Real time to get Windows 7 functioning as XP install

mpcrsc562 · 14 Apr 2010

Lordbob75 said:

Setting up the UI to look like XP is impossible, because it is NOT XP! Every person I have seen that hates Seven so far is because they want it to work like XP, and they bitch that it is too hard (read: you). It is not XP, it is Seven, get over it or don't use it. ~Lordbob

Duke of Alinor said:

Yes, I am trying to hang on to interfaces from XP and OSX and any other OS that works better than Win7 for me. Some parts of Win7 are just poorly done, we need to discuss these, help others and get the word back to manufacturers.

I suppose I'm prolonging a fruitless endeavor...

The new Beetle pays homage to the classic Beetle. Why would I buy a new Beetle to strip its parts and put classic Beetle parts on it?

Don't make no sense!

If anything is broken in Windows 7 it is the people who [un]intentionally break it by trying to make it into Windows XP.

(Besides, you got the best of both worlds in having XP within 7... It's not the greatest, but it beats having to support two different PCs)

Lordbob75 · 14 Apr 2010

Duke of Alinor said:

Lordbob, Perfectly posted. times, opinion and humor.

Yes, this is a troll. I am trying to get more to post like you did. The system spec in my info here is what I am installing on, hardly old or slow. I never thought to not use homegroup or workgroup DOH!

Yes, I am trying to hang on to interfaces from XP and OSX and any other OS that works better than Win7 for me. Some parts of Win7 are just poorly done, we need to discuss these, help others and get the word back to manufacturers.

In the early days of XP I set up a Raid 0 with the OS. I reinstalled weekly and thought it was me. Nope, turns out Microsoft never allowed for the file flush in the Raid and could corrupt itself by shutting down early. Tech support finally admitted it and said "Install on an IDE drive".

WHS - something like -
I am an IT pro so training time is difficult to measure. Win 7 beta times probably do not count but now it takes me an hour or so to set up a customer's computer unless they want networking with Macs and XP machines. Workgroups and permissions on a small setup of 5 or so takes another hour. I always leave the default UI in Win7.

Rofl, not a bad job then. Glad I posted what you were looking for. Sometimes the hardest things are solved by not using them at all (in this case, using a network drive instead).

I like most of the features of Windows 7. There are still a few flaws, but most of them are easy to work around, or are just different, no necessarily a flaw.

~Lordbob

Duke of Alinor · 15 Apr 2010

mpcrsc562,
Since you use analogies...
People still buy Harleys - even though for utility they are far from the best for the price.
The M1 Garand is still a more accurate rifle than present standard military issue.
Understanding the why of those two facts leads to:
Sometimes you have different criteria for what you want and newer is not always better.

If you think Win7 is in all ways better I am happy for you. I do not and can prove my points. Try hiding a Win7 machine on a network, this was simple on XP and everything continued to function on your end.
Hide/Unhide XP Computer from Network Neighborhood | Windows Reference
but a problem with 7
net config server /hidden:yes command does not hide Windows 7 machines from being visible with network browser
Task Manager /services /services Disabled the "Function Discovery Resource Publication" service works but causes other problems.

For all the trolls out there - yes, I did a bad thing. I started to head to a site with the wrong software, dashed back to the office, downloaded the files and still made my flight. Fortunately I was running stealthily with XP so there was no residual presence. With 7 the whole office sees me pop online. I would like to avoid the embarrassment.

whs · 15 Apr 2010

People still buy Harleys - even though for utility they are far from the best for the price
Sometimes you have different criteria for what you want and newer is not always better.

Those 2 statements are hard to argue. A Harley is just a big pile of metal that makes a lot of noise. Try to drive that on the windy roads of the Black Forest - I bet you end up wrapped around a pine tree. Compare that to a Ducati, BMW or Moto Guzzi which are real motorcyles.
And newer is certainly not always better. Example are modern cars stuffed with all those electronics. Not only do the electronics fail a lot more than the mechanics, but they require fancy equipment for diagnostics and are difficult and expensive to repair.

mpcrsc562 · 15 Apr 2010

Duke of Alinor said:

mpcrsc562,
Since you use analogies...
People still buy Harleys - even though for utility they are far from the best for the price.
The M1 Garand is still a more accurate rifle than present standard military issue.
Understanding the why of those two facts leads to:
Sometimes you have different criteria for what you want and newer is not always better.

But I think you misunderstood my point and to use your Harley example in return: I wouldn't get a new Harley just to tear it down and put 1972 parts on it -- what's the point of getting something new then? Should I get a new Harley to loosen nuts and bolts so that it leaks like the old Harleys?

I never stated nor implied that Windows 7 was better than Windows XP -- merely stating that as a new operating system, it makes no sense to hack it, slice it, and try to transform it into something that it is not. And I do not think that anyone who has posted to your OP has tried to say that Windows 7 is better than Windows XP ... But I would bet that the general consensus is that most of the people like Windows 7 better than Windows XP.

The release of anything new is always going to come with some give-and-take: some things get added for the sake of ease and usability, while others get removed due to the fact that technology is evolving and old standards get replaced with newer ones. In any case, not everyone is going to be happy and elated with the additions or removals. That's how it is.

But I betcha that we make due with what we have or stop using it to go back to what was old and familiar.

Paraphrasing another post: No one is forcing you to use and keep Windows 7 -- but don't try to make the problems you've had seem as if they're the norm ... because they're not.

whs · 15 Apr 2010

But I would bet that the general consensus is that most of the people like Windows 7 better than Windows XP.

I vote for that - twice if neccessary. (Btw: I also take Vista any day over XP).

chev65 · 16 Apr 2010

Amount of time the OP spent researching the networking do's and don'ts of Windows 7 = 0.

Lost time because of lack of research = countless hours wasted because the Op did not spend five seconds learning about the Op system before it was installed.

As for the drivers, I defy the Op to find on another Op system that has as many good and fully functional drivers as Windows 7. In fact Msoft spent millions on this and even paid the manufacture's to make drivers that would work with Windows 7.

I recently installed Windows 7 to a 10 year old P4 compaq. I was able to join my Homegroup just by typing in the Homegroup password. This occured before I even got to the desktop for the first time. Every file was shared perfectly without me having to do a single thing. Every single driver was installed automatically and without any problems what so ever.

Installation time on older machine = 1 hour. Nearly every Windows update was installed the very first time I visited the update center without incident. Amount of time wasted = 0.

CarlTR6 · 16 Apr 2010

Duke of Alinor said:

mpcrsc562,
Since you use analogies...
People still buy Harleys - even though for utility they are far from the best for the price.
The M1 Garand is still a more accurate rifle than present standard military issue.
Understanding the why of those two facts leads to:
Sometimes you have different criteria for what you want and newer is not always better.

Again, that depends on your use. If I were to set out cross country in the US, I would strongly consider an HD Road King for comfort and a good service net work. But I wouldn't chooose a 1070's HD for the trip.

A sporterized Garand makes an excellent hunting rifle and a modified Gahand is still a fine sniper rifle. But I would rather have an AK-47 in a close quarters fire fight or the new generation M-16 family.

If you think Win7 is in all ways better I am happy for you. I do not and can prove my points. Try hiding a Win7 machine on a network, this was simple on XP and everything continued to function on your end.
Hide/Unhide XP Computer from Network Neighborhood | Windows Reference
but a problem with 7
net config server /hidden:yes command does not hide Windows 7 machines from being visible with network browser
Task Manager /services /services Disabled the "Function Discovery Resource Publication" service works but causes other problems.

I don't think every single thing in Win 7 is better. But overall it is far, far superior to XP. Hardware has evolved and Win 7 takes advantage of the new generation hardware.

whs said:

People still buy Harleys - even though for utility they are far from the best for the price
Sometimes you have different criteria for what you want and newer is not always better.

Those 2 statements are hard to argue. A Harley is just a big pile of metal that makes a lot of noise. Try to drive that on the windy roads of the Black Forest - I bet you end up wrapped around a pine tree. Compare that to a Ducati, BMW or Moto Guzzi which are real motorcyles.
And newer is certainly not always better. Example are modern cars stuffed with all those electronics. Not only do the electronics fail a lot more than the mechanics, but they require fancy equipment for diagnostics and are difficult and expensive to repair.

You forgot Triumph!

I would choose to ride European roads on my Bonneville or on a Speed Triple.

whs said:

But I would bet that the general consensus is that most of the people like Windows 7 better than Windows XP.

I vote for that - twice if neccessary. (Btw: I also take Vista any day over XP).

Make that four votes!!!

CommonTater · 16 Apr 2010

Duke of Alinor said:

Somehow I did not expect many of you to give a real answer.
But none of you?

OK... here's a real answer...

In the first week of March I installed Win7 on my desktop machine. The goal was to create a "pop tart" install (as my youngest calls it) that would just drop into the other machines and be more or less ready to go... Now I expected this to take a week of messing around figuring out what I needed and what I didn't, pounding VLite to death stripping it down to lean and mean proportions and I didn't even object when that week stretched into two... Win7 is VERY different than XP, even though there's a lot of XP still in it.

Probably the first thing I realized is that you cannot turn W7 into XP... you can't tweak, disable and configure it to look or act like XP... the differences are too great. So my first big revelation, day one, was that I had a pretty steep learning curve and I took that as a challenge...

My point is that you can't expect your first install to simply fall into place without some screwiness. There are some large scale issues here...

1) Win7 multimedia performance pretty much sucks. I took it out of my HTPC machine at threat of a family rebellion... It can probably be fixed but your not going to do it in an hour.

2) Win7 networking is a flaming nightmare. I eventually got mine tamed down but I had to kill almost all scheduled events, alter something like a dozen services, and tweak dozens of settings to do it. If you look at my recent posting history here you will see me repeatedly typing out long pages of instructions for people relating what I did and why...

3) I don't know what Microsoft was thinking when they loaded up the task scheduler with so much crap the machines end up constantly thrashing the disk drives. My first post here was begging for help quieting it down... The guys came through and amongst us we worked it out, but that took most of a week.

4) Since the day I installed Win7 I've had problems with usb devices locking it up when coming out of standby... unplug the device and away goes Win7... never did figure out what thats about.

5) The new stricter permissions are going to give even the most profficient of XP setup wizards fits... It's constantly telling me what I can't do and tonight it told me I had no more access to my backup drive... Not good.

BUT... all that in mind, Win7 needs some slack... It is a new operating system, created to get Microsoft's neck out of the noose with Vista. As software development at this level goes this is a rush job... I'll revist at the SP2 level and see what happens but for now I gotta be honest with you and say flat out that it's got excellent potential --I really like the Aero UI-- but the guts of it need a lot of work. For a homeowner who uses the machine casually, these problems are acceptable and can be worked around... but in the professional and corporate relms, Win 7 is clearly not ready for prime time... way to many incompatibilities and too many hours debugging for any IT guy to take it seriously.

Of course, the others will argue with this... but my experience is just as souring as your own.

Dave76 · 17 Apr 2010

whs said:

But I would bet that the general consensus is that most of the people like Windows 7 better than Windows XP.

I vote for that - twice if neccessary. (Btw: I also take Vista any day over XP).

CarlTR6 said:

whs said:

But I would bet that the general consensus is that most of the people like Windows 7 better than Windows XP.

I vote for that - twice if neccessary. (Btw: I also take Vista any day over XP).

Make that four votes!!!

Make that six votes