After receiving nice replies after I said goodbye convinced me that I should not give up so I am back to windows 8. I don't mind eating crow. I am now using thunderbird for email & classic shell for start menu & bypassing the metro on start up. Very seldom will I have a reason to open the metro. I am also back to 15 secs start up & 5 secs shutdown. jimjoh
I am back after saying goodbye
- Thread starter jimjoh
- Start date
Don't worry about it - I come and go all the time
Classic Shell is the only way to go for those of us who only use the Desktop and don't have touchy/mobile stuff.
Have to disagree on that one. Ex7ForW8 is free and imports Explorer 7 from W7 installation disc, and provides a fully functional, original Win7 Orb Start Menu, plus aero. Win7 full suite of games can also be downloded free from here.
It provides two modes of use.
1. Explorer 7 mode with direct boot to desktop with Orb Start Menu, aero, etc; and Metro totally gone. Makes boot up even quicker as no Metro data to boot on start up.
2. Explorer 8 mode with native Metro and Windows 8 start screen and Orb Start Menu gone.
There is a toggle swtich in jump start menu, and one in Metro start screen, to swap from one mode to the other. It logs user off/on again each time the switch is made.
Wow, never heard of Ex7ForW8 - it may be a little more drastic than what I need, but I will surely look into it. Thanks for the pointer!
Well, Ex7ForW8 is pretty nice. Metro gone and all. But I'm not seeing the "plus Aero". How does one go about getting that to work?
It is possible with a bit of effort and searching around to get rid of many of the Win 8 annoyances.
Silly really, putting back what MS has taken out - and removing the new crap they have put in.
I found removing the apps. bloatware helped.
I removed them from the image before installing.
If you have the install.wim - you can improve the installation media noticeably. If you have the install.esd - you can't.
You can sort of do it after installing - but in that case, it just uninstalls the crapware for that user. The junk remains on your HD.
The way to get rid of the crapware (sort of ) after install and log in is like this:
You can put that in a batch file and run it.
You will still have the store app, metro ie and mail.
Then you can use whatever you like e.g. ext7for8 etc, to try and make the os behave vaguely sensibly.
Silly really, putting back what MS has taken out - and removing the new crap they have put in.
I found removing the apps. bloatware helped.
I removed them from the image before installing.
If you have the install.wim - you can improve the installation media noticeably. If you have the install.esd - you can't.
You can sort of do it after installing - but in that case, it just uninstalls the crapware for that user. The junk remains on your HD.
The way to get rid of the crapware (sort of ) after install and log in is like this:
Code:
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.Bing_1.2.0.137_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.BingFinance_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.BingMaps_1.2.0.136_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.BingNews_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.BingSports_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.BingTravel_1.2.0.145_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.BingWeather_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_16.4.4206.722_x64__8wekyb3d8bb
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.Reader_6.2.8516.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:microsoft.microsoftskydrive_16.4.4204.712_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:microsoft.windowsphotos_16.4.4204.712_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.ZuneMusic_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.ZuneVideo_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
DISM /Online /Remove-Provisionedappxpackage /PackageName:Microsoft.XboxLIVEGames_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbweYou can put that in a batch file and run it.
You will still have the store app, metro ie and mail.
Then you can use whatever you like e.g. ext7for8 etc, to try and make the os behave vaguely sensibly.
Welcome back--glad to hear it.
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I just tried Ex7ForW8, no AERO support. Not even mentioned in the readme.txt file.
Back to Stardock's Start8 for me ($4.99).
Back to Stardock's Start8 for me ($4.99).
Does Start8 provide Aero/Glass on the desktop? I don't think so, but I could be wrong...
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No. Nothing brings Aero Glass back yet.
I am needing my time to get used to this new flat windows, but I think I won't go back. I am also going back and forth with Windows 8, but it just runs significantly better than Windows 7 in my laptop and I prefer to have it. I found a combination of colors and rotating wallpapers in gray/black and white that I like enough. Now it looks more "artistic" than the lively and colorful Aero Glass. It's ok for me. Macs are also grey and they are nice, it's not the end of the world.
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No, Start8 does not give you Aero, but it doesn't replace Windows Explorer and so far I prefer to stay with the Windows 8 version which is why I switched back.
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Hooray! 
I have to disagree on classic shell, the Start Screen can literally be used as the start menu. The user needs to use it to take advantage of it. No need for the metro apps? Great, uninstall them. Only need Desktop apps and locations, awesome! Right click on folders, hard drives, Control Panel items, .exes, or Libraries and hit Pin to Start when you're on the Desktop. Arrange tiles accordingly. I personally keep my Libraries to the far left of the screen as I have a tendency (I wonder why
) of clicking on the bottom left corner of the Taskbar and getting to Start, then hitting Computer or some other Library location. I find that there really isn't a valid reason to putting "things" back that were "taken out" when things have morphed into something newer and better, one just needs to use it.
I have to disagree on classic shell, the Start Screen can literally be used as the start menu. The user needs to use it to take advantage of it. No need for the metro apps? Great, uninstall them. Only need Desktop apps and locations, awesome! Right click on folders, hard drives, Control Panel items, .exes, or Libraries and hit Pin to Start when you're on the Desktop. Arrange tiles accordingly. I personally keep my Libraries to the far left of the screen as I have a tendency (I wonder why
) of clicking on the bottom left corner of the Taskbar and getting to Start, then hitting Computer or some other Library location. I find that there really isn't a valid reason to putting "things" back that were "taken out" when things have morphed into something newer and better, one just needs to use it. Aero was working auotmatically after running Ex7ForW8 on W8 OEM Pro loaded from retail installation disc.
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As I said in my previous post, there was no AERO when I installed Ex7ForW8.
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Aero involves Desktop Window Manager (DWM) instead of Windows Explorer.
