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I did the usual registry and group policy changes to to bin these time wasting and to be frank useless on a home PC screens.  There is an easier way…

My ongoing quest to purge the flat, boring and frankly terrible look of Windows 8 continues.  Now I have removed the flat part by installing a Windows 7 theme…

If you have a PC with Windows 8 but miss Windows 7, there’s no need to downgrade. Following a few simple steps, you can make Microsoft’s current operating system look and feel almost identical to its predecessor. Here’s how to bring back the Start menu and the attractive aero glass theme how to hide other Windows 8 elements like the Charms menu.

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Bin Metro crap, get a proper desktop, free…

• This program restores native Windows 7 start menu and desktop by bringing Windows 7 explorer.exe.
• Start menu retains full configurability you expect from Windows 7 start menu.
• This program includes sophisticated lightweight wrapper, install/uninstall/patch program.
• You can use it on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 RTM or RP versions, any edition, any language!

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A long title, but a pain to achieve as Windows 8 ADB drivers are different from Vista and Win7.  It’s exactly the same process on Vista & Win 7, but impossible on Windows 8 without the drivers linked below..

Jelly Bean on Kindle Fire 2.

So in the correct order:

1. Install Kindle Fire ADB drivers from this page at XDA and then Root as instructed (Device needs to be rooted to add custom .img files and Boot-loader.).  In the same thread:
   • Carry the steps in the Root Many Android section.
   • Then Qemu Automated Root.
2. Follow the Cordless APK Instructions here to install a custom .img file and boot-loader (the excellent TWRP).  You need this to install custom ROMs.
3. Finally, you get to flash your device with a custom ROM, I used this JellyBean 4.2.1 ROM.

Once you have done that lot, you boot up into a standard Jelly Bean environment with out all the Kindle crap and the store with charges more for apps than the Google Play store does.  I linked the tablet to the wife’s Gmail account (it’s her tablet), and it promptly sorted her emails and pulled down her Android apps without my intervention…

This is about as straightforward and polished way of working with your Windows PC and you Android tablet or phone I have come across.  if they are both on the same wifi network, you can inspect, edit and transfer files between both with ease, as well as sent text messages on your PC using you phone and so on.  Impressive stuff…

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Windows 8 runs snappier and starts quicker.  That’s about all I can find to say that could be considered positive about my new OS.  I have never liked the ribbon bar since it was introduced and Windows Explorer is worse for it (as are all the other applications infected with it tbh).  Still, this is one that you can fix simply enough…

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Can’t say I am a fan of Windows 8, however it is possible to gets something a little more familiar back..

Windows 8 is provoking a Marmite-like reaction among users, but that doesn’t mean you’ll fall directly into the love or hate camps. It’s more likely you’ll find certain new features useful and others unnecessary. If you’re pining for features no longer present, this article is for you.

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Of course, here is a cheaper and simpler approach you could adopt, stick with Windows 7…

I’ve been using KeePass for a couple of years now and it makes generating secure passwords and retaining them safely very simple.  Additionally it stores the web pages they may refer to as hyper-links.  You can also run it from a USB memory stick and have all you details encrypted and to hand on the road.

I was after a simple method of importing my numerous internet passwords and ClockWork’s Firefox to KeePass Importer plugin covers this task nicely.  If you have a lot of saved PW, and you use the import favicon option this takes a little time.  One other top tip, combine this with Dropbox and you have a truly mobile synchronised Database accessible from the Android version of Keepass too! (or your iPhone for that matter)…

Lots of changes in the latest version.

Downloads

If yours is on this list, best you revisit your setting and fix them pronto…

Your password should be a unique string of characters that only you know and should also be a non-dictionary term (random letters as opposed to the name of your pet). Because we put so much information on the Internet, a strong password is all but necessary.

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