Win8->Win7 Explorer Adaptation

Discussion in 'Windows 8' started by Yushatak, May 5, 2013.

  1. Yushatak

    Yushatak MDL Novice

    May 5, 2013
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    #1 Yushatak, May 5, 2013
    Last edited: May 5, 2013
    I am a strange person - expect strange questions.

    I want to take the Win8 explorer.exe and make it run on Win7. Before anyone says "NOP U CANT DO THIS CUZ <reason>", of course you can - it's a machine, not a law of physics. It's just a matter of difficulty.

    Anyway.. When trying to run the file with no modification or accompanying files, it says it can't verify the digital signature. I tried changing the filename (thinking it might be a hardcoded protection mechanism), turned off the system attribute in case that was triggering the verification, and removed the signature block from the file. None of these made any difference whatsoever.

    I've set DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS via BCDEDIT and I'm going to reboot and check that out, but I'm not sure that that applies to other things besides drivers to be quite honest - shot in the dark. (Edit: didn't matter)

    Ideas?

    PS - Mostly doing this for the file copy dialogs, so if it turns out too difficult to make the whole thing run due to API ties and other dependencies, perhaps I could rip those by themselves.. Barring all of that, this is just for fun really, so whatever.
     
  2. Shenj

    Shenj MDL Expert

    Aug 12, 2010
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    Why even bother? You would get a broken W7 as you have neither Metro nor start Menu o_O Eitherway you can't do this with simple copy/paste or changing names at all, just give up this idea.. switch to W8 if you want the new stuff.
     
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  3. Yushatak

    Yushatak MDL Novice

    May 5, 2013
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    #3 Yushatak, May 5, 2013
    Last edited: May 5, 2013
    (OP)
    Who said simple copy/paste or changing names, rofl - I only tried changing the name in case it went "Explorer? This isn't MY explorer!".

    I'm a programmer, I'm not some buffoon - perhaps the Win7 explorer could be made to direct it's file operation calls to the Win8 explorer being referenced as though it were a DLL - that might require writing a wrapper..

    Are the dialogs and their functionality contained in explorer, or shell32? I know there's at least some split but I'm not sure where it begins and ends. If by whatever luck the dialogs AND functionality happened to be contained in shell32, I could just write a shell32 wrapper that passes every call to the Win7 version except the relevant ones, and then solve dependencies for those that remain..

    Also, neither metro nor the start menu is necessary to use the machine.. You could also just use the start key or ctrl+esc, to boot - it would open the start menu if this were made to work, since the same calls pull up either depending on OS.

    As I said, this is just for fun - "give up 'cuz it's hard and not particularly useful" doesn't really apply..

    Edit: OK so it looks like the functions in question are in shell32, and the conflict resolution UI bits too, but I didn't see anything for the rest of the UI for the copy dialog - anybody shed some light on where it lives?
     
  4. Shenj

    Shenj MDL Expert

    Aug 12, 2010
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    Try over @ XDA-developers, you might have better chance there for whatever you actually want to realize, want to sell some kind of software that gives you W8 features on W7 minus Metro? ~.~
     
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  5. soulburner

    soulburner MDL Novice

    Jun 17, 2008
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    Just wanted to say, I would love to have a ribbon based Explorer from Windows 8 on my Windows 7 machine. That's the best thing about Windows 8, but I don't want to upgrade every single PC ;)
     
  6. solarstone2149

    solarstone2149 MDL Member

    Dec 11, 2009
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    #6 solarstone2149, May 6, 2013
    Last edited: May 6, 2013
    I fail to see why is it better to have file manager bloated with unnecessary controls VS simple one that already does its job perfectly
    ...
    unless you like to spend your life clicking constantly on buttons and tabs ?
    not to mention how win8's one fails quality UI design
     
  7. =)(=

    =)(= Guest

    #7 =)(=, May 6, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2013
  8. Yushatak

    Yushatak MDL Novice

    May 5, 2013
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    @Shenj

    No I just wanted to putz around with getting the Win8 copy dialogs on Win7.. I saw lots of posts around here analyzing Win8 at the technical level and I thought that it would be a place that encourages technical curiosity and tinkering.

    I think the ribbon UI is poorly executed and don't like ribbons in general - the copy dialogs have a graph and I really like them. It's not worth the effort if everyone is just going to shun me for doing something for fun, so forget it.
     
  9. Trailertrash

    Trailertrash MDL Novice

    Aug 19, 2012
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    I think you are right to feel disappointed about the reaction you got.

    Somehow many threads like these start with a guy like you proposing a weird but interesting idea.
    Then first you get a bunch op people criticizing, ridiculing and starting OT discussions.

    One of these threads ended with a pretty solid way to get Win7 explorer to run on Win8 bypassing Metro.
    This guy was laughed at, at the beginning. Now loads of people are downloading his work.
    Another guy made the KMS tool which was deemed a dead end street by some, from the beginning.
    Now everybody is using it to activate their W8. :)


    The message for you Yushatak is to never be discouraged by critics. All they can do is criticize, until you prove them wrong and let them eat their words and then let them download your creation.

    I think it would be fun to see the copy dialog on W7. lol
     
  10. mbe

    mbe MDL Novice

    Dec 2, 2012
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    Actually, this feature will come with better explorer, just wait :) (new version shortly)


    greets, one of the devs :)