CopyTrans HEIC on Windows 10/11

Forget about the HEIC Image Extension and HEVF Video Extension on Microsoft App Store to support HEIC images on Windows 10 and 11. Microsoft is trying to charge for them and block ways to install them free of charge through adguard. 

Go straight to get CopyTrans HEIC. It is free for personal use. The product now includes a Studio, a Converter and Viewer. The old version only includes Converter and Viewer. The old version on Windows 11 does not work as expected. It seamlessly integrates into Windows File Explorer to provide thumbnail. All image applications work right away through it without configuration.

Manually Upgrade PHP with SQL Driver and Ioncube on IIS

Microsoft retired Web Platform Installer on December 31, 2022, making PHP upgrade manual on Windows platform. There are guides on Internet, but missing SQL and Ioncube. Some steps are not optimal.
I would like to share my process below:

PHP Upgrade

1. Download the zip package from https://windows.php.net/download/. IIS requires NTS (non-threaded).
2. Unzip and save all the content in new folder C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.2 (for example).
3. Edit the php.ini file to ensure the path info are all correct.
4. In IIS, launch PHP Manager, Register New PHP Version, then Change PHP version.

SQL Service Upgrade

1. Download PHP Drivers for SQL from https://github.com/Microsoft/msphpsql/releases?page=2. For PHP 7.2, the file to download is Windows-7.2.zip under version 5.6.0.
2. Unzip and save the nts version of php_sqlsrv.dll and php_pdo_sqlsrv.dll to C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.2\ext (for example).
3. Rename them to php_sqlsrv.dll and php_pdo_sqlsrv.dll.
4. Edit php.ini to include these two extensions.

Ioncube Upgrade

1. Download the Loader Wizard from https://www.ioncube.com/loaders.php
2. Unzip and place the loader-wizard.php file in wwwroot.
3. Use Web browser to open loader-wizard.php to check and download the proper loader file.
4. Unzip and place the loader file in C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.2\ext
5. Edit php.ini to include the ioncube extension file.

Finally, restart IIS and keep finger crossed.