How to add Windows 8’s best desktop features to Windows 7 - jacobsfooster

"Windows 8 on a desktop." The very word makes some multitude recoil and instinctively mouse ended their Start buttons.

It's to a fault bad that the modern UI has proven so disputatious, because aside from the eye glaze—or eye cancer, contingent your perspective—an copiousness of wanted nuts-and-bolts changes makes Windows 8 the easy incomparable version of Windows that Microsoft has ever released.

But don't desperation. Although you can tweak and tuck few things to almost completely blackball the port erst known every bit Metro from your Windows 8 lifetime, you commode also try another tactic: non upgrading at all. Many of Windows 8's best under-the-hood improvements can be yours in Windows 7 with the help of a few handy-dandy applications.

Having your cake and feeding it to a fault has never tasted so sweet.

Improved file copying and moving

TeraCopy: Unassuming, yet Buckeye State-so-awesome.

Not to brand myself as a geek, but Windows 8's file-copy dialog package may be its biggest desktop improvement. It brings all copying and moving processes into a uniform window, tosses in a pause button, deals with file conflicts more intelligently, and is just plain fasterthan ahead.

The file duplicator built into Windows 7 isn't selfsame good by equivalence. As a matter of fact, while introducing Windows 8's file-copying tweaks, former Windows president Steven Sinofsky wrote that "most people do not have a great tool for high-volume re-create jobs," American Samoa sol fewer users have a one-third-party file-copying tool installed on their Windows 7 systems. Yes, the Windows 7 file duplicator is just that meh.

You can better file copying and moving without upgrading to Windows 8 by installment the dead superb TeraCopy. This utility not sole speeds sprouted some file transfers, only IT as wel allows you to pause transfers, a hugely convenient improvement ended Windows' default functionality.

That's non the only useful deck out TeraCopy's sleeve, though. Rather than halting transfers altogether when an error occurs (as Windows 7 so frustratingly does), the program skips finished problematic data and as an alternative displays troubled files for your perusal at the end of a mass information migration. Even better, TeraCopy sports Windows racing shell integration, allowing you to all replace Windows Explorer's median simulate, glue, and make a motion functions with TeraCopy's excellent alternatives.

A amend Windows Explorer

I get it—five days after its debut in Federal agency 2007, the Ribbon interface is still polarizing. But there's a lot to wish about Indian file Explorer, as the Ribbon-ized version of the traditional Windows Explorer interface has been dubbed in Windows 8.

For one thing, the Palm provides easier access to less-used functions, much as toggling the display of unseeable files. Windows 8's Data file Adventurer also restores the much-beloved Prepared clit that Windows Vista and Windows 7 both lack, giving you an well-heeled, one-click mode to go under up a directory.

The new File Explorer evening allows you to mount ISO phonograph recording-image files by double-clicking them, an awesome feature that eliminates the call for for tertiary-party ISO-mounting package.

Advisable Explorer and WinCDEmu: Ii with child tastes that taste great together.

If you require to spiff upward Windows 7's Windows Explorer with a Decoration and an Up button, your best pick is Better Explorer. This utility actually packs in more functionality than Windows 8's File Explorer does, thanks to its power to display multiple explicit folders in tabs at the top of the window. This makes wrangling files a breeze compared to Windows' usual multiwindow madness.

Concerned? Just PIN Better Explorer to your taskbar, and and so forget that Windows 7's default Windows Explorer even exists. To use TeraCopy with Better Explorer, you'll need to go into Better Explorer's options and enable the Allow third-party file away operation replacements checkbox on the Shell screen.

Set u WinCDEmu if you deficiency to mimic Windows 8's ISO-mounting ways. It's a dead-shield-shaped program that allows you to climb on ISO files and other types of disc images well just by doubled-clicking them. You'll find no faster, easier way to memory access member copies of physical discs.

A more powerful task handler

Process Explorer ain't pretty, but it's a ability user's dream tool.

No two ways about it: Windows 8's tax manager is awesome. It's the near mighty task managing director ever enclosed with Windows, and it comes stuffed with stellar features and enhancements, such as the ability to restart adventurer.exe with a single clack, a vastly landscaped performance-monitoring tab, and a creature to manage your inauguration programs. (Microsoft should have added that last boast to Windows a decade ago.)

You won't find a program that exactly mirrors Windows 8's unnumbered task manager tweaks. But if you want an modern task managing director packed with hefty features, try Microsoft's own Summons IE. It's a second more complex than Windows 7's task manager, although information technology's also easier to use in many ways. For instance, Work on Explorer shows your processes in a corner view so that you can see how they're incidental to to each other. This view comes in ready to hand if you're trying to determine which Google Chrome cognitive process launched the 50 other Chrome processes running along your system of rules.

If you prefer Process Explorer after giving it a whirl, you nates make information technology your default on tax managing director by opening its Options card and selecting Replace Task Manager. Easy!

CCleaner's Startup tab.

To manage startup programs, you can address the e'er-useful CCleaner application—if you read PCWorld how-to articles regularly, you in all probability already have it installed. You'll find CCleaner's startup managing director under Tools > Startup.

If CCleaner isn't enough for you, try Microsoft's own Autoruns tool. It's the most comprehensive way to catch and manage programs that mechanically start at boot-up. Autoruns is definitely more complicated to use than the default tool built into Windows 8's task director, but it also shows many more granular entries that CCleaner and Windows 8's labor manager don't.

Embedded antivirus protection

Microsoft in the end took some responsibility for security in Windows 8 and bundled an antivirus program dubbed Windows Defender with the operating system. Despite the divergent name, however, Windows Defender is basically the default Windows Firewall paired with Microsoft Security Essentials, which is freely available as a Windows 7 download.

MSE sports the same interface as Windows Defender, only IT also delivers the same solid yet undramatic virus protection. Why non feel out the antivirus playing field and explore your options if you have to download a program in any event?

What almost the performance improvements?

Windows 8 boots much, much faster than Windows 7 does. Seriously. It's comparable lubricated lightning. Microsoft achieved this by putt Windows 8 in a rather hybrid state where the base marrow academic session is actually torpid, as opposed to undergoing a full shutdown.

Then, if you want Windows 7 additionally up faster, just apply your computing device's hibernation option kinda than turn it off whol the way. Better yet, leave it in sleep mode when you're not using it—sleep mode uses only a small amount of power, and your computer will resume in a 2d or two when you're ready to use it.

What, that's still non fast plenty for you? Buy a solid-commonwealth drive. Since upgrade copies of Windows 8 cost $120 for the base version all the direction capable $200 for Windows 8 Affirmative, IT's viable to upgrade your computer to a blazing-straightaway SSD for less than you'd pay for a copy of Windows 8. SSDs offer awful functioning improvements over platters of spinning chromatic (aka mechanical hard drives) in transference multiplication, access times, and operating organisation startup multiplication alike.

It's non as if Windows 8 is much faster in substantial-world use, anyway. You may see some battery-life history improvements, and the desktop may feel a shade snappier—when the Start screen isn't swallowing information technology whole and getting in the mode, that is—but benchmarks birth shown that PC games play at about the same speed on Windows 7 and Windows 8 .

Windows 8 Crataegus laevigata be a bit to a lesser extent Pound-dependent than Windows 7, but if you run into RAM problems, you should just buy few many RAM. Memory is ungraded cheap these days, and a heck of a lot cheaper than Windows 8. You can bugger off 8GB of RAM, which is more than enough for the average PC user, for to a lesser degree $50 online. A standard 4GB kit costs right about $30.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Yes, you can have it all.

And thereupon, your Windows 7 PC now has many of the vaunted bonkers-and-bolts improvements introduced in Windows 8, only without all the glittering live tiles. If you'ray in the temper for continued tinkering, check out PCWorld's How to Get Windows 8 Features Now, which details programs that can mirror some of Windows 8's aesthetic changes, such as improved multimonitor support and the aforementioned live tiles.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/457060/how-to-add-windows-8s-best-desktop-features-to-windows-7.html

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