Windows 7 The most USELESSand HATED features in W7 (I like W7 BTW)

[jimbo45]

Whilst I'm very positive so far with W7 apart from some networking issues on the X-64 version there are a few things that to me seem a total waste of time -- each to their own but it would be interesting to see what irritates / frustrates users most with W7.

1) The Diagnose Network connection problems I have NEVER found this to be of the slightest bit of use
2) Create Home Groups -- also to me seems 100% pointless.

and as an application the whole idea of Windows Live for me SUX big time.

However I'm more than impressed with it so far -- as a Beta of course there;s still work to be done but this is the time we can make likes and dislikes known before the final.

For once Microsoft seems to be actually taking notice.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[compnovo]

For me the most useless (but one of the coolest looking) features is the ability to view your desktop by hovering the cursor over the lower right-hand corner of the screen. It reminds me of the tabbing feature in Vista: neat, but who uses it once the novelty has worn off? The only reason I need to view the desktop quickly is if I think someone is reading something over my shoulder that I don't want them to see, and "Windows flag + D" works just fine for that.
Bryan

 

[cmillens]

I use it from time to time when I'm hunting down shortcuts to programs where I've forgotten I've put them. Fast way to checkout the shortcuts on my desktop without having to minimize the many, many windows I have open.

 

[Flores]

What I hate of W7 are:

it automatically rename file when we copy or move one file into another folder if there is already a file with the sane name.
In XP, XP will ask us whether to rename or to replace it.

I also hate W7 because there is no "search" menu in explorer. Search menu only in Start menu. Many times I just want to search in a particular folder, but there is o such search menu for that purpose.

When I download file using FF, it does not ask me to where or what particular folder I suppose to put the file.

Another hate of W7 is that I cannot change the distance between the icon in taskbar. The distance between icons is too far one from another.

Another thing I do not like is that the last 5 days my W7 starts to hang 2 or 3 times a day.


etc.

 

[mutant_builder]

I don't know. The diagnose network connections was really helpful to me. It ran and ran, then suggested I contact my system admin, who would be me.

So I contacted me, and then I figured out what the problem was. See if the diagnose tool was not there I would never have known to contact myself to fix it.

 

[compnovo]

Hadn't thought of that, I don't tend to keep shortcuts on my desktop (OCD?)

 

[iroken22]

I have used both features listed and have used both successfully when needing to resolve issues. The network diagnostic always works for me.

 

[reghakr]

I have to agree with jimbo45 regarding The Diagnose Network connection problems I have NEVER found this to be of the slightest bit of use.

I haven't either and therefor shut it off.

Also, in IE8, why do we have to take an additional step to restore the last session. We don't get the Open these when I next open Internet Explorer. Now we have to go to the toolbar and choose restore last session.

 

[mehrlicht]

What I hate of W7 are:

it automatically rename file when we copy or move one file into another folder if there is already a file with the sane name.
In XP, XP will ask us whether to rename or to replace it.

This goes for me too. I still have lots of folders from the old computer to rename and merge because of this stupidity. NAd have not yet installed Soulseek because sometimes I download files with the same names within folders with different names and want to merge them - this makes it painfull... and dangerous

I also hate W7 because there is no "search" menu in explorer. Search menu only in Start menu. Many times I just want to search in a particular folder, but there is o such search menu for that purpose.

There isn't a search menu but there is a search bar... it's different but one gets used to it. Go to the desired folder and then type the search terms in the search bar (next to the folder address)

When I download file using FF, it does not ask me to where or what particular folder I suppose to put the file.

You have to change that in the Firefox options. That's nothing to do with Windows (seven or other)

Another thing I do not like is that the last 5 days my W7 starts to hang 2 or 3 times a day.

update the drivers - manually
I had some problems with the LAN drivers (ndiswan.dll) and with the chipset system manager bus controller.

 

[bboy500]

i like the home connection thing. makes it easier for me to share files around

 

[mehrlicht]

What's the difference between the normal sharing and the homegroup. Is homegroup more selective and therefore safer?

I couldn't use it because one of the Pcs gave me an error when trying to join. And as I couldn't overcome dsome driver problems i rolled it back to Vista.

 

[andomar]

Backwards compatibility still sucks donkey balls. This is not going away.

Put a Windows XP wrapper in Vista that runs old programs!
Put a 16-bit wrapper that runs 16-bit programs!

W7 will never be rolled out if it requires a corporation to rewrite its whole code base. Even applications written with VB6 are now no longer supported...

 

[Flores]

This goes for me too. I still have lots of folders from the old computer to rename and merge because of this stupidity. NAd have not yet installed Soulseek because sometimes I download files with the same names within folders with different names and want to merge them - this makes it painfull... and dangerous

There isn't a search menu but there is a search bar... it's different but one gets used to it. Go to the desired folder and then type the search terms in the search bar (next to the folder address)

You have to change that in the Firefox options. That's nothing to do with Windows (seven or other)

update the drivers - manually
I had some problems with the LAN drivers (ndiswan.dll) and with the chipset system manager bus controller.

Thanks for your info, bro!

Cheers!

 

[Combiseries]

Diagnose Network Problems

I found that tool in Internet Explorer helpfull. In my capacity as a computer maintenane technitan often working from home, I use a wireless connection to update my clients computers. I have to install the drivers for whatever adapter I`m using in that machine, and it plays havoc with their own internet configurations. I have to run this little tool to get my wireless connection working on their machine and then run it again at their homes/offices to kick start their connections with their normal services.

Very helpfull.

I don`t like the way the screen darkens everytime it wants to ask me if I`m sure about anything. It really slows down and becomes unresponsive for a few seconds afterwards. I suppose it doesn`t help with me having integrated graphics on the machine I`m using. Although, I do have the aero interface so I can`t moan can I.

 

[jimbo45]

I found that tool in Internet Explorer helpfull. In my capacity as a computer maintenane technitan often working from home, I use a wireless connection to update my clients computers. I have to install the drivers for whatever adapter I`m using in that machine, and it plays havoc with their own internet configurations. I have to run this little tool to get my wireless connection working on their machine and then run it again at their homes/offices to kick start their connections with their normal services.

Very helpfull.

I don`t like the way the screen darkens everytime it wants to ask me if I`m sure about anything. It really slows down and becomes unresponsive for a few seconds afterwards. I suppose it doesn`t help with me having integrated graphics on the machine I`m using. Although, I do have the aero interface so I can`t moan can I.

There is a fix to disable the screen darkening problem -- it's the same tweak as VISTA so look under various tips for disabling UAC in VISTA. I can't remember exactly but I had to turn this "feature" off in VISTA because it would destroy my Mouse in any Virtual Machine I was running.

If you aren't making changes very often and just use the UAC at the default level it's not too annoying.

cheers
jimbo

 

[john3347]

Like Jimbo and most others, I think 7 is a step in the right direction from the train wreck called Vista. It is however, in general, a much too small a step. Now, all you readers must understand that this thread is about what needs improvement (what we DON"T like) and therefore will, by nature, have a negative tone.

1) The big, HUGE thing (biggest single item) that I hate about 7 (and Vista) is the way it handles saved files and folders. XP started a downhill spiral when they combined documents and settings into a simgle directory. Vista went way downhill from there and 7 has made no significant improvement over Vista.

2) Next, I hate that they do not offer an option to totally disable the multi-user capabilities for those of us who are the sole users of our computers. Home group should also be able to be disabled, or to be made to work with two or three previous OS's. It only works with another Windows 7 system and can only be helpful to a large audience after a couple of years as Windows 7 becomes mainstream. There are enough of us who are the sole user of our computers that we should be heard and not have to wade through all the multi-user provisions to access a file. I do not need a user, all users, owner, owner gateway, administrator, default user, and maybe one or two other users on my computer.

3) I hate that they have made some things harder to locate by requiring more mouse clicks to open an application or website. This is carried over from Office 2007 and Vista.

4) This should be #2 in my priority list! I hate that AERO, gadgets, and a couple of other items cannot be TOTALLY disabled so they do not consume any computer resources. Neither storage nor memory. I am an "old fart" who just doesn't need or want any of the "Fluff and Puff" that does nothing to make my computer do what I want it to do, but consumes hige resources while doing NOTHING for me

I hate that, so far, I really do not see any improvement over Windows 2000, Windows XP, or enough improvement over Windows Vista to make me want to run out and spend something well into 4 digits to convert all 8 of my computers to Windows 7. Hopefully, this may change by the time Windows 7 goes prime time.

 

[JustDavid]

4) This should be #2 in my priority list! I hate that AERO, gadgets, and a couple of other items cannot be TOTALLY disabled so they do not consume any computer resources. Neither storage nor memory. I am an "old fart" who just doesn't need or want any of the "Fluff and Puff" that does nothing to make my computer do what I want it to do, but consumes hige resources while doing NOTHING for me.

If you want to get rid of the gadgets on your desktop, it is really quite simple.

Using Task Manager, just kill the sidebar.exe process. This will kill the gadgets that are currently running.

Now to keep them from starting up again after the next reboot will take a little more work. Using regedit, navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run entry. You should see an entry in the right window for sidebar. Delete it.

 

[djwayne]

Those little arrows on the desktop shortcut icons. They serve no purpose whatsoever.

 

[JustDavid]

Those little arrows on the desktop shortcut icons. They serve no purpose whatsoever.

Frameworkx FxVisor (both 32 and 64 bit versions) will allow you to remove the little shortcut arrows. Program was originally written for Vista but works fine in 7.

 

[john3347]

JustDavid, I do not recall seeing an option when installing Windows 7 to not install gadgets capability. I do not remember an option to not install AERO capability either. How many MB harddrive space are those items consuming? (I did not install any gadgets to start with on my Windows 7 computer because I experimented with gadgets with Vista and dismissed the whole concept as something that I had no use for.) Does the computer start-up procedure not require time to check for any installed gadgets? Does this not slow the start-up time? I consider these two items as "requiring computer resources" (harddrive space and start-up time). This harddrive space and start-up time (which is much improved over Vista) is part of the computer resources that these unwanted items require whether they are being used or not. Also, I have not found a way to disable AERO without losing all desktop control, this is not a preferred condition.