filter Lists Block ads, trackers, malware at the DNS level
Connection History Real-time and historical connection monitoring
SPN Optional Safing Privacy Network (VPN-like routing)

Configuration

Text Only
Settings > DNS > Configure upstream resolvers
Settings > Filter Lists > Enable: EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Malware Domain List
Settings > Network > Default Action: Prompt for unknown apps
Settings > Network > Default Action: Allow for trusted apps

Portmaster with Windows Firewall

Portmaster complements rather than replaces the Windows Firewall. Use Windows Firewall for host-level rules (port blocking, scope restriction) and Portmaster for application-level visibility and DNS filtering.

Visual Studio Code Workflows

Essential Extensions

Extension Publisher Purpose
ms-vscode.powershell Microsoft PowerShell language support
vscodevim.vim vscodevim Vim keybindings
eamodio.gitlens GitKraken Git blame, history, annotations
oderwat.indent-rainbow oderwat Visual indentation guides
shardulm94.trailing-spaces Shardul Trailing space highlighting
ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl Microsoft WSL remote development

settings.json Configuration

JSON
{
  "editor.renderWhitespace": "boundary",
  "editor.rulers": [80, 120],
  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
  "files.eol": "\n",
  "powershell.codeFormatting.preset": "OTBS",
  "powershell.scriptAnalysis.enable": true,
  "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "PowerShell",
  "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": {
    "PowerShell": {
      "source": "PowerShell",
      "args": ["-NoExit", "-Command", "Set-Location C:\\projects"]
    }
  }
}

Driver Management

Windows Driver Store

Windows maintains a driver store at C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository. Each driver package is stored in a subdirectory with a hashed name.

Batchfile
REM List third-party drivers
dism /online /get-drivers /format:table

REM Export all third-party drivers
dism /online /export-driver /destination:C:\DriverBackup

REM Add driver to offline image
dism /image:C:\offline /add-driver /driver:C:\Drivers\driver.inf

REM Remove driver from offline image
dism /image:C:\offline /remove-driver /driver:oem###.inf

Driver Installation Tools

Tool Purpose
pnputil Add, remove, enumerate driver packages
devcon Device management (requires Windows SDK)
PowerShell Get-PnpDevice List and manage plug-and-play devices
PowerShell
# List all devices with driver issues
Get-PnpDevice -Status ERROR,DEVNODE_NOT_STARTED

# Update driver for a device
Update-PnpDevice -InstanceId "PCI\..." -Confirm:$false

# Disable a device
Disable-PnpDevice -InstanceId "PCI\..." -Confirm:$false

Package Management

winget (Windows Package Manager)

Batchfile
REM Search for packages
winget search notepad++

REM Install
winget install Notepad++.Notepad++

REM Update all
winget upgrade --all

REM Export installed packages
winget export -o packages.json

REM Import packages
winget import -i packages.json

Chocolatey (Alternative)

PowerShell
# Install Chocolatey
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072
Invoke-Expression ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

# Install packages
choco install 7zip firefox notepadplusplus -y
  • Portmaster Deep — Advanced rules, svchost analysis, DoT configuration
  • Windows Wiki — System administration commands and registry
  • WSL Guide — Windows Subsystem for Linux with Kali