I’ve been using Classic Shell since about day one. Without Classic shell, I probably would not be using Windows 7. (still maintain an XP machine for important work as it is. Windows 7 is nothing more than Vista with gobs of make-up smeared on) The sad thing about Classic Shell is the need for it. It is disgraceful that Microsoft took the attitude, “screw you, it’s gone and it is not coming back” – without even offering any excuse whatsoever during development. Poll after poll showed that 40% of Windows users indicated a preference for the classic start menu and Microsoft just thumbed their nose at every one of us. After disabling Homegroup (that does not work on my three Windows 7 computers anyway), Libraries, Favorites, and a couple of other frustrations and installing and configuring Classic Shell, Windows 7 is now down to only a few hundred un-excusable flaws, bugs, and frustrations.
Now if we could just permanently delete some folders in Windows Explorer that keep re-appearing at every re-boot (which itself is required all to often).
There is a folder named “Public” that appears on one Windows 7 installation and refuses to be deleted. I don’t recall at the moment all the details of that one, but I delete it and it goes away then re-appears when I reboot.
On another Windows 7 installation a Folder named “Pictures” refuses to be deleted. It also goes away when I highlight it and select “delete”, then re-appears when I reboot. On this computer, I renamed the “Pictures” folder to “Junk Folder” and “Junk Folder” remains, but the “Pictures” folder that I am trying to get rid of regenerates itself on reboot. I now have a user created “Pictures” sub-folder under a user created folder (directory) named “All Documents”, I have a “Junk Folder” that used to be a “Pictures” folder (that I possibly could delete, but windows saves certain items to that folder by default – – I would also LOVE to change that), and I have an absolutely superfluous “Pictures” folder that Windows 7 insists on regenerating. I can furnish full paths to each of these folders if you are willing to tackle the issue.
I could furnish you a small truckload of generally similar frustrations that Windows 7 introduced that even Vista did not present.
The Public folder can never be deleted it is one of those folders the Operating System was designed to use in order to function. Everything you need to do know about this folder can be found here: What is the Public Folder & How to Use it for Sharing.
The other folders you mention, are folders automatically created by Windows for each user profile. The Pictures and other folders will always remain there because both the operating system and some of the applications you install, will use that folder in some way, sometimes not even noticeable to the user.
Thank you so very much for your explanation. I totally accept and appreciate your efforts in explaining this (and countless other things that you explain) but I continue to think it is totally disgraceful on Microsoft’s part. One of the features that they touted so highly when Windows 7 was in beta and RC was the configurability and customization capabities built into the OS. When a computer is only used by a single user, that individual should be able to configure their computer for a single user.
Am I missing something in my thought process here? This was an issue I presented to Microsoft during beta. I do not know what the percentages are, but among the reported 1 billion Windows users world wide, there are millions and millions of computers used by only one person from “cradle to grave”. Why should these users have to wade through all the multi-user configuration and features every minute they use their computers? The biggest single change that should have been made at some point in the development of Windows versions should have been to make it an option to disable ALL features and settings that are designed specifically for multiple users.
I understand your frustration. I’m pretty sure this kind of decisions are tough to make when designing such a complex operating system. I don’t know if Microsoft was right or wrong on this one. Personally I have no issues with the Public folder and others as I use a second partition to store my stuff. So it doesn’t bother me in any way.
Anyway… there’s one thing I would like to highlight: DO NOT delete these folders. Keep them as they are. By deleting them you only increase the chance of having issues with your operating system or some of your installed applications. It is better to simply hide those folders and ignore them if you don’t plan to use them.
Would you mind sharing some of these annoyances? The major complaint I have is lack of the classic Start menu.
The classic Start menu was in every version of Windows since Windows 95, and since Windows 8 does away with the Start button and menu, it would have been very nice if Windows 7 had retained this feature.
And no, I don’t want to hear “it’s time to move on.” If I, the consumer, am the one who buys the product, my feedback SHOULD also dictate which features remain.
Windows 7 introduced Devices and Printers; should we now throw out Device Manager because it was also in Windows 2000?
I am aware of third party solutions (such as the aforementioned Classic Shell), but if I have to use a third-party program to obtain the functionality I desire, there is something wrong.
Just figured I’d get it over with while I’m here…
Anonymous
12 years ago
Classic Shell is one of the MUST-HAVE programs that you simply can’t do without. And it improves so much over time. Every few months the developer has added new functionality.
Chris W.
12 years ago
Is there any file manager application that allows you to give the file and folder names text attributes as in Word, along with colors?
Sparafucile
12 years ago
Classical Shell has saved my sanity. The Windows7 explorer was driving me crazy, with all of the stupid “features” that made using Windows7 so painful. Classical Shell removes all of the “features” that are so annoying in Windows7 explorer and it keeps the only one that I consider an improvement, the “new” option on the right-click menu. Well done!
alan
12 years ago
is there a way to change the location of files i’m downloading to another? coz it goes to computer>local disk(c:)>Users>users>downloads. and whenever i try to access downloaded files window explorer stops working and restarts then closes the window. i know it’s a bug and i don’t know how to fix it so was thinking of downloading files to another place. hope u can help. thanks.
When you download a file you will either see a dialog box in the middle of the screen or else a bar at the bottom of the screen to finish your download. The box in the middle will give you the choice to “Save” or “Save As”. If you select “Save” the file goes to the default download folder. If you select “Save As” you will be offered the chance to specify where you want it saved. The download bar at the bottom of the screen is a little trickier since at first it looks like it only offers one choice; however, if you click on the down arrow (not the “Save” text) the choices will be shown. Hope this helps.
DrDevinci
12 years ago
AWESOME! Thank you so much.
Was so so so disappointed with Win7 and refused to use it because of the Win-Explorer “Upgrade”.
This makes all the difference.
Missing one part though (might be there, I just haven’t found it): In the old XP Explorer it was possible to rename folders in the folder panel on the left by single left-click and wait for a sec. Is that available somewhere in your package?
Thanks again.
Jan Thompson
11 years ago
I need to be able to see at least the first four photos in each sub-folder, like it was in XP. Having just a standing folder half open and slices of photos doesn’t work for me. Is there some box I can check to change back to this view? Thanks
Jeff
11 years ago
Yes, this tool is so needed. But I do believe we do lose a few nice features in the existing start menu. According to the developer FAQ on his site, it sounds as if the “Pin to start menu” will not work with classic shell as he mentions possibly supporting it in a future release. This is one big loss for me unless there is an easy way to just get pinned items onto the classic shell start menu.
Hey Jeff. “Pinning” is supported in Classic Shell ever since first version. To pin, you must drag and drop any program to the MRU area. Only the context menu “Pin to Start Menu” item is not available, instead you must use drag and drop.
R Foreman
11 years ago
Just remember that if you ever do a reset in IE9 (Tools | Internet Options | Advanced | Reset button) then be sure to *uninstall ClassicShell* first, then reinstall it after you perform that IE9 reset.
If you perform that IE9 reset while classic shell is installed, you will lose the fix which prevents folders from jumping about on a selection in Windows Explorer (the folder scrolling bug), and you won’t know what you did to cause it.. all you’ll know is that suddenly ClassicShell no longer fixes the folder scrolling problem. If you get into that situation, then uninstall ClassicShell, perform the IE9 reset, then reinstall ClassicShell, and the folder scrolling bug will be corrected again. Don’t ask me why it works, it just does.
JohnA
11 years ago
Classic Shell is great, but it doesn’t solve what is (for me) the greatest annoyance with Win7 Explorer (and Win8?).
When you delete a folder (highlighted in the Navigation Pane) the cursor (and focus) immediately jumps ‘up’ to the Parent Folder.
This is extremely irritating when I am organizing folders on my ‘Music’ drive. Move some files from the ‘U2″ folder, delete the ‘U2’ folder and the cursor jumps up (a hundred lines) to the ‘MP3’ Parent folder. Then I have to scroll down to work on the ‘Ventures’ folder…aargh.
A number of forums (not here) state that ClassicShell will fix this problem, but I can’t find the solution. Am I missing a setting somewhere, or is this ‘insoluble’?
If I could just get back my XP Explorer (which didn’t have this stupid behaviour) and keep the rest of Win7/8 , I’d be happy.
Microsoft- what were they thinking??? I’d rather work on my Mac, which is saying a lot.
I think you activated a setting in File (Windows) Explorer which says “Automatically expand to current folder”. Disable that and this behavior should go away.
I don’t have it in File Explorer in Windows 8, for example, without the Classic Shell.
I changed (deselected) the ‘automatically expand to current folder’ option and the problem persists (in Win 7 with Classic Shell- or without Classic shell)
Helen
11 years ago
I just installed this software to my new laptop it’s windows 8 and IE10 but now my internet won’t work it says the IE can’t load any suggestions??
Matthew
11 years ago
One word. Awesome! One more word. Microsoft is freakin’ annoying. (Sorry, that was 4 words.)
Then switch to another operating system. Try the free Ubuntu, try the Mac. See if they work better and switch if that is the case. 😉
BoyOhBoy
10 years ago
Combine XSearch with Classic Shell and you are done! – you can migrate to win7/8 immediately!
XSearch can be found here: http://www.easexp.com/xsearch/
Art S
10 years ago
When I search in Windows Explorer in Win7 Ultimate (e.g., looking for files with “flower” in the file name), instead of a results window giving just the files that I’m looking for, I get a list of all the files on the drive, with “flower” highlighted in yellow on the few files that match. Totally useless. How do I fix it?
Mike Rodent
10 years ago
Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu
pcunite
10 years ago
I install ClassicShell along with FileSearchEX. My mom uses it and loves the original feel.
John Moore
9 years ago
Any way to get explorer to remember the state of the Navigation Pane layout for each folder when it’s reopened?
I’ve been using Classic Shell since about day one. Without Classic shell, I probably would not be using Windows 7. (still maintain an XP machine for important work as it is. Windows 7 is nothing more than Vista with gobs of make-up smeared on) The sad thing about Classic Shell is the need for it. It is disgraceful that Microsoft took the attitude, “screw you, it’s gone and it is not coming back” – without even offering any excuse whatsoever during development. Poll after poll showed that 40% of Windows users indicated a preference for the classic start menu and Microsoft just thumbed their nose at every one of us. After disabling Homegroup (that does not work on my three Windows 7 computers anyway), Libraries, Favorites, and a couple of other frustrations and installing and configuring Classic Shell, Windows 7 is now down to only a few hundred un-excusable flaws, bugs, and frustrations.
Now if we could just permanently delete some folders in Windows Explorer that keep re-appearing at every re-boot (which itself is required all to often).
Can you tell me which folders you are trying to delete but re-appear at every reboot?
There is a folder named “Public” that appears on one Windows 7 installation and refuses to be deleted. I don’t recall at the moment all the details of that one, but I delete it and it goes away then re-appears when I reboot.
On another Windows 7 installation a Folder named “Pictures” refuses to be deleted. It also goes away when I highlight it and select “delete”, then re-appears when I reboot. On this computer, I renamed the “Pictures” folder to “Junk Folder” and “Junk Folder” remains, but the “Pictures” folder that I am trying to get rid of regenerates itself on reboot. I now have a user created “Pictures” sub-folder under a user created folder (directory) named “All Documents”, I have a “Junk Folder” that used to be a “Pictures” folder (that I possibly could delete, but windows saves certain items to that folder by default – – I would also LOVE to change that), and I have an absolutely superfluous “Pictures” folder that Windows 7 insists on regenerating. I can furnish full paths to each of these folders if you are willing to tackle the issue.
I could furnish you a small truckload of generally similar frustrations that Windows 7 introduced that even Vista did not present.
The Public folder can never be deleted it is one of those folders the Operating System was designed to use in order to function. Everything you need to do know about this folder can be found here: What is the Public Folder & How to Use it for Sharing.
The other folders you mention, are folders automatically created by Windows for each user profile. The Pictures and other folders will always remain there because both the operating system and some of the applications you install, will use that folder in some way, sometimes not even noticeable to the user.
Thank you so very much for your explanation. I totally accept and appreciate your efforts in explaining this (and countless other things that you explain) but I continue to think it is totally disgraceful on Microsoft’s part. One of the features that they touted so highly when Windows 7 was in beta and RC was the configurability and customization capabities built into the OS. When a computer is only used by a single user, that individual should be able to configure their computer for a single user.
Am I missing something in my thought process here? This was an issue I presented to Microsoft during beta. I do not know what the percentages are, but among the reported 1 billion Windows users world wide, there are millions and millions of computers used by only one person from “cradle to grave”. Why should these users have to wade through all the multi-user configuration and features every minute they use their computers? The biggest single change that should have been made at some point in the development of Windows versions should have been to make it an option to disable ALL features and settings that are designed specifically for multiple users.
That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it
I understand your frustration. I’m pretty sure this kind of decisions are tough to make when designing such a complex operating system. I don’t know if Microsoft was right or wrong on this one. Personally I have no issues with the Public folder and others as I use a second partition to store my stuff. So it doesn’t bother me in any way.
Anyway… there’s one thing I would like to highlight: DO NOT delete these folders. Keep them as they are. By deleting them you only increase the chance of having issues with your operating system or some of your installed applications. It is better to simply hide those folders and ignore them if you don’t plan to use them.
Would you mind sharing some of these annoyances? The major complaint I have is lack of the classic Start menu.
The classic Start menu was in every version of Windows since Windows 95, and since Windows 8 does away with the Start button and menu, it would have been very nice if Windows 7 had retained this feature.
And no, I don’t want to hear “it’s time to move on.” If I, the consumer, am the one who buys the product, my feedback SHOULD also dictate which features remain.
Windows 7 introduced Devices and Printers; should we now throw out Device Manager because it was also in Windows 2000?
I am aware of third party solutions (such as the aforementioned Classic Shell), but if I have to use a third-party program to obtain the functionality I desire, there is something wrong.
Just figured I’d get it over with while I’m here…
Classic Shell is one of the MUST-HAVE programs that you simply can’t do without. And it improves so much over time. Every few months the developer has added new functionality.
Is there any file manager application that allows you to give the file and folder names text attributes as in Word, along with colors?
Classical Shell has saved my sanity. The Windows7 explorer was driving me crazy, with all of the stupid “features” that made using Windows7 so painful. Classical Shell removes all of the “features” that are so annoying in Windows7 explorer and it keeps the only one that I consider an improvement, the “new” option on the right-click menu. Well done!
is there a way to change the location of files i’m downloading to another? coz it goes to computer>local disk(c:)>Users>users>downloads. and whenever i try to access downloaded files window explorer stops working and restarts then closes the window. i know it’s a bug and i don’t know how to fix it so was thinking of downloading files to another place. hope u can help. thanks.
When you download a file you will either see a dialog box in the middle of the screen or else a bar at the bottom of the screen to finish your download. The box in the middle will give you the choice to “Save” or “Save As”. If you select “Save” the file goes to the default download folder. If you select “Save As” you will be offered the chance to specify where you want it saved. The download bar at the bottom of the screen is a little trickier since at first it looks like it only offers one choice; however, if you click on the down arrow (not the “Save” text) the choices will be shown. Hope this helps.
AWESOME! Thank you so much.
Was so so so disappointed with Win7 and refused to use it because of the Win-Explorer “Upgrade”.
This makes all the difference.
Missing one part though (might be there, I just haven’t found it): In the old XP Explorer it was possible to rename folders in the folder panel on the left by single left-click and wait for a sec. Is that available somewhere in your package?
Thanks again.
I need to be able to see at least the first four photos in each sub-folder, like it was in XP. Having just a standing folder half open and slices of photos doesn’t work for me. Is there some box I can check to change back to this view? Thanks
Yes, this tool is so needed. But I do believe we do lose a few nice features in the existing start menu. According to the developer FAQ on his site, it sounds as if the “Pin to start menu” will not work with classic shell as he mentions possibly supporting it in a future release. This is one big loss for me unless there is an easy way to just get pinned items onto the classic shell start menu.
Hey Jeff. “Pinning” is supported in Classic Shell ever since first version. To pin, you must drag and drop any program to the MRU area. Only the context menu “Pin to Start Menu” item is not available, instead you must use drag and drop.
Just remember that if you ever do a reset in IE9 (Tools | Internet Options | Advanced | Reset button) then be sure to *uninstall ClassicShell* first, then reinstall it after you perform that IE9 reset.
If you perform that IE9 reset while classic shell is installed, you will lose the fix which prevents folders from jumping about on a selection in Windows Explorer (the folder scrolling bug), and you won’t know what you did to cause it.. all you’ll know is that suddenly ClassicShell no longer fixes the folder scrolling problem. If you get into that situation, then uninstall ClassicShell, perform the IE9 reset, then reinstall ClassicShell, and the folder scrolling bug will be corrected again. Don’t ask me why it works, it just does.
Classic Shell is great, but it doesn’t solve what is (for me) the greatest annoyance with Win7 Explorer (and Win8?).
When you delete a folder (highlighted in the Navigation Pane) the cursor (and focus) immediately jumps ‘up’ to the Parent Folder.
This is extremely irritating when I am organizing folders on my ‘Music’ drive. Move some files from the ‘U2″ folder, delete the ‘U2’ folder and the cursor jumps up (a hundred lines) to the ‘MP3’ Parent folder. Then I have to scroll down to work on the ‘Ventures’ folder…aargh.
A number of forums (not here) state that ClassicShell will fix this problem, but I can’t find the solution. Am I missing a setting somewhere, or is this ‘insoluble’?
If I could just get back my XP Explorer (which didn’t have this stupid behaviour) and keep the rest of Win7/8 , I’d be happy.
Microsoft- what were they thinking??? I’d rather work on my Mac, which is saying a lot.
I think you activated a setting in File (Windows) Explorer which says “Automatically expand to current folder”. Disable that and this behavior should go away.
I don’t have it in File Explorer in Windows 8, for example, without the Classic Shell.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I changed (deselected) the ‘automatically expand to current folder’ option and the problem persists (in Win 7 with Classic Shell- or without Classic shell)
I just installed this software to my new laptop it’s windows 8 and IE10 but now my internet won’t work it says the IE can’t load any suggestions??
One word. Awesome! One more word. Microsoft is freakin’ annoying. (Sorry, that was 4 words.)
Then switch to another operating system. Try the free Ubuntu, try the Mac. See if they work better and switch if that is the case. 😉
Combine XSearch with Classic Shell and you are done! – you can migrate to win7/8 immediately!
XSearch can be found here:
http://www.easexp.com/xsearch/
When I search in Windows Explorer in Win7 Ultimate (e.g., looking for files with “flower” in the file name), instead of a results window giving just the files that I’m looking for, I get a list of all the files on the drive, with “flower” highlighted in yellow on the few files that match. Totally useless. How do I fix it?
Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu
I install ClassicShell along with FileSearchEX. My mom uses it and loves the original feel.
Any way to get explorer to remember the state of the Navigation Pane layout for each folder when it’s reopened?