Windows 8.1 question

[VAHillbilly]

Just bought a new laptop with Windows 8.1. Coming from Windows 7 I understand the frustration many have expressed. I have been trying to download Classic Shell to emulate the earlier Windows screen but it is being blocked. The download file is a .exe which apparently 8.1 doesn't like. The laptop has McAfee security but it does not appear to be what is doing the blocking as I tried to download a help app from McAfee and got the same block.

What needs to be modified to allow me to download .exe files from trusted sites? I would like to authorize the .exe download on a case by case basis.

[drsteve]

Placing the cursor in the bottom left corner and right-clicking brings up a menu of useful functions and shortcuts... between that and a folder full of shortcuts to frequently used programs, I have no problems. Anything you want that you can't find can be called up instantly with the search function. I myself don't get the big issue with 8/8.1. It's faster to load and boot than 7, and more stable and convenient to use.

YMMV, of course, but that's my take...

[strollin]

Gdetrailer wrote:
... Have you tried printing a document from word 2013?

It TAKES SIX, YES, SIX MOUSE CLICKS just to print a document.

Word 2007 took TWO mouse clicks..

Yeah, that IS "productivity" :h

Just tried it in Word 2013, 2 mouse clicks (can't even figure out how you could possibly make it take 6 mouse clicks!)

Gdetrailer wrote:
...
Another example of stupid is the start menu is GONE :S , no longer is ALL the functions and features of the OS AND PROGRAMS gathered into ONE PLACE.. Even the "Metro" screen does not have ALL the functions or Programs in it..

Speaking of the "metro" screen, what a time waster..

Due to the absence of the Start menu, you have no easy way to put a shortcut onto the desktop for the programs of interest..

For example, if you want Note Pad, Snip, Paint or any other built in programs you must go to "Metro" or PIN it the the "task bar" at the bottom of your screen.. That is plain stupid.

I haven't used the Start menu since before Win 2000 so didn't miss it when they dropped it in Win 8. It's extremely easy to setup shortcuts to programs for anyone that know what the heck they're doing. Simple use the Search function to find Notepad (BTW, on my system, typing the letters "no" into search finds notepad.exe. Then it's very easy to right-click and select "send to desktop (create shortcut)". Works great, just like it did in Win 7.

BTW, from the Metro screen, you can click on the down arrow at the bottom of the screen to bring up the "All programs" screen which does have all the programs in it.

[Ed_Gee]

The original poster was having problems trying to download an .exe file... , an effort he was making because he did not like Windows 8 Startup screen. A point I have already made is that there is no reason he needs to download Classic Shell.....Windows 8.1 Desktop is very similar to Windows 7 desktop and by following the simple process I have already outlined above, his computer can boot to the desktop and he will not need to work with the Startup screen at all. Many of the other complaints I've seen here are simply due to lack of learning a few simple things about Windows 8.1.

[Tom_M1]

The OP can't download an 'exe' file. He doesn't get to the installation phase, therefore UAC settings would not be a factor.

Windows 8.1 has MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) built in. I don't know if it's possible to have both MSE and McAfee running at the same time. If so, perhaps MSE is blocking the download.

[Gdetrailer]

strollin wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
...
Pretty fair chance the UAC (User Account Control) may be blocking your install.

Is it asking for user name and password?

If so that is UAC and that can be disabled.

Never disable UAC, it's simply not necessary. UAC has NEVER prevented me from installing or running any software.

Gdetrailer wrote:
And for the record, I am not impressed with Win8.1 at all.. Spent most of last week beating Win8.1 along with Office 2013 into submission on my new work PC..

Just absolutely retarded the amount of extra steps one must now take to do stupid simple things like printing from Word..

Managed to figure out work arounds for many things that used to be simple in Win7 and below that Win8.1 no longer has..

Can you give an example? I bounce between Win 7 and Win 8 and Office 2007. 2010 & 2013 on a daily basis and I don't encounter extra steps to make things work.

As far as VAHillbilly's issue with installing and running Classic Shell, I'm wondering if it's because he is running as a regular user and trying to install as a regular user. He may need to login as an admin user to install things then once installed, log out the admin user and log back in with his regular user.

UAC was invented for the AVERAGE NON USER to prevent them from installing something harmful.. It was "invented" back in VISTA days and we ALL know how bad VISTA was when attempting to even run it's OWN BUILT IN PROGRAMS.. Remember when you tried to open note pad in Vista? Yep, that was UAC BLOCKING YOU and asking if you were REALLY sure you wanted to run this program..

UAC CAN in some cases prevent you from installing WANTED programs so SOMETIMES you will need to TEMPORARILY disable UAC in order to fully install a program.

UNSIGNED PROGRAMS like what the OP is trying to install comes to mind that ARE OFTEN blocked by the UAC.

That WAS DISCUSSED in the link from Microsoft I put into my post.. IF ONLY YOU WOULD HAVE READ THAT LINK..

Once you have the program installed you then can just as easily RE-ENABLE UAC.

As far as stupid changes..

Have you tried printing a document from word 2013?

It TAKES SIX, YES, SIX MOUSE CLICKS just to print a document.

Word 2007 took TWO mouse clicks..

Yeah, that IS "productivity" :h

After a lot of searching I finally figured out how to add "Preview and Print" short cut to the "ribbon" (the "ribbon" yet another waste of desktop space) which now allows me TWO mouse clicks to print.. But that "feature" was hidden AND the little tiny "icon" doesn't even look like a printer..

Another example of stupid is the start menu is GONE :S , no longer is ALL the functions and features of the OS AND PROGRAMS gathered into ONE PLACE.. Even the "Metro" screen does not have ALL the functions or Programs in it..

Speaking of the "metro" screen, what a time waster..

Due to the absence of the Start menu, you have no easy way to put a shortcut onto the desktop for the programs of interest..

For example, if you want Note Pad, Snip, Paint or any other built in programs you must go to "Metro" or PIN it the the "task bar" at the bottom of your screen.. That is plain stupid.

My work around to this stupidity was to browse to the windows32 folder, find the exe file of interest, and create short cut to desktop.. Thank goodness I know a lot about the previous OS's and know how to find my way around..

How about the "White on White" of Office 2013 look?

Not everyone likes or wants to look at a "Kindle" like screen.. All that white just burns my retinas.. I did manage to tone that down by setting background to GREY..

Outlook was darned hard to figure out where the actual buttons were due to the white on white background.. Preview pane blended into the inbox and so on..

A little color would be nice please..

It REALLY SHOULD NOT BE THIS DIFFICULT TO START WITH..

Win7 was a piece of cake setting up my work PC compared to Win8.1..

MS never envisioned so much backlash to Metro and with 8.1 they grudgingly put the desktop back but never gave it FULL capability and functionality which is why so many people are adding third party programs to RESTORE FULL FUNCTIONALITY to the desktop.

How about the "graphics", icons and symbols..

They look like the were designed by a 1st grader most are two color and a basic "box".. They do not look appropriate for such an expensive piece of software..

What a waste of a high end video card..

My good old Commodore64 with GEOS had better looking Icons and it was only 16 color :h

Win8 IS another blunder like "ME", and Vista..

Hopefully MS will have learned something and Win 10 put some power back into the users control..

[wa8yxm]

I deleted McAffee (not an easy task) as not only is the man a criminal (Wanted for sexual escapades in several locations) but per my source, the company as well (for other reasons).

Story: When Norton and McAffee first came out I expressed (And still do) concern that they may have been responsible for some of the virus programs out there, I mean how better to get an edge on the competition than to write your own virus, Write your anti-viral into your next release/update THEN release the virus into the wild.

My source insists Mr. Norton would never do such a thing
But he gave me the name and day job of the person McAffee hired..
Alas.. I have forgotten the name.. Professor in Australia is all I recall.

Now the mixed news.. Windows 10 will be out in about 3 weeks you can put it in and be done with 8.1.. I have a beta copy but have yet to install.. Im told it is better (by people I trust).. I am on the list to get the release copy when it comes out, that I will install.

[strollin]

Duplicate post...

[strollin]

Gdetrailer wrote:
...
Pretty fair chance the UAC (User Account Control) may be blocking your install.

Is it asking for user name and password?

If so that is UAC and that can be disabled.

Never disable UAC, it's simply not necessary. UAC has NEVER prevented me from installing or running any software.

Gdetrailer wrote:
And for the record, I am not impressed with Win8.1 at all.. Spent most of last week beating Win8.1 along with Office 2013 into submission on my new work PC..

Just absolutely retarded the amount of extra steps one must now take to do stupid simple things like printing from Word..

Managed to figure out work arounds for many things that used to be simple in Win7 and below that Win8.1 no longer has..

Can you give an example? I bounce between Win 7 and Win 8 and Office 2007. 2010 & 2013 on a daily basis and I don't encounter extra steps to make things work.

As far as VAHillbilly's issue with installing and running Classic Shell, I'm wondering if it's because he is running as a regular user and trying to install as a regular user. He may need to login as an admin user to install things then once installed, log out the admin user and log back in with his regular user.

[crcr]

I recently bought a Windows 8.1 machine, and immediately downloaded Classic Shell and started using it. No problems` whatsoever.

[Tom_M1]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

downtheroad wrote:
You can also wait a few weeks and download Windows 10 for free...it will be replacing the disaster Windows 8 anyway.

But who knows what Windows 10 will be like :H

Windows 10 Preview has been out for months. I installed it and the user interface is much improved over Win 8.1.

[Gdetrailer]

VAHillbilly wrote:
Just bought a new laptop with Windows 8.1. Coming from Windows 7 I understand the frustration many have expressed. I have been trying to download Classic Shell to emulate the earlier Windows screen but it is being blocked. The download file is a .exe which apparently 8.1 doesn't like. The laptop has McAfee security but it does not appear to be what is doing the blocking as I tried to download a help app from McAfee and got the same block.

What needs to be modified to allow me to download .exe files from trusted sites? I would like to authorize the .exe download on a case by case basis.

Pretty fair chance the UAC (User Account Control) may be blocking your install.

Is it asking for user name and password?

If so that is UAC and that can be disabled.

See link below (link is Win7 but Win8.1 also has UAC)

UAC Blocking software install

If not asking for User name and password then it maybe the security settings may be set to max for your browser. In this case you could try downloading the file (save file to your PC first) instead of trying to install from the browser.

Once file is on your PC then you can run it to install.

And for the record, I am not impressed with Win8.1 at all.. Spent most of last week beating Win8.1 along with Office 2013 into submission on my new work PC..

Just absolutely retarded the amount of extra steps one must now take to do stupid simple things like printing from Word..

Managed to figure out work arounds for many things that used to be simple in Win7 and below that Win8.1 no longer has..

[Ed_Gee]

VAHillbilly wrote:
Just bought a new laptop with Windows 8.1. Coming from Windows 7 I understand the frustration many have expressed. I have been trying to download Classic Shell to emulate the earlier Windows screen but it is being blocked. The download file is a .exe which apparently 8.1 doesn't like. The laptop has McAfee security but it does not appear to be what is doing the blocking as I tried to download a help app from McAfee and got the same block.

I do not understand the problem. You don't like the new Windows Start screen ... that I can understand, but a simple tap on the "Windows" key will take you to the standard Windows desktop screen, very similar to Windows 7. To make this startup permanent, All you do is bring up the desktop by hitting the Windows key, Right click on the Taskbar, click on the Navigation tab, and check the box that says, "When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start".

That's it.

[KrowNB]

I've had absolutely no problems with Windows 8.1 since I bought this computer a year and a half ago. I really don't understand all the bashing it gets. It's much more stable than any other OS I've had since DOS in the 80's.

[strollin]

VAHillbilly wrote:
Just bought a new laptop with Windows 8.1. Coming from Windows 7 I understand the frustration many have expressed. I have been trying to download Classic Shell to emulate the earlier Windows screen but it is being blocked. The download file is a .exe which apparently 8.1 doesn't like. The laptop has McAfee security but it does not appear to be what is doing the blocking as I tried to download a help app from McAfee and got the same block.

What needs to be modified to allow me to download .exe files from trusted sites? I would like to authorize the .exe download on a case by case basis.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Windows 8. Windows does not block you from downloading whatever you wish.

It might be your AV software as suggested by downtheroad so definitely try temporarily disabling your AV software in order to download Classic Shell.

I have been using Win 8 since it was in Beta and have never had it prevent me from downloading whatever I wanted or from opening any file or website I wished. Don't make Win 8 the scapegoat for whatever issues you encounter with your new computer.

BTW, Win 10 is no better or worse than Win 8. They're both perfectly usable OSes.