Windows 7 annoyances

Jan 3, 2010, 14:46 GMT

Washington - Windows 7 users are generally a satisfied lot - relieved, no doubt, that Microsoft chose to concentrate on making its new operating system faster and less intrusive than Vista. But that doesn't mean Windows 7 is without its flaws. The good news is that most of the features that people find annoying about Windows 7 can either be turned off or 'fixed' with add-on software. Read on for details.

Q: I don't like the new Windows 7 'snap' feature. How can I disable it?

A: Windows 7's Aero Snap feature may take new users by surprise. To see what Snap does, grab an open application's title bar and move it to the left, right, or top of your screen until your mouse cursor touches the edge. Snap will then kick into action, showing you a large translucent rectangle, indicating that if you release the mouse button, the application will 'snap' to fill the space occupied by the translucent rectangle.

The main purpose of Snap is to make it easy for you to situate two open applications side-by-side on your screen so that they perfectly fill all available screen space. Move an application to the top of the screen, and Snap will maximise the application - achieving the same result as double-clicking the title bar.

The trouble with Snap, as you've no doubt discovered, is that it can interfere with efforts to move application around on your monitor. If you inadvertently 'snap' one to the side or top, you have to go to the trouble of unsnapping it.

Luckily, it's easy to turn off Snap. Just open the Windows 7 Start menu, type 'snap' or 'arrange,' and then click the search result labeled 'Turn off automatic window arrangement.' In the resulting dialog box, select the check box labeled 'Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen.' Click OK, and Snap will be history on your computer.

Q: Windows 7's Internet Explorer 8 keeps showing me the Welcome to Internet Explorer 8 screen periodically, even though I have clicked Next and answered all of the questions already. How can I disable this screen permanently?

A: Complaints about this issue are rampant, so hopefully Microsoft will classify this as a bug and address the problem in a future update of Internet Explorer 8. If you search the Internet for a solution, you'll find a lot of people telling you to change or add keys to the Windows Registry - a file you really shouldn't edit yourself unless you know what you're doing. Even then, most of the suggested registry hacks to fix this issue do not work.

Here's what does. Open the Windows 7 Start menu, and type GPEDIT.MSC, and press Enter. The Local Group Policy Editor opens. In the left-hand pane, under Computer Configuration, expand the Administrative Templates tree, followed by the Windows Components tree. Locate and select the Internet Explorer entry. In the list of options in the right-hand pane, locate 'Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings.' Right-click that entry, and select Edit from the pop-up menu. In the resulting dialog box, select the Disabled option button, and click OK.

Q: I moved to Windows 7 from Windows XP. Overall, I like the new operating system, but the redesigned Start menu is not to my liking. I'm unable, for example, to create the nested groups that I relied upon in the Windows XP Start menu. I see no way , to get the 'classic' Start menu back. Am I missing something?

A: Unfortunately, you're not missing anything. Microsoft has not provided a way to emulate the 'classic' Start menu in Window 7.

There is hope, though, for lovers of the XP-style Start menu. Download and install the open source Classic Shell extension (http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell). This little application will essentially 're-skin' your Windows 7 Start menu, providing all of the functionality, including nested folders, that is no longer available in the Windows 7 Start menu.

Of course, with the return of the classic Start menu, you will also lose the new features of the Windows 7 Start menu, including real-time search and jump lists. But you can always disable the Classic Shell extension if you should decide to return to the Windows 7 version of the Start menu.

Q: Of all of the new features in Windows 7, I'm having trouble getting used to Internet Explorer 8. Is it possible to install Internet Explorer 7 in Windows 7?

A: No. Internet Explorer 7 is not compatible with Windows 7. Much of what you do not like about Internet Explorer 8, though, you can probably disable with a handy little IE utility called IE Tweaker (http://bit.ly/8TpI2S). Download it, unzip it, and double-click the IE Tweaker.exe file. There's nothing to install.

Within IE Tweaker, you'll find a series of check boxes that allow you to turn off most of the new features of IE8, while retaining those that you might like. You can turn off tabbed browsing, for example, accelerators, compatibility view, page zooming, as well as most toolbars.

Q: Windows 7 turns my computer monitor off too quickly. How can I change this without altering an overall power saving setting?

A: You can pretty easily customise how Windows 7 powers down individual components in your computer. To do so, open the Start menu, and type 'power options.' Click the search result labeled 'Power Options.'

From the resulting Power Options dialog box, select the 'Change plan settings' link next to the power plan currently in use. The Edit Plan Setting dialog box appears. From there, click 'Change advanced power settings.' Scroll down the list of options until you find Display, and expand the Display branch, followed by the 'Turn off display after' branch. There, you'll see a Setting entry, with a number of minutes value that you can change. Go ahead and specify the number of minutes that should elapse before Windows 7 turns off your display. While you're in the Advanced Settings dialog box, adjust any other settings that are not to your liking. Click OK, and your new, modified power plan will be in effect.

--- Have a computer question? Send it to the Computer Helper at jd@mailcavern.com