Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

Classic theme on Windows 8

Windows 8 on ThinkPads
Post Reply
Message
Author
Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#31 Post by Anixx » Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:41 am

One can try to run the Explorer.exe from Windows XP.

I managed to get it running under Win7.

- take the explorer.exe from 32-bit WinXP (64 version does not work because the lack of the Win2000 compatibility mode)

- Kill Explorer

- Run WinXP Explorer in the Win2000 compatibility mode.

It works in the taskbar mode, albeit the Start menu is corrupted. Otherwise all is ok. So would need a Start menu replacement.

Does not start in the file manager mode.

There is no need to replace any system files to run it.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#32 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Mon Apr 28, 2014 12:37 pm

I did try running Windows 7's explorer.exe, but it said that it wasn't compilable for this version of Windows, even in compatibility mode. I might try Windows XP's explorer.exe soon. I have also run that under Windows 7, and I'm wondering if Classic Shell would work with it. I also thought about trying to use Windows 7's theme engine in Windows 8, but that seems like it would be a lot of work.

Anyway, I'm having some problems installing .NET Framework in Windows 8 (Windows Compatibility Administrator requires that) so I'll try to figure that out.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#33 Post by Anixx » Tue Apr 29, 2014 11:31 pm

Classic Shell does not work with Windows XP Explorer :-(

Maybe some another replacement will work though.

maur0
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat May 24, 2014 7:02 am
Location: curitiba brazil

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#34 Post by maur0 » Sat May 24, 2014 7:08 am

new metd by fluid i found in another forum http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1300248

this seems perfect now (aparently without bug)
http://i.imgur.com/sgqMkso.png

http://i.imgur.com/GLECfw7.png


it's dwm.exe, replace it with any dump exe


using program by IbmPad and another files
download
http://www.sendspace.com/file/sdsd3z

Image
test and feedback (im not tested in my computer )

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#35 Post by Anixx » Mon May 26, 2014 1:15 am

It is already mentioned above, it has disadvantage of disabling compositing totally.

Program to disable dwm:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=383450

delblue
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:04 am
Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#36 Post by delblue » Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:06 am

From the screenshots this looks great. I have saved the zip and will apply when I move to Windows 8.1. Might try out on my parents new PC..

crashnburn
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1724
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:26 pm
Location: TX, USA & Bombay, India

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#37 Post by crashnburn » Tue Jul 29, 2014 12:12 pm

Been reading this thread and using Classic Shell in Win 8.1 right now.

What more can I do to make the Taskbar become Windows 7/ Classic Shell / Windows 2000 like?
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
X61T 7767-96U: 12.1"SXGA+/1.6C2D/3G/Vista|Ultrabase
W510 4319-2PU: 15.6"FHD/i7-720QM/4G/Win7Pro64 (for dad)
T43 1875-DLU: 14.1"XGA/1.7PM-740/1G/XP (Old)

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#38 Post by Anixx » Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:13 am

.
Last edited by Anixx on Fri Oct 24, 2014 3:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

dephe
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:37 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#39 Post by dephe » Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:43 am

Just wanted to note.. this works on the Windows 10 Technical Preview

Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/uTI3F7G.png

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#40 Post by Anixx » Fri Oct 24, 2014 3:50 am

What about the tiles in the start menu? How do they look?

crashnburn
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1724
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:26 pm
Location: TX, USA & Bombay, India

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#41 Post by crashnburn » Fri Oct 31, 2014 1:09 pm

dephe wrote:Just wanted to note.. this works on the Windows 10 Technical Preview

Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/uTI3F7G.png
How is it compared to Win 8.1 - in terms of Stability and Drivers?
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
X61T 7767-96U: 12.1"SXGA+/1.6C2D/3G/Vista|Ultrabase
W510 4319-2PU: 15.6"FHD/i7-720QM/4G/Win7Pro64 (for dad)
T43 1875-DLU: 14.1"XGA/1.7PM-740/1G/XP (Old)

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#42 Post by Anixx » Fri Nov 07, 2014 11:02 am

Does Zero Dump utility help to make the taskbar looking good?

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Programmin ... Dump.shtml

IbmPad
Freshman Member
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#43 Post by IbmPad » Sat Nov 08, 2014 9:09 am

New version :
— The program no longer needs to alter permissions on the “Winlogon” registry key (this was bad design and bad for security) ;
— The taskbar and “jump lists” are now displayed correctly (by using a fake DWMAPI.DLL that blocks some calls from Explorer) ;
— Programs that use DWM like Firefox can be made to think Composition is disabled by copying the files “C:\Windows\dwmapi.dll” and “C:\Windows\dwm_rdr.dll” in the same folder than the executable (eg. firefox.exe).

It has been tested on Windows 8.1 x86, Windows 2012R2 x64 and Windows 10 Preview x86 (on Windows 10 it seems the jump lists are not displayed correctly yet).

NOTE : Please uninstall the old version (by running the previous executable) before installing the new one.

EDIT : I am currently working on making Internet Explorer display correctly…
Cur. : T61p (Win7 x64, C2D T9300 2.5GHz @ 950mV, 4GB RAM, QuadroFX 570m @ 900mV SXGA+ 15")
Prev. : T42p (Win 7 and XP, PM755 2.0GHz @ 700–1148mV, 1.5GB RAM, FireGL T2); T30 (Win 2000, P4M 1.8GHz, 256MB RAM, Radeon 7500); 390E (Win 3.11, Celeron 300MHz, 160MB RAM)
Please excuse my bad English.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#44 Post by Anixx » Sat Nov 08, 2014 7:40 pm

Great! Thank you very much!

By the way, can you please look also into this recent fascinating discovery?

There is a great open-source utility Zero Dump but unfortunately it is abandoned. With this utility it is possible to modify control styles of the running windows. Particularly, it is possible to make the FolderView in Windows Explorer in Vista+ to appear like in Classic Windows, with the 3D border around:

Image

This can be done by setting the property "Client Edge" in the extended style tab in ZeroDump.

Unfortunately the utility can do this only with one Explorer window and every time the procedure should be repeated manually. It would be great if somebody could modify the program to do the same every time it loads.


Image


Image

Besides this, it seems the potential of the program is far beyond that. With it one can say modify the style of system tray (change the frame style, remove frame), add a frame to Quick Launch, change the style of office applications and open/save dialogs, disable, enable and hide any buttons in any applications, even convert SDI applications to MDI and vise versa!

It would be great if such utility could reside in system tray and dynamically change the properties of various objects according a database.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#45 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:00 pm

Hey, it's been a while since I've posted here, but Anixx just told me about the new version of this. I gotta say it's amazing!

The only real issue I have with it now is I can't restart explorer.exe. Whenever I try, I only get an explorer window without the taskbar/desktop starting back up. I got a new computer with Windows 8 on it not too long ago, so I do have more of an opportunity to mess with this. But so far, great job!

IbmPad
Freshman Member
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#46 Post by IbmPad » Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:29 pm

New version :
— added an option to patch Internet Explorer ;
— integrated DESKN.CPL in the main executable ;
— fixed the gliches on the title bars (except for MMC.EXE and perhaps other Microsoft programs) ;

So the remaining issues I am aware of are :
— “Personalization” control panel applet not working ;
— Charms bar not working ;
— Start menu on Windows 10 not working (→ use Classic Shell) ;
— Native task manager not working (→ use Process Hacker) ;
— Probably other things I have forgotten…

@Anixx :
I will have a look at this program.

@windows.nt.win32 :
If you want to restart Explorer, you have to launch “userinit.exe”, not “explorer.exe” directly.
Cur. : T61p (Win7 x64, C2D T9300 2.5GHz @ 950mV, 4GB RAM, QuadroFX 570m @ 900mV SXGA+ 15")
Prev. : T42p (Win 7 and XP, PM755 2.0GHz @ 700–1148mV, 1.5GB RAM, FireGL T2); T30 (Win 2000, P4M 1.8GHz, 256MB RAM, Radeon 7500); 390E (Win 3.11, Celeron 300MHz, 160MB RAM)
Please excuse my bad English.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#47 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Sun Nov 09, 2014 6:24 pm

IbmPad wrote: @windows.nt.win32 :
If you want to restart Explorer, you have to launch “userinit.exe”, not “explorer.exe” directly.
Hey that works, thanks! Honestly, you just solved my biggest issue with this.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#48 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Sun Nov 09, 2014 6:35 pm

IbmPad wrote: — “Personalization” control panel applet not working ;
There are a few Control Panel applets that don't work. Here's a list of them:
Ease of Access Center
Language
Personalization
Storage Spaces
Work Folders

Not sure why they don't work, but it would be nice to fix them.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#49 Post by Anixx » Sun Nov 09, 2014 7:44 pm

— Native task manager not working (→ use Process Hacker) ;
AFAIK Windows8 includes the classic task manager as well, one just has to rename/delete the taskman executable and then Win8 will call the classic one. I havent try it though.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#50 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Mon Nov 10, 2014 2:24 am

Anixx wrote:
— Native task manager not working (→ use Process Hacker) ;
AFAIK Windows8 includes the classic task manager as well, one just has to rename/delete the taskman executable and then Win8 will call the classic one. I havent try it though.
I can verify this works. I've been using the classic Task Manager for some time now (I pulled it out of recovery mode) and it works great. I actually used Image File Execution Options to replace the default Task Manager, so that way if I need to do a system file scan, it will still have the classic task manager.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#51 Post by Anixx » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:10 am

windows.nt.win32 wrote: I can verify this works. I've been using the classic Task Manager for some time now (I pulled it out of recovery mode) and it works great. I actually used Image File Execution Options to replace the default Task Manager, so that way if I need to do a system file scan, it will still have the classic task manager.
Possibly the choice can be done via registry.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#52 Post by Anixx » Mon Nov 10, 2014 7:31 am

Some people say that even with the latest version the top edge of the taskbar is still displayed wrongly:

http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1300248&page=3

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#53 Post by Anixx » Mon Nov 10, 2014 11:35 am

windows.nt.win32 wrote: I can verify this works. I've been using the classic Task Manager for some time now (I pulled it out of recovery mode) and it works great. I actually used Image File Execution Options to replace the default Task Manager, so that way if I need to do a system file scan, it will still have the classic task manager.
But in Win8 the msconfig features (e.g. managing startup items) were transferred to the new task manager. As such you cannot any longer manage the startup items.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#54 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:34 pm

Anixx wrote:
windows.nt.win32 wrote: I can verify this works. I've been using the classic Task Manager for some time now (I pulled it out of recovery mode) and it works great. I actually used Image File Execution Options to replace the default Task Manager, so that way if I need to do a system file scan, it will still have the classic task manager.
But in Win8 the msconfig features (e.g. managing startup items) were transferred to the new task manager. As such you cannot any longer manage the startup items.
That is true, and that has been a problem for me in a few cases. I still have the default Windows 8 task manager (which I have renamed to taskmgr_new.exe) but I need to enable Aero just to use it. It's kind of annoying, I must admit.

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#55 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:41 pm

Anixx wrote:Some people say that even with the latest version the top edge of the taskbar is still displayed wrongly:

http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1300248&page=3
Yeah, that's happening with me too. Actually, there's a big boarder around the taskbar that uses whichever color you have selected for Aero. To hide it, you must change the Aero window colors to grey to match the classic theme.

It would seem that the taskbar is (partially) using Aero styles instead of the classic style. It is capable of using the classic style, as seen here:
http://i.imgur.com/GLECfw7.png

The taskbar will display like that if you have Aero disabled (by renaming/removing the Aero folder). Hopefully the Aero styling can be removed from the taskbar with this application. The renaming Aero and DWM is what I previously used, but I've since gone back to using this theme disabler application as it now works a lot better with DWM, and it lets me use the login screen.
Last edited by windows.nt.win32 on Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#56 Post by Anixx » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:01 pm

Do u have this problem with the newer version of theme disabler? Or u can fix it by deleting Aero?

windows.nt.win32
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm
Location: United States

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#57 Post by windows.nt.win32 » Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:35 am

Anixx wrote:Do u have this problem with the newer version of theme disabler? Or u can fix it by deleting Aero?
Well I don't want to disable Aero (by removing the Aero folder I mean) because it will break the login screen. But yeah, if I disable Aero the taskbar is displayed correctly with the classic theme, as seen in the screenshot above.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#58 Post by Anixx » Tue Nov 11, 2014 4:31 am

windows.nt.win32 wrote:
Anixx wrote:Do u have this problem with the newer version of theme disabler? Or u can fix it by deleting Aero?
Well I don't want to disable Aero (by removing the Aero folder I mean) because it will break the login screen. But yeah, if I disable Aero the taskbar is displayed correctly with the classic theme, as seen in the screenshot above.
...and without Aero DWM remains working?

IbmPad
Freshman Member
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#59 Post by IbmPad » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:09 am

Please download again, the taskbar and jump lists should now display properly (not tested…)

I am currently working on finding another method to let the control panels applets, charms bar and task manager work properly…
Cur. : T61p (Win7 x64, C2D T9300 2.5GHz @ 950mV, 4GB RAM, QuadroFX 570m @ 900mV SXGA+ 15")
Prev. : T42p (Win 7 and XP, PM755 2.0GHz @ 700–1148mV, 1.5GB RAM, FireGL T2); T30 (Win 2000, P4M 1.8GHz, 256MB RAM, Radeon 7500); 390E (Win 3.11, Celeron 300MHz, 160MB RAM)
Please excuse my bad English.

Anixx
Freshman Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:32 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Classic theme on Windows 8

#60 Post by Anixx » Tue Nov 11, 2014 12:26 pm

People report the latest version fixes the taskbar.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Windows 8”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests