Classic Shell: Forum

Hi,
it is with great trepidation that I today took the step to get myself a mini laptop, in order 1) to get an internet bank (mine isn't compatible with XP - principally still partially against it, but ...) and 2) start the long and probably quite painful project of getting used to/accepting a OS version above my beloved WinXP. I was advised to go with Win7 Pro, which I now have on that laptop.

It is also with great trepidation that I now will get personal and lay out that the main reason why I still to this day have kept WinXP (with teeth and nails), don't have an internet bank, nor a smartphone for example (although there's the whole outside control issue with that as well), is that I have a disability, a personality disorder, namely OCPD.

I also have issues with anxiety/panic and such attacks, probably am a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person), have traits of autism, yada yada. (This for anyone reading to somewhat get a reference frame.) The point is that, being so dependent on my PCs (as anyone else today I suppose) - nota bene with XP only, phone etc, while having these ... challenges (read: impairments), to me Win7 is the end of world. As would a smartphone be.

Ironically, I used to work with computers, and did so during about 10 years ... with support above all, imagine. Technology accelerated so fast and so exponentially however, that I feel it passed my abilities ages ago, and now I just basically get super anxious and start crying for the littlest hickup, or anticipation of having to deal with such stuff (and that applies for so many other areas in life, for that matter).

Some things happened in my life in later years that also make me so much more frail mentally speaking; I assume that's part of why my nerves are on top of my skin like this. It's silly really, I hate it and having lost my capability to such a large extent, but that's how it is.

Hence, I found you (thankfully!). The problem now though, is that while I thought the settings would look like the ones on my PC, for which I saved all the ins & outs in a file (complete cheat sheet for any new installation I make) through the years, that I use every time I install a PC - thus be easy to find and customize, they do not. And most of them look like mumbo jumbo to me.

Is there anyone savvy out there, willing to help me out, if I give you my data (e.g. what settings I change for the Start Menu, Explorer and color scheme - yes, I have one of those too, same for my phone), and maybe able to do some kind of cheat sheet that I can follow tab by tab (at least for the settings that match)?

It seems like there isn't any Profile or Save settings & Import function that I could use, the way I do for for example Firefox. Hope this will be received with respect, even if maybe it's hard to really understand if not having any own experience or at least 2nd hand experience from this type mental issues. Thanks for reading.

(I'm not sure I posted in the right place, please excuse me if not/feel free to move the post - or share it. Also, of course I COULD go through all the options myself, troubleshooting, testing etc, but it would be at great personal cost and probably take me at least a couple weeks or more, when I would set aside my everyday life - that means eating properly and all - as I would be so consumed with getting this done, and right.)

My situation is very similar to yours -- I intend to keep XP forever on my desktop computer (in part because to switch would mean replacing expensive software I use only occasionally) and I am not happy having to use Windows 10, which is what's on the new mini laptop I just got. Don't blame your confusion on your disabilities! The first few days I was totally lost, though I too have had 10 years of long-ago professional computer experience.

I have different disabilities from yours: aging eyes (I'm 82) and hearing loss (I can't use voice phone at all) as well as physical limitations that make me dependent on my two computers. So I know how you feel. The changes from XP are bewildering and most of them I can see no good reason for. Everything is in a different place and is much more difficult to customize. All the settings are scattered. Moreover, the system demands individual permission for many changes and there's no way to log on permanently as an administrator even though I'm supposedly an administrative user. Nevertheless, I have finally managed to fix most of what I want customized.

The first thing to do is to install Classic Shell, which--assuming that you use the classic shell option on XP--makes the start menu look just like it if you use the classic skin. I can't provide any sort of cheat sheet for other things because I have Windows 10 instead of Windows 7, but the differences between 7 and 10 are less than differences between XP and 7, and at least they are explained in documentation that doesn't cover XP. If you tell me specifically what you want to do I will give you as much help as I can.

If you want to save or load your settings, use the Backup button in the Settings dialog. You can save all settings to XML file for backup or for transferring them to another machine.

Thank you. The problem is I want to "save" the settings I have on my XP machines to transfer to the Win7 machine though. I know which alterations I always make, only not what they would translate to in Classic Shell. I don't understand what most of the settings there mean.

Wow, thanks so much for your comforting words! My disabilities well ... it's a way to explain my confusion to others, and in part to myself at times as well. Sometimes I just don't know how to cope anymore. Although I wish both you and I wouldn't have to feel this way, I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

I totally agree - those are my thoughts exactly. I did install Classic Shell on my Win7 mini laptop, but then I got lost. Was supposed to sit with this the next couple weeks, amidst everything else, but just now I managed to lock myself out of my other WinXP laptop (disaster!); it doesn't take neither the administrator or my own PW, which I KNOW are correct, so I really don't know when I'll have time to fiddle with this one.

Once I do get to that however, I'd highly appreciate getting back to you (have to translate what it is that I want done from my Swedish cheat sheet first too) with what I can't find easily enough myself.

Classic Shell is not XP. It is a separate software with its own settings. There is no way to transfer any XP settings to Classic Shell.
If you know how you want to customize it, describe it here and we can help point you to the right settings.

I know - I understand that. It's the next best thing I've found though, to help me cope. Initially, I also did think there were more easily understandable, correlating setting as well. I regretfully came to that same conclusion with some help in any case, but gratefully accept the offer. However, now that I managed to lock myself out of my existing, was-functional XP laptop, I will have to deal with that first. Plus I have to translate what I need from Swedish (from my saved cheat sheet). It may take me a while, but I'll be back when it's time, thank you.

Well, lo and behold, she finally made it. I'm at the final stages of installing my Win 7 machine, and will be getting internet banking (incompatible with XP) on Tuesday. I'm quite proud of this accomplishment (relatively speaking, for me, it's a huge one) and also IMMENSELY grateful to the makers and helpers of Classic Shell - I don't know what I'd have done without you (well, I kind of do - I'd have panic attacks, high anxiety and whatnot for a long period ahead, and likely a new long standing aversion for using my PCs) ...

The Start menu is fine, except for the slight detail that I can't find where (if possible) to clear previously accessed documents. Not that I use that function very often (I use it too much to want to lose them, but just in case. Does that setting or function exist?

Other than that, the only problems and laments that I have, basically, are that I am not able to use my beloved Flash screensaver anymore (says it's corrupt and needs reinstalling, although I have Flash - but I found a decent replacement), and that WMP 11, which has a layout and functionality that suits my needs won't install. I looked for downgrades or WMP 11 for Win 7 versions, but all they do is mess up my machine. My old 10" Compaq mini also won't let me use Win XP mode/Win Virtual Machine, which might've solved the problem. Any tips or it's time to give up on WMP 11?

Last but no least, I'm missing the old Windows Explorer look. That seems to have been due to a mistake of mine though - not installing that feature when installing Classic Shell. Having spent days on fixing the Start menu and its settings now, I'd hate to have all my hard work disappear because of some stupid overwrite. Can I (re)install it with ONLY the Classic Explorer option ticked, without everything reverting to default? Or will I then have to import the XML-file (the backup I took) for it to look "as it should" (as I arranged it etc)?

Big thanks in advance!

To clear the recent documents list, right-click on "Recent Items" and select "Clear recent items list".

Thanks ... sounds really smooth, but I actually don't have that option in the menu that appears. I can only remove one item at the time. I mean that I'd like to clear all items under recent documents, in the menu ...? I'm using the Classic menu btw. Are we talking about the same spot, or am I looking in the wrong place?

I am talking about the folder called "Recent Items" in the Windows 7 menu and the Classic with two columns. In the Classic with one column it is called "Documents".
For me (on Windows 7) there is "Clear recent items list" in the context menu. It is provided by Windows, not the start menu. I don't know if it is available on all versions of Windows.

Regardless, the recent items is just a folder. Double-click on it to open in Explorer. Then select all and delete.

You must right click on the main parent folder called "Recent items" to see the "Clear..." verb.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Thanks both! Hadn't been notified of these responses, for some reason (in my mail), so just saw them now. Finally - found it! Thanks. So, that's that, and that's perfect (such a relief!!).

The Explorer I'm a little (a lot) less "friends" with however. Always used the Windows classic folders, so am ... quite disturbed at how I now have to have a menu row that I don't want or need at all, huge ugly buttons (in the "wrong" place) as well as Favorites and other unnecessary stuff (it seems to recreate Movies, Pictures and things although I keep deleting the sections?) in the left pane, while My documents isn't always left open (on open) as in my regular Explorer (please see pictures for what I'm used to getting on opening it - and what I'd like it to look and function like, vs the best I can get it too be on Win 7).

Is there anything else or more I can do in that area, or I just have to suck it up? As you can see, there's quite a bit of difference between them ...