Windows 7 - What crap can I turn off running in the background?

Mr Spoon said:
I don't understand why everyone seems to like Windows 7. I've tried XP and Windows 7 on the same machine (a new mid range system) and it runs much smoother on a tweaked XP than it does with Windows 7. Win7 has so many retarded and annoying features and I hate the start menu.. XP in proper classic mode is way better, I wouldn't even call Windows 7 a professional operating system.
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Windows 7 is designed for more modern PC's. Sure it will run on older systems but to get the best benefits you need a half decent system that can support Aero, etc.

I am not a fan of the start menu. You can tweak it and get it looking 'classic like' which I have done but that's about it.

It's so much better than XP - XP you'd have to reinstall or mess around with to keep it running well where as with Windows 7 it just works. No blue screens, etc. and it gets everyone moving in the right direction towards 64 bit processing.

With regards to operating systems it's time to actually move with them - it was £50 on release which is an absolute bargain for what it offers. If you really can't see the difference between the two then you simply haven't really used it. You've probably installed it and gone 'don't like this - it's different' and then gone back to XP.

It's certainly a much more professional OS than XP - simply due to the lack of maintenance required from the end-user and also the reliability. It's also a lot more secure with UAC, etc.


M.
 
thanks for the reply, I know it handles memory better and mutithreading and the latest Direct X etc,, how can you get a classic looking start menu ?
I turned off the UAC because I don't like having to confirm everything 3 times. I think gadgets are a waste of resources and im not convinced by flashy preview windows.
 
Mr Spoon said:
I wouldn't even call Windows 7 a professional operating system.
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A bold statement given it is more stable than XP, more secure, manages resources better, has a plethora of usability enhancements in the GUI, runs most hardware out of the box and is fankly a nicer experience all-round.

I have several clients running Windows 7 at their businesses and they'd bite your arm off if you tried to give them an XP machine now.
 
I've just been playing with Windows 7 and it's not too bad when everything is tweaked to classic style. I can't find a way to get a proper XP classic style start menu though.
I think Win7 is very bad and amaturish when its freshly installed, like XP and Vista. I just prefer a slick and simple Windows OS thats runs my apps (mainly games) to its full potential.

I've got it down to 25 Processes running now, so not too bad. :D
 
In some ways I agree with Mr Spoon.
I HATE the Win7 start menu, it's horrible.
Not a big fan of the taskbar either.
I also don't like jump lists and don't understand how libraries benefit me.
My old Win XP machine boots faster than my Win7 machine and it's on older hardware. Is there a way to speed up Win7's boot time?
Also, what benefits does Aero actually give? I'm not really sure what it does other than the pointless thumbnails that pop up from the taskbar.
Also, UAC is very annoying. I can't run anything without it popping up, which slows everything down.

I've been running Win7 for over a year now and I think I prefer XP, but probably because i'm more used to XP.
 
Are you still traversing the Start menu the old way? Because I don't see what's not to like about pressing the Windows Key, typing the first 3 or 4 letters of the application or folder you want and pressing Enter to launch things.
 
theheyes said:
Are you still traversing the Start menu the old way? Because I don't see what's not to like about pressing the Windows Key, typing the first 3 or 4 letters of the application or folder you want and pressing Enter to launch things.
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Yep, mostly still do it the old way rather than searching for everything. I remember having to type the name of the program I wanted to run back when I used to use MS-DOS. Progress huh? :)
 
marc2003 said:
one thing i forgot to mention is to disable hibernation if you don't use it. click on start>all programs>accessories>right click "command prompt" and "run as administrator". now type in

powercfg -h off

that saves a good chunk of disk space on your system drive.
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Cheers for this, just got me around 3gb of valuble space back on my 60gb SSD. ;)
*Edit. Actually nearer 5gb; happy days.
 
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GoogalyMoogaly said:
Yep, mostly still do it the old way rather than searching for everything. I remember having to type the name of the program I wanted to run back when I used to use MS-DOS. Progress huh? :)
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Well in a way yeah, the command line is quicker because it doesn't make you trawl through a GUI. The new Start menu is quicker for the same reasons, but you still have the fall back of doing it manually.

The expanding menu system of XP and earlier didn't scale very well either. On little laptops with fiddly trackpads you could quite easily mis-click and have to start over. And my personal favourite - a navigation tree so deep it would go off the end of the screen and I couldn't see what I had highlighted. It was fine for its time, but I don't miss it.

Each to their own though. :)
 
GoogalyMoogaly said:
Yep, mostly still do it the old way rather than searching for everything. I remember having to type the name of the program I wanted to run back when I used to use MS-DOS. Progress huh? :)
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Navigating through menus is a step backward when you can simply type a few letters and find what you are after. Nothing like using a shell, since a shell requires specific syntax.

Windows 7 also learns from what you use most. If I want to run Notepad++ I can type Windows Key, n, enter and done. You would still be looking for the shortcut icon using the menus.

Saying an OS is not professional or worse than a previous version because there are features you don't know how to use or choose not to is pure ignorance.
 
SiriusB said:
Navigating through menus is a step backward when you can simply type a few letters and find what you are after. Nothing like using a shell, since a shell requires specific syntax.

Windows 7 also learns from what you use most. If I want to run Notepad++ I can type Windows Key, n, enter and done. You would still be looking for the shortcut icon using the menus.

Saying an OS is not professional or worse than a previous version because there are features you don't know how to use or choose not to is pure ignorance.
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I don't think I said it was not professional or worse, just that in many ways I prefer XP. And that's a personal preference, you can't say it's wrong or ignorant.
I could place a shortcut on the desktop for Notepad++, that'd save a bit of time.
So I only have to type a few letters in and it'll know if I want to play "Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords" instead of "Knights of the Old Republic"? Or that I wanted to play "Left 4 Dead 2" and not "Left 4 Dead"? It knows which "Call of Duty" I want to play by only typing a few letters? I'll admit reading my mind is a very clever feature.

I can't believe I'm saying this as I didn't/don't particularly like it, but I do miss the old Windows XP search function. Maybe i missing something, but I can't find the "Find Files or Folders" function in Win7.

But this is all getting a little off topic. I'll let everyone go back to moaning at and telling off the OP for wanting to use his computer how he wants to as opposed to how they want him to.
 
There's no classic start menu in Windows 7 precisely because the world is full of stubborn people who will continue to use the antiquated classic menu purely because they're used to it, until they're forced to discover the more efficient way. There's no need for anybody to be scanning through enormous lists of apps any more.

Turning off Aero is ridiculous. Not only are you making a brand new OS look like a 10-year-old one, but you're actually getting less desktop performance, since you're moving tasks which are usually GPU-accelerated back onto the CPU.

Also, what benefits does Aero actually give?
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What benefits does the wallpaper in your house actually give? What benefit does combing your hair actually give? Is aesthetic appeal not a benefit in itself? Stop thinking of everything in terms of FPS and give some thought to the actual experience of using your computer.
 
GoogalyMoogaly said:
I don't think I said it was not professional or worse, just that in many ways I prefer XP. And that's a personal preference, you can't say it's wrong or ignorant.
I could place a shortcut on the desktop for Notepad++, that'd save a bit of time.
So I only have to type a few letters in and it'll know if I want to play "Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords" instead of "Knights of the Old Republic"? Or that I wanted to play "Left 4 Dead 2" and not "Left 4 Dead"? It knows which "Call of Duty" I want to play by only typing a few letters? I'll admit reading my mind is a very clever feature.

I can't believe I'm saying this as I didn't/don't particularly like it, but I do miss the old Windows XP search function. Maybe i missing something, but I can't find the "Find Files or Folders" function in Win7.

But this is all getting a little off topic. I'll let everyone go back to moaning at and telling off the OP for wanting to use his computer how he wants to as opposed to how they want him to.
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no, it doesn't read minds but.....if you type "knights" or "left" into your start menu, it would narrow down the start menu to a mere handful of results and you can simply click which result you want. nice and easy :)

XP's classic start menu was ok for it's time (in that it did it's job) but it has no place in W7 what so ever. The new style start menu is much easier to use (providing you aren't stubborn and insist on doing thing the same way you did in XP) and if it really is that much of an inconvenience to use the search bar then you can always pin your most used things to the start menu or the taskbar.

Personally I always customize my start menu to remove all the recently used programs and just have a nice list of maybe 6 or 7 of my most used programs pinned instead. Anything else I need can be found through the search bar easily enough with very little effort.

Also the search bar in the start menu searches "files and folders" too :) alternatively hit F3 somewhere and it should bring up a windows explorer window with the search bar in it (this bar is also in every explorer window you open)
 
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Regarding UAC being annoying, when I first install W7 I turn it off initially while installing everything, maybe even for the first week of use and then put it to the lowest on setting so it doesn't dim the screen. I wish you could tell it to allow stuff in future that it asks you about, every time I boot my pc I have to click yes for MSI afterburner.

Overall I like W7 massively more than xp, as others have said the 'user experience' has been much more thought through, it feels modern.
 
The only thing on Win7 that is backwards is the WMP mini bar thing, far less info in the Win7 one than the XP one.

Also most of the features that the TV adverts show are also the features I turned off.. :p Such as the one where you put a window near the edge and it attaches to it, or resizes it to full screen. **** OFF! I want it in that specific spot not where you put it, if I wanted it there I would put it there...

Thankfully it's very easy to turn that off... :D

And yep, Vista and subsequently Win7 are so much better than XP it's unreal, the new start bar is one of the best features!
 
Mr Spoon said:
thanks for the reply, I know it handles memory better and mutithreading and the latest Direct X etc,, how can you get a classic looking start menu ?
I turned off the UAC because I don't like having to confirm everything 3 times. I think gadgets are a waste of resources and im not convinced by flashy preview windows.
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right click computer under start menu, click properties, then on the left pane at the bottom click advanced system settings, click the performance button and use ''adjust for best performance'' setting and apply and all windows shiny aero should be gone (if this is what you want it to look like, not sure it's classic start menu)
 
Classic Start Menu:

http://www.classicstartmenu.com/index.html

Or, if you don't mind it being double pained but want to organise the all programs you can navigate to (you will have to turn on show hidden folders and untick hide protected operating system files and also be an administrator):

C:\ProgramData\Start Menu\Programs

And organise that. That's currently how I have mine. It's not a perfect solution but one I'm personally happy with.



M.
 
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