Windows 7 is a tyrant!

[Kulindahr]

I've spent more than an hour trying to do something that would have taken less than 45 seconds in XP: change the colors on my windows to something pleasant (the default colors are ghastly).

I go through the process, tell it to Apply, click Okay -- and nothing happens.

So I dig through Help, and discover that what I just did is what I'm supposed to do. Yay -- NOT.

So I look for stuff on line, and it tells me the same thing. No joy.

I guess maybe a different theme will let me do it. No luck there, either.

And so it goes....



For all its ease of use in some ways, in others Win7 is a bloody imperious tyrant -- and of course it has the same sort of Help software I've come to expect from Microsoft: written for people who are already thoroughly trained in using the program.


How the frak do I use, say, the landscape theme and set my window colors to something that isn't depressing??????

 

[gsdx]

I've been having problems with it as well, but my main problem is speed and CPU usage. As slow as my ancient system was with Win98, I never, ever had to wait 7 minutes for a game (Zoo Tycoon 2) to load.

It constantly runs at about 53% without me even doing anything. I've checked the task manager and there are over 150 services installed and running. That makes no sense to me.

I haven't bothered trying to change the themes after the first attempt and nothing happened and I gave up trying to change the sounds.

But the ribbon screen saver looks nice!

 

[Corny]

Hu? I just tried to change the window decoration color .. works like a charm.

The services are most likely not the problem that is slowing down your game. More the fact that the game is 7 years old. Did you install the lates patches for the game and try the win 98 compatibility mode yet?

 

[gsdx]

try the win 98 compatibility mode yet?

I didn't know that existed. I'll try it. Thanks.

 

[Corny]

^ it helps for a lot of old stuff. right click on the executable, properties, and chose the compatibility tab. choose the windows version. often it helps to disable the designs as well (checkbox) and especially for DOS apps to disable the "advanced text servces" (or so ..)

 

[Kulindahr]

I've been having problems with it as well, but my main problem is speed and CPU usage. As slow as my ancient system was with Win98, I never, ever had to wait 7 minutes for a game (Zoo Tycoon 2) to load.

It constantly runs at about 53% without me even doing anything. I've checked the task manager and there are over 150 services installed and running. That makes no sense to me.

I haven't bothered trying to change the themes after the first attempt and nothing happened and I gave up trying to change the sounds.

But the ribbon screen saver looks nice!

I had no speed problems at all -- until Easy Transfer brought over all "my" old settings.

I put that in quotes because those include having a Yahoo! search item in the bars for Firefox that I can't make go away. Nothing lists a Yahoo toolbar -- except it keeps wanting to install updates.

And things showed up in the system tray that I don't want, and of course Windows help knows nothing about any system tray.

Win 7 is easy and smooth to just use -- but it's a total flaming pain in the ass to actually personalize (not the little accessorizing they call personalizing).

 

[cityboy-stl]

Are you trying to get to the Advanced Appearance box? They changed the name to Window Color and Appearance.

Right click on the desktop.
Click personalize.
Click window color (at the bottom)
Click advanced appearance settings.
It should open up the box we all know and love.

I have a lot of customized setting here, btw.

 

[gsdx]

I put that in quotes because those include having a Yahoo! search item in the bars for Firefox that I can't make go away. Nothing lists a Yahoo toolbar -- except it keeps wanting to install updates.

And things showed up in the system tray that I don't want, and of course Windows help knows nothing about any system tray.

I had a Yahoo toolbar as well, but I deactivated it.

And I've had things show up without me putting them there. It's always wanting to upgrade things and notifies you in little pop-up message windows. If you ignore it too many times, it upgrades on its own and then tells you with an almost 'Nya Nay' attitude.

 

[Kulindahr]

Are you trying to get to the Advanced Appearance box? They changed the name to Window Color and Appearance.

Right click on the desktop.
Click personalize.
Click window color (at the bottom)
Click advanced appearance settings.
It should open up the box we all know and love.

I have a lot of customized setting here, btw.

That's what I'm doing.

And it doesn't change a thing -- the windows stay their same ghastly depressing color.

 

[Kulindahr]

I had a Yahoo toolbar as well, but I deactivated it.

And I've had things show up without me putting them there. It's always wanting to upgrade things and notifies you in little pop-up message windows. If you ignore it too many times, it upgrades on its own and then tells you with an almost 'Nya Nay' attitude.

Neither Windows nor Firefox seems willing to so much as admit that there's anything from Yahoo on the computer. It isn't listed as a program by Windows, and it isn't listed as a toolbar by Firefox. It's just a little "Yahoo Search!" spot at the end of the address bar.

 

[Corny]

^ end of the firefox adress bar? that's just a search plugin, not a toolbar.

if it is the real toolbar in firefox do not look for an extension but for a plugin.

as for your window decorations. maybe you have the transparency enabled?

also it is a good thing that windows finally forces people to upgrade. you can still deactivate all that, and you can set individual permissions for everything in your systray (whether you see an icon and messages or only the messages and and .. ) actually this is something that they re-worked pretty well.

 

[Kulindahr]

^ end of the firefox adress bar? that's just a search plugin, not a toolbar.

if it is the real toolbar in firefox do not look for an extension but for a plugin.

as for your window decorations. maybe you have the transparency enabled?

also it is a good thing that windows finally forces people to upgrade. you can still deactivate all that, and you can set individual permissions for everything in your systray (whether you see an icon and messages or only the messages and and .. ) actually this is something that they re-worked pretty well.

Your post inspired me.

It's not a plug-in, it's an "extension", listed as "Yahoo toolbar".

It went bye-bye....



As for the system tray, how do I get crap out of it? I have COREL PHOTO DOWNLOADER, and VEOH WEB PLAYER sitting there, things I either don't use or rarely use, so they really don't need to be hovering around burning resources.


There's also a little red icon that says "Updates are ready to install", but it doesn't tell me what updates..... I don't trust that at all.

 

[Kulindahr]

I ran the troubleshooter that appeared when I hunted for "transparency". It told me this:

Desktop Window Manager is disabled
Color Depth is set too low


Apparently it fixed those -- suddenly my window borders were see-through.

Anyway, I now have them on a more acceptable color.

 

[DonQuixote]

Thanks, Corny.
I've played with Win 7 settings a little bit, ran into a snag here or there - typically getting FaceBook to run smoothly with ZooWorld - wants the most current Flash, but won't install when I try.

I've deleted FF and reinstalled once or twice, hit Adobe to manually download - and I noticed the two different flavors - one for IE, one for all others including FF - I've downloaded both - each when in the appropriate browser -
Works most of the time, just certain F'in pop-ups that don't want to register when I click on them to go to the next step of the game.

Also, I've been trying to help Neil as much as my limited knowledge allows - I don't know why it's taking 7 minutes for him to power up in the AM - I don't remember it taking that long on my desktop of his system, and I had more personalized on mine than I set up on his. My Similar (but a little more powerful) Studio 1737 only takes around 3 minutes.

FYI - I have PC Tools Spyware doctor w/ AV installed - scheduled intelliscan plus live protection. I also have PC Tools Desktop Maestro installed for manual scan to clean cookies, etc. (Both Neil's and my systems - and a whole lot more of my kids, etc 2 - 3 user licenses, and I'm using them all)

I believe Neil's turned off Windows Defender at my suggestion - duplication of PC Tools efforts, but still has Windows Firewall running. There were a couple of other non-essential apps that liked to load on start up and sit in the tray that I believe have long since been either turned off or uninstalled.

 

[gsdx]

but still has Windows Firewall running.

Never having used a computer with a firewall before, I'm not exactly sure what it's doing. I feel so out-of-the-loop with this machine. It's like going from paper aeroplanes to an Airbus a380.

Hmmmmm. What's this button do. . . ?

Oops. . . . . . . . . . .
.

.

.

.

 

[Apollo]

I've spent more than an hour trying to do something that would have taken less than 45 seconds in XP: change the colors on my windows to something pleasant (the default colors are ghastly).

I go through the process, tell it to Apply, click Okay -- and nothing happens.

So I dig through Help, and discover that what I just did is what I'm supposed to do. Yay -- NOT.

So I look for stuff on line, and it tells me the same thing. No joy.

I guess maybe a different theme will let me do it. No luck there, either.

And so it goes....



For all its ease of use in some ways, in others Win7 is a bloody imperious tyrant -- and of course it has the same sort of Help software I've come to expect from Microsoft: written for people who are already thoroughly trained in using the program.


How the frak do I use, say, the landscape theme and set my window colors to something that isn't depressing??????

really? it was easier for me.

not to mention, they give you the entire color spectrom for your window colors over that ghastly pea green color, and the other one.

 

[SuperPsyze]

Eeeew, you migrated your old stuff over? That's such a travesty. No wonder you're having so much trouble.

Seriously, nothing is better than a fresh install of an operating system. I've never had any luck with migration on any OS platform (even my freaking iPhone won't update without issues).

 

[Kulindahr]

Hmmmmm. What's this button do. . . ?

Oops. . . . . . . . . . .

Looks like that button turned off your firewall.

 

[Kulindahr]

Eeeew, you migrated your old stuff over? That's such a travesty. No wonder you're having so much trouble.

Seriously, nothing is better than a fresh install of an operating system. I've never had any luck with migration on any OS platform (even my freaking iPhone won't update without issues).

???

You lost me. The new laptop has its own operating system and all. Windows Easy Transfer just moves files and program settings. I just wish it had offered a way to pick and choose; it spent time transferring settings for programs I have no intention of putting on the new machine.

But I do wish programs would stop sticking themselves in the system tray without asking me! Win 7 is still refusing to admit there even is a system tray, of course, and the icons for the unwanted programs are still staring at me smugly from down on the task bar.

 

[DonQuixote]

They changed its name - that's why there's no "system tray", lol. I don't remember its current moniker this morning, however.