Slashdot Mirror

Dude seriously WTF? I'm serious...WTF are you doing man? those "utilities" are about as useful as tits on a boar hog, worse because at least the tits ain't slowing down the boar!

As far as the driver model goes? Vista and up can use WDM OR WDF, XP was WDM so there ya go. Like I said the only catch is 32bit drivers run on a 32bit OS but since no OS I know of can run two different driver subsystem at the same time that is to be expected. And if its for a business client then they have Windows pro...yes? One phone call and you can downgrade to any previous version you want and as for drivers? Here ya go pal, enjoy! Just slap that sucker on any newly installed Windows, run it once, then uninstall it...tada! the PC has the latest drivers all nice and neat, easy peasy. You pair that with WSUS Offline and Ninite for the third party software and you can go from bare drive to ready to ship in a snap!

The only idiots who like using those "apps" are the ones ... for whom the actual power of a desktop is apparently wasted.

No, wait: I like Window 8. and I really, really like the interface formally known as Metro (ie, Metro.)

I like to see the visuals of virtual blood as it splashes across the screen as all of the Metro apps scream in digital silence and die. (ie, you can ignore the errors.) And then I install a real start menu and I'm good to go! Steps:

1: REMOVE Metro. (not disable, not hide; DIE.)

1: See here.

Run PowerShell as Administrator.

Show all
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers

Kill currently-installed Metro apps for your ID.
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

Kill Metro STAGED apps (Still gven to new users.)
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online

The only thing left is the Microsoft store itself, and all of the apps are online, so you can reinstall any Metro apps you miss having.

2: REMOVE SilverLight from the WSUS update list (Ditto.)

See here Basically run:

reg delete HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Silverlight /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\D7314F9862C648A4DB8BE2A5B47BE100 /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\D7314F9862C648A4DB8BE2A5B47BE100 /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{283C8576-0726-4DBC-9609-3F855162009A} /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\install.exe /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AgControl.AgControl /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AgControl.AgControl.5.1 /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{89F4137D-6C26-4A84-BDB8-2E5A4BB71E00} /f
rmdir /s /q "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Silverlight"
rmdir /s /q "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Silverlight"

3: Add a replacement start menu.

I like this one, but there are others that are free, and still others that are cheap.

4: And the final touch for those who just blindly follow along: Speed up your system by:

Starting a CMD as administrator and run:
rmdir /s /q %SystemDrive%\

...becuase if you're stupid enough to run random commands without knowing what they do, this will learn you better. ;-)

Here is the free (as in beer) software you are looking for.

Shame it doesn't completely eradicate Metro, but at least it means you can avoid it most of the time.

Since the Windows 3, there have been complementary products to supplement Microsoft's short-sighted approach to their OS.

Who remembers products like ICS, and the early CD-writer plug ins for Explorer?

They're still around, and as good as ever.

This one provides a Start button for Windows 8. Its very cute...

The problem is, if this is the most significant/compelling difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8(.1), why would anyone buy it? Microsoft's obsession with rationalising their product set down to one-size-fits-all will ultimately result in them losing all markets instead of simply continuing to dominate one. We all knew that Bill Gates departure from the M$ helm would result in its downfall. Its just painful to watch someone die of cancer.

There are lots of alternatives.

Start Menus:
Classic Shell
Pokki
Power8
RetroUI
Start8
StartMenu8
Start Menu X
ViStart
Win8StartButton

Launchers:
7stacks
8start Launcher
Appetizer
Blaze
Executor
Fences
Find and Run Robot
Key Launch
Launchy
ObjectDock
Rainmeter
RK Launcher
RocketDock
SliderDock
ViPad
Winstep Nexus
XWindows Dock

Take your pick. This is just a small list. I know there are many more out there.

This is extra text because Slashdot is lame and says my comment has too few characters per line:

A computer program (also software, or just a program) is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer.[1] A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor.[2] The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute the instructions. The same program in its human-readable source code form, from which executable programs are derived (e.g., compiled), enables a programmer to study and develop its algorithms.

Computer source code is often written by computer programmers. Source code is written in a programming language that usually follows one of two main paradigms: imperative or declarative programming. Source code may be converted into an executable file (sometimes called an executable program or a binary) by a compiler and later executed by a central processing unit. Alternatively, computer programs may be executed with the aid of an interpreter, or may be embedded directly into hardware.

Computer programs may be categorized along functional lines: system software and application software. Two or more computer programs may run simultaneously on one computer, a process known as multitasking.

I've tried a lot of optimization software over the years, but this is the one I've found that actually works as advertised: Advanced SystemCare 4

But, the thing is that in a corporate environment you're not likely to be allowed to install RAM or programs to deal with optimization. The best bet would be to prepare a report on how much time the OP is wasting waiting for the computer to respond and relate that to the cost of upgrading the hardware. That's really the best way of handling it in a business environment. They may still say no, but otherwise, why risk getting fired for screwing around with company property outside of the scope of work?

I have found for my kids ACER Netbooks with XP HOME that Flashfire "fixes" the slow down. http://flashfire.org/
Was night and day during start up alone. Improved Firefox even after cutting most of it cache storage,

Also found running defrags helped a lot. Using both IO BIT Smartdefrag http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html and Page Defrag http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897426.aspx

1) Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, and run it. It was the only thing that found a virus on my computer recently, out of six packages (including two commercial ones).
2) Download HijackThis, if that doesn't work. Be careful with this package, though! You can do some serious damage to your computer by blindly following its advice. Read the forums.
3) How full is your hard drive? If the C: drive is full enough, fragmentation can dramatically mess up performance in a very short time. Clean and defrag. I personally find it worthwhile to use SmartDefrag, a much more powerful defragger than the one that's built into Windows.
4) Read your logs. Yes, Windows actually logs stuff! Go to "Control Panel-->Administrative Tools-->Computer Management" and then dig through "System Tools-->Event Viewer" TONS of useful information about what's not healthy on your system, including complete boot logs.

Good luck.