I agree with you 100%. I struggle all the time to customize things so they stay like they did in Window 98. Seems to be a losing battle. Sure, you can change something, but the new Windows is smart enough to know that you really did not want things to look like that permanently so it does you the favor of changing it back at some random time in the future.
My Computer
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
OQO 2+
OS
Windows 8 Pro w/MC 32-bit
CPU
Intel Atom 1.86 GHz
Motherboard
OQO 2+
Memory
2 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel GMA 500
Sound Card
IDT
Monitor(s) Displays
LCD
Screen Resolution
800 x 480 (portable) 1280 x 1024 (docked)
Hard Drives
64 GB SSD
PSU
9 Ah Battery (portable) or OQO Brick (docked)
Case
Shirt Pocket Sized
Cooling
Tiny Fan
Keyboard
Slide out (portable) DiNovo Edge (docked)
Mouse
Eraser head (portable) Logitech Bluetooth (docked)
On my PC both IE 9 & Opera the Web Archive single file is the default.
Nothing in Internet options I'd guess if it's possible it would require using regedit to change something in the Registry.
My Computer
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
self build
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 4770K overclocked to 4.7GHz Quad Core Haswell
Motherboard
Asus Z87 Pro (Socket 1150) ATX Motherboard
Memory
16GB Team Group Vulcan Gold 2133MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 7880 Series Display adapter
Monitor(s) Displays
NEC LCD2690WUXi2
Screen Resolution
26" 1920 x 1200
Hard Drives
Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s
Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s
PSU
Corsair AX760 Platinum
Case
Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower
Cooling
XSPC RayStorm 750 RS360 Water cooling
Mouse
Razer Death Adder left handed
Internet Speed
126Mb download 11.5Mb up
Antivirus
Avast free
Browser
Opera
Other Info
Main Browser is Opera
Favorite software Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop
best plugins Nik software
Firewall : Private firewall 7