Getting classic look in Windows explorer

[Jim]

I love the look and feel of the classic look in XP/98 etc so having made
the move to 7 first thing was to tweak Windows Explorer (WE) was to get
it looking and feeling the way i like, however i also like the look of 7
using the aero effects (glass bit at the top etc) so can i make WE look
and feel like the classic look without making the whole of windows take
up the classic look.

Right now i have Classic Shell installed and been working with that and
have come up with this so far

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/32/classicshellexplorer.jpg/

however this is how i'd like to make WE look

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/833/classicexplorer.jpg/

I know there is not much to choose but enough for me to keep looking for
the right answer, any suggestions?

TIA

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

I love the look and feel of the classic look in XP/98 etc so having
made the move to 7 first thing was to tweak Windows Explorer (WE) was
to get it looking and feeling the way i like, however i also like the
look of 7 using the aero effects (glass bit at the top etc) so can i

Me too.

make WE look and feel like the classic look without making the whole of
windows take up the classic look.

Right now i have Classic Shell installed and been working with that and
have come up with this so far

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/32/classicshellexplorer.jpg/

however this is how i'd like to make WE look

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/833/classicexplorer.jpg/

I know there is not much to choose but enough for me to keep looking
for the right answer, any suggestions?

TIA

The main difference I see between the two is that you have details (file
type, size, and date) showing in the one you've got so far, and not in
the one you want - is that the main change you want (if so, I _think_
it's just one of the options under View - I'm not on the 7 machine ATM),
or is it something more subtle (some of the bars are different between
your two)?

 

[Jim]

Me too.


The main difference I see between the two is that you have details
(file type, size, and date) showing in the one you've got so far, and
not in the one you want - is that the main change you want (if so, I
_think_ it's just one of the options under View - I'm not on the 7
machine ATM), or is it something more subtle (some of the bars are
different between your two)?

John i have given up with trying to get WE the way I want it but have
come across a great alternative and it's called "Explorer + +" it's not
perfect but so much better then WE also look at something called "Q-Dir"
a neat little app if your using WE alot as it breaks it down into 4
panes and great if you have the monitor size.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Me too.


The main difference I see between the two is that you have details (file
type, size, and date) showing in the one you've got so far, and not in
the one you want - is that the main change you want (if so, I _think_
it's just one of the options under View - I'm not on the 7 machine ATM),
or is it something more subtle (some of the bars are different between
your two)?

One picture, etc.:
http://crash.thedatalist.com/temp/Explorer.png.htm

The options, as you say, are also in the View menu.

 

[Jeff Layman]

Me too.


The main difference I see between the two is that you have details (file
type, size, and date) showing in the one you've got so far, and not in
the one you want - is that the main change you want (if so, I _think_
it's just one of the options under View - I'm not on the 7 machine ATM),
or is it something more subtle (some of the bars are different between
your two)?

Probably not for the novice, but the latest beta of FreeCommander XE
(550) looks very powerful. I used the previous version of XE (532) for
some time, but have yet to install the latest version.
http://www.freecommander.com/fc_beta_en.htm

The main advantage I found over the non-beta FreeCommander was that the
latter showed the recycle bin file names as 8.3 dos names, and also did
not show the original folder that the file had been deleted from. FCXE
does do this.

If you do decide to download and run FCXE it is worthwhile reserving at
least an hour to look through its numerous settings and options.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

John i have given up with trying to get WE the way I want it but have

Here's something I emailed to Jim:

"Thanks for your suggestions/info, which I'll reply to in the newsgroup
in time.

A minor point, and please don't be offended by my making it:

When you reply to a newsgroup post in the way you did, i. e. by an email
as well as a post, it is a good idea to put something like

(emailed and posted)

as the first line. The reason is that many people, as I do, read their
email first, and if they see such a reply, think the person wants to
take the subject to private correspondence, and then send a private
reply: when they then come across it again in the newsgroup, they
realise that privacy was not wanted, and have to write out their answer
again for the benefit of others following it.

In this case I happened to notice what you'd done before composing my
reply, so will keep it for the newsgroup one.

Unless you do have a reason for taking a thread to the (relative)
privacy of email, it's generally considered better to "reply to
newsgroup", so that (a) others can benefit from your suggestions, (b)
anyone else who was going to make the same one(s) doesn't have to.
Obviously in this case you've replied to the 'group as well anyway.

Finally a lot of people "munge" the address they use on newsgroups to
frustrate address-harvesting software (and don't always indicate they've
done so), so replying directly often doesn't work.

Regards, John"

.... but when I sent that, I got "The following message to
<[email protected]> was undeliverable. The reason for the
problem:5.3.0 - Other mail system problem 554-"delivery error: dd This
user doesn't have a yahoo.co.uk account ([email protected])
[-5] - mta1084.mail.ukl.yahoo.com""

which is also not a good idea (sending _emails_ from a munged address).

Anyway, back to the subject!

come across a great alternative and it's called "Explorer + +" it's not

It's generally a good idea ti give a website (-: - especially for
something like "Explorer + +" which isn't Googleable!

Anyway, for anyone else curious, I found it:
http://www.explorerplusplus.com/

Although it's "multi-tab" interface isn't something I think I need, it
does look hopeful.

I've just tried it: under 7, it shows the "tiny triangles" display,
rather than the [+]/[-] one of XP (and before) and the "Classic Shell"
utility; however, it does show the "C:\xxx\yyy" type address bar, rather
than the Vista/7 "C: > xxx > yyy" one. If this is important to people,
it's certainly worth a play, especially as it's only about 5xxK in size
and is a single standalone executable, rather than needing installing.

perfect but so much better then WE also look at something called
"Q-Dir" a neat little app if your using WE alot as it breaks it down
into 4 panes and great if you have the monitor size.

(I haven't looked at that one.)