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We take out, we add in


Squeeto

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When running over explorer the systray does not work perfectly in some cases.

That's a flaw shared by most shell replacements I've tried. I attribute it more to Explorer mucking up the replacement's features, since remove explorer and problem solved. :thumbup

Icons are odd in windows. Apparently updating them causes page faults, which explains the 4 million listed for me under the task manager. They ammased since I rebooted a few hours ago. B) And, ofcourse, there's the whole 16-colour systray icons thing that adds to my feeling that they're handled weird. :huh:

Oh, and to top it off, I'm really really tired and had to recheck this entire post several times for spelling errors. Foggy-brain also makes me think they're handled weird in windows. :D

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With bblean, you still use explorer.exe to view files, but explorer.exe is not the shell. With the proper BBLEAN plugin and proper configuration, the systray will be there. It's manual tweaking to get it right, but it IS possible to have the systray (tested with two different systems). For some reason or another, the bblean plugin file required to have the systray isn't part of the main bblean package.

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The most simple "shell selector" I ever found is Carapace:

http://www.sharpe-shell.org/content.php?content.12

Hosted on the SharpE shell site, worth a look:

http://www.sharpe-shell.org/content.php?content.9

Just for the record, it is possible to change shell on a "per user" basis:

http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/849/

jaclaz

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With bblean, you still use explorer.exe to view files, but explorer.exe is not the shell. With the proper BBLEAN plugin and proper configuration, the systray will be there. It's manual tweaking to get it right, but it IS possible to have the systray (tested with two different systems). For some reason or another, the bblean plugin file required to have the systray isn't part of the main bblean package.

You have one shell per session.

It handles systray and some other things.

When you run litestep, you don't really run the shell. To be fully-functionnal, it has to be started by winlogon.

In fact, if you run another shell on top of explorer, it's normal that it doesn't work properly.

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Perhaps I should have clarified. "Windows Explorer" (the file manager of sorts) is explorer.exe. The shell is explorer.exe. By shell, I mean this is what you see on your monitor after you log into the machine. It's the same file being used for two different things on a default windows machine. BBLEAN or any other shell replacement will still use the "Windows Explorer" part of explorer.exe, unless you change it.

Without a shell, you can't click, do or view anything, unless you have some sort of dos window to issue commands.

Edited by tommyp
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With the proper BBLEAN plugin and proper configuration, the systray will be there. It's manual tweaking to get it right, but it IS possible to have the systray
remove explorer and problem solved

So the verdict? Should we look for a better explorer replacement?

Major task or simple reg entries?

I do get looks sometimes when I say that I still use 2k (actually I have XP on disk). It would be nice to have a nicer desktop. Not going to buy 2k3 also.

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bbLean is apparently dead due to an MIA dev. Some other folks have taken up the torch and they hang out here. The latest version is buried in the thread but you can find it here. How does it compare to xoblite?

I am still a litestep man but bbLean is nice, too. litestep does use more resources, but not very much more and it is far more configurable and usable.

Edited by TAiN
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Do you mean explorer.exe the shell? or explorer.exe as the windows explorer?

Your saying that my 'file manager' explorer.exe is also the shell? Micro$tuff does it again :wacko:

bblean worked first time but o'so boring skin (I know there are others) and I remember checking out explorerxp from the recommendations at FDV's site. If I go with bblean, I can't see any reason to keep explorer.exe. You know if we changed enough there may no longer be any MS content at all.

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Your saying that my 'file manager' explorer.exe is also the shell?
That is correct.
bblean worked first time but o'so boring skin (I know there are others)
I don't have much experience with bbLean but there were some attractive 'syles' on the right-click menu. Some were quite ugly as well. boxshots.org has a nice sample of what bbLean can do.

I'm not sure that removing explorer.exe is the best idea. Even though I use litestep and xplorer^2, having explorer.exe around comes in handy. I think it would be an interesting project to cook up a reducer/addon combo that cleans explorer and replaces the shell.

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having explorer.exe around comes in handy
If shell selection is one reg key:
Shell selection is a single-key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

Shell (Reg_SZ)

No dependency.

And we have viable file manager type replacement with ExploreXP

Useful because it isn't tied into hundreds of other system DLLs.

Why do we need a meddling app like explorer.exe? What else does it do, can we live without it and has anyone (and many people read this) made the attempt to at least, as you say, clean it?

Yes. Interesting project.

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Why do we need a meddling app like explorer.exe?

I like that... meddling. :lol:

I'm sure that with the proper hfcleanups and the proper hfexperts, we can get rid of explorer. Did you ever see how much memory explorer.exe uses?

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That cubic explorer is pretty cool. Here's a tip for you folks. DL either (or both) explorerxp and/or cubic explorer (get the ZIP version).

Explorerxp... Install the program to get the exe file. Go to the programfiles directory and grab a copy of the explorerxp.exe file. Place it into hfexpert\win\system32.

Cubic Explorer... Unzip to a temp location. Grab the cubicexplorer.exe file and place it into hfexpert\win\system32.

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