Windows 7 Annoyances

cormie

Having used windows 7 now for about 2 months, there's a few little things I'd like to rectify.

1. If the volume is on mute, sliding it up or down will unmute. I'd like the level to be controlled without turning the volume on.
2. Sometimes the speakers will make a little blip sound, for example, if I open winamp, without playing a song, just opening the program will create a little blip sound.
3. Also opening winamp and other programs often leaves a few pixels on the desktop which I have to refresh to get rid of.
4. In the explorer bar of a window, if you click on the folder that's open and then use the up/down arrows to highlight a new folder, the contents of this folder aren't shown. In Windows XP, the contents would automatically be shown as you went down the folder list.
5. Is it possible that when you go to rename a file, for it not to auto-arrange itself, and I forget how it happens, but I seem to end up deleting the file name too sometimes, forget what steps I take to make that happen at the moment.
6. When you place new files into an open folder, they automatically arrange themselves alphabetically, rather than being able to see the new files at the bottom of the folder (to make sure they all transferred or whatever)
7. Like the pixels on the desktop, sometimes opening a menu over the taskbar can leave some pixels from the folder on the taskbar, for example right now there's pixels from an adblock plus menu still on the taskbar. I got rid of them by clicking "show desktop" but it needed the same refresh as I mentioned above.
8. Before when I used openoffice, each file would have it's own "last saved directoy" seemingly, so if for example I went to edit a file in cormie>business>invoices, and save that file as new, the directory that would show up would be the one that THAT file is in. Now it's whatever the last directory I used with the program, as opposed the file, so if I was last using a file in cormie>rec>hobby, the "save as" on the file in invoices would prompt to save in the hobby folder. I think the same thing happens with a few other programs too!
9. If I have the graphics set to use the better card, if I unplug it, the battery will show about 1 hour remaining, if I have the integrated card, it'll show about 3.5 hours. Is there any way to have it so once the power is disconnected, that it automatically switches to the lower gfx settings rather than having to do it manually?
10. Sometimes if I open winamp, it will automatically minimise again, this happened with XP too actually! Only happens the first time after opening it after a system reboot
11. I know you can go "up" while viewing a subfolder to it's parent folder by pressing the parent folder in the address links above, but is it possible to get the "up level" button back?

Would appreciate any help with the above

frozenfrozen

The problem is between your keyboard and your chair

yoyo

frozenfrozen wrote: »

The problem is between your keyboard and your chair

No more of that please! If nothing better to say don't reply at all

GreenWolfe

5. If you delete the file name and you're still editing it, press Esc and it should revert to its previous name.

6. If you right click, Sort By --> More..... there is a long list of properties. Choose Date, and files should sort by creation date.

11. Don't know about a clickable button, but I think Alt+Up does the same job.

Seems like Winamp is contributing to a lot of your problems, OP? (or is that just an example in each of the instances?).


Ironically, the biggest irritance with 7 for me is that it remembers everything I do.

When I open up 10 video files in a media player, or 20 photos in photoshop, on the start menu, i get an arrow beside that programme, listing everything I've opened, and i have to right click on each one individually and "remove from list". Takes a while and is a pain in the jock.

On Vista, there was just a single "recent items" list, and you could hover over one of the items and press the down arrow on the keyboard followed by the delete button. Do this quickly and you'd delete 50 things in ten seconds. 7 makes a small job out of it.


(I know it's a minor thing, but i always used to do it out of habit on Vista, so i think i've developed a little OCD for it something). I edit tonnes of photos in photoshop so individually removing each one from the list is a pain in the ass.



Sorry for ranting on your thread OP.

yoyo

KKV,

You can actually turn on the "Recent Items" list in Windows 7, along with a shortcut to the "Run" box etc. Many do not know this, to do it right click on the start bar>Properties and:


Nick

Kenny Logins

1. Why? That seems counter-intuitive to me. Every device I have ever owned would un-mute when adjusting volume.

3. The combination of up, down, left and right arrow keys works well I think. Press return to see the contents of the folder.

11. I don't know why you'd need the 'up' button. The full path is in the address bar and under a drop-down beside the, more effective IMHO, back and forwards buttons.

cormie

Thanks for the replies everyone.

EarthlyPangaea wrote: »

5. If you delete the file name and you're still editing it, press Esc and it should revert to its previous name.
Thanks, will try remember that but wish it didn't highlight/delete the way it does in the first place, I don't recall the same problem in WXP

6. If you right click, Sort By --> More..... there is a long list of properties. Choose Date, and files should sort by creation date.

Sorry, I should have pointed out that I DO want them arranged alphabetically, but just not immediately, so when you throw a file into an open folder, it will not automatically go into it's alphabetical place, but go to the end of the folder like it did before on WXP and then on a refresh would be in its alphabetical spot

11. Don't know about a clickable button, but I think Alt+Up does the same job.

That works for me too, didn't know about that, thanks, a button would be nice to have beside the back button too though!

Deleted User wrote: »

Seems like Winamp is contributing to a lot of your problems, OP? (or is that just an example in each of the instances?).


Ironically, the biggest irritance with 7 for me is that it remembers everything I do.

When I open up 10 video files in a media player, or 20 photos in photoshop, on the start menu, i get an arrow beside that programme, listing everything I've opened, and i have to right click on each one individually and "remove from list". Takes a while and is a pain in the jock.

On Vista, there was just a single "recent items" list, and you could hover over one of the items and press the down arrow on the keyboard followed by the delete button. Do this quickly and you'd delete 50 things in ten seconds. 7 makes a small job out of it.


(I know it's a minor thing, but i always used to do it out of habit on Vista, so i think i've developed a little OCD for it something). I edit tonnes of photos in photoshop so individually removing each one from the list is a pain in the ass.



Sorry for ranting on your thread OP.

I don't think Winamp is the issue here, but more how the computer handles it

For your own problem:

right click the start menu > properties > start menu tab > click off the two "store and display" boxes and it won't remember anything

Kenny Logins

Deleted User wrote: »

Seems like Winamp is contributing to a lot of your problems, OP? (or is that just an example in each of the instances?).


Ironically, the biggest irritance with 7 for me is that it remembers everything I do.

When I open up 10 video files in a media player, or 20 photos in photoshop, on the start menu, i get an arrow beside that programme, listing everything I've opened, and i have to right click on each one individually and "remove from list". Takes a while and is a pain in the jock.

On Vista, there was just a single "recent items" list, and you could hover over one of the items and press the down arrow on the keyboard followed by the delete button. Do this quickly and you'd delete 50 things in ten seconds. 7 makes a small job out of it.


(I know it's a minor thing, but i always used to do it out of habit on Vista, so i think i've developed a little OCD for it something). I edit tonnes of photos in photoshop so individually removing each one from the list is a pain in the ass.



Sorry for ranting on your thread OP.

I like that feature; a recent list for each individual application, and pins for regularly used docs.

cormie

Kenny Logins wrote: »

1. Why? That seems counter-intuitive to me. Every device I have ever owned would un-mute when adjusting volume.

3. The combination of up, down, left and right arrow keys works well I think. Press return to see the contents of the folder.

11. I don't know why you'd need the 'up' button. The full path is in the address bar and under a drop-down beside the, more effective IMHO, back and forwards buttons.

Thanks,

1) understandable for increasing volume, but when something is really loud and you mute it straight away, I much prefer being able to put the volume at the lowest level, then unmute, then increase it until it's a level I like rather than having to go from ultra loud, down, especially late at night

3) - this is 4 actually, it does work well I believe too but I'd just prefer it automatically showing content, but thanks for the return tip I remember in the past I used to have to go through trees upon trees of folders checking content, 500 folders would be 500 down arrow presses, but on W7 this would be 500 down clicks and 500 return clicks

11) guess I'm just used to the up arrow from XP, it always takes me a second to realise I can just press the upper level folder but it was instinctive with XP

tricky D

The file handling re permissions and blocked files is doing my head in.

Kenny Logins

cormie wrote: »

Thanks,

1) understandable for increasing volume, but when something is really loud and you mute it straight away, I much prefer being able to put the volume at the lowest level, then unmute, then increase it until it's a level I like rather than having to go from ultra loud, down, especially late at night

3) - this is 4 actually, it does work well I believe too but I'd just prefer it automatically showing content, but thanks for the return tip I remember in the past I used to have to go through trees upon trees of folders checking content, 500 folders would be 500 down arrow presses, but on W7 this would be 500 down clicks and 500 return clicks

11) guess I'm just used to the up arrow from XP, it always takes me a second to realise I can just press the upper level folder but it was instinctive with XP

Sorry, 4. I suppose this new way speeds up the process by not showing the contents of folders you just want to skip past.


Not remembering the application window size and location is what's really bothering me now, wasn't so much a problem before on smaller screens when everything was often run maximised, but now on HD screens I would like apps to remember how I'd resized their windows..


EDIT: But have just discovered this, not ideal, but I'll give it a go.

http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/40916-shellfolderfix-manage-folder-window-positions-size.html

Damn, folders only, not applications..

cormie

trickyd, you can seriously cut down on the amount of warnings W7 gives you, the next time you get a warning, there should be a "change how w7 notifies you of threats" or some other link on the notification itself, you can change it soemewhere else too by putting security level down a notch in terms of warnings.

Kenny, you reminded me of another issue, that the status bar in a folder no longer shows the total file size of all the files (excluding folders) in a folder. You have to select them all also if you highlight a few, it will show you the total size, but if you highlight a few more, then the total size will go away and again, you'd have to right click > properties to get the size.

yoyo

Btw if you want Winamp to make full use of the new Windows taskbar, you can download the Win7Shell plugin here. Its free

Nick

tricky D

cormie wrote: »

trickyd, you can seriously cut down on the amount of warnings W7 gives you, the next time you get a warning, there should be a "change how w7 notifies you of threats" or some other link on the notification itself, you can change it soemewhere else too by putting security level down a notch in terms of warnings.

Yup, done that (AUC to lowest setting) but still having a pita on mysteriously blocked files when trying to move them from an old HD.

yoyo

tricky D wrote: »

Yup, done that (AUC to lowest setting) but still having a pita on mysteriously blocked files when trying to move them from an old HD.

This will happen in all Windows os's including XP. You must "Take Ownership" of the drive folders and change the owner from the previous os install to the new one.
In XP home you actually have to do this operation in Safe Mode!

Nick

Cheers for everyone who helped me with my issue of recent items. Finally got rid of them (in favour of the single recent items list).

Thank you!

Overheal

1. As someone already said I have owned virtually no device in all my years that allowed this to occur. Perhaps the only things are the analog dials found on Pre-2k vehicle radios, and some brands of speaker system.

2. Has nothing to do with Windows and pretty much everything to do with your speakers. When the program opens the OS opens up the audio feed, it doesn't leave it running constantly. If it did, you'd complain about white noise when your PC wasn't generating any sounds or music. It also has a knack for shortening the life of speakers. Plus, laptop speakers are pretty cheap unless you have something with Altec Lansing or Beats, etc.

3, 7, 9: Blame your Laptop Hardware, not your Operating System. Especially with a hybrid graphics setup. For 9, check advanced power options. It doesn't automatically switch no. Why? Because not every user would think it grand for their game to suddenly choke on balls if they switched to battery play.

4. The previous setting transpired to be a massive performance hog. You need only press enter when you navigate to the next folder you wish to view in the right-hand panel.

5, 6: Why you are deleting files/names is between you and the keyboard, but you can always rapidly sort the folder by whatever column you wish simply by clicking on the column header (eg. File Type). Click Once for Ascending, Twice for Descending. So if you click Date Modified Twice, your newest files show up at the top of the folder.

8. I prefer it, having gone from XP to Vista to 7. Because I can download a document and it will show up in my downloads folder. A terrible place that can be filled with pretty much any piece of crap I've yanked from the internet. When I click 'save as' I'd rather it not try to save it to the source file's existing directory. You can always change the default save directory of a program in its Preferences.

10. And that's windows 7's fault how?

I don't think Winamp is the issue here, but more how the computer handles it

If the program is bugged you're barking up the wrong tree. Talk to winamp about it.

11. As someone already said the feature is completely redundant at this point, and you're basically just asking for more button clicks. I'm sure theres a plugin for that though for those who can't bring themselves to upgrade their workflow.

cormie

Thanks a lot for the response Overheal

Overheal wrote: »

1. As someone already said I have owned virtually no device in all my years that allowed this to occur. Perhaps the only things are the analog dials found on Pre-2k vehicle radios, and some brands of speaker system.
Windows XP keeps it muted when changing the level of the volume if mute is already ticked :P

2. Has nothing to do with Windows and pretty much everything to do with your speakers. When the program opens the OS opens up the audio feed, it doesn't leave it running constantly. If it did, you'd complain about white noise when your PC wasn't generating any sounds or music. It also has a knack for shortening the life of speakers. Plus, laptop speakers are pretty cheap unless you have something with Altec Lansing or Beats, etc.
With my old XP machine it never happened wtih the same speakers connected to it, I have a DELL xps, one of it's strong selling points is the audio so wasn't expecting to have any problems with it. It does seem to happen as you describe, when the OS opens up the audio feed, and even if there's no audio, it will make a little blip

3, 7, 9: Blame your Laptop Hardware, not your Operating System. Especially with a hybrid graphics setup. For 9, check advanced power options. It doesn't automatically switch no. Why? Because not every user would think it grand for their game to suddenly choke on balls if they switched to battery play.
Thanks, will have a look, thought they'd be graphics related alright, but it's annoying after you spend so much on an upgrade that it brings problems you never had before on an older machine with an inferior card

4. The previous setting transpired to be a massive performance hog. You need only press enter when you navigate to the next folder you wish to view in the right-hand panel.
Thanks, guess it's not the end of the world, but if there was a way to change it I probably would

5, 6: Why you are deleting files/names is between you and the keyboard, but you can always rapidly sort the folder by whatever column you wish simply by clicking on the column header (eg. File Type). Click Once for Ascending, Twice for Descending. So if you click Date Modified Twice, your newest files show up at the top of the folder.
It's just the phase of transferring a file that it's a problem. Say for exampls I was transferring 20 files into a folder that had 2000 files and I wanted them always stored and listed alphabetically, before if you drag 20 over to an open folder, it would have the 20 new files at the end of the folder, all bunched together. Once you refreshed or re-opened the containing folder, they would all be arranged alphabetically, but this happens instantly now when renaming a file or transferring a file. It's annoying if you're working on some new files you've added and need to do a little bit of editing of each file, they get lost amongst 2000 files if you don't know their name whereas before they would all be at the bottom, you could make the edits and then once you were happy, refresh to put them all in their proper place. Also with the renaming and instant alphabeticalisation, it can be quite confusing. So I do keep and arrange files alphabetically and don't want this to change, but it's handy having all files grouped together and not change their place instantly once renamed/moved.

8. I prefer it, having gone from XP to Vista to 7. Because I can download a document and it will show up in my downloads folder. A terrible place that can be filled with pretty much any piece of crap I've yanked from the internet. When I click 'save as' I'd rather it not try to save it to the source file's existing directory. You can always change the default save directory of a program in its Preferences.
I don't think it ever happened that it tried to save a file in someone elses directory, it just seemed to remember where each type of file belongs. It was most obvious when I was editing a file and wanted to "export as PDF" and the export path was the path of whatever file I saved last (completely different file in a completely different folder) as opposed to being the same path as the file I wanted made to a PDF

10. And that's windows 7's fault how?If the program is bugged you're barking up the wrong tree. Talk to winamp about it.
Yeah, wasn't sure if this would be a winamp or windows fault

11. As someone already said the feature is completely redundant at this point, and you're basically just asking for more button clicks. I'm sure theres a plugin for that though for those who can't bring themselves to upgrade their workflow.
I'll just have to get used to it I guess

Thanks for the winamp suggestion yoyo, I like to have winamp only take up an icon in the quicklaunch area and not go into the taskbar or system tray, would this still work in that case? This is coming from someone who uses windows classic theme on W7, I like things to be very minmal. Slight or sever OCD, I'm not sure

cormie

Just rediscovered that problem 2 will even occur when the volume is muted! If I open anything that changes the sound feed the speakers make a little blip.