SORTED :) Windows After XP Sux big time.

[BetA13]

Yep but, you being a bit crazy about encoding efficiency [judging by some of your posts], does GPU for aero detract from your encode speed,
or do you have plenty of oomph to spare. [EDIT: Have you compared with/without - EDIT: or is it a stupid question]

well, there are no stupid questions :P
Sadly i cant answer that 100%, BUT if i do benchmarks and encoding stuff, it tends to be a bit better/faster when using my Perf. Theme. (wich is an greyish dark "classic" Theme without aero..

What i saw is that classic uses less VRAM, wich in return you have more to spare for the workload/bench/game.
But these are amounts that other People would laugh at^^

you save around 100 - 180 MB VRam...

SO, yes, in some heavy workloads or benches/application, a classic theme can give you a tiny little bit more Performance...

At least that is what I experienced trough my years of testing... Just thought to point that out...

Best Regards.

[manolito]

On my very ancient machine with these specs:

https://i.postimg.cc/nV4zp2Np/specs.png (https://postimages.org/)

I had to be very creative to squeeze out the last little bit of performance.

The tools which really helped were CacheMan and AppBooster. For some memory intensive software this made the difference between unusable and working pretty well. Of course using simple desktop themes (Aero not available under WinXP) may also help a little bit.

A few ywars ago MS told me that the OS installation was not legit and switched the desktop background to black. I thought that this looked very cool, I liked it so much that I kept the black background for several months. Like Groucho said:
Each to his own...

[Atak_Snajpera]

576 MiB RAM is a lot for win XP.

[manolito]

It's MB, not GB... :devil:
And no, it is by far too little for some software. Google Chrome is swapping all the time, but my old Opera12 which is much faster refuses to load more and more websites.

I can tell the difference from comparing it to my NetBook Medion Akoya E1210 (the famous Aldi netbook) which also runs WinXP, but has 2 GB of RAM. This makes a major difference...

[Atak_Snajpera]

. It's MB, not GB...
It's MiB ,not MB. MB is not a binary unit.

[manolito]

From Wikipedia:

Many operating systems compute file size in mebibytes, but report the number as MB (megabytes). For example, all versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system show a file of 220 bytes as "1.00 MB" or "1,024 KB" in its file properties dialog and show a file of 106 (1000000) bytes as 976 KB.

So please leave me alone with this nitpicking. I am old school, for me 1024 KB has always been 1 MB and 1024 MB are 1 GB. Even these words "Mebibytes" and "Kibibytes" sound ridiculous to my ears.

But you were missing my point completely. You said that 576 MiB RAM is a lot for win XP. This is totally wrong, maybe you were talking about Win95 or Win98.

[Groucho2004]

You said that 576 MiB RAM is a lot for win XP. This is totally wrong, maybe you were talking about Win95 or Win98.It all depends on what software you plan on running. XP itself will run quite nicely with 576 MiB. Back in the day when this amount of memory was common, most software used a fraction of what programs use nowadays.

[StainlessS]

I thought that this looked very cool, I liked it so much that I kept the black background for several months.

I always have my two W10 tablet/laptop thingies with black Background, people tend to ask if its Linux [in pub], saves a bit on battery.
[and 50% brightness, 100% tends to be way too bright in darkish pub, nearly blinding]

EDIT: BetA13, thanks for taking the time to respond, not a 100.0% stupid question then. :)

By the way, I took one of my W10 laptops back to 1709, and froze Feature updates so that it will stay forever 1709,
the other one (x64) is in pieces after replacing screen digitizer and did not work after re-assembly, gonena give it another go
in a few days.

[feisty2]

as someone who always digs the latest stuff, I also hate win10. the flat design metro bullshit looks cheap and stupid. not to even mention inconsistencies all over the place.

[feisty2]

vista is the best windows operating system ever!

[Groucho2004]

vista is the best windows operating system ever!NT4 is the best Windows OS ever!

Edit - Wait, changed my mind, W2K is the best. :D

[StainlessS]

vista is the best windows operating system ever!
Now you are just being provocative, vista was garbage with state of the art artificial stupidity built in.

And yes, W2K was best ever [once you had turned off all of the fancy graphics stuff].

[feisty2]

lets not forget that the current windows kernel is still based on vista (NT6, tho it's renamed NT10 but u know tomato tomahto)

[nevcairiel]

lets not forget that the current windows kernel is still based on vista (NT6, tho it's renamed NT10 but u know tomato tomahto)

And the Vista kernel was based on NT5 (XP/Win2k), which was based on NT4 .. its just how the world works, you don't make new kernels, you improve the one you have.

[feisty2]

And the Vista kernel was based on NT5 (XP/Win2k), which was based on NT4 .. its just how the world works, you don't make new kernels, you improve the one you have.

NT6 is a major update to NT5, vista, 7 and 8 are all NT6, since win10 is not really that different from win8, I assume NT10 is still just NT6 with a new name and no major update (like NT5 to NT6)

[StainlessS]

Just a heads up for those concerned,
Cinnamon Mint went to v19.2 a couple of months ago, and ReactOS went to 0.4.12 recently.

Gonna try set up ReactOS as Virtualbox guest, see if Avsynth does anything at all.

[Katie Boundary]

Cinnamon Mint

Cinnamon is just a desktop environment, and it's one of three that Mint can come with. Mint was updated to 19.2; the new version was published in all three DEs simultaneously.

[StainlessS]

Yip, IIRC,
I tried LMDE version (19.0 or 19.1, maybe), and although the installer ISO saw my Wifi just fine, when actually installed it did not work at all, so I gave up on it.

[Katie Boundary]

Yip, IIRC,
I tried LMDE version (19.0 or 19.1, maybe), and although the installer ISO saw my Wifi just fine, when actually installed it did not work at all, so I gave up on it.

You have to manually enable the proprietary drivers in the driver center or whatever Mint calls it. A lot of Linux distros are like that. Presumably it's some kind of security measure because Linux devs can't check closed-source drivers for malware.

[StainlessS]

You have to manually enable the proprietary drivers

Yeh, that was probably the first thing that I did, no joy [first thing I usually do is check for new Drivers/Updates, and it uses a standard builtin (RealTek I think) driver in Cinnamon].
I would have liked to have gotten Gentoo going, but way too much graft involved.

[hello_hello]

Seems like maybe the place to ask this question.....

I recently installed 64 bit Win7 on a laptop. I use the free version of xplorer2, which only comes in a 32 bit flavour. As a result, the right click menus added to the registry by most programs don't show up in xplorer2's right click menu (items that are often referred to as shell context menus). After installing 7-zip however, I realised it has an option for adding shortcuts to the context menu for both 64 bit and 32 bit programs, so the 7-zip context menus do show up in xplorer2.

My question is, to save me having to hunt through the registry and risk making a mess by guessing, does anyone know if it's possible to manually create 32 bit context menu registry entries for programs that don't do so when you install them, and/or which registry entries I'd need to copy/create in order to do it?

Cheers.

[lvqcl]

IIRC:

64-bit 7-zip has both 64-bit shell extension (7-zip.dll) and 32-bit shell extension (7-zip32.dll).

If a program doesn't have 32-bit shell extensoin then it's not possible to add it to a shell context menu.

[BetA13]

whoops, nothing important to see here...
Delete me..^^

i did missunderstod the Question...

[clsid]

The things that you can add to the menu with just a registry key already apply to both 32/64-bit.

What you are missing are shell extensions, as lvqcl already mentioned.

[StainlessS]

Seems to work, what are you missing ?

Lite (free) 32 bit(only) version download(v4.2.0.1, version about April 2019):- https://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm

Features Comparison:- https://www.zabkat.com/comparison.htm

Setup
https://i.postimg.cc/xksy6SZW/Setup.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xksy6SZW)

7zip(x64, v19.0, 21st Feb 2019) Options [Untick "Cascade Context Menu", puts options directly in context menu rather than contained in 7Zip sub menu]
https://i.postimg.cc/3WhbS2th/Options.jpg (https://postimg.cc/3WhbS2th)

Standard Windows Explorer context Menu
https://i.postimg.cc/DWZ7btbC/Explorer-Menu.jpg (https://postimg.cc/DWZ7btbC)

xPlorer Lite(x86) context Menu
https://i.postimg.cc/jD3GBCLX/xplorer-Menu.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jD3GBCLX)

EDIT: The missng context menu shortcuts in xPlorer lite, are from Comodo Anti-virus and "Create Checksum file" maybe from Nirsoft "HashMyFiles".
All 7zip shortcuts are present.

[feisty2]

since ur british Im gonna hijack this thread.
is it common that phd students in the uk don't receive funding and other financial support from the universities instead they gotta find some external scholarships? Im considering going to oxford

[StainlessS]

No idea !

[StainlessS]

For those of you on Win7 that are a bit frustrated with Windows Explorer thing switching views all of the time,
eg you want it always on General Items/Details Vew, but the damn thing keeps switching to icons (or some other view) when an image
or video clip or audio file is in a directory, then here is a fix for you.

I usually end up having to go to Folder Properties for each drive and select Customise/General Items, but have to repeat at each boot,
unfortunately does not work as easily on C drive where individual folders have to be configged, and back to square one again on next reboot.

FIX:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-disable-explorers-automatic-folder-view/9f35a46f-147f-47c2-88a2-ac4a4b8bea06

final post by ViaMala

Fix scatty Win Explorer view behaviour to FileType Unspecified

LockFiletypesUnSpecified.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"


Unfix
LockFiletypesUnSpecified_REMOVE.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"=-



I've rebooted and still set at unspecified filetypes :)

EDIT: If you manually set folder to a different view, it will survive a reboot for that folder [I would maybe like all reset to details on reboot, but I can live with that].

EDIT: Above all "Filetypes" should probably read "FolderTypes".

[laserfan]

For those of you on Win7 that are a bit frustrated with Windows Explorer thing switching views all of the time...

Awesome thanks; that's as deep/obscure a regentry I have seen I think! Wonder how it was ever found!

:scared:

[StainlessS]

Yep, shame that both my Android and Windows phones refuse to comply (both insist on icons on each folder until change to details),
I really dont understand how/why people put up with the icons things, not like you dont have to read the text/name anyways, go figure.
(I can partly understand children that have not yet mastered reading english, or even non tech savvy peeps using icons, but what the hell
use are they after those issues are no longer a problem ???)

EDIT: Only place that I'm aware where icons are maybe of use is in the likes of Control Panel, where ALL icons are different, a folder of 200
Word docs, icons play no part at all in being user friendly. [EDIT: I always switch to icons in control panel, go figure ?]

EDIT: "Android and Windows phones", when attached via USB to Win7.

[hello_hello]

Seems to work, what are you missing ?

EDIT: The missng context menu shortcuts in xPlorer lite, are from Comodo Anti-virus and "Create Checksum file" maybe from Nirsoft "HashMyFiles".
All 7zip shortcuts are present.

Whoops. I asked the question then forgot.

That's just it. 7-zip has the option to create 32 bit shell extensions so they appear in xplorer2. Shell extensions for other 64 bit programs don't. I'd like to have them for a couple of 64 bit programs, so I was wondering if I could add them to the registry myself.
lvqcl replied to say it's not possible, and I'll assume that's correct, but I don't really understand why there's a 32/64 bit distinction for shell extensions anyway.

One program that's often handy is Unlocker (http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/), as MeGUI has a habit of locking files or folders and neglecting to unlock them. I think Unlocker has a universal installer so I don't know if it's possible to install the 32 bit version on 64 bit Windows, or if it'd work if I could, or if it'll work just a well if I create a shortcut in the SendTo folder to use instead. I haven't got around to trying that yet.

[nevcairiel]

I don't really understand why there's a 32/64 bit distinction for shell extensions anyway.

Shell Extensions are a DLL, as such they have to match the architecture of the process thats trying to use them. A 32-bit process needs 32-bit shell extensions, and a 64-bit process needs 64-bit extensions.
While you can run a 32-bit process on Windows 64-bit, a single process cannot load a DLL from the wrong architecture.

Ideally, when it comes to the shell, mixing both 32 and 64-bit is always a bit iffy. Why not use the 64-bit version of xplorer2?

[hello_hello]

Ideally, when it comes to the shell, mixing both 32 and 64-bit is always a bit iffy. Why not use the 64-bit version of xplorer2?

It's not free and I'm a tight-wad. :)
If it annoys me enough I'll probably pay for the 64 bit version eventually.

[BetA13]

Just a heads up^^

The new Update breaks wallpapers , sound themes and screensavers on some WIndows 10 and WIndows 7 PC´s..


https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/ep070p/end_of_support_means_end_of_wallpapers/

https://www.sevenforums.com/customization/422169-windows-7-after-end-support-screen-no-background.html#post3457666

https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/background-desktop-wallpaper-goes-black-after-january-update.80975/

i do have the same Problem haha.... Strech wallpaper does not work, if set on strech, pictures do not change or apply.. what a mess..

Another Month with the Best Quality Controll there is.. MicroDerp...

KB in Question is --> KB4534310

[StainlessS]

I have Windows update set to Manual on W7(for some reason its already started today), no problems with my lovely W95 RedTile wallpaper.
Switch to Windows 7 Aero theme, still ok. Back to Redtile, no probs.
I did get the alert for End of service thing.
I guess I'll havta try out the WSusOffline image I made on Wednesday, and see what happens, revert to old image if probs and then apply updates without that KB.

[StainlessS]

Privazer v3.0.93, (Free PC cleaner & Privacy cleaner tool, XP -> W10):- https://privazer.com/en/

New integrated Shellbags cleaner added (used to be just for donation versions)
v3.0.93 (20 February 2020)
+ Improved cleanup : FAT
+ Fixed issues : FAT entries not cleaned


v3.0.92 (14 February 2020)
+ New cleanup added : Shellbags (when cleaning directories)
+ Fixed issues : Leveldb viewer error
+ Improved cleanup : Firefox (zoom level preserved)
+ Improved cleanup : Firefox (extensions preserved)
+ Improved UI

Standalone Shellbags cleaner:- https://privazer.com/en/download-shellbag-analyzer-shellbag-cleaner.php

(Shellbags, windows tracking of folders visited by user in Windows Explorer, deleted folders and Searches)

Over time, your system accumulates a vast quantity of crud, which does nothing to speed things up.

EDIT: Almost immediately after Shellbags clean [Well, bout 30 mins, I had mostly been using browser so not much to report] (yours will show a whole helluva lot more stuff)
https://i.postimg.cc/gwcwbf1H/Shellbags.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gwcwbf1H)

[StainlessS]

@Wonkey_Monkey,
I see that Linux Mint currently has some TigerVNC related items in the software installer, just installed, not yet tried.
(I have not actually bothered to set up my [broken] network in about 12 months, constant copying of stuff to/from
external SSD drive). I gotta set up network some time this week.

EDIT: Last time I tried TigerVNC, was only available as an external deb (I think) package.

EDIT: Just search VNC.

[StainlessS]

I guess that this is as good a place as any to post this, so

XIN.AT:- http://wp.xin.at/x265-for-winxp-and-winxp-x64

x265 & ffmpeg for WinXP / XP x64 / Vista

1. Introduction

This page is a collection of my x265 releases for Windows XP/Vista 32-bit and Windows XP x64 Edition / Vista x64 as well as all newer releases of Microsoft Windows.
The key feature here being the XP and Vista compatibility, which is not the default for compiling x265 on Windows.
For each revision I decide to build you’ll get the 32-bit as well as the 64-bit versions.


Some stuff seems to be as recent as Feb 2020.

[BetA13]

not shure if this is the right Thread, but i thought this video is interessting and is also about Windows^^

GUI Madness :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AItTqnTsVjA

I feel with him, i have made the exact same experience^^

Best Regards

[StainlessS]

I like the inital pre-start GUI, neat and un-cluttered, kinda sexy.

[stax76]

The way that guy talks, couldn't watch longer than 10 minutes but some things I agree, like having no icons on the desktop.

[Groucho2004]

The way that guy talks, couldn't watch longer than 10 minutesMy thoughts exactly. However, I stopped after 2 minutes.

[Groucho2004]

like having no icons on the desktop.Agreed, here's my desktop (Just 2 icons for convenience):

https://i.postimg.cc/65S7xVys/Image1.png

[stax76]

It's somehow similar to mine but I think you need a nice wallpaper, I like bears, watch them everyday on YouTube.

https://postimg.cc/WhbsPzgK

[StainlessS]

but I think you need a nice wallpaper
Try pure black background, I have on Galaxy Note 4, and two W10 tablet/laptop thingies, is great and extends battery life on mobile device.
(I still like W95 Red Tile on W7).

[StainlessS]

Just got a [2nd user] Chuwi Hi10 Pro, x64 4GB RAM, 64 GB storage, W10 + Android 5.1, 2-in-1 10.1 inch Tablet/Laptop thingy.
(My old Hi10[non pro] is probably totally dead now, having been in pieces for at least 6 months, and having dowsed it in beer some months ago, might come in handy for spare parts
eg battery and screen).

https://www.windowscentral.com/chuwi-hi10-pro-mini-review-affordable-windows-10-2-1
[EDIT: Updated Z8300 to Z8350 version CPU, Chuwi often improves specs keeping same model name]

https://i.postimg.cc/F7N98thb/Chuwi-Hi10-Pro.jpg (https://postimg.cc/F7N98thb)

Seems that W10 (1909) made some change and having problems imaging with Macrium Reflect, comes up with error code 9 [USB boot version not W10 GUI].
I think its supposed to be fixed in current version Reflect , so am gonna update that and retry.
I note that W10(1909) has now added ability to delay updates for 35 days, bout bloody time they did something about that, think I'll now let my x86
Linx 1010B [tablet/laptop thingy] go from 1709 to 1909, and give it one more chance.

Here, one mans view of the top three worst operating systems that M$ has gifted the world [Vista only comes in as runner up]:- https://www.computerworld.com/article/3575332/the-worst-version-of-windows-ever-released.html

[manolito]

Just a few days ago I read that current Win10 versions even prohibit users to edit their HOSTS file. Fits in nicely with the M$ philosophy that its not the user who controls the OS, it's M$ who decides what can run under Win10 or what cannot...

So my list of the top three worst operating systems that M$ has gifted the world is certainly topped by Win10.

[StainlessS]

I kinda half expected Vista to take the title [if not then W10 was a cert]

If hosts file is not for user, then who is it for ?

EDIT: hosts disabled: because people are using hosts to stop general W10
telemetry, and also Visual studio telemetry.
You betcha.

[BetA13]

well, you could also just use DNSCrypt Proxy and its Blacklist.. wich can block WIn Telemetry even better then using teh Hosts File..
I use both atm, and told defender to ignore the Hosts...

Works like a charm.... (using windows 10 LTSC 2019)

But i agree, MS really makes it hard for us advanced users...

Best Regards

Edit:
DNSCrypt Proxy..
https://github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy

[StainlessS]

Just tried (several times) to update Linx 1010B W10 1709, and
it will not update. Damn, dont know what I did but seems I accidentally did summick
to screew up W10 updates permanently. (wish I knew what I did, is much sort after secret).
No probs, Ill back up to cleaner 1709 and retry, or reinstall 1909 directly.