Windows 8.1

[Gil T.Azell]

I have a laptop with this on it,
Its driving me nuts with the layout.and navigation
I've heard there was a way to make the layout more like windows
7.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance, Bill

 

[John Clark]

Well, I boot straight to desktop and haven't seen the tiles in ages. I also use classic shell.

(go to desktop view, Rightclick on taskbar, properties, navigation, tick the go to the desktop on start up option)

Classic shell can be found at www.classicshell.net

 

[Santaman]

Agreed, Classic Shell will turn your uer interface into that of Win7 or even back to Win2K if needed.

 

[Ghost07]

Now, why can't I do that? I have NO idea what I'm doing wrong...I clicked the tile that said desk, but I don't see ANYthing that says taskbar...I downloaded that classic shell thing, but I still have those stupid tiles. that HAS to mean I did something wrong, but I can't figure out WHAT?

 

[John Clark]

Ok,, let's see it this works.

You've got the tiles. (Oddly, I can no longer click in the top corner to get to desktop but can get to the desktop through the tile.



Once I click on the desktop tile, I get to this



Right click on the bar at the bottom and then hopefully you get the menu with toolbars etc on. Select properties.

(If that bar isn't showing up, the only thing I can think of is that it's hiding and isn't popping up for some reason when your cursor is down there)



Go to navigation


Tick "when I sign in or close applications on a screen, go to desktop instead of start" and that seems to work for me

 

[Amaris]

Ghost, make sure when Windows 10 comes out that you get it. It will offered for free by Microsoft. Windows 10 brings back the Start menu and everything else, and it is a gem to use. It's expected to be released in a few months.

 

[JoeZhang]

I use Start8 - it's about $4 and I haven't seen the tiles or metro since.

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

there is a free 30 day trial to see if it want you need.

 

[urbandefault]

I use Classic Shell too. It's made Win 8/8.1 much easier to live with.

Ghost, make sure when Windows 10 comes out that you get it. It will offered for free by Microsoft. Windows 10 brings back the Start menu and everything else, and it is a gem to use. It's expected to be released in a few months.

Wondering, do you know if the Win 10 upgrade will be a fresh install or just an update, leaving the programs and files? I was not at all impressed with 8.1 wiping my hard drive.

 

[Amaris]

I use Classic Shell too. It's made Win 8/8.1 much easier to live with.

Ghost, make sure when Windows 10 comes out that you get it. It will offered for free by Microsoft. Windows 10 brings back the Start menu and everything else, and it is a gem to use. It's expected to be released in a few months.

Wondering, do you know if the Win 10 upgrade will be a fresh install or just an update, leaving the programs and files? I was not at all impressed with 8.1 wiping my hard drive.

As far as I am aware, it will be an upgrade/fresh install optional.

 

[urbandefault]

I use Classic Shell too. It's made Win 8/8.1 much easier to live with.

Ghost, make sure when Windows 10 comes out that you get it. It will offered for free by Microsoft. Windows 10 brings back the Start menu and everything else, and it is a gem to use. It's expected to be released in a few months.

Wondering, do you know if the Win 10 upgrade will be a fresh install or just an update, leaving the programs and files? I was not at all impressed with 8.1 wiping my hard drive.

As far as I am aware, it will be an upgrade/fresh install optional.

Thanks.

 

[Ghost07]

John Clark...you lost me when you said...when your curser is down there...down where? what do you mean?


J. Allen...how will I know when this windows 10 is coming out?

sorry, people, you're talking to an old lady who has only ever had XP

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I use Start8 - it's about $4 and I haven't seen the tiles or metro since.

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

there is a free 30 day trial to see if it want you need.

Same here, I've heard good things about Classic Shell and it's free but not fully there at the time of Win 8 release IIRC. Anyway, I've used Start8 without issue since the time I installed Win 8 and have been quite happy with it.

Granted, it's worked so well that I get a bit lost when working on naked Win 8 machines now.

 

[Amaris]

John Clark...you lost me when you said...when your curser is down there...down where? what do you mean?


J. Allen...how will I know when this windows 10 is coming out?

sorry, people, you're talking to an old lady who has only ever had XP

I'd be glad to remind you, but Facebook, the news, they'll all talk about it. Still, I'd be more than happy to remind you once it is released.

 

[John Clark]

John Clark...you lost me when you said...when your curser is down there...down where? what do you mean?


J. Allen...how will I know when this windows 10 is coming out?

sorry, people, you're talking to an old lady who has only ever had XP

For me, the taskbar is the sort of greyish clear bar along the bottom of the screen (with the various icons, time and date on). As long as you've got that, right clicking on that should bring up the menu where you can click "properties".

If you don't have anything like that appearing, I'm afraid I'm stuck

 

[Amaris]

Ghost, I think you'll like Windows 10 if for no other reason than instead of typing in Google to have to find something, you'll be able to just ask Cortana, which is Windows 10's digital assistant. She'll talk to you, ask questions and she'll give you answers. Ask her to remind you to do something, and when you're there, she will. I have her on my cell phone, and she's awesome.

Here, I made a quick video to show you what Cortana can do:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXRO4sYN_pE&feature=youtu.be[/yt]

(sorry about the mess... and lack of hair)

 

[bbailey861]

Ghost, I think you'll like Windows 10 if for no other reason than instead of typing in Google to have to find something, you'll be able to just ask Cortana, which is Windows 10's digital assistant. She'll talk to you, ask questions and she'll give you answers. Ask her to remind you to do something, and when you're there, she will. I have her on my cell phone, and she's awesome.

Here, I made a quick video to show you what Cortana can do:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXRO4sYN_pE&feature=youtu.be[/yt]

(sorry about the mess... and lack of hair)

I have adjusted well to 8.1, but I do wish I had a touch screen laptop. I do think Win 10 is going to be a big step up, though, since it will let individuals choose their own layout. Choice is good. I absolutely love integrating Cortana into it. We'll all be like Scotty in ST:IV.."Computer...computer".

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Ghost, make sure when Windows 10 comes out that you get it. It will offered for free by Microsoft. Windows 10 brings back the Start menu and everything else, and it is a gem to use. It's expected to be released in a few months.

Why did they skip a number?

 

[B.J.]

Marketing most likely. And to distance themselves from Windows 8. Although there's been a rumor that they wanted to avoid any issues with software that does checks for Windows 95 and 98, but there's no proof of that.

 

[Santaman]

.I downloaded that classic shell thing, but I still have those stupid tiles. that HAS to mean I did something wrong, but I can't figure out WHAT?

You downloaded it but did you actually run the program?

 

[Ghost07]

huh? run what?once it's on there, isn't it running already?