Classic start menu and consistent folder view in Win7

So I have to maintain a Winblows box because of some closed-source tools we are required to use from a vendor. The system I bought to lug around said OS is a Dell that doesn't support XP. So I ran Vista for a while and that was a horrid experience. So when Win7 came out we moved over.

Ok so I have managed to hack and slash through the registry to get most of my XP look and feel back. But I still need two things:

1> How do you get the nice tree-view pop-out style Start Menu back in W7 that was available in Vista and before. Most of the stuff I have been reading seems to suggest you can get it, but it requires some hacks.

2> How do you make it show a uniform folder view for everything. And I mean everything. I want a detailed list with common icons (not this stupid custom view bs they started in Vista). So far I am stuck with the dumb custom folders and the wonky layout in Control Panels that makes *NO* sense. Come on... three columns alphabetized top to bottom for each? Which high-school drop out marketing weasel came up with that sad view?

Thanks for your help! This Windows stuff kills me. I don't know how people manage to live with it everyday without being able to see what's going on inside.

1> No, but you can find a third party application to do it.

AWESOME oh that is perfect!

hmmm ok I will continue to machette the registry and see if I can figure it out.

While I am here, how do you get the up arrow in the directory view? And along that same lines, how do you get the folder view to keep the path in the navigation bar instead of all the dumb drop-downs?

^^^ You use Windows XP not Windows Vista or 7. Or use a third party explorer.

Gorf said:

So I have to maintain a Winblows box because of some closed-source tools we are required to use from a vendor. The system I bought to lug around said OS is a Dell that doesn't support XP. So I ran Vista for a while and that was a horrid experience. So when Win7 came out we moved over.

Ok so I have managed to hack and slash through the registry to get most of my XP look and feel back. But I still need two things:

1> How do you get the nice tree-view pop-out style Start Menu back in W7 that was available in Vista and before. Most of the stuff I have been reading seems to suggest you can get it, but it requires some hacks.

2> How do you make it show a uniform folder view for everything. And I mean everything. I want a detailed list with common icons (not this stupid custom view bs they started in Vista). So far I am stuck with the dumb custom folders and the wonky layout in Control Panels that makes *NO* sense. Come on... three columns alphabetized top to bottom for each? Which high-school drop out marketing weasel came up with that sad view?

Thanks for your help! This Windows stuff kills me. I don't know how people manage to live with it everyday without being able to see what's going on inside.

Why did you install Windows 7?