a113n’s daily dose

I have been using Windows 7 for many weeks now. Some concerns have been placated, which gives me the courage to continue working with the system.

Some major points I have worked out include:

• Quick Launch status and pinned applications
• Default folder configuration

Quick Launch/Pinned Apps

The Quick Launch, though a favorite Windows feature, is on its way out. The idea is to make more efficient use of the commonly-accessed orb/start menu or the new “dock”, which doubles as the list of open programs. My main concern with the loss of the Quick Launch was that my “pinned” applications were not present after the upgrade from Vista. Some were easy to get back, many were not.

One major sore point was an important business file–an Access database to be exact. The file has a system-friendly name, which is not friendly to human readability. A shortcut exists with a human friendly label, but the shortcut cannot be pinned via any manner of right clicking with or without other keys. The actual Access file could be pinned (CTRL+Right Click) but the name is not simple and includes an extension. I have the direct file pinned, but there was no problem pinning the shortcut in Vista.

Google was not helpful this time, but the “Orb”/Start Menu properties had the answer. While viewing properties of an existing pinned application, I found this folder on my computer:
C:\Users\me\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned

What I love is that this folder is found within the Quick Launch folder. Imagine that. This folder is hidden of course, but only the top folder. Inside are 3 folders, but only 2 should be modified unless you are a program: StartMenu and TaskBar. The names are clear, but the process not so much. I expected to simply move some of my already existing shortcuts in Quick Launch to the StartMenu folder and have a working system. Not so fast, Microsoft says.

There is some internal switch that gets flipped when applications are “properly” pinned, i.e. via the context menu. I got around this by creating a dummy shortcut inside of my Quick Launch folder that I pin to the StartMenu (or TaskBar). I then open the StartMenu folder and change the properties (target, start in folder, name, icon if necessary) to the correct shortcut properties. This process should be automated, but hopefully such complicated changes will be limited.

In the end, I was able to set my StartMenu and TaskBar up appropriately. You can use your imagination to consider what type of shortcuts would go in TaskBar–say a Show Desktop shortcut to give that full Quick Launch functionality, which would make a good post.

A personal note to Microsoft here. All of my programs were compatible in the upgrade, meaning they work and their shortcuts work. If the Quick Launch must be dropped, why not migrate these shortcuts to this special folder of “pinned” applications? For me, this is a major oversight considering how reliable Quick Launch was.

Default Folder Layout

The folder configuration is a different story. It differs most importantly in that I am not the only it bothers. I might be the only who appreciated the Quick Launch, but the default folder configuration is painfully annoying. Microsoft now assumes we care more about previewing files in Windows Explorer than viewing important details such as file size, modification date, etc. The default view makes only the file name visible; another pane sits on top of the additional details which will preview most files accessed in Windows Explorer. This pane is resizeable, and every time I open a folder, my first instinct is to re-size the pane so that I can see these details.

I am prone to just putting up with a problem until it really bugs the hell out of me. Unless, someone else has the problem and wants help. This problem is not as diluted as the Quick Launch concern, but could escape many common users. The solution lies in a feature that has been present since pre-2K, but I doubt many users have used it even once. Further complicating matters, in Vista and Windows 7, with the new “ribbon” UI and other enhancements, the menu which accesses advanced functionality is now hidden.

To start, open Windows Explorer, where you can see any of your files/folders, like the Computer. With Windows Explorer open, click the ALT key. A small menu will appear near where we would expect to see the “File…” menu option. This menu actually includes “File…“. We will select the Tools menu option, and the item Folder options….

From within the folder options dialog, select the View tab. Under Folder views, two buttons provide advanced folder layout functionality. The Reset Folders is obvious, and the Apply to Folders can alleviate the default folder layout headache. Now my folders open up with a small, unobtrusive preview pane.

• Current Location: cabin
  

So I have just fired up the Windows 7 Enterprise Upgrade from Windows Vista Business (x64 on both). After a painfully-long upgrade process, which was finalized by my 19-month year old daughter during the “configuration” stage the next morning, I have the system up and running. I’d have to say my first impressions are mixed.

Positive

• Most of the applications were compatible (though some odd ones weren’t like iTunes & Windows Mobility Center, both of which can be reinstalled fine)
• Most application settings were maintained, including Firefox/Outlook/Office settings
• Gadgets were retained (but not correctly, see Negatives below)
• Significantly improved boot speed over Vista
• Significantly better memory utility over Vista (40% on startup versus Vista 70% on startup)
• Firefox is more responsive (one extension is significantly faster with no update)
• Personal data was retained without issue
• There seem to be some new Administrative Tools to play with, one for memory diagnostics and one for Powershell, which rocks. Though I’m sure these tools already existed, it’s good to have them in a single location for quick access.

That would seem like many good aspects, but it has not all been good with this upgrade. There are several issues that have emerged within minutes of the first boot.

Negatives

• The upgrade install time took a very long time. I started it last night around 7/8:00 PM, it was still running when I went to bed where it was gathering files–a whole lot of files. I’m sure the upgrade spends time to ensure data integrity, but a several hour install on modern systems is excessive. Perhaps the fresh install will prove to be more reasonable.
• My first “page” of gadgets were removed from the sidebar and placed at the bottom of the desktop–very ugly
• Moving gadgets is not as clean as with Vista, gadgets can be placed on top of one another where Vista would realize that a gadget placed on top of another should either be placed below or above the gadget depending on position
• The quick launch, which I have loved and used daily since it’s introduction is removed; applications are now “pinned” to the taskbar much like “pinning” to the start menu, and there is no separation between pinned applications and open applications, resembling Macs. Making matters worse, since this bar is used for both, I keep thinking IE is open and running, where my gut reaction is to click and close it. Of course, it’s not open and the initial click does open it, so this is a huge waste of my time. A simple vertical rule to separate the two types would fix this; it will be resolved when I get my toolbar configuration back as the quick launch sat along with the address bar at the top of the screen–assuming I can figure out how to move these “pinned” applications as I would the quick launch toolbar.
• I had a long list of applications pinned to the start menu, none were retained; many of these I had placed deep within subfolders in the start menu as I would never need to access them via the Programs menu; now I must find them all
• My custom toolbars were not retained, I must recreate all of them and reposition them correctly
• Though Firefox was maintained as my default browser, it was not available in the “pinned” applications on the task bar, so I had to search for it in Programs and re-pin it–IE was pinned by default along with WMP and an Explorer shortcut
• My wireless notification is now the icon showing signal strength instead of the icon showing activity (I prefer activity)…to make matters worse, it doesn’t show any signal, the bars all all white, but the connection is working
• Upon starting up the computer for the first time, I got a new notification in the taskbar notification area: “Action Center”, which one problem that needed to be solved–Windows Updates. I’d prefer not to have this new notification at all and have not yet found a way to disable it.
• Speaking of the notification area, instead of the left-pointing arrow for hidden notifications or background applications, there is now an up-pointing arrow. As you can guess, instead of simply expanding the notification area, clicking the arrow opens a small popup above the task bar with the remaining, hidden notifications which you must use to configure background services such as virus scanning.
• The Windows Sidebar background process icon in the notification area is gone. This means there is no easy way to turn off the sidebar temporarily. I’ve found myself having to open task manager and stopping the sidebar process, a task that is too advanced for new users since the sidebar is now called “Desktop Gadget Gallery”, regular users may not know to look for sidebar.exe.
• Windows XP naming schemes have returned. For example, in Windows XP, the documents folder was “My Documents”, the pictures folder was “My Pictures”, and so forth. In Vista, the redundant “My” was dropped from these folders, making the documents folder “Documents” and the pictures folder “Pictures”. For some reason, the old convention has returned, causing confusion for those who have already become accustomed to the new naming scheme in Vista. I’m sure this is for Windows XP upgrades, but what was the point in changing the naming scheme then ditching this change? How about a little bit of consistency here?
• The “Documents” menu item, which I use as a menu not a link, now shows two subfolders, “My Documents” and “Public Documents”. I do not see the “Public Documents” being used just as I never used the public folder for sharing. Further, it appears the Documents is a library or catalog of documents, not just a physical storage location.
• The list of open applications in the task bar has an annoying feature when two windows of the same application are open. XP and Vista would group like taskbar items together, but you were presented with a list, not a small popup meant to serve as a screenshot, and it took several items to engage the grouping. Now, we get screenshots that do not help in identifying a window (but I had no problem with the list would would have meaningful information) and more than one window (even though there is lots of taskbar space with the default view of icon-only) is set to group by default. It gets more frustrating the more I use it and wish I could just use one click for switching between windows quickly. I guess I’ll get a lot of use out of CTRL+TAB. This is really going to annoy developers and web designers.

Overall, I am pleased with the upgrade, short of the massive install time. The system that was cumbersome to use in Vista is now more responsive and overall I believe the upgrade will bring many more benefits to be revealed over time. I will do a complete fresh install soon and be back to report how that works out.

• Current Location: Cabin
  
• Daily Task(s):
  • Plastic over windows
  • Rake leaves
  • Prepare for next week work

As a learning exercise and to develop a concise, simple site management tool, I have decided to create my own PowerShell script that interfaces with WMI classes to automate various tedious tasks I perform every time a new website is added to our Windows 2008 server. The general goal of the script is to create a website with standard functionality, including a username to own the website and connect via FTP to manage the site. This site will also receive it’s own application pool to isolate the website from all the other websites currently hosted on the server.
(more…)

• Current Location: Office
  
• Website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx
  
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• Website Description: MSDN Library, reference and resource material for Windows application development
  

So tonight I got some pizza from Mother Bear’s, bought pen styli to replace the one Mama Bear lost, and got a movie to watch, King of Kong. When I went to to pick up the movie, there were a couple of store clerks (and one of their friends) standing around discussing the movie and its taglines. Evidently we’re in for a good treat. Speaking of treats, I picked up some Starburst and Laffy Taffy. I LOVE Laffy Taffy. In the recent copy of MakeZine, I learned how to build a crude yet effective taffy pulling machine. This one I really want to follow through with, because it’s easy to build and a great way to make homemade taffy. The hard part is just picking my first recipe.

It’s funny how the really simple things make a difference between a boring night and a really fun night. Mama Bear & I don’t have to go out and spend lots of money to have a good time, we enjoy a cup of tea and a game of Tiger Woods at home. I think that’s one of the reasons I love being around her so much, I can really be the closest to the “real” me as it’s going to get. Speaking of which, great xkcd comic that is hilarious and so very true. That site is possibly the best comic on the net, nuff said.

This night is just what I need after a day like today. I spent 3 hours in a courtroom for my 30 seconds in front of the judge where I was told to return two months later. I get back to the office to deal with a crashing email issue on our server and then try to get various other websites and email clients migrated. It just seemed like one slap after another today where I try to get something productive done only to be held back by a single minute detail, derailing my whole plan. I do so much impromptu work, it just isn’t funny, but as a plus I really pushed myself to get on with the PowerShell stuff. I am currently uploading our copy of VS to the server for installation, then I can do some new, exciting code-work. Interesting enough, these VS templates I found for PowerShell require the Vista SDK, which is a multi-gigabyte download. If this SDK is needed on Vista/Server 2008, skip the DVD download and use the web-based install because its less of a network-hog & using that link you can bypass MS genuine crap. I have valid copies of my OSs, but the genuine validation process for Firefox users (of which you should be one) is far too complicated even with my tricks to shorten the process.

So come to me sweet relaxation, for this weekend is DTS catchup time (with some makeout time for Mama Bear and play time for Baby Bear thrown in).

• Current Location: Living Room
  
• Website: http://www.xkcd.com
  
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• Website Description: Web comic of romance, satire, and nerd stuff
  

This should be an eventful week, with lots of tasks being finalized and taken off my plate. However, that is not the case. It seems that every thing has a minor detail beyond my control–waiting on approval for module purchase, waiting on confirmation that user emails have been downloaded, etc. My work is typically structured so that one task precedes another out of necessity, so holding up on task being finalized holds up the next and the next and the next. This really makes things drag on as I not only have to switch gears to handle a completely unrelated task, but at any moment I may be called into action to take care of one of the aforementioned, incomplete tasks when the bottleneck is resolved. Everything is so much more efficient if I just take care of it all myself, but that’s not always feasible when you are dealing with clients and users across the country.

I am really enjoying the new work with the new server, but in the back of my mind, I harbor doubts. Not in my ability to handle whatever may happen, just doubts that my next course of action is appropriate. I still believe that I can handle the various issues that arise much better and quicker than our hosting company, but my inexperience with the new range of applications on the server makes me second-guess my decisions. However, this is the extra edge I had been looking for, and I take it all in as valuable experience.

Mama Bear and I went to a carnival last night and had a great time. The only downside was that Baby Bear did not take too well to our having a night out, and she ended up fussing for the whole hour we were gone, only quieting down 10 minutes prior to the call where we informed the sitter we were coming back. At least she does take beautiful pictures. Now if I can only to remember to bring in my boss’ copy…

• Current Location: Office