Can You Convince Me To Upgrade To Windows 7

[JetsetBkk]

My comments in blue color..

The first one will be to either move the program out of 'Program Files' (I actually run it on my XP machine on an external USB HD "work" folder) or modify the program to create the command files in the %USERPROFILE% folder, which is 'C:\Documents and Settings\{username}' in XP, and 'C:\Users\{username}' in Win7. I'll try the latter first as suggested by Welo.

You wouldn't want to rely to much on me on that matter, since I mostly do server-side programming in Java. I just know that the created files should be somewhere else than the program files directory, but I'm not familiar with Windows programming guide lines and the 'responsibilities' of specific directories. The Windows API provides functions to lookup specific folders, see here and here. Not sure what programming language you use, if you do batch coding there are corresponding environment variables.

<snip>

Well, welo, I'm glad I did try running the program from the user profile folder, because it worked! No more UAC problems - I could create and run command files with no errors.

Just one little spanner in the works (may have been introduced in Vista) which was that Explorer shows the "My Documents" folder in the \Users\<username>\ folder, but it isn't actually called "My Documents". It's called "Documents". So the Explorer name is probably there for some "backwards compatibility" but any program trying to write to it will fail, as mine did. Once that was found and sorted, the program worked.

So, thanks again for the suggestion.

[JetsetBkk]

So.... I installed this new fangled os, goldiggitydangit. Uhm? WOW? So like EVERYTHING works without installing drivers? &lt;deleted&gt;. Where is my hours of endless browsing on ANOTHER machine to find drivers and work arounds to get my internet working like I did with Vista? I feel so cheated!!

I am seriously shocked, my printer works, my wifi card, my high end video card... everyting, right after installing win 7. Then with windows update it quickly got more updated drivers for other things too. This is by far the best and easiest new os installation.

Liked it so much I decided to "try" installing it on my old laptop that used to run xp. Sonofabitch.... it is now 3 times as fast and again it installed all the drivers and updated them easily, windows 7 is a godsend. My girlfriend has stopped bugging me to buy her a laptop since the old one was so bogged down and slow, win 7 made it a whole new pc.

Thanks, Bill, for your input.

[Sabum]

I dont think Bill would have started off by criticising Vista hehe. But I did find one ridiculous problem with 7.... homegroup, the new network system windows 7 uses, wow, seems like no one on the net can get it to work. How did they release such a stupid setup, like they didnt test it. Also, Im having serious typing issues on thaivisa.com since installing win7, I cannot delete and I cannot insert the cursor inside a paragrap...I cant even see the cursor, I can type in a straight line though.... strange.

[JetsetBkk]

I dont think Bill would have started off by criticising Vista hehe. But I did find one ridiculous problem with 7.... homegroup, the new network system windows 7 uses, wow, seems like no one on the net can get it to work. How did they release such a stupid setup, like they didnt test it. Also, Im having serious typing issues on thaivisa.com since installing win7, I cannot delete and I cannot insert the cursor inside a paragrap...I cant even see the cursor, I can type in a straight line though.... strange.

I was using Windows Explorer today on a Win7 machine and I can't find my way around using the "tree" view in the left pane.

Hopefully there's a way of configuring the view so it looks more like XP's Explorer with the +'s and -'s in a box next to the name, and with greater indenting of sub-folders so you can tell what the structure is.

[Sabum]

I dont think Bill would have started off by criticising Vista hehe. But I did find one ridiculous problem with 7.... homegroup, the new network system windows 7 uses, wow, seems like no one on the net can get it to work. How did they release such a stupid setup, like they didnt test it. Also, Im having serious typing issues on thaivisa.com since installing win7, I cannot delete and I cannot insert the cursor inside a paragrap...I cant even see the cursor, I can type in a straight line though.... strange.

I was using Windows Explorer today on a Win7 machine and I can't find my way around using the "tree" view in the left pane.

Hopefully there's a way of configuring the view so it looks more like XP's Explorer with the +'s and -'s in a box next to the name, and with greater indenting of sub-folders so you can tell what the structure is.

Maybe you missed the little triangular arrows sitting in front of the drive icons in explorer on the left pane? If you click them they react exactly like the + and - of old. Click the arrow and it turns to point down and drops the drive contents down in a list, click again and the arrow points sideways and hides the list.

[Ponbkk]

I have Window 7 on a new computer. Having had XP on my old computer, there are MANY things on Windows 7 I am VERY happy with. However, if I had known about Windows 7 File Explorer problems I would have NEVER upgraded from XP to Windows 7.

The WORST problem in Windows 7 is annoying auto-scrolling of the left "navigation" pane. If you like to keep your files organized and scroll through masses of files at a time you will be very annoyed with this in Windows 7 and wish for the old XP style. You open a folder in the right pane and then the left pane autoscrolls to the bottom, NOT stays where it is or to the top depending on the situation as it did in XP (it is strange that the autoscrolling of the folder view in the Windows 7 start menu seems to be correct). It is a known problem having drawn lots of complaints in user testing and was ignored in developement. Microsft support technicians claim it was "by design" yet no one seems to be able to EXPLAIN this "design". See here for a good example explaining all this annoyance in: 

social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7files/thread/50a81b05-da98-4d55-821d-55ffbbd0e998 .

I don't think Supreeth B understood the original post. To clarify:

If you expand any folder in the left-hand pane without first clicking on the folder to display the contents in the right hand pane, the folder will remain in its current position and expand as it has in past versions of Windows. I.E. - The folder stays in its position under the mouse curser unless there are a sufficient number of sub-folders to force the folder to scroll up.

However, if you first click on the folder to display its contents in the right-hand pane and THEN click to expand the folder, it will jump (or scroll) to the bottom of the left-hand pane. This will occur even if there are enough sub-folders that it would normally scroll UP.

But, this action will only happen the first time you click through the sequence of displaying the contents and then expanding. After that (until you open Explorer again) it works correctly -- the folder will maintain its location in the left-hand pane (under the mouse cursor) unless there are enough sub-folders to force it to scroll up.

So, if this action only happens when if you first click the folder to display the contents in the right-hand pane and then doesn't happen again (with that folder) in the current Explorer session, it can't possibly be by design or working as intended. How could it be? It's inconsistent, doesn't make sense in the context of how Windows Explorer has worked in the past, and doesn't offer any value to the user's experience. I'd argue that it is a major inconvenience because you are forced to continually move the folder back to where you are working.

There are two options to do with this in Folder Navigation Pane options and no combination of the options is satisfactory. Just Google "annoying windows 7 navigation pane autoscrolling".

The folder up arrow button is missing in Windows 7. A hack is to use alt-uparrow which of course causes you to jump from mouse to typing. I think MS did this to minimize users being annoyed by going "up" the folder tree into folders that are hardwired as inaccessible due to various legacy folder structures and new "networking" issues left over from XP/Win95,3.1 etc. You will get "inaccessible" mesages navigating through the tree. Navigating the stack is different, you need to get used to it, I don't see it as an improvement.

The file system is problematic in Windows 7. Media files are now organized under video, music, ... libraries. That makes sense. However, most of the applications you use will still want to store files under the My Documents/ My This-or-that structure or mix media under their own upper level folders. Sure shortcuts, adding folders to libraries, etc can straighten out some of the mess. The resultant manner in which files are stored in Windows 7 is very non-intuitive and not something children should be proud of seeing for the first time or expected to "understand". It's just legacy, not anything by design.

Many other users are complaining about saving folder settings not working well. I can't understand why if you have extensive width in any Explorer folder display why you still have to widen each column manually.

Many XP users will long for the old XP explorer after upgrading to W7.

[Supernova]

Many other users are complaining about saving folder settings not working well. I can't understand why if you have extensive width in any Explorer folder display why you still have to widen each column manually.

The problem first appeared in Vista. One would expect MS to have sorted this out in Windows 7, but apparently not...

Windows Explorer Folder View settings

[bkkmick]

We have some old back office software written in VisualBasic that I have to support. Can VB6 run on Windows 7?

Thanks

[Supernova]

We have some old back office software written in VisualBasic that I have to support. Can VB6 run on Windows 7?

Thanks

Yes, according to this support statement.

[Sabum]

Ponbkk, I tried many times to replicate that problem you posted a quote from... I dont have that problem, maybe it was fixed in an update? If I click the folder in the left pane to open its contents in the right, then expand the folder in the left nothing happens, there is no scrolling at all, the folder stays exactly where it was and the files drop down below.

[bkkmick]

Thanks for the link Supernova. Looks like after Win7 VB6 will no longer be supported (and good riddance to it!)

[JetsetBkk]

I was using Windows Explorer today on a Win7 machine and I can't find my way around using the "tree" view in the left pane.

Hopefully there's a way of configuring the view so it looks more like XP's Explorer with the +'s and -'s in a box next to the name, and with greater indenting of sub-folders so you can tell what the structure is.

Maybe you missed the little triangular arrows sitting in front of the drive icons in explorer on the left pane? If you click them they react exactly like the + and - of old. Click the arrow and it turns to point down and drops the drive contents down in a list, click again and the arrow points sideways and hides the list.

Are you having a laugh? No, of course I saw them. They're called "tree twisties" I believe. I don't like that style much and prefer the +'s and -'s, but that's just me

But the real problem for me is that the sub-folder indentation is only half as much as on XP so you don't get a clear tree view. The list of folders is more like a wobbly vertical list than a clear tree structure.

Sorry about the quality of the Win7 image, but you can see that the indentation is a lot less than in XP:

.

[JetsetBkk]

I have Window 7 on a new computer. Having had XP on my old computer, there are MANY things on Windows 7 I am VERY happy with. However, if I had known about Windows 7 File Explorer problems I would have NEVER upgraded from XP to Windows 7.

The WORST problem in Windows 7 is annoying auto-scrolling of the left "navigation" pane.

<snip>

Many XP users will long for the old XP explorer after upgrading to W7.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I realise now that this is also one of the problems I have, but couldn't figure out why Win7 Explorer was such a pain.

So when I click on a folder in the right pain to list the sub-folders inside it, that folder name jumps to the bottom of the pane thereby hiding all the sub-folders - which is exactly the opposite of what I want it to do. Microsoft's response that it was "by design" is laughable.

Why didn't Microsoft just make the operating system work better and leave the appearance alone? Do they think that people buy their stuff just because it looks good? - their opinion, not mine. I get this mental picture of a room full of snotty nosed school leavers writing Windows 7 code and some old guy in his office signing off all this crap as "OK for release".

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

The folder up arrow button is missing in Windows 7. <snip>

Many XP users will long for the old XP explorer after upgrading to W7.

That's one change I did notice. So now I have to go to the path at the top of the screen, work out where the parent folder's name is and click on that.

I wonder which cock-up in the design has made them remove that useful feature?

[Supernova]

<snip>

The folder up arrow button is missing in Windows 7. <snip>

Many XP users will long for the old XP explorer after upgrading to W7.

That's one change I did notice. So now I have to go to the path at the top of the screen, work out where the parent folder's name is and click on that.

I wonder which cock-up in the design has made them remove that useful feature?

I assume you're referring to the "Up One Level" toolbar button like in XP? Try this.

EDIT:

If you can't get the installer to work, download the shell extension binaries HERE. Extract the 7z package and copy UpOneLevel_3.0.dll to the %WINDIR% or %WINDIR%\system32 folder.

Register the file by using the following command: "regsvr32 UpOneLevel_3.0.dll"

Edited February 4, 2010 by Supernova

[JetsetBkk]

I assume you're referring to the "Up One Level" toolbar button like in XP? Try this.

EDIT:

If you can't get the installer to work, download the shell extension binaries HERE. Extract the 7z package and copy UpOneLevel_3.0.dll to the %WINDIR% or %WINDIR%\system32 folder.

Register the file by using the following command: "regsvr32 UpOneLevel_3.0.dll"

Thanks SN - I'll give it a go next time I'm at my friend's PC

[Sabum]

I absolutely cannot find this scrolling problem you are all referring to, perhaps you all need to update? I am actually feeling quite left out, tried everything to find this problem and I simply dont have it.

[JetsetBkk]

I absolutely cannot find this scrolling problem you are all referring to, perhaps you all need to update? I am actually feeling quite left out, tried everything to find this problem and I simply dont have it.

It's all explained here: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums...1d-55ffbbd0e998

[welo]

I assume you're referring to the "Up One Level" toolbar button like in XP? Try this.

This will just add an entry in the context menu, not a toolbar button. 2 clicks instead of one, not really convenient

I used to use the Up button excessively in XP, never liked the history back button, never liked the directory structure pane, not sure why, probably just a habit. However, in Windows 7 I just use the path in the address bar to navigate.

What I never understood is why is it so difficult to make the Explorer toolbar configurable like in other applications (Internet Explorer, Office, etc).

welo

[Supernova]

This will just add an entry in the context menu, not a toolbar button. 2 clicks instead of one, not really convenient

However, in Windows 7 I just use the path in the address bar to navigate.

As inconvenient as it may seem, sometimes I prefer using it instead of the address bar. I've forced myself to use the address bar, but can't seem to get use to it.

The UP button is one of those little things MS should have left alone.

I used to use the Up button excessively in XP, never liked the history back button, never liked the directory structure pane, not sure why, probably just a habit.

Ditto.

An old habit from Windows 9x perhaps...

[welo]

An old habit from Windows 9x perhaps...

Maybe...

I'm aware that what we like or dislike often has to do with traditions and habits. That's why I like the whole discussion on Windows 7. IT folks often just want to have the latest/newest gadget, whereas others are opposing new technologies and products just because they are different from what they are used to.

That's why I try to keep an open mind on those topics. However, I once joined a discussion with DOpus developers (a 2-pane-style file manager) why they don't support the '..' parent directory entry to navigate to the parent folder. Their position was ridiculous, they would not really bring arguments but forfeit the idea as an 'archaic relic of the 1970s' - well, I wasn't even born back then let alone could use a computer

To me it's all about speed. The further away the button is, the longer it takes to execute the action. Furthermore the back button has a different behavior in some situations, and clicking the path to navigate up needs more time since the location that you have to click is not always the same (since the length of the path varies with the folder structure).

Of course to me this is no reason to abandon or completely dislike a product, however, I don't really understand this design choice (reason is probably less clutter).

But I know I don't have to convince you

Btw who the heck needs a Burn, Share With or Include in Library button on a regular basis??

welo

[Sabum]

For some reason I can only replicate this"bug" if I FIRST expand the folder, then it scrolls up. Everyone else is complaining about the opposite happening, first opening the drive so the contents are shown on the right THEN expanding the folder and it scrolls up. Strange I am the opposite.

[JetsetBkk]

For some reason I can only replicate this"bug" if I FIRST expand the folder, then it scrolls up. Everyone else is complaining about the opposite happening, first opening the drive so the contents are shown on the right THEN expanding the folder and it scrolls up. Strange I am the opposite.

No we're not and no you're not.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums...1d-55ffbbd0e998

However, if you first click on the folder to display its contents in the right-hand pane and THEN click to expand the folder, it will jump (or scroll) to the bottom of the left-hand pane. This will occur even if there are enough sub-folders that it would normally scroll UP.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

clicking the path to navigate up needs more time since the location that you have to click is not always the same (since the length of the path varies with the folder structure).

<snip>

Exactly my problem - the folder names are different lengths so you have to read and search the path for where you want to go, rather than click once or twice to get there.

I have a folder on my desktop full of explorer short-cuts to useful folders on my various drives.

No matter which drive or folder I am in, if I click the explorer up arrow enough times I always end up at the desktop, so I can open the short-cuts folder and click on a short-cut to go to any folder on any drive.

[welo]

I have a folder on my desktop full of explorer short-cuts to useful folders on my various drives.

No matter which drive or folder I am in, if I click the explorer up arrow enough times I always end up at the desktop, so I can open the short-cuts folder and click on a short-cut to go to any folder on any drive.

I also love to use the desktop as a 'launch pad' for my apps and folders. But I see the main advantage in arranging the icons on a 2-dimensional area instead of being just a list or menu driven system which is slow to access. WIN+D will minimize all windows and display the desktop (there used to be the 'show desktop' icon in the quick launch bar in Windows XP - well, the whole quick launch bar is gone in Win7 replaced by the system of pinning apps to the taskbar, which is basically the same, but no 'show desktop' icon anymore ).

Stardock has a nice free app called 'Fences' that helps arranging the icons in logical groups, see the screenshot...

However, I am still waiting for somebody who would turn the desktop into a visually enhanced launch system where you can combine flat icons with lists, submenus, etc.

Once I was hoping on the desktop gadget coders to offer gadgets that could accomplish this, but didn't find anything.

All the docks and sidebar launchers are nice and good, but I want to take advantage of the whole screen. It's just so much more intuitive to have all web tools on the lower left corner, the system tools lined up on the right, folders line up along the top, etc.

I know old habits die hard. But maybe it's time to try something new...

I've been examining the possibilities of Windows 7's task bar.

Found Jumplist Launcher, a nice little app that can be used to create an alternative launch list grouped by categories or whatever inside the Windows task bar.

Currently I'm trying to bring back my 'show desktop' button with the help of Windows own toolbar features. Right-click the task bar and you can add your own toolbar based on the contens of any folder on your harddrive. You can then choose to display no text, and switch to large icons. Not sure yet how to move that dam_n thing right next to the windows start menu though...

Oh well, silly me. Just found out that you can click the bar at the very right end of the task bar to show the desktop.

welo

[Supernova]

Currently I'm trying to bring back my 'show desktop' button with the help of Windows own toolbar features.

What exactly do you mean? A quick launch icon like in XP? Click for details.

The "show desktop" is at the end of the Taskbar (to the right of the clock); just hover your mouse over it.

Here's a Vista feature you may want to add -- 'Switch between windows'. Works similar to ALT+TAB but better IMO.

1. Create a shortcut anywhere on the Desktop;

2. In the location box type in: C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe DwmApi #105

3. Open shortcut properties to change the default icon to imageres.dll, and Pin shortcut to Taskbar (optional).

[nikster]

Oh well, silly me. Just found out that you can click the bar at the very right end of the task bar to show the desktop.

welo

I believe you can also hit Windows-M on the keyboard for the same effect. M for minimize, minimizes all windows.

[welo]

I believe you can also hit Windows-M on the keyboard for the same effect. M for minimize, minimizes all windows.

Windows-D works better IMHO. Press it again and all the windows will come back again.

[welo]

What exactly do you mean? A quick launch icon like in XP? Click for details.

The "show desktop" is at the end of the Taskbar (to the right of the clock); just hover your mouse over it.

Yes, that's what I meant at the end of my post Will use that for now, if I'm not happy with it I will come back to your link to bring back the 'Show Desktop' icon. Thanks.

Here's a Vista feature you may want to add -- 'Switch between windows'. Works similar to ALT+TAB but better IMO.

Yeah, I like that too and use it all the time. Just hit WIN+TAB

It definitely looks better than ALT-TAB but I still haven't made up my mind yet whether it isn't actually slower to switch.

Btw did you get what I meant with using the desktop as application and shortcut launcher, combining simple shortcuts, lists and submenus? Do you know anything like that? Couldn't find anything so far but only sidebars, toolbars, taskbar replacements etc.

welo

Edited February 7, 2010 by welo

[JetsetBkk]

I have a folder on my desktop full of explorer short-cuts to useful folders on my various drives.

No matter which drive or folder I am in, if I click the explorer up arrow enough times I always end up at the desktop, so I can open the short-cuts folder and click on a short-cut to go to any folder on any drive.

I also love to use the desktop as a 'launch pad' for my apps and folders.

<snip>

What I like about my folder full of short-cuts, which is on the desktop, is that I can give the short-cuts any name I like - which means I can make the most popular ones appear at the top of the list, and can access them from any application that brings up a "browse" window.

Also, one of the XP features that I cannot - will not - do without is the folder toolbars on the left, right or top of the desktop screen. With these I can navigate to any drive, any folder, any file by hovering the mouse over the toolbar that appears on - on my PC - the right side of the desk top.

To create them, it starts with right clicking on the task bar and then on "Toolbars" and then on "New Toolbar". Then browse to and select the required folder and it will appear on the task bar. You can then drag it onto the desktop and then drag it on to the right side (or left or top) of the desktop screen. Then you can add as many other Explorer toolbars as you like to fill that side of the screen. This gives you instant access to any place on your hard drive by merely hovering the mouse - once you've clicked to open the folder. All sub-folders are expanded automatically.

Obviously, I've got the desktop as one of these folders, so I can get to every desktop short cut, including the folder full of other short cuts. It is so powerful is beggars belief that Win7 doesn't have it.

It's just one of the features that many XP users are complaining about when they give Win7 a try and find it's not there.

Actually, many XP users don't know about this feature and are amazed when I show them what can be done with it.