Start Menu / File Explorer - Replacement Curiosity

[NotHereToPlayGames]

So I've been using a program called "Directory Opus 9" since 2010 as a FULL REPLACEMENT for Win XP's and Win 10's "File Explorer" (also briefly for Win 7).
It was paid for by a previous employer and the license has carried over to other installs.
I kind of have been using it more out of "habit" than out of it being my best option.
I've always LOVED IT.  I'm just recently viewing it as a tad bit "heavy" and maybe, just maybe, something "lighter" will serve my needs better.
I have not compared to recent versions, it's just the one I had and so I kept dragging it along as my OS changed over the years.

I have always used Q-Dir at work (company IT has a tendency to never catch "portable" software that they did not pre-approve so long as that software never connects to internet).

 

Baseline Frame of Reference:

Win10 Pro 22H2 VM with 2 GB RAM, default File Explorer, Start Menu pre-replaced with StartIsBack++ 2.9.19 (pre-installed in the "lite" version of 10 being used for testing).
0.8 GB RAM, 44 processes, 536 threads, 20142 handles.
RAM fluctuated and dropped to 0.7, processes dropped to 42, threads dropped to 444, handles dropped to 19057 in 38 minutes of Up Time but not doing anything but watching Task Manager.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Comparison #1:

UNINSTALLED StartIsBack - nothing for or against, I just feel that it is "stolen property" when it comes *pre-installed/pre-activated* inside a test-version of Win10.

Default Start Menu seems to be an IMPROVEMENT over StartIsBack.  Again, nothing for or against, per se.

17 minutes of idle had processes at 40, RAM dropped to 0.7, threads at 413, and handles at 17496.

Edited February 13 by NotHereToPlayGames

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Comparison #2:

I admit that I find this one to be a tad bit of relief.  I would have had to "rethink" a few things if this made any "improvement".

Removed test-version 10's desktop wallpaper, restored real Windows mouse icon theme, set OS to custom colors (dark Win but LIGHT APP instead of full dark mode), disabled transparency effect, set accent for start/taskbar/title bars.

Didn't think those preference would have an effect, but wanted to cite as changes made.

I would have really been between a Rock and a Hard Place if idle RAM jumped just by going from Dark Mode to Custom with LIGHT APP, lol.

Edited February 14 by NotHereToPlayGames

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Comparison #3:

Installed Directory Opus.  I "like" Directory Opus, been using it since 2010, but it has crashed more and more in recent years (only when the preview pane is also open).

Note that indexing is DISABLED on all my computers.  SearchApp.exe is "suspended".

And my computers "with" Directory Opus do respond slightly slowly than my computers "without" Directory Opus.

BUT...  I also made more than one variable change to regain that responsiveness.

I highlight those changes in the next two posts.

 

Edited February 14 by NotHereToPlayGames

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Disabling that pesky SearchApp.exe.  Despite being "suspended", I don't want it even sitting there eating up RAM.

Save as a .bat file and run as Admin:

sc.exe config WSearch start= disabled
taskkill /f /im SearchApp.exe
move %windir%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy %windir%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy.old

This gets rid of SearchApp.exe and also the RuntimeBroker.exe that it requires to run alongside itself.
It's key that you run this as a .bat because Win will try to restart SearchApp.exe when you kill it so you have to get the folder renamed BEFORE it has a chance to restart.
We didn't delete anything and can always revert if needed (just remove the .old from the folder name that we renamed so that Win cannot "find" SearchApp.exe).

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Next, disable StartMenuExperienceHost.exe (and the RuntimeBroker.exe that it requires to run alongside itself).
There are plenty of FREE, non-stolen, third-party tools for this.  I like Open-Shell Menu (used to be called Classic Shell).
I prefer to not install the Classic Explorer, Classic IE, and Open-Shell Update options, strictly installing only the Open-Shell Menu.
From here:  https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu
But this is purely a preference, any ol' third-party tool should suffice.

This doesn't "by itself" get rid of StartMenuExperienceHost and its RuntimeBroker piggyback.

Save as a .bat file and run as Admin:

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
taskkill /f /im StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
move %windir%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy %windir%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy.old
explorer.exe

Edited February 14 by NotHereToPlayGames

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Comparison #4:

Reverted to default File Explorer (ie, uninstalled Directory Opus).

Lowest idle RAM, lowest idle process/threads/handles.

Dropped to 0.6 RAM, 39 processes, 464 threads, 16206 handles.  Granted, the difference between 0.8, 0.7, and 0.6 RAM is negligible.

BUT...  There is SIGNIFICANT responsiveness IMPROVEMENT.  The best way to "visually see" the improvement is via System Informer.

Open any multi-process Chromium-based browser, strictly as an example.

When you close that browser and *watch* System Informer, all of those processes close much FASTER now, there used to be a significant and observable lag.

Truth be told, I did not run separate tests to ISOLATE whether this responsiveness GAIN is due to uninstalling Directory Opus or to disabling StartMenuExperienceHost.

(I'm inclined to tie it to StartMenuExperienceHost, but I did not verify through experimentation [because of other justifications to replace a program from 2010].)

Edited February 14 by NotHereToPlayGames