Kari THOUSANDS of thanks for this! I will not be moving to 11 anytime soon . . . . . . On Sun, 10 Aug 2025 at 19:47, K.G.H. Nicholes <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hi Kari, > Thank you for your helpful description of coping with Win11. > Microsoft has convinced me to abandon Windows "upgrades". I'm moving to > Linux, with Windows virtual machines/support for older programs I need. > Win7-32 is the *last* Microsoft OS to run several vital 16-bit programs, > including my FoxPro 2.6 for DOS bookkeeping - hundreds of thousands of > lines of custom code. > Of course XyWrite and its .int programming language is vital to me. I > prefer III to Xy4... > You are welcome to contact me, kghn -at- ttc-cmc.net... > - K.G.H. Nicholes, Concise Logic > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kari Eveli" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: "XyList" <xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2025 5:05:18 AM > Subject: My Windows 11 tribulations or how I spent my summer > > Hi all, > > I have used an HP Z400 workstation for more than a decade. I might still > be using it without MS making the upgrade decision for me. I am not > buying the rationale of very strict hardware compatibility for Windows > 11 but what can one do? > > I found this commercial resource which contains quite a lot of useful > information for someone like me, and I acted upon it. > > > https://pcserverandparts.com/blog/prepare-for-the-end-of-windows-10-with-these-windows-11-compatible-workstations/?srsltid=AfmBOoq06HTn00IWQ72scUJjTUJJXqhdnYV7g1nHBhoaHZj6EuhLaFy4 > > I bought a second-hand Lenovo ThinkStation P520 (Windows 11 Pro for > Workstations, 32 GB memory, Xeon processor, 1 TB M.2 SSD as main drive > plus 3 other disk drives and a DVD drive, NVIDIA Quadro P620 with 3 HP > ZDisplays). > > I have spent the whole summer installing and configuring this rig from > scratch. > > I try to summarize the lessons learned from these tribulations in what > follows: > > 1) Hardware speed is a good thing, and maybe it was time to update. > > 2) Going through every piece of software and reinstalling/updating the > useful packages takes a lot of time. Customizations can be tricky to > export/import. Good documentation is key. > > 3) Examining software alternatives can make difference. In my case, I > changed from VirtualBox to VMware (which is now free). > > 4) Some programs which run on Win10 cannot be run on Win11. Corel > Ventura 10 is an example of this. I ended putting it on a W2K virtual > machine. Some programs run only when core protection is off (e.g. some > Acronis versions or Cherry keyboard software). > > 5) Decluttering and customizing the Windows 11 context menus can be done > and is worth while but it is a bit complicated. The following tools > proved useful for me: > i) First, restore the old windows 10 context menu: > https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2287432/(article) > ii) Use https://github.com/BluePointLilac/ContextMenuManager > to > disable/enable context menu items > iii) Use Nilesoft Shell (https://nilesoft.org/) to remove or > rename/translate context menu items, e.g. in modify.nss > to remove options that are for sending files to email > (depending on > what you have installed!), write: > remove(type="file" find="and send|and EMail") or in > shell.nss > to shorten the title and to add an icon to the menu, write: > modify(find='Convert to PDF in Foxit phantomPDF' > title='Create a Foxit > PDF' > image='C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\Foxit > PhantomPDF\FoxitPhantomPDF.exe') > iv) Programming new menus with Nilesoft Shell can be demanding > and > timeconsuming (if you are not happy with the default > additions), luckily there is an easier alternative to make > your own > menu system: https://www.quickaccesspopup.com/ > > 6) When I started my transition to Win11, I had a working Win10 machine > alongside. To transfer files, .ZIP files or Acronis .TIB files were > useful but a living computer proved to be essential for transferring > settings from Registry or just for checking how something worked on the > old machine. I ended up using a software KVM > (https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap) to be able to use only one > set of keyboard and mouse which are connected to my WIN11 machine. While > not perfect, it works pretty well, and has been a good help in the > transition. As I said earlier, I have 3 monitors, and I use NirSoft > ControlMyMonitor > (https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html), e.g. > On my Lenovo WIN11, I switch to my HP Z400 using this command: > C:\SY\controlmymonitor\ControlMyMonitor.exe /SetValue > "\\.\DISPLAY2\Monitor0" 60 3 > And on my HP Z400, I switch back to Lenovo by running this: > C:\SY\controlmymonitor\ControlMyMonitor.exe /SetValue Primary 60 15 > These shortcuts and the software KVM make it easy to jump to another > computer. > > 7) How to find things in Win11? > i) Use Search indexing > ( > https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/search-indexing-in-windows-da061c83-af6b-095c-0f7a-4dfecda4d15a); > > > this is only useful if you customize search locations, and add the > folder(s) you want (Classic mode) or use Enhanced mode, > in which case the following tool is maybe better: > ii) Everything (https://www.voidtools.com/) > > 8) What about Start Menu? > I still use Tray Command Line 5.03 (http://traycl.chat.ru/), size 166 > KB. (Not listed in Google but the developer site is the right place for > downloading, Archive.org has a bigger, maybe suspect, file). It works > well in all modern Windows version (Win95 up to Win11). The easiest > application launcher there is! Drag a shortcut onto it and create a > command abbreviation. I have a help file for the abbreviations which > opens with "h<enter>" form Tray Command Line. The Windows 11 Start > dialog pinned programs feature is OK. I have disabled suggestions, and I > have pinned a shortcuts folder to the Start dialog to have a panoramic > view of all programs (when reinstalling programs I just gathered the > Desktop shortcuts in this standard folder). > > I hope these tips may help someone when faced with the update to Win11 > which is inevitable. > > Best regards, > > Kari Eveli > LEXITEC Book Publishing (Finland) > lexitec@xxxxxxxxxx > > *** Lexitec Online *** > Lexitec in English: https://www.lexitec.fi/english.html > Lexitec English and Finnish dictionaries: https://sk.lexitec.fi/en/ > Home page in Finnish: https://www.lexitec.fi/ > >