Application: Classic Shell

Originally Posted by Andrea Borman

And if we are forced to go on Windows 8,which I hope never happens.

You won't be forced to buy Windows 8. New machines will have it but it's always been that way. I do find it bizarre how you seem to dislike windows 8 and it's not even in beta yet.
I'm looking forward to windows 8 personally as it'll be something new to play with.

But in England they have already stopped selling Windows XP and Windows Vista computers and laptops. And most shops now only have Windows 7. Unless you are lucky to find an old stock laptop that is left over in the store from last year that they cannot sell.

But I think that they should not have stopped selling Windows XP or Windows Vista as a lot of people like it and still want to use it,even though they have Windows 7. All three versions of Windows,Windows XP,Windows Vista, and Windows 7 are good. But this Windows 8,if they make it like they say they are going to,I will not know how to use it. It looks very confusing and complicated, and also ugly and not like Windows.

But if Windows 8 looked and was like Windows 7,then that's different,I would not mind using it. But Windows 7 was only brought out 2 years ago, and I and everybody else likes it. As it is very user friendly, more so than Windows XP, and we have gotten used to it. So we do not need another version of Windows. Or if they do put out Windows 8,at least give us a choice, and let us still be able to buy a Windows 7 computer or laptop in the shops. Andrea Borman.

Originally Posted by Andrea Borman

But in England they have already stopped selling Windows XP and Windows Vista computers and laptops. And most shops now only have Windows 7. Unless you are lucky to find an old stock laptop that is left over in the store from last year that they cannot sell.

But I think that they should not have stopped selling Windows XP or Windows Vista as a lot of people like it and still want to use it,even though they have Windows 7. All three versions of Windows,Windows XP,Windows Vista, and Windows 7 are good. But this Windows 8,if they make it like they say they are going to,I will not know how to use it. It looks very confusing and complicated, and also ugly and not like Windows.

But if Windows 8 looked and was like Windows 7,then that's different,I would not mind using it. But Windows 7 was only brought out 2 years ago, and I and everybody else likes it. As it is very user friendly, more so than Windows XP, and we have gotten used to it. So we do not need another version of Windows. Or if they do put out Windows 8,at least give us a choice, and let us still be able to buy a Windows 7 computer or laptop in the shops. Andrea Borman.

It doesn't matter if people like Windows XP it's time is up as technology moves on. Vista has been dropped so soon as it was a flop. If I was in the market for a laptop I'd be horrified if they were still trying to sell windows xp or vista on them. With all things in IT, things move and change rapidly. You don't have to upgrade and move with the times but some of us do and enjoy doing so.

Ummmm, 7 has the menu bar in it. By default it is hidden, and to bring it up you have to press the alt key. So in reality it didn't put anything into the Explorer window. By the look of your desktop, you have the themes service disabled, so its not really called a theme, its just the Windows Manager running. Either way running Aero will most likely bog your systems down way too much any way. Also, we disproved the theory that Widows 8 doesn't have a start menu already. Did you watch that video again? It is right there. I even told you where to look to find it. I guess I will tell you again. 3/4 of the way through the video, he brings up Excel 2010. If you look at the bottom of the screen, there is the task bar and start button. He doesn't open it, but it is there. I am thinking that the tiles thing is a secondary application that runs on top of the standard desktop. Or the other option could be, that the tiles are the standard 8 interface, then the 7 desktop can be added as a secondary interface. So it would be the 8 interface, then one of the tiles is the 7 interface, that loads modules and .dll for running applications that run on 7. Then this is the part that would rock, have a third option, XP interface as well. So you can run all three interfaces at the same time. With some shared modules and .dlls, but for the most part they are independent of each other. So basically it would be like running a Virtual XP and 7, inside 8. That would be a really good reason to include Hyper-V in a workstation version of the OS. It would be so amazing if Microsoft did that. The new OS from Microsoft....Windows 8 Hyper-Visor Tablet Ultimate Operating XPerience Ultra Aero Dynamic System 64 Bit Improved 2013....LMAO try saying that three times fast LMAO

Windows 7 is very good and Windows XP is also Good. And Windows XP is not dead,it is very much alive and still used by many people and so is Windows Vista along with Windows 7. I have started a thread about Windows XP here on this site.See here-Using Windows XP now in 2011-by a Windows 7 user.

In England, they only stopped selling Windows XP in December 2010,which is not very long ago. But this time last year, the shops had a lot of Windows XP and Windows Vista laptops,mostly Netbooks. So there was no problem buying it then but now it is very difficult to find a Windows XP or Windows Vista laptop or Netbook. But I was very lucky to find 2 brand new Windows XP Netbooks,that were the last in the store.

As for virtual machine, 2 of my Netbooks have Windows 7 Professional,so I can run virtual box. But when I tried it I could not figure out how to use virtual box,so that is out. Some people if they want Windows XP will just install it over their Windows 7 on their Windows 7 computer.That is a computer that comes with Windows 7 when you bought it. From what I read about this installing Windows XP or Windows Vista on your Windows 7 computer,it involves wiping Windows 7 off the hard drive and installing Windows XP over it. The end result is that Windows 7 will be replaced with Windows XP or Windows Vista.

But it is not that simple. First of all I do not know how to install Windows XP over my Windows 7,I do not know how to do it. And I only have Netbooks with no CD drive, although I could buy one and plug it into my Netbook. But I do not have a Windows XP CD and from what I read,Microsoft are not selling Windows XP or Windows Vista CDs. And you must have a valid copy of Windows XP or Windows Vista for it to work. As you have to activate Windows within 30 days or it goes into restricted mode. So you cannot just download Windows XP or Windows Vista and mount it on virtual clone drive like you can with Linux. You have to have a valid Windows XP or Windows Vista CD. And then you have to know what you are doing or you can mess up your computer.

So I did the easiest thing and the only thing I know, and that is to buy a Windows XP Netbook,which I did. The 2 Windows XP Netbooks,one a Acer Netbook,the other one an MSI Wind Netbook are all right. But I would have preferred to have Windows XP on one of my HP Netbooks,as it has more space,250 GB on the hard drive. But the problem is that I do not know how to install Windows XP on my Windows 7 Netbooks. And if I tried it,I am sure I would mess up my computer.

So there for if the time came when they stopped making Windows 7 and only sold Windows 8 laptops,and I needed a new laptop. Which I hope never happens,I would be forced to buy Windows 8. And I would not be able to install Windows 7 or Windows XP over Windows 8,as I don't know how to do this. And as I only have Netbooks,I don't have a Windows 7 CD. So when things go wrong in my Windows 7 or Windows XP operating system and they cannot be put right with system restore. I have to do a restore to factory condition recovery. Every Netbook has a setting that restores your computer to factory settings,so you don't have to reinstall Windows.

As for the Windows 7 toolbar in Windows Explorer.Well,I thought that the text on the top left and left side,where it says file,edit tools,as you can see in the picture was the toolbar. The large icons on the top right hand side of Windows Explorer is the classic toolbar buttons from Classic Shell. But they do the same thing as the Windows 7 toobar text on the left hand side. So I think the Classic Shell toolbar is just a decoration to make Windows Explorer look like it does in Windows 2000. But it does not really,and also by default the folders in Windows 7 are very small. But you can set them to medium or large size to make them easier to see and you can rename Documents, to My Documents and Pictures, to My Pictures,like it is called on Windows XP. Andrea Borman.

Oh for the love of God and all that is holy, there you go with the 16 mile long posts and 15.5 of it is useless. 7 is good, but not perfect, XP is good but not perfect. People still running Vista either don know any better, or do so little on their computer that it doesn't matter that OS they are running.

Awwwwww sad face...Its not just England that is not selling XP/Vista computers any more. Its a fact of life, computer technology moves on. Just have to deal with it.

So if you couldn't figure out how to run Virtual Box, how do you know it runs? Installing the Virtual Box software and running a virtual OS are separate. With those netbooks I doubt that you have enough resources left over after starting your host machine to run a guest machine. Then you keep saying that you don't know how to install Windows on your computer. So that is another good reason why you couldn't run Virtual Box, you need an install for another OS. The problem with replacing your original OS is going to be drivers. I think I have said this before, you need drivers for older OSes, and are usual not supported by the manufacture. This means that the manufacture doesn't make them for older OSes. This is the part that a lot of people over look, research. You have to do your research and find the answers before you do a drastic move like that. System restore is for people that have no technical abilities and want to look cool in front of their friends. I get rid of my restore partition when I get a cookie cutter computer. I download a copy of Windows off the internet, not hacked or cracked or edited in any way, and install with that, using my key code. I have friends all over, and with my 7 I obtained a copy of a read disk from a returned to the store copy, minus the COA and keycode. Though since I had my own, it didn't matter.

I know I have said this before, NETBOOKS ARE NOT A PERMANENT SOLUTION. Out of date hardware is not going to last you a very long time. I don't care if you bought them a year ago, a month ago, or even an hour ago. Out of date hardware is just that, OUT OF DATE. If a person goes out and buys a $300 monkey turd, it is still a monkey turd. The only difference is that person was and idiot for paying $300 for it. The same idea goes along with this scenario, if you go out and buy a cheap netbook, you get what you pay for. Limited ability, little to no room for expansion and even missing components from that of better computers. Netbooks are a joke, and the only way I see them even being remotely useful are for people that need something really small and mobile or with cloud computing.

The text that you speak of is the menu bar, that is still in 7, like I said just hidden. The icons on the right are, as far as I know, not. Those options are under the organize option, though most people use key strokes for those options. How do you know what 2000 looks like, when you have never used it? Also, in 7 there is a new feature called HomeGroup. It is a networking feature that allows 7 computer connected with other 7 computers to share files, as if they where on the same computer. So in reality, renaming your my documents, goes from Documents>My Documents to My Documents>My Documents. Same goes with Music, Pictures, Videos and Recorded TV.

Originally Posted by NaiyaShamiso

Oh for the love of God and all that is holy, there you go with the 16 mile long posts and 15.5 of it is useless. 7 is good, but not perfect, XP is good but not perfect. People still running Vista either don know any better, or do so little on their computer that it doesn't matter that OS they are running.

Awwwwww sad face...Its not just England that is not selling XP/Vista computers any more. Its a fact of life, computer technology moves on. Just have to deal with it.

So if you couldn't figure out how to run Virtual Box, how do you know it runs? Installing the Virtual Box software and running a virtual OS are separate. With those netbooks I doubt that you have enough resources left over after starting your host machine to run a guest machine. Then you keep saying that you don't know how to install Windows on your computer. So that is another good reason why you couldn't run Virtual Box, you need an install for another OS.



The text that you speak of is the menu bar, that is still in 7, like I said just hidden. The icons on the right are, as far as I know, not. Those options are under the organize option, though most people use key strokes for those options. How do you know what 2000 looks like, when you have never used it? Also, in 7 there is a new feature called HomeGroup. It is a networking feature that allows 7 computer connected with other 7 computers to share files, as if they where on the same computer. So in reality, renaming your my documents, goes from Documents>My Documents to My Documents>My Documents. Same goes with Music, Pictures, Videos and Recorded TV.

I thought that when you install Virtual Box it provides you with a list of operating systems to choose from and then you just pick from the list and it installs the operating system for you.I did not realise you have to already have another operating system file on your computer.

You said that you just downloaded your copy of Windows from the Internet. But I did not know you can do that. I thought that if you have say,Windows XP and you want to install Windows Vista or Windows 7,you had to buy a Windows CD from Microsoft online and they send it to you in the post. And that you have to install it from the CD you have been sent from Microsoft,that has the version of Windows you have just bought.

I have seen websites that have ISO and torrent files of Windows XP,Windows 2000 and even Windows 7. But they could be pirated copies of Windows(fake versions.)Meaning that if you installed them you could end up with a computer virus or worse. And also when you try to activate Windows it will not activate if it is not a genuine copy of Windows. And as you know if you cannot activate Windows ,after 30 days your copy of Windows goes into restricted mode. So the only way to get Windows XP Windows Vista or Windows 2000 on your Windows 7 computer is-that you must have a valid legal copy of Windows. And you can only get that from Microsoft.But the problems is that on the Microsoft website,it says they are not selling any more Windows XP or Windows Vista CDs. And so where would you get a valid legal copy of Windows XP or Windows Vista now online? So the only way is to buy a Windows XP or Windows Vista computer or laptop like I did. That has Windows XP or Windows Vista pre installed on it just like my Windows 7 Netbooks.

All my Windows Netbooks came with Windows 7 or Windows XP pre installed when I bought them.And on Windows 7 you can just upgrade to a higher version of Windows 7 by using Windows any time upgrade like I did. But that is already on the computer as well,so you don't have to install anything. It would be useful if they had an any time downgrade service where you could just choose Windows XP or Windows Vista the same way you choose a higher version of Windows 7. But they don't have that,but if they did, I would not have had to buy a Windows XP laptop to get Windows XP.

But I don't know how to use virtual box and as you say,I might not have enough room on my Netbook for it. But why install Windows XP in virtual machine,when you can have THE REAL Windows XP on a Windows XP computer like I have got? If you buy a Windows XP computer, then you have got the real Windows XP, and that solves the problem.

But there are not any Windows 2000 computers or laptops in the shops, or I have not seen any. But my next door neighbour told me he has Windows 2000. But he has an older computer bought a few years ago and it is a full sized computer,not a laptop. But I don't know if Windows 2000 would support wireless broadband, but Windows XP does. In fact Windows XP is very modern and very much like Windows 7 in a lot of ways. In fact most people who don't about computers would think that Windows XP was only made a few months ago not in 2001.

Windows Vista,well I have never used it,I have only seen it on You Tube and the Internet. As when I go to Internet cafes,they have got Windows XP not Windows Vista. And none of the Internet cafes I have been to have got Windows 7 yet. I don't know why that is.

And you said about accessing the menu bar with key stokes,but I don't know what keys to press that bring up the sort cuts. I know some of them like pressing the Windows key to bring up the start menu, but not much more. I just access the start menu and toolbars with my mouse. By clicking my mouse on where it says toolbars but I don't know what key strokes do what.

I have also seen other You Tube videos on installing Windows XP on a Windows 7 Netbook from a usb stick but it does not tell you how they got their copy of Windows XP. Maybe they copied the Windows XP operating system from another of their Windows XP computers,with the usb stick and put it on their Windows 7 computer. Can you do that? I suppose I could get a usb stick and copy my Windows XP from my Windows XP Netbook then try to put it on my Windows 7 Netbook. But somehow I don't think it would work. And then there is the problem that Windows won't activate if I did that.

When I installed Linux alongside Windows I just did it by mounting the Linux mint ISO file on virtual clone drive. I found out about this from the How To Geek website. But Windows is different. Andrea Borman.

Andrea if your Windows 7 is the professional edition you can use Windows XP Mode as your netbook probably doesn't have hardware visualization check out

But I have already got 2 Windows XP Netbooks with Windows XP Home Edition service pack 3. Which I bought this summer,which were the last in the store. So I have got the real Windows XP. Running Windows XP on virtual box is not the same as having the real Windows XP installed on your computer.

Since they stopped selling Windows XP and Windows Vista in the shops in England,it is very difficult to find a Windows XP or Windows Vista laptop,but there are still some about. I was very lucky to get my 2 Windows XP Netbooks. So I am one of the lucky ones who have got 2 laptops with genuine Windows XP on them,as well as my Windows 7 Netbooks.

I was thinking of getting a Windows Vista laptop,but as it looks so much like Windows 7, and most features are the same as Windows 7. So there is not much point in getting Windows Vista, as it is so much like Windows 7. Also I found out how to add all of the Windows Vista software-such as Windows Mail,Windows Calendar and the Vista sidebar on to Windows 7. See this tutorial here from a man, who in my opinion is a genius, as his ideas all actually work. And I am now running Windows Mail and Windows Calendar on my Windows 7 Netbook. See here-How to Reinstate Windows Mail on Windows 7 by Britec - YouTube

Also he shows you how to downgrade WMP 12 to WMP 11 on Windows 7. See here-Downgrade Windows Media Player 12 to WMP 11 on Windows 7 by Britec - YouTube

This man is a genius, as I have tried a lot of ideas I have read from other tutorials, but none of them worked, but these ones do. Actually I did not install Take Ownership to delete the Windows 7 Windows mail file because I already have Unlocker that deletes anything.And also Take Ownership can be dangerous to use if used in the wrong way. So to reinstate Windows Mail on Windows 7,you just delete the Windows 7s Windows Mail file and then download the Windows Vista Windows Mail file.Which replaces it, and Windows Mail then works on Windows 7, the same way it does on Windows Vista.Except for the fact that I cannot use that email client because I don't know how to use email clients. But that is another story.

Also Mediafire has downloads for both Windows Calendar and the Vista sidebar. So why get Windows Vista when you can run the same software on Windows 7? Andrea Borman.

I kinda get how some may want to install the old windows mail on windows 7. But why on earth would anyone want to downgrade WMP12 to 11 I can't even think of a reason for it as WMP12 does everything 11 does but better.