Windows 7: Windows 7 customization

1. Windows Explorer forgets the appearance for "Desktop" and "My computer" (list view, ungrouped)

2. How to switch off or reconfigure figuring out what type a folder is? I would prefer one default view for all folders, unless explicitly changed for specific locations.

3. I'd like to remove "favorites" and "control panel" from Windows Explorer "WIN+E" combination, and disable the favourites icon (not the menu) in IE8.

4. Is "Libraries" just a Windows 7 term for an abstracted folder (a collection of locations viewable and searchable as one logical location)? How can I disable libraries and remove them from the navigation panel on Windows Explorer.

5. Can the logged-on username be shown in the start panel, and the user icon at the top removed?

6. The theme/personalisation has a white/transparent blur effect across the top-left diagonal (eg on taskbar buttons on screenshot). How can I tweak or remove it, to avoid the distracting shading effects?

7. Windows Explorer uses unnecessarily large fonts for its listing views. My desktop has a smaller font which I prefer. How can I change the font and font size used in Windows Explorer?

8. Is there a way to keep Flip3D but avoid most of the rest of Aero (specifically the glass and transparency which I find too distracting, and not nearly as informative in ALT TAB as text + icons) Mostly resolved: AltTabSettings in the registry, Switcher 2.0, a non-aero theme, and transparency disabled.



9. I work with unusual disk formats, including my encrypted disks and raw disks for recovery, several of which aren't recognised by Windows. Windows 7 pops up the "Do you want to format this disk" prompt. I can't stop a drive letter being assigned (encryption programs won't mount raw drives without also assigning a letter). I didn't have this in Windows XP. I've seen one fix for this but it required software and the author hasn't explained it in detail. Is there any other effective fix?

10. I have a file permissions problem. When I plug in drives that can boot to XP and other OS's or contain data, Windows 7 tries to respect the Windows XP permissions on those drives. Since the users on those systems don't exist under my Windows 7 install, it's considering many of these folders inaccessible or read-only. I can change the owners on them all, but then when I reboot under the old systems, the disks concerned would have access problems there instead. Best way to fix this?

11. If I make changes to the system via gpedit.msc, how can I save these to replicate them on other Windows 7 installations?