Can Windows 7 Explorer "Filter By" feature be disabled?

[GoneNomad]

Since I haven't been able to find anything that directly refers to this, I'm taking a shot in the wild blue here, in case maybe someone here knows at least enough to point me in the right direction.

I am a long-time Windows XP user. But I have a couple of newer computers (including a laptop) that came with Windows 7 installed; the manufacturer does not support XP on these newer computers. Without drivers for the newer hardware, XP is not an option.

There are many things I don't like about Windows 7, but I've been able to overcome most of them, either by settings changes, or with "Classic Shell" (Welcome to Classic Shell) which allows users to change the Win7 UI to be much more like XP.

But there is one problem I haven't been able to overcome, which is the thing circled in red below:

I think it is called a "filter" popup, but I'm not sure.

The problem I have is, I never use this, but it sure gets in the way of what I do use, specifically resizing the column widths or moving the columns. In WinXP, there is a lot more leeway when you select the right side of a column. In Win7 (due to this infernal thing) you have to select it much more precisely, otherwise that filter thing pops up instead.

If anyone happens to know exactly what this thing is called, or even better, if anyone could suggest where I might go to find a way to turn it off, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[logicearth]

Why don't you just run Windows XP? A whole lot easier then trying to change a new system to an old system...Or do this...Use the side closer to the label and not the arrow. There is a large target area for resizing on the right side of the line.

 

[GoneNomad]

My OP is not about using or going back to XP because I am not upgrading an older PC to Win 7. If that was practical, I would do that. But I have a couple of newer computers (including a laptop) that came with Windows 7 installed; the manufacturer does not support XP on these newer computers, and while it may theoretically be possible to install XP on them, at the very least it is not practical.

As far as the large target area on the right side, it is still much smaller than XP. What happens on the right side is that it tends to select that column (as if to move it) rather than resize the one on the left. This is another example of Windows 7 trying to do many things, having too many features that are of little usefulness, that get in the way of the features that are useful.

Someone else has suggested using a different file manager, and since there are many alternatives to Windows Explorer available, that may be the practical solution.