Tools for win10/11 to get the classic look

This thread serves as a roadmap on
NEW: Many people might have problems with classic settings desktop settings so i made a reg that brings it back all reg in one newest.reg (12.6 KB)

First The Spitfire_x86 theme which i think is the best (links to original posts on the bottom) thanks to Ibmpad , spitfire_x86 , Splitwirez the reactos team and everybody else who keeps the classic windows alive

First you need to have Classictheme renamed to classicthemea.exe active make a shortcut to it give it administrative priviledges put in startup folder and set windows to open windows in new process in folder options
 w8classic.zip (160 KB) or original link from Ibmpad w8classic.zip (160 KB)

NEW as of 2019 we got an enthusiastic developer making a classic theme with an option to enable the classic startisback startmenu unlike the classictheme by ibmpad it loaded metro stuff ob first use good job 1337ftw

 SimpleClassicTheme.exe (3.9 MB)

And here is his thread : Reversibly enable and disable Classic Theme with a simple UI

1.  Startisback + classicshell together for spitfire x86 theme : pros classic taskbar works fine with classicshell as long as a blank startbutton is selected
 Original thread
DOWNLOAD HERE Classic3.zip (540.87 KB)
                                    (MEGA)
                         www.startisback.com/  use Free trial shareware works fine
You can add classic calendar and clock with these reg files old_calendar_date_pane_windows_10.zip (875 KB)
For win11 the same classic theme can be used with startallback





Cons 1: does not yet have themed grouping of icons in taskbar currently displays metro themed lists can somebody fix this ?
Cons 2: part of the bar becomes black as result of the removal of shellexperiencehost but easily fixed by using this bitmap   in classicshell go to settings  show all settings - taskbar - taskbar texture - and select the pic i just posted and click opaque

Pros : Works fine with Taskbar 7 + tweaker
Pros: Lightweight and fast


 2. Windowblinds : Compared to startisback this is a 50 mb chunk of bloatware slows down the pc (im on mobile intel cpu) It has a theme called trueclassic

Pros : Classic but a bit futuristic because it animates windows instead of using explorer it uses its own thing
Cons: same problem as startisback partially black taskbar and the startisback method of fixing that won't cut it because it forces you to use the 7 styled startmenu no classic option there.
Cons: Slow and laggy


3.  Reactos explorer taskbar
DOWNLOAD HERE
explorer.7z 
startbutton.7z
source-explorer-old.7z
Pros: makes the same thing as startisback does
Cons 1: performs it poorly as 7 taskbar tweaker and current classicshell wont even budge on it but it works on older classicshell prior to ver. 4.2.4
Cons 2: need a buncha ahk scripts + you cant show all items on taskbar it forces you to hide them with the arrows
Cons 3: Compared to startisback which is straightforward the modded ros explorer is complicated to set up and i never got it placed right.
Experimental thing recomended for programmers mostly has no 7+ taskbar tweaker support and it seems like the reactos devs abandoned the ROS shell since Reactos 3.X.X

Do you know of more classic taskbars and links to them? please post in this thread!!!

---

Startisback taskbar www.winclassic.net/thread/280/classic-taskbar-superbar-startisback
Reactos Explorer    www.winclassic.net/thread/177/reactos-taskbar-win10-desktop-classic
Truclassic              www.wincustomize.com/explore/windowblinds/8628/

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Last but not least for the viewers who know how to program there is a shell called winxshell that loads fine on any windows HERE  github.com/slorelee/PExplorer it is a fork of reactos but seem to have its own filebrowser and unfortunately it is themed by default too bad nobody modified it to be in classic mode as it could be quite useful



Optional :

Tclock T-Clock_vc2010.rar (960 KB)

Instructions: 1.Remove all checks in 'basic clock configuration'
            2.Go to mouse select action and execute command tick mouseclick left and double then browse to the tclock folder and select timedate.cpl that lies in the tclock folder when your
                  3. done with that what you will get when you doubleclick the clock would be THIS :
      
 timedateR.cpl  (122 KB)   then NEW                                                                                                                          we got an nt version too  timedate2.cpl (235 KB)
 Or drop the improved Clasurol version in tclock folder

Then you need Resource hacker reshacker_setup.exe (2.8 MB)


            explorerframe.dll window graphics for reshacker are here explorerframesbmp.res  (637 KB)
Reactos desk applet HERE desk039.cpl (444 KB)
Just like windows95/Classic Windows NT? cool and we are using the opensource timedate.cplAnother cool thing you may wanna get is desk039.cpl (the reactos version of desk.cpl)
I got 0.4.0 from 2011 to work desk040.cpl (484 KB)

remove folderband update on newer windows 10
find this <style resid="FolderBandStyle">
Just need to add
<Element padding="rect(0rp,0rp,0rp,-35rp)"/>

and compile save log off and log on.


You maybe want a real languagebar the win10 one will not allow us to have any other color then white thats where the reactos languagebar comes in handy DOWNLOAD HERE kbswitch.exe (72.5 KB)



       Ribbon Disabler  
DOWNLOAD RibbonDisabler.zip (44.2 KB)  it is broken in 1903 but i have a fix reshack ExplorerFrame.dll.mun and
remove  the   explorer ribbon as it is stated in the picture above
  

Here is a preconfigured Waterfox for 64 bit systems (you could install a full version to update it just be sure to replace all files in WaterfoxPortable\App\Waterfox )

                  
preconfigured waterfox  Waterfoxportable.rar (100.0 MB)  Fixed the GUI to match the screenshot
preconfigured firefox 56 Firefoxportable.rar (54.5 MB)
                                                                             
Or install firefox portable 56 or latest waterfox portable and add these extensions   Extensions.rar (1.8 MB)     Finally drop my prefs in WaterfoxPortable\Data\profile prefs.js (15.9 KB)
      with that said its safe to delete my waterfox thread                                                 

Then you need Classicshell: classicshell.net/ despite it being discontinued it is compatible with the startmenu skins or openshell
 Now on to the themes:


 Classicae          
                 DOWNLOAD HERE  Classic AE 2.5.skin (100.5 KB)      Modernclassic Metro.rar (373.04 KB) I made a megathread on classicshell themes here : Classic Shell Themes MEGATHREAD
After installing all these you will enjoy a classic windows interface no different then most of the standard windows versions its still microsoft but its not that evil anymore
and don't suck at all.

To be updated if somebody fixes the build 1809 issue with shellstyle.dll...

Todo on this list add the amazing project called start9 when it gets released.

Edit: Finally we got the win2k desk.cpl to work on other windows systems comes with schemes reg (color themes for classic mode) Thanks Floyd!!!
here's the original post chorusofone.no-ip.org/computerstuff/index.html

   win2kdeskwithschemereg.rar (369 KB)

To conclude with sysdm that i posted on another thread these are hexedited sysdm files the comctl32 becomes renamed in a hexeditor to comctlxp or comctl2k  thanks to Thinkpad classictheme thread

sysdmr.rar (290 KB)                       sysdmxp.rar (383 KB)                        sysdm2k.rar (291 KB)                                    

                  

Original thinkpad download download link these files minus reactos cpls sysdm.zip (787 KB)                                                                            
 
And windows 7 taskmanager because classictheme breaks the old one tm_cfg_win8-win10.zip (1.13 MB) and win7 games Win7Games4Win10_8_81_v2.zip (147 MB)
and the classic calculator to complete the look oldcalcwin10.zip (888 KB)

   
                                                                 Then:

Using simpleclassicui with contexmenutweaker be sure to have vcredistx64 installed the menu will first stop to be corrupted after you rightclick on a folder in C:
no idea why ....
dont know why it works needs debugging with process explorer? ProcessExplorer.zip (1.9 MB)

Startallback has rightclick menu if you are on windows 11


Last Spitfire_x86 created this wonderful Explorer



Ex_plorer.exe (56.0 KB)  Original Thread www.winclassic.net/thread/583/wip-plorer-win95-file-explorer



ClassicThemeTray

A simple program that lets you toggle Classic Theme on Windows 8/8.1/10 by clicking on a tray icon.

Runs completely in the background
0% CPU usage when idle


It uses the Query State permission method to enable/disable Classic Theme.





ClassicThemeTray.exe (459 KB)
Original thread here : www.winclassic.net/thread/510/classicthemetray-quickly-toggle-classic-theme