Classic and Extended Control Panel — no need to say goodbye

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ISSUE 22.12 • 2025-03-24 FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT By Deanna McElveen Microsoft is migrating applets out of the Windows 11 Control Panel and into the fancy S
[See the full post at: Classic and Extended Control Panel — no need to say goodbye]

10 users thanked author for this post.

Elly, Fred, schmootoo, fisher75, Cybertooth, XproUser, ernie, DLivesInTexas, GarthP, lmacri

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I use Super God Mode

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Not user friendly to us silver tops
Far far better Open Shell which is free, simple to use
Rgds hfp

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Super Thanks! Character Map was here all along!!!

Cheers, Chris

Unless you're in a hurry, just wait.

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The Classic/Extended Control Panel looks as if it will give me access to many Windows ‘features’ I want/need. Additionally, the Bonus Software in this item, Translucent TB gives me the look-&-feel I wanted for my taskbar! Both of these apps are very useful for me. Thank You!

Ernie

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Check for updates for Classic/Extended Control Panel before each Windows Update.
Microsoft is known for making changes to Windows user interface  that cause software tweakers (particularly to taskbar and other user interface) to stop working.

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All you have to do is right-click and open to get the old school menu…

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samgreen3 wrote:

All you have to do is right-click and open to get the old school menu…

Hi samgreen3:

Right-click what to open what “old school” menu? Could you provide an image?
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5608 * Firefox v136.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25010.11-1.1.25020.1007 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.8.173-128.0.5184 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ulti P. Uszer

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Find a lot of the recommendations as being useful, even though I’m not a “Geek”, but can’t get this to run.
Crashes while opening, Win 10 22H2, InControl, OpenShell menu installed. N error message other tan Not Responding. Anyone else have this & sorted it?

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As a fan of Windows UI customization techniques, I’m especially grateful for Deanna’s presenting TranslucentTB. I’ll give it a try.

ADDENDUM: I ran into the following when clicking on the TranslucentTB download link at the bottom of the OlderGeeks.com page:

Tried this on both a Windows 7 PC (Pale Moon browser) and a Windows 11 PC (Firefox) and got the same thing each time.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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In the top line, where it reads “URI-“, copy the URL, then open it in your web browser. The app will download. That’s what worked for me, and now I have a transparent Task bar!

Ernie

2 users thanked author for this post.

Elly, Cybertooth

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You can get Translucent on Microsoft Store.

2 users thanked author for this post.

ernie, Cybertooth

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lmacri wrote:

samgreen3 wrote:

All you have to do is right-click and open to get the old school menu…

Hi samgreen3:

Right-click what to open what “old school” menu? Could you provide an image?
———–
Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5608 * Firefox v136.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25010.11-1.1.25020.1007 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.8.173-128.0.5184 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783

Anything. I’m assuming you’re using the small icons view as you should be. right click any thing there  i.e. Devices and  printers. power options.

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Where’s the documentation for this. There seems to be no intuitive way to add to favorites. Not all of us understand enough xml to edit the config file nor where to get the information needed.

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TranslucentTB no bueno!

Deanna,

I always look forward to your articles and have installed/use many of your suggestions.  But you missed the mark with TranslucentTB.  I tried it from OlderGeeks, Microsoft Store, and GitHub and just could not get it to work.  I have the following system installed:

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 24H2
Installed on ‎10/‎23/‎2024
OS build 26100.3476

Keep the articles comming!

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Please see my reply #2758166 in this thread:

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/how-can-i-update-explorer-patcher/

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You should check in Settings / Apps /Installed Apps /TranslucentTB – Click on the 3 dots menu on the right – choose advanced settings.
Make sure Translucent is set to start with the system.

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However, if you are running Win11, you should read the “Caution” on this page.

Caution We DO NOT recommend using EP on work machines running Windows 11 version 24H2. More info here. Note When updating to 24H2, please uninstall EP before starting the update. You can install EP again with your settings intact after updating to 24H2. Due to explicit blocks by Microsoft, the update cannot proceed if EP is installed.

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Cybertooth

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Thank you! It took me a while to find Translucent since the link didn’t work but clicking on the link to the author eventually brought me into the Microsoft Store where that app is to download.

D/L the Settings program too – very nice to have more tools in the toolbox!

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