[brainout]

I was tearing my hair out with my Win 7 computer until I found this site: http://www.sevenforu...hange-save.html

In Win7, you don't delete your old themes. You can still pick among them. Problem is, some DINGDONG doesn't make it clear in the Personalize menu that if you click on the theme, that automatically changes it. Right-clicking only offers to save an already-saved theme. Huh?

In XP, you could still specify a theme pack from Plus! (a Win95 set of great themes). I bet there's still a way to do it in Win7, but haven't found it yet.

Why MS makes life so difficult with every 'upgrade', I'll never know. Guess they like their stock tanking ever since Vista.

Tune Up Utilities will offer more tweaks for both Win7 and Win8, but I've not installed it yet to my just-purchased machines.

If you've found any added tips and tweaks, would you put them here? Thank you for your time!

[snorg]

Better make frequent disc image of your hard drive as you go brainout just in case you make a bad mistake.

[LiveBrianD]

If you modify a theme, it'll show up as unsaved, and then it makes sense to save it. 'Save for sharing' saves it to a file.

[brainout]

snorg, on 10 November 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Better make frequent disc image of your hard drive as you go brainout just in case you make a bad mistake.

Yes, wonderful snorg, I have Macrium Reflect 5 Pro for that. Clone is great, because I can boot from the clone on any computer, copy and use files, etc. It's a live copy of the boot drive. And to restore, I but boot in the clone, and copy the clone back to the original drive it came from. Wouldn't want to do any computing any more, without Macrium.

So the horror stories you hear about Win8 rollbacks to 7, won't affect me. I'll first make a clone, then install Win8 on my little Acer, test drive it to verify whether what I think is wrong with it IS wrong (for I still have to recommend whether to get it, to my clients) -- and then restore the whole thing via the clone made pre-installation. Even MS warns that you cannot successfully uninstall Win8, in its System builder and Win8 upgrade product pages, in Amazon. (I think they warn of that in MS own websites too, but I don't remember where.)

This post has been edited by brainout: 12 November 2012 - 02:17 AM

[brainout]

LiveBrianD, on 10 November 2012 - 04:44 PM, said:

If you modify a theme, it'll show up as unsaved, and then it makes sense to save it. 'Save for sharing' saves it to a file.

Correct. Sad thing is it won't accept previous themes created for Windows Classic. I might try a workaround, renaming the .theme as .themepack, but it's not enough of an issue for me to futz with. My beefs with Win7 are the difficulty of creating the task bar setup, having to reset the UAC on key files (for it doesn't work, to set UAC permission level down to the bottom of the slider, since the UAC is overriden by MS on key folders like AppData), and the number of keystrokes to get where I need to go in file management, versus the easier function of XP.

I spent 12 hours yesterday merely changing the interface, and didn't yet have time to download or install, any of my vital programs except for 123, Adobe, Flash, Firefox, Chrome. I understand WHY MS changed the file management and taskbar setup, etc. But as usual, their defaults are insanely unintuitive and unproductive. The 'Pro' edition should have the MOST flexibility, allowing the user, who is presumed to be a pro, to configure himself as he sees fit. But at least there are no search dogs, and that Search in the Start menu, is nice. Also, TuneUp Utilities 2012 works very well in Win7, and it has workarounds for the more annoying aspects of Win7, including its Styler, which allows you do do a lot to make Windows look and act, as you desire. Its 2013 version is already compatible with Win8 (bears the Win8 logo), so I would imagine that it can do a lot to overcome user objections to Win8.

Two products I cannot live without, both discovered since my 'main' computer died in May: Macrium, and TuneUp. Both programs have their annoyances and difficulties, but baby -- without them, I won't run my post-Win98 machines anymore.

This post has been edited by brainout: 12 November 2012 - 02:22 AM

[brainout]

UPDATE: okay, I just had my first Win 7 successful formatting and closing a DVD session with DVD+RW that never worked in XP. In XP, I have to use either Roxio or Nero, and both of those programs are problemmatic. I have other CD/DVD burning software from several other vendors, but all of them provoke problems.

By contrast, this Win7 formatting and copying (aka 'burning') was a sweet experience, baby. When PRIOR to purchasing my Win7 machine, I read the Microsoft instructions for formatting and writing to a DVD in Win7, I wanted to vomit, thinking, Oh why can't they make this simple?

Well, in practice it is simple. Formatting is a cinch. The only hangup is that in (right-click) 'Properties' you have to check the Recording tab's 'Global Settings', along with designating the disk for sharing, etc. 'Global Settings' tells the machine whether to CLOSE (make readable on any machine) the disc after a session ends. So, if you're not yet done writing to it, you would leave the check box unmarked for multi-session or probably leave both boxes unchecked, so you can eject the disk and later finish it.

Of course, in the 'Sharing' tab you need to select Advanced Sharing, and set the 'Permissions' button there so that 'Everyone' has 'full control', assuming you want your recipient (i.e., you, on another computer) to have full access. And, you want 'Caching' Button's answer to be 'All files and programs that users open from this shared folder are automatically available offline' (which is not the default).

NOTE: you can select these options for the DRIVE, irrespective of whether a DVD is in the drive at the time.

That's neat. Also, it didn't take but maybe 10 minutes for a 3.9 GB file to transfer to the DVD, and yeah I can read that file in XP after 'closing' the session (which happens when you eject, if back in 'Global Settings' you specified one-session then close upon eject).

Also, web surfing is somewhat faster and smoother with Win7 using the same Firefox configuration as I had on my XP (synched settings, so I know they were the same). That's a significant plus.

Nice to be able to compliment Win7, for a change.

This post has been edited by brainout: 12 November 2012 - 11:59 AM

[snorg]

I use older version of Nero for burning works great, newer versions are total crap.

[brainout]

snorg, on 12 November 2012 - 09:24 PM, said:

I use older version of Nero for burning works great, newer versions are total crap.

True. I got the older Nero version too; but compared to what I had with Roxio before Windows XP updates made Roxio unstable, even old Nero was not as good. Also, Nero and Roxio demand DMA mode. So if the drive has too many glitches, it defaults to PIO mode, and you cannot override the registry or fix it in Device manager.

PS: I just learned that DigiConcepts is selling XP Pro System Builder NEW, at Amazon. They have 19 copies left. I bought my XP Pro retail NEW copies from them, and now must decide how many SB to buy. Thought you'd want to know, in case you wanted to get them, too.

This post has been edited by brainout: 13 November 2012 - 06:25 PM

[brainout]

snorg, on 10 November 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Better make frequent disc image of your hard drive as you go brainout just in case you make a bad mistake.

Guess what? If you still have the old 'Plus!' themes left from Windows 98, you can make them work on Win7!

• Simply copy your THEMES folder from XP, and the ENTIRE Plus! folder and
• all your sound folder contents
• to Win7
• in the SAME locations they were in XP (i.e., Plus! was located in Program Files).
• Then, go into the Plus! folder and click on THEMES.EXE.
• Then pick one of the themes you either stored in XP, or those stored in the Plus! folder.
• If you didn't port over all your sounds and pictures to GO with that theme, you can port the sounds and pictures over afterwards, because the names are there. If that doesn't work, redo steps 1-6 AFTER copying over the right files to the SAME locations they are in XP.

The only thing I still can't retrovert, is the Start Menu. It's still in that clunky double-column TOO BIG format. Oh: and I can't get top AND bottom desktop toolbars, either.

This post has been edited by brainout: 20 November 2012 - 12:19 AM

[snorg]

brainout, on 13 November 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

PS: I just learned that DigiConcepts is selling XP Pro System Builder NEW, at Amazon. They have 19 copies left. I bought my XP Pro retail NEW copies from them, and now must decide how many SB to buy. Thought you'd want to know, in case you wanted to get them, too.

I dont need that, I still have my old OEM copy of XP, it always gets activated no matter what I stick it in.

I wont be getting win7 or 8, not after what you have said about it.
The closest Ive got to Win7 is fixing up my friends laptop, it mite be ok for the "average user" but I dont like it.
I just put in a more powerful video card so I made a new image.

[LiveBrianD]

Actually, OEM copies aren't supposed to do that. That said, I did use an OEM Dell copy of XP on multiple machines at once, one of which wasn't even a Dell, and never got any activation errors.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 21 November 2012 - 09:10 AM

[brainout]

snorg, on 21 November 2012 - 08:51 AM, said:

brainout, on 13 November 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

PS: I just learned that DigiConcepts is selling XP Pro System Builder NEW, at Amazon. They have 19 copies left. I bought my XP Pro retail NEW copies from them, and now must decide how many SB to buy. Thought you'd want to know, in case you wanted to get them, too.

I dont need that, I still have my old OEM copy of XP, it always gets activated no matter what I stick it in.

I wont be getting win7 or 8, not after what you have said about it.
The closest Ive got to Win7 is fixing up my friends laptop, it mite be ok for the "average user" but I dont like it.
I just put in a more powerful video card so I made a new image.

Well, I'm not done evaluating Win7; it isn't all bad. The quirks all have workarounds, including a way to get your old themes in XP or even Win95, to register and function in Win7.

The blowup with it having to be cloned back with Clonezilla, is a big issue for me. Even so, that is a workaround, too. Some things in Win7 are handy: media center, its ability to format and write to DVD, its explanations of things are superior to what XP offers. It has 'Libraries' organization as an OPTION (not forced), which I don't like but you might. Idea is you can take stuff on any number of other drives or directories, and compile them all into one listing. That's different from putting everything in one folder. It's a kind of Table of Contents for other folders. It's easy to do: right-click, and one of the options is 'include in Library'. So it's as easy, if not easier, than creating a shortcut. And in Windows Explorer, the Libraries shows up in the pane, just above your Documents.

Windows Explorer no longer allows the up button, but I'll try to find a workaround to that.

Next, just as you have the Compatibility Mode in XP, the same dialogue box is in Win7, and includes XP as a compatibility mode. This is not the same as the 64-bit Win7 XP Mode. I'm tallking of 32-bit Win7, not 64-bit.

Search in Win7 is MUCH faster, almost instantaneous; and includes text searches. I'm hoping that this time it can search in WordPerfect files, but haven't yet tested that. (I can't get XP to text-search WordPerfect files, and I have a TON of them.)

Moviemaker 6.0, which works with Pixelan, is also in Win7, and it's better than XP's; FINALLY you can see the preview of the video fullscreen, and you can make HD videos, if you've got the codecs. That matters a lot to me, for I make a TON of HD videos in Youtube (brainouty). I have a small but very active set of viewers for those Bible-geek videos, so I have to find an easier way to make them. Takes me 8 hours to compile each video, at present; so I'm hoping that 6.0 will lessen the time hassle. Will make a new thread in here, if it does.

Win7's MM6.0 lacks the nice colored timeline, instead opting for an all-white interface (but DOES have the timeline, which Live Moviemaker does NOT have). If you're interested in Moviemaker 6.0, you can download it free, but I'm not sure you can get it to run in XP, didn't try that. See my 'Pixelan' thread for the link.

There are other things to like about Win7. Most importantly, it will be supported through 2017, so you'll need to have something. Since you can buy a Win7 machine for about $300, it would be smart to at least get one: dell auction sells them and INCLUDES the OEM reinstallation disk. That's where I bought my Win7 Pro machine, for $225. 2GB RAMM, 3.0 GHz, Optiplex desktop, Core 2 Duo; but they have later versions, including i3 through i7, probably second-generation or even first. But they have tablets and laptops too with Win7 Pro on them. Not too many, but enough.

So I'm still a fangirl of XP, but Win7 isn't as bad as Win8. (I also bought a Vista machine, but haven't yet set it up.) The compelling reason for me to get Win7, IS Win8's removal of features which make Win7, tolerable and even sometimes nice. You lose the Media center, the abillity to play and format DVDs, for example. You lose the easier file management system of Win7, which is less easy than XP, but still tolerable enough. Point is, Win7 will remain for a longer time, and who knows when internetting becomes difficult, because XP stops being supported by webhosts or webpage builders.

By this time next year, it will be very difficult to buy a Win7 machine.

This post has been edited by brainout: 21 November 2012 - 11:09 AM

[smax013]

brainout, on 21 November 2012 - 10:43 AM, said:

There are other things to like about Win7. Most importantly, it will be supported through 2017

Actually, "Mainstream" support is through 2015 and "Extended" support is through 2020.

http://support.micro...alpha=Windows+7

[brainout]

smax013, on 23 November 2012 - 10:01 PM, said:

brainout, on 21 November 2012 - 10:43 AM, said:

There are other things to like about Win7. Most importantly, it will be supported through 2017

Actually, "Mainstream" support is through 2015 and "Extended" support is through 2020.

http://support.micro...alpha=Windows+7

Yeah, I was mixing it up with extended support for Vista through 2017, click here. Thank you for the correction!

[LiveBrianD]

Considering how little extended support XP has left and its' user share, I don't think it's anything to worry about with Vista. 7 is still a nicer OS though.

[brainout]

LiveBrianD, on 24 November 2012 - 08:27 AM, said:

Considering how little extended support XP has left and its' user share, I don't think it's anything to worry about with Vista. 7 is still a nicer OS though.

Win7 definitely has its charms: the search function, truly easy DVD formatting and copying: so unlike the MS instructions, which mislead the reader into thinking Win7's DVD function is convoluted; I keep on downloading stuff to DVD now, just to get rid of my DVDs and enjoy how easily Win7 makes them work (am doing it now, as I type here on the Vista machine). Win7 also allows almost 100% classic themes; am still testing that.

So I'm not sorry I got it. Far better than Vista, especially if you download MovieMaker 6.0, which was native to Vista, is removed from Win7, but can be added for free download from MS. That version of MovieMaker is stunningly wonderful. Win7's Live Moviemaker, by contrast, is awful, as explained in my 'Pixelan' post. But all that is obviated if one uses Moviemaker 6.0, instead. Hooray!

But XP's file management is far easier versus either Vista or Win7; the fact I can have top and bottom toolbars locked in XP (and Vista), is important. Sometimes a Windows crash renders the bottom taskbar unusable. So one needs two of them. Also, one can have more icons to avoid using the Start Menu, so the latter can function as a listing of the other programs seldom used. I know Win7 has a handy search and All Programs, but it only works on one selection at a time, and you have to scroll to see them all. Same problem in Win8; because it's designed for touch, its All Programs function scrolls sideways, with only a few rows per screen: very annoying. By contrast, the old-fashioned Win95 menu system better organizes programs all in one glance, no searching.

[LiveBrianD]

See? I figured you'd get used it eventually.

I've never had issues with the file management though. One thing you might want to try is changing the setting in folder options so that each window is under a different process - if one freezes, it doesn't bring down the rest. (this does use a bit more RAM though) To be honest, I rarely use the All Programs menu there nowadays, thanks to the search feature.

[brainout]

Click here for the updated link on converting Win7 to XP style or classic. The link I posted first in the topic, couldn't go directly to the site, back then. It's a 7-category process, so you can mix and match what categories of XP style you want to change.

[brainout]

brainout, on 13 December 2012 - 09:49 PM, said:

Click here for the updated link on converting Win7 to XP style or classic. The link I posted first in the topic, couldn't go directly to the site, back then. It's a 7-category process, so you can mix and match what categories of XP style you want to change.

One more time, here's the updated link: http://www.sevenforu...s-xp-style.html . I don't know why it keeps bombing out in PC World posts.

[brainout]

LiveBrianD, on 24 November 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

See? I figured you'd get used it eventually.

I've never had issues with the file management though. One thing you might want to try is changing the setting in folder options so that each window is under a different process - if one freezes, it doesn't bring down the rest. (this does use a bit more RAM though) To be honest, I rarely use the All Programs menu there nowadays, thanks to the search feature.

UPDATE: The file management in Win7 is still a nightmare. Too many sections with the same name like My Videos and My Documents, eternally confusing. I'm still trying figure out if I can hide the 'wrong' ones. But meanwhile, I learned about Win7's speech recognition. That All Programs thing is a nightmare too, but speech recognition -- once trained -- will just open a program on command, open a browser, go to an address, etc. It's not flawless, but it does recognize Windows jargon. Like, if I had it on and said 'open Firefox', then 'New Tab', and then name one of the thumnails on the tab -- any part of that text -- it will take me to the site. So I can be working on one computer, and telling the other what to do.

If Windows 8 has a superior speech recognition function, that alone will make it worth the upgrade, because then I don't have to guess at navigation, structure, interface. And I don't have to LOOK at it either, for I can code speech recognition into the boot, and just say 'Desktop'! Bypassing those Easter Egg Hunt Controls (EEHC) and FisherPrice Ugly Tiles (FPUT)!