Convert laptop to Windows 7

I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10. I
really hate Windows 10. Can it be converted to Windows 7? Will I be
able to get the touch screen working? I've tried to make it look like
Windows 7, but there are many things that just don't work well. Am I
nuts to do something like this? I appreciate any comments.

Art Todesco wrote:
I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10. I
really hate Windows 10. Can it be converted to Windows 7? Will I be
able to get the touch screen working? I've tried to make it look like
Windows 7, but there are many things that just don't work well. Am I
nuts to do something like this? I appreciate any comments.

If you right-click Start, there is a "Device Manager".
Otherwise known as "devmgmt.msc".

A touchscreen, I would hope there'd be at least an
"unknown device" if it hasn't been discovered yet.

When you first install Windows 10, it takes a while for
the drivers to get downloaded and installed. One thing I
find annoying, is my chipset drivers take their sweet sweet
time showing up.

The video driver is reasonably aggressively pursued. You
usually see a "Notification" that the system is "searching
for a video driver". It's less ambitious and won't say
something like "searching for touchscreen driver". Any of the
Mickey Mouse stuff might not have a notation.

You can check the manufacturer site for a touchscreen driver.

*******

The OS is likely to have tablet and desktop modes.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

I did an experiment once with that (on a system not intended
for switching!) and it was not a pretty sight. I would think
you'd want some proof the touchscreen was running before going further.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

Windows 7 would likely only have a desktop mode.

You could get slightly more of a Windows 7 look, with a menu replacement
software. Maybe Start10 is still under development by its owner.

https://www.infoworld.com/article/29...sic-shell.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Shell

"Development by Ivo Beltchev has ceased, and the projects
source code has been released. A team has picked up development
on GitHub, where the project can now be found."

I think part of the reason the original developer dropped Classic Shell,
is it's pretty expensive for any developer to track changes
in Windows 10. I know there was one furious burst of activity
on VirtualBox, due to Microsoft fooling around with some
kernel or similar files. And Microsoft broke my webcam under
Win10, which I won't forgive them for. Only my ****ty $10
640x480 webcam still works (it has no microphone). Microsoft
added "frameserve" to the webcam hardware stack, but busted
some stuff for fun. To keep an impressive project like
Classic Shell running, when Microsoft is removing legacy support,
would be a daunting task.

The hardware/software ecosystem today is pretty fractured.
Old equipment pushed towards the bin, by less than reasonable
web browser design. Microsoft not supporting Windows Update on
Win7, when it detects the presence of a newer processor.
You don't have quite the same amount of freedom to experiment
as you once did. Intel doesn't write drivers for Windows 7 any
more as far as I know (even though officially Windows 7 is
still in Extended Support). Microsoft hasn't put as much
work as they should have, into making AMD processors work well.
It means end-users are kinda stuck. "In a W10 cross-hairs".

Paul

Art Todesco wrote:
I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10.Â* I
really hate Windows 10.Â* Can it be converted to Windows 7?Â* Will I be
able to get the touch screen working?Â* I've tried to make it look like
Windows 7, but there are many things that just don't work well.Â* Am I
nuts to do something like this?Â* I appreciate any comments.

www.linuxmint.com

On 2/3/19 11:45 AM, KenW wrote:
On Sun, 3 Feb 2019 15:59:42 +0100, Jack of Diamonds
wrote:

Art Todesco wrote:
I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10.Â* I
really hate Windows 10.Â* Can it be converted to Windows 7?Â* Will I be
able to get the touch screen working?Â* I've tried to make it look like
Windows 7, but there are many things that just don't work well.Â* Am I
nuts to do something like this?Â* I appreciate any comments.

www.linuxmint.com

Linux sucks


But NOT in the same ways Windows sucks. Note that for many of the things
you need Linux help for, you can find solutions on the web.

Sam E wrote:
On 2/3/19 11:45 AM, KenW wrote:
On Sun, 3 Feb 2019 15:59:42 +0100, Jack of Diamonds
wrote:

Art Todesco wrote:
I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10. I
really hate Windows 10. Can it be converted to Windows 7? Will I be
able to get the touch screen working? I've tried to make it look like
Windows 7, but there are many things that just don't work well. Am I
nuts to do something like this? I appreciate any comments.

www.linuxmint.com

Linux sucks


But NOT in the same ways Windows sucks. Note that for many of the things
you need Linux help for, you can find solutions on the web.

And, just like windows, many solutions which are not valid
for the current release.

You will need help getting the scanner to work on your
AIO printer.

And printers work, for those experienced with setting one up.
If you're a noob, not so much.

Paul

On Sun, 3 Feb 2019 08:42:39 -0500
Art Todesco wrote:

I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10. I
really hate Windows 10. Can it be converted to Windows 7? Will I be
able to get the touch screen working? I've tried to make it look
like Windows 7, but there are many things that just don't work well.
Am I nuts to do something like this? I appreciate any comments.

I don't use Ubuntu, but from what I have read it's the best operating
system for touch screen laptops. You can install it along side Windows
10, and use the Grub Menu to boot into either operating system, or you
can just use the whole hard drive when you install it.

I hate Windows 10 too, and Windows 7 is not going to be supported.

https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

[snip]

I hate Windows 10 too, and Windows 7 is not going to be supported.

https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

At one time Windows 2000 was the best version ever. I kept using it for
about 3 years after that "end of life", which doesn't really mean much.
If you are worried about security patches, use Firefox for a browser (it
does more of the security stuff itself).

Eventually, you get to a point where incompatibility becomes too much of
a problem, but that is NOT what MS calls "end of life".

I expect Windows 7 to be like that too, you can use it safely as long as
Firefox supports it.

Most of the time, there's only a few programs I use that require
Windows, and those are very tolerant of old versions. They should
continue to work fine on W7 (I won't use anything later).

Johnny's alternative should work fine for mot things.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought." [Graham Greene,
1981]

Mark Lloyd wrote:
[snip]

I hate Windows 10 too, and Windows 7 is not going to be supported.

https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

At one time Windows 2000 was the best version ever. I kept using it for
about 3 years after that "end of life", which doesn't really mean much.
If you are worried about security patches, use Firefox for a browser (it
does more of the security stuff itself).

Eventually, you get to a point where incompatibility becomes too much of
a problem, but that is NOT what MS calls "end of life".

I expect Windows 7 to be like that too, you can use it safely as long as
Firefox supports it.

Most of the time, there's only a few programs I use that require
Windows, and those are very tolerant of old versions. They should
continue to work fine on W7 (I won't use anything later).

Johnny's alternative should work fine for mot things.

Firefox OR Chrome - it's gotten to the point that sometimes I need to use
Chrome on a few sites (mostly the ones with video)

On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 11:15:28 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Mark Lloyd wrote:
[snip]

I hate Windows 10 too, and Windows 7 is not going to be supported.

https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

At one time Windows 2000 was the best version ever. I kept using it for
about 3 years after that "end of life", which doesn't really mean much.
If you are worried about security patches, use Firefox for a browser (it
does more of the security stuff itself).

Eventually, you get to a point where incompatibility becomes too much of
a problem, but that is NOT what MS calls "end of life".

I expect Windows 7 to be like that too, you can use it safely as long as
Firefox supports it.

Most of the time, there's only a few programs I use that require
Windows, and those are very tolerant of old versions. They should
continue to work fine on W7 (I won't use anything later).

Johnny's alternative should work fine for mot things.

Firefox OR Chrome - it's gotten to the point that sometimes I need to use
Chrome on a few sites (mostly the ones with video)


It's interesting to me that you see FireFox and Chrome as alternatives
to each other. I don't. As far as I'm concerned, FireFox is the best
available browser and Chrome is among the worst--possibly better than
Edge and IE, but that's all.

Ken Blake wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2019 11:15:28 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Mark Lloyd wrote:
[snip]

I hate Windows 10 too, and Windows 7 is not going to be supported.

https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

At one time Windows 2000 was the best version ever. I kept using it for
about 3 years after that "end of life", which doesn't really mean much.
If you are worried about security patches, use Firefox for a browser (it
does more of the security stuff itself).

Eventually, you get to a point where incompatibility becomes too much of
a problem, but that is NOT what MS calls "end of life".

I expect Windows 7 to be like that too, you can use it safely as long as
Firefox supports it.

Most of the time, there's only a few programs I use that require
Windows, and those are very tolerant of old versions. They should
continue to work fine on W7 (I won't use anything later).

Johnny's alternative should work fine for mot things.

Firefox OR Chrome - it's gotten to the point that sometimes I need to use
Chrome on a few sites (mostly the ones with video)


It's interesting to me that you see FireFox and Chrome as alternatives
to each other. I don't. As far as I'm concerned, FireFox is the best
available browser and Chrome is among the worst--possibly better than
Edge and IE, but that's all.

Trust me, I'm not a fan of Chrome. But Chrome works on some sites where FF
(the latest version I can use on Windows XP) doesn't - especially on some
sites with some videos. So I'm still using Windows XP for the most part,
since I am annoyed by all the restrictions imposed on me in all the later
versions of the OS.

On 2/4/19 3:51 PM, Ken Blake wrote:

[snip]

Firefox OR Chrome - it's gotten to the point that sometimes I need to use
Chrome on a few sites (mostly the ones with video)


It's interesting to me that you see FireFox and Chrome as alternatives
to each other. I don't. As far as I'm concerned, FireFox is the best
available browser and Chrome is among the worst--possibly better than
Edge and IE, but that's all.

I normally use Firefox, when I need to use a different browser it's
often Opera.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought." [Graham Greene,
1981]

On 2/4/19 12:15 PM, Bill in Co wrote:

[snip]

Firefox OR Chrome - it's gotten to the point that sometimes I need to use
Chrome on a few sites (mostly the ones with video)

Usually, when a page doesn't work on Firefox, it's because that page
won't tolerate a security or privacy setting I made. Still, having a
second browser is a good idea.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought." [Graham Greene,
1981]

Mark Lloyd wrote:
On 2/4/19 12:15 PM, Bill in Co wrote:

[snip]

Firefox OR Chrome - it's gotten to the point that sometimes I need to use
Chrome on a few sites (mostly the ones with video)

Usually, when a page doesn't work on Firefox, it's because that page
won't tolerate a security or privacy setting I made. Still, having a
second browser is a good idea.

Oh and sometimes I've had problems with printing pages in FF, whereas Chrome
has usually worked ok for that. But I'm not a Chrome lover, to put it
mildly. I only use it as a last resort.

But having a second or third browser has proven useful. I've also got an
older version of Pale Moon installed too, which I used to use in place of
FF, but most of the time FF works out better nowadays.

Again, I'm using Windows XP for the most part, so YMMV. How much longer I
can keep doing so remains a TBD. :-) But at least there are no smoke and
mirrors on Windows XP.

I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10. I really
hate Windows 10. Can it be converted to Windows 7? Will I be able to get
the touch screen working? I've tried to make it look like Windows 7, but
there are many things that just don't work well. Am I nuts to do something
like this? I appreciate any comments.

I felt the same for a long time, and tried to avoid W10 as much as possible. I
did replace it with W7Pro on a few laptops until they started with the Kaby
Lake chipset/motherboard config and newer hardware that has no support for any
OS earlier than W10. You can use a KBL motherboard in a desktop box running W7
because you can pick&choose what hardware you plug into its sockets; - not the
case with a laptop.

so...

I started on a journey to accept W10 if I wanted to take advantage of the newer
hardware/technologies being built into laptops. The focus of my journey was to
make W10 look/feel/work as much like W7 as possible, paying specific attention
to its spying and loss of control over updates. So far so good after reworking
a half dozen systems for others along the way. All are running reliably without
issue so I know you can get to the same place if you just persist your efforts
to make it happen. Here's what my configs include:

To better manage Windows Update and spying:

Win Update Stop
This provides the ability to enable/disable Windows Update at your
preference instead of W10's settings. It simplifies the otherwise very
difficult process involved with manually toggling the Windows Update
service on/off to get updates at a time you prefer. Just remember to
toggle this service *on to use, then off to disable* after the updates
have been installed!

You should run Windows Update at least once a month;

Spybot Anti-Beacon
This offers choices to automatically immunize Win10 from spying to your
preferences at every boot or on demand. The free version offers a fair
amount of basic protection only.

The paid version is a better choice as it gives a more aggressive level of
protection! (more than double the immunization as the freeby) *However*
this may prevent some apps from working properly so make sure you fully
understand how its setting work *before* using it.

MS Office Updates do work if your settings are set to allow it.

You can easily transfer your settings/data by just moving your profile to
another computer after installation there.

Destroy Windows Spying
This offers more advanced tools to automate immunizing W10 from spying to
your preferences. It also has switches to enable/disable Windows Update.

*WARNING: This* is a really aggressive tool that *should not be used* in
conjunction *with Win Update Stop*!

You can easily transfer your settings/data by just moving your profile to
another computer after installation there.


Install Windows enhancement Utilities/Softwa

Start Menu 10
This replaces the Start menu with one you can fully customize to your
preferences. It also allows retaining/using the default menu via a
keyboard combo that is configurable.

While the free version doesn't have the 'extras' included with the full
version, I do fully support making a donation for this excellent product
by buying the 'full' version as it is very much worth the pittance cost!

You can easily transfer your settings/data by just moving your profile to
another computer after installation there.

Avanquest PowerDesk Pro
This is a paid app (with 30 day free trial) that replaces Windows Explorer.
- a better, customizable alternative File Manager for any Win OS with so
useable features it will 'blow-your-mind'!

You can easily transfer your settings/data by just moving your profile to
another computer after installation there.

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser
This is a free (self-updating) app to replace the W10 Edge and/or Internet
Explorer spyware.

You can easily transfer your settings/data by just moving your profile to
another computer after installation there.

Mozilla Thunderbird
This is a free (self-updating) Mail and Newsreader to replace Windows Mail
and/or Live Mail spyware.

You can easily transfer your settings/data by just moving your profile to
another computer after installation there.

HTH...

--
Garry

Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
Classic VB Users Regroup!
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion

On Sun, 03 Feb 2019 15:24:54 -0500, GS wrote:

I have a Dell Latitude 7350 touch screen laptop with Windows 10. I really
hate Windows 10. Can it be converted to Windows 7? Will I be able to get
the touch screen working? I've tried to make it look like Windows 7, but
there are many things that just don't work well. Am I nuts to do something
like this? I appreciate any comments.

I felt the same for a long time, and tried to avoid W10 as much as possible. I
did replace it with W7Pro on a few laptops until they started with the Kaby
Lake chipset/motherboard config and newer hardware that has no support for any
OS earlier than W10. You can use a KBL motherboard in a desktop box running W7
because you can pick&choose what hardware you plug into its sockets; - not the
case with a laptop.

so...

I started on a journey to accept W10 if I wanted to take advantage of the newer
hardware/technologies being built into laptops. The focus of my journey was to
make W10 look/feel/work as much like W7 as possible, paying specific attention
to its spying and loss of control over updates. So far so good after reworking
a half dozen systems for others along the way. All are running reliably without
issue so I know you can get to the same place if you just persist your efforts
to make it happen. Here's what my configs include:


....

Avanquest PowerDesk Pro
This is a paid app (with 30 day free trial) that replaces Windows Explorer.
- a better, customizable alternative File Manager for any Win OS with so
useable features it will 'blow-your-mind'!


I agree with several of the software choices you mention, but I also
disagree with several others. Of those I disagree with, I'll just
comment on this one:

PowerDesk *is* a good choice (I used to use it), but to me it's not
the best one. The one I recommend is Directory Opus.

I recommend that you try Directory Opus and decide for yourself
whether or not you like it better than PowerDesk.