Windows 7 newbie - need help

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ros_b

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Hi all

I have taken the plunge and bought a new laptop, which, of course, comes with Windows 7. I have been using XP for the past 8 years or so.

In XP, I have added shortcuts to my Start Menu so that I can access my most-used programs with the keyboard, using Ctrl+Esc to open the Start Menu, then the first letter of the application shortcut, to open that application. So, for example, I can get to Notepad by going "Ctrl+Esc, N" or Calculator by going "Ctrl+Esc, C". Then I've created some folders to group together other applications, for example, all of my "internet" applications are grouped together in a folder called "Internet", so to access Firefox, for example, it's "Ctrl+Esc, I, F" and all of my non-internet stuff sits in "Programs", so to access Excel, for example, would be "Ctrl+Esc, P, E" or Word "Ctrl+Esc, P, W".

How do I set something similar up in Windows 7? It seems that anything I type once I've pressed "Ctrl+Esc" gets entered into the "Search" box and I get a whole bunch of results that I don't want. Can I disable that damn Search box?

That's all for now - I'm sure there will be more once I move across to the new machine.
 
You can disable the search function by right-clicking in an open space on the start menu, say right of the shutdown button, clicking Properties, then Start Menu tab and Customize on there. Find the Search programs and Control Panel option and uncheck it.

Otherwise use the search for a while and get used to it. It is a very useful feature instead of hunting through the menus for an item.
 
I'd already tried that... I still have the "Search programs and files" input box at the bottom of my Start Menu.

I never need to hunt through menus for an item because I keep my computer ultra-organised. Everything I need is accessible with a few keystrokes.
 
Have you tried the Ctrl + Alt + X shortcuts? Right click the shortcut - properties - type your letter of choice in the shortcut key box.
Not exactly the same, but you should get used to it eventually.
 
ashfaak said:
Have you tried the Ctrl + Alt + X shortcuts? Right click the shortcut - properties - type your letter of choice in the shortcut key box.
Not exactly the same, but you should get used to it eventually.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll certainly use that option, but it isn't a perfect solution.

It's not only programs that I access in the manner described above... for example, the sub-directory where I keep all documents related to a specific job, is also placed as a shortcut on my Start Menu, so I can access a specific word document by going "Ctrl+Esc, z, a". I can't go creating specific shortcut keys for every document!
 
ros_b said:
Yup, same suggestion as made by ashfaak... see my response to him. Doesn't quite get the job done, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

sorry, missed that

well I'm out of the game as far as helping any further then
 
ashfaak said:
Or try this:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2227/get-the-classic-start-menu-in-windows-7/
Click to expand...

Thanks for that URL, I'll try that program.

Some Windows 7 Explorer questions:

1. In Windows Explorer in XP, when I move through folders in the left-hand panel with the up/down arrow key on my keyboard, when I stop on a folder, it immediately shows the contents of that folder in the right-hand panel. It seems in Windows 7 I have to press Enter once I'm on the folder whose contents I want displayed in the right-hand panel. An extra keypress that Is unnecessary. Can I change this in Windows 7 so it acts like it does in XP?

2. I've set it up in XP (or maybe it arrived this way, I can't recall) so that the top item in the folders pane on the left, is Desktop, and the next item, sitting under "Desktop" is "My Documents", which is expandable and contains sub-folders that I've created. In Windows 7, the first item under "Desktop" is "Libraries". I do understand the concept of a "Library", but honestly, I don't want it! My mind just doesn't work this way. I want to organise stuff myself, manually, within folders. I want the first item under "Desktop" to be "My Documents", the next to be "My Pictures", etc. I have created a shortcut on the Desktop to My Documents, but it doesn't show up as an item in the left-hand panel when I expand "Desktop". If I select "Desktop", then I can see the shortcut in the right-hand panel, where the contents of the Desktop are displayed, but I want it to show as the top item down the left-hand side.

3. How can I get rid of the Libraries item?
 
1. Go to Folder Options - Navigation pane - Tick 'Automatically expand to current folder'. Note: I couldn't get this to work, but it's supposed to do what you described.

2. I usually drag folders for quick access to Favourites, but those aren't expandable. You could maybe use the 'Show all folders' option found in the same place as 1, then hide the folders you don't want to see under your user folder.

3. Disable Libraries: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-libraries-feature-in-windows-7/ I haven't tried this.
 
ros_b, I use a little programme called "Classic Shell", it is open source, you can read about it and download it here: http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

I think it will do exactly what you want as well as quite a bit more, It is far more comprehensive than csmenue.
 
ashfaak said:
1. Go to Folder Options - Navigation pane - Tick 'Automatically expand to current folder'. Note: I couldn't get this to work, but it's supposed to do what you described.
Click to expand...

Already had that option ticked. It doesn't do what I want.

ashfaak said:
2. I usually drag folders for quick access to Favourites, but those aren't expandable. You could maybe use the 'Show all folders' option found in the same place as 1, then hide the folders you don't want to see under your user folder.
Click to expand...

Nope....'Show all folders' is already ticked, but if I move "My Documents" to Favourites, it won't expand. Also, if I select "My Documents" under favourites, it immediately expands the whole tree, putting my cursor on the actual location of the folder, rather than keeping it up top, under Favourites.

ashfaak said:
3. Disable Libraries: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-libraries-feature-in-windows-7/ I haven't tried this.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link - I'll try this.
 
ashfaak said:
You can get rid of the search bar: Control Panel - Programs - Turn Windows Features On or Off - uncheck Windows Search
(But then you lose the search bar everywhere else as well, and it's pretty awesome in Explorer)
Click to expand...

Now we're getting somewhere.... this takes the Search box off the start menu, meaning I can access programs by using Ctrl+Esc and the first letter. Fabulous.

But... as you say, I now can't search files or folders, though having said this, with Search turned on, there's no "Search" option when one right-clicks on a folder, which is how I would always search my computer before. So I'm not sure I've really lost anything here.

I tried CS Menu, and it still has the search box on it, so that didn't help me. It looks like "Classic Shell", as recommended by JokerJones, may be what I need... I'll try it and report back.
 
JokerJones said:
ros_b, I use a little programme called "Classic Shell", it is open source, you can read about it and download it here: http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ I think it will do exactly what you want as well as quite a bit more, It is far more comprehensive than csmenue.
Click to expand...

I've installed this and it gets me 99% there - thanks. I can now access items on the start menu sing my keyboard shortcuts, although somewhat irritatingly, where before is an item's first letter was unique, then there was no need to press Enter, in other words Ctrl+Esc, W got me directly to Windows Explorer, and Ctrl+Esc, P, M got me straight to Word (I would name my shortcuts in such a way that their first letters would be unique), whereas now I need to press Enter each time. I guess I'll get used to it.

I'm still puzzled by the Search functionality in Windows 7. In XP, there's a "Search" item on the start menu, which gets me to a window where I can search within a specific directory on filesize, or date modified, etc. How do I get these options in Windows 7? I could also right-click on a specific directory and there's a Search option on that menu, allowing me to specify all sorts of search parameters within that specific directory.
 
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