This method is truly free and tested on Windows 10 and 11 machines
From a command prompt enter the following command:
start ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n4wgh0z6vhq
A window from the windows store will open
click Install
Try and open a HEIC image file
The following command can be used to install from PowerShell however there is a current bug stating no store account found
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/issues/1585
winget install "9n4wgh0z6vhq" --source msstore --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements
May possibly be fixed July 31 2022