xpclient

A Start Menu and other amazing apps like OldNewExplorer etc can fully fix Windows 7 or 8.1, but they cannot fix the atrocities of Windows 10. Windows 10 is an OS fundamentally designed to mess up your setup. Candy Crush and other crap auto installing without asking, ads in File Manager and other places, shilling MS apps to the user even after the user has set his defaults, using bandwidth without permission to download or share updates, taking an abnormally long time to do updates, wasting the user's time at logon and logoff with configuring huge updates, randomly breaking and uninstalling things people are using with updates that nobody asked for, overriding hardware configurations with forced driver changes, and countless other things. It is evil. P.S. And I didn't even mention the SIZE of typical updates which is so completely out of control that they hid it from the UI so the user would never know how much data he is downloading to his PC and what a bandwidth waste this OS is. Edit: Cleaned up language. Thank you! -Tommy

I also uploaded Office 2000 Post SP3 patches if anyone's interested: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/150203-office-2000-patches-after-sp3/?tab=comments#comment-1009114 And Office 97 Post SR-2 Updates: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/158257-office-97-patches-and-downloads-after-sr-2/ If you want Office 97 with integrated SR-2 (outside of MSFN of course), email me.

Thanks for updating this! After Windows 7, Explorer is unusable with ONE.

What about 8.1? Does the command prompt raster fonts bug exist in 8.1?

According to this blog post, XTS-AES was added in Microsoft Bob, Version 1511: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dubaisec/2016/03/04/bitlocker-aes-xts-new-encryption-type/

Btw Windows 8/8.1 only became decent IMHO after Microsoft left it alone. The hell from Windows Update was also offered to it via several large updates after the original release of 8.1. Windows 10 being the "last version" will never be left alone by them.

Yep that does it. Just shell:::{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD88} also works from Run dialog (and doesn't leave a stray Explorer.exe process running). By the way, have you managed to revive the Network Map feature of Windows 7 this way?

That's a nice discovery! Up until now I was adding the CLSID to the Classic Shell Start Menu: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-manage-wireless-networks-in-windows-8-1-and-windows-8-using-classic-shell/ It didn't open the actual folder in Explorer but its contents are accessible from the flyout menu and all the relevant context menu commands too although after doing "Move up" and "Move down", we have no idea of the actual priority of the wi-fi profile because unlike the Explorer folder, the cascading menu doesn't move them up or down - but you can drag and drop them. A working Explorer folder for Manage Wireless Networks is a great solution. Only I wish it didn't require replacing system files because SFC /scannow or DISM /restorehealth might also restore the originals.

If you have Classic Shell you can hack it in: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-manage-wireless-networks-in-windows-8-1-and-windows-8-using-classic-shell But I'd still avoid Windows 10 because it's a piece of crap.

Firing all the dedicated testers seems to be really working well at Microsoft.

Uhm...don't use crap like Windows 10? Use 7 or 8.1.

Not that I use the malware called Windows 10 on a daily basis but if you are a victim who is forced to use this crap for whatever reason, you can remove the bloat and garbage that Microsoft locked down and prevents from being removed via PowerShell: http://alexappleton.net/post/159702702033/windows-10-pro-remove-wireless-display-media They use an SQLite database to "protect" the in-box apps from being removed. Just change the IsInbox value of these from 1 to 0 and PowerShell is able to remove them easily. Crap like Wireless Display Media Viewer, Windows Defender Security Center and Mixed Reality Portal can be removed if you have no use for it.

I don't like malware so I am happy with Windows 8.1. Windows 10 is malware.

Look what this IT security analyst found about Windows 10. It does not honor many privacy related settings: https://twitter.com/m8urnett/status/866353982217699328

That option was removed from Creators Update Settings page at the last minute.

Winaero covered about April 2017 updates in this article: http://winaero.com/blog/new-cpu-lock-windows-restrictive/ I guess every rollup from Microsoft will include this artificial "lock" to break updating functionality so you can just turn off updates entirely for Windows 7/8.1 if running these 7th gen or later CPUs. I would still choose to run unpatched Windows 7/8.1 than to use the malware called Windows 10!

Doesn't LTSB also have the bloated updates issue? Although due to feature updates not being as frequent as other editions, it may be less annoying. But it's not as sweet as Windows 7 or 8.1's updating used to be (before Microsoft broke that and made it a nightmare too).

Good decision. Windows 10 is universal s***. There's nothing good about it. Third party apps can fix 8.1 at least.

Well, not to be perceived myself as ignorant, I meant that most driver models are the same. A few things have changed but nothing significant for me. Windows Display Driver Model is revised to 2.0/2.1/2.2 in Windows 10 but I am not a DirectX 12 gamer so it doesn't matter to me. Thunderbolt and USB 3.1 with the USB-C connector might be slightly better supported than 8.1 but I think there is an update for 8.1 that adds USB-C connector support. Miracast will support H.265/HEVC in Windows 10 vs H.264 in 8.1. The Creators Update supports WiGig for wireless docks and further improvements to Bluetooth Low Energy. DLNA Streaming (Cast To) is definitely improved in Windows 10 - streaming actually works with my TV. But these are trivial additions for me. Any app can do that job eventually. The fundamentals like operating system servicing, the core user interface, overall performance and productivity have all taken such a massive hit in Windows 10 that it is out of the question! I think 8.1 with a Start Menu, 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and such other apps to fix it is much better. You no longer have to suffer Windows 10 or stay with Windows 7 which is being phased out by Microsoft's evil partners too - Intel, AMD, HP, Dell, Lenovo etc.

This might help: How to make an updated ISO with Windows 7 SP2 Convenience Rollup so Windows Update works: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-make-an-updated-iso-with-windows-7-sp2-convenience-rollup-so-windows-update-works/ But that was before the cumulative rollups started from October 2016. I am happy with an updated image till mid-2016. I manually download and install the latest update rollup. Then WU works for me.

Yes Vista was a huge change and improvement to the kernel and all of Windows internals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_features_new_to_Windows_Vista#Kernel_and_core_OS_changes. Also read this document: http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/c/5/9c5b2167-8017-4bae-9fde-d599bac8184a/kernel-en.doc And this three-part series: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc162494.aspx Although Vista was a huge step backwards in OS servicing and some parts of the Explorer shell/user experience. Even up to Windows 8.1, the crappiness in the user experience could be fixed with third party apps and many of the technical changes were good (although not all of them). Even the servicing of 8.1 is way better than Vista or Windows 7. But in Windows 10, nothing is worthwhile. Everything is crap. It has nothing of value for me, is full of junk, super annoying rude behaviors & things way out of control! A OS super-disaster. I would rather change careers than deal with this junk!!

Windows 10 is the crappiest crap of all crap. I've seen such extreme bul***** in the OS in the last 2.5 years that I will stay away from it for the next 100 years at least. It's an epic failure of good software engineering. Parts of it are very poorly architected/designed and the UI is worse than Windows 95, and even worse than Windows 8. The reliability, stability, quality, value it delivers, ease of use, features - everything about Windows 10 is outrageously bad and completely worthless, lacking in substance. For those who cannot judge its quality and cannot see its massive flaws, I saw tough luck. You are stupid and you might have a weird obsession to stay on the "latest" OS no matter how bad it is, and nobody can fight that if you've made up your mind to ignore its deal-breaking flaws. The worst is yet to come. Windows 10 will only get worse from here on as it destroys everything that truly made the PC great. Microsoft will remove more features and value than what they are adding, and they will change it into a perpetual expensive subscription. You'll experience MASSIVE troubles CONTINUOUSLY with Windows 10 - it goes against the fundamental principle of software which is that it should stable, trustworthy, reliable and productive in the long term. Now at this point, end of Microsoft support also means nothing to me. So I will continue to run Windows 8.1 with Classic Shell for as long as I can. Windows is secure enough now that security patches ending won't cause your PC to get hacked unless you run unknown apps from untrusted sources. It's just a tactic that Microsoft uses to scare everyone. In fact I am willing to take that 1 in a billion chance that my PC will get hacked because of a security vulnerability. That is lesser of the two evils, the one option being extorted by Microsoft perpetually with ridiculous changes that you can't say no to. Microsoft will bleed you dry without offering any additional value, and while secretly eliminating what you paid for. The driver model hasn't changed between Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 so it will be possible to run Windows 8.1 for a very, very, very long time. Even NVMe SSDs have native drivers in Windows 8.1. USB 3.1 - yep. Bluetooth Low Energy. Yep 8.1 supports. Miracast? Yep. There hasn't been any hardware technology evolution or revolution big enough to require the dreadful abomination called Windows 10. No amount of Registry tweaking, configuring and tuning can fix the awfulness of updates in Windows 10. Updates that should have been 10 MB in size are 1 GB and are constant. To hide from the user how awfully bloated they are, Microsoft no longer shows their size so the user remains cluelessly deceived. Updates reset your customized stuff and completely kill your productivity. Updates also impact internet bandwidth when downloading and affect your PC performance while they slowly install. Updates will wear out your SSD with tons of unnecessary writes. Whoever worked on the updating stack should never again be allowed to touch a computer, let alone code. They should be sent back to the college or university they came from to learn efficient coding from scratch again. Until then, all their degrees and qualifications should be taken away. I haven't seen anything worse in 30 years of computing than Windows 10 updates. UI inconsistences have increased 100 times more in Windows 10 vs 8.1. Settings and notification area Metro s*** is all over the place. For example, there are 3 Defender UIs: (see this image: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C28Xt4gXcAEf0c4.jpg:large ) AND a tray icon and weekly Action Center notifications! Action Center is a badly design notification UI straight from hell to constantly bug and annoy you. On the other hand, Windows 8.1 with the addition of Classic Shell is largely like Windows 7. You don't even have to ever see or use the dreadful Metro UI in Windows 8 except for a few areas like the Network flyout/tray pane. Whereas in Windows 10, the extremely crappily designed UI has infected all the parts of the OS. Everywhere, silly dumb undecipherable icons are used instead of text and everything is hidden behind hamburger menus that require more clicks. More classic Win32 desktop apps are replaced by extremely dumbed down Metro crap. There is no more any concept like usability, productivity or efficiency of doing things. Windows 8.1 is the fastest out of Vista, 7, 8.1 and 10 in my benchmarks. Also besides synthetic performance, Windows 10 has real-world UI sluggishness issues due to use of managed code in the UI/graphical shell. Plus, it is unstable and breaks on its own. It also has loads of unnecessary crap which cannot be uninstalled, fully disabled and continues to take loads of memory. It also comes back when you do updates. So Windows 10 has severely regressed in several core areas: 1. Updates (or the way the OS is serviced) which affects user productivity and long-term stability and desired configuration 2. User interface which has pathetic usability. The entire UWP/Metro UI control stack should be canceled and something better based on modified Win32 controls for touch should be built. Making the controls usable still won't fix their awful design and broken underpinnings of UWP and of most apps though 3. Poor performance due to use of managed code in the OS unlike fast, low footprint native code (C++) I think those who say Windows 10 is actually better than 8.1 or 7 don't have any understanding of operating systems and therefore cannot see just how bad it is. They have no idea of the crap they are accepting. What can I say - ignorance is bliss. Windows 10 is unbearable for me so I never use it. I refuse to use such a junk piece of software, so it's 8.1 for me unless there is really something useful added in Windows 10 in the future. But Microsoft has run out of great ideas and innovation. They only add useless gimmicky fluff now that is of no value to me. Most of their "ideas" are copied from competitors, and since there is no long-term continuity or guarantee of any feature staying around, their software suddenly becomes completely worthless for me - because you paid for some commitment and now they're backing off that commitment - it's an epic breach of trust. Spending money on such crap would be the biggest mistake ever. Plus anything that requires the cloud or interacts so much with the cloud gets a big thumbs down from me. I will never use it because their grand plan is to hold everyone hostage as they pull off any kind of random meaningless changes FORCIBLY to make themselves rich while offering nothing new really that is of significant value or use to you. Again, it's a violation of trust and reduction in value in the "improved" version. I will wait till the new Microsoft CEO gets fired - you know, the id*** who cannot even understand that operating systems should be an offline but occasionally connected-product, not a cloud-first service.

Hey please share that script to permanently get rid of GarbEdge! It doesn't come back even after Reset? The script must have removed the appx package and manifest from the base WIM.