Get Windows 8.1 for free

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HansV
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by HansV »

It looks like you created a shortcut to a folder, instead of a shortcut to Explorer.exe...
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Hans

jmt356
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

I can't get to a file called Explorer.exe. When I search for it in my C drive, I only come to a folder called Explorer.exe. When I click on that folder, I am taken to "This PC," which does not contain the file.
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JMT

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Rudi
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by Rudi »

Maybe your search criteria was not effective.

Try manually navigating to the application.
-- Go to your C:\ drive
-- Double click on the Windows folder
-- Scroll down past all the subfolders and look for the application called "explorer.exe" (or just "explorer" if your extensions are not enabled.)
-- Right click on the app and choose Pin to Taskbar.
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Rudi

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HansV
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by HansV »

Another way:

- Right-click on an empty part of your desktop.
- Select New > Shortcut from the context menu.
- Specify the following in the "Type the location of the item" box, but with the folder you want to use as target, e.g.

explorer.exe C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MyFolder

- Note that you don't have to provide the full path of explorer.exe. Windows "knows" where it lives.
- Click Next.
- Specify the name you want to give the shortcut, e.g. MyFolder.
- Click Finish.
Best wishes,
Hans

jmt356
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

In C:/Windows, I see a file called Explorer.exe. It looks like a folder, but its extension is .exe. I believe this is the same file I created a shortcut for in my earlier posts. The shortcut acts as a shortcut to an application because when I click it, Windows Explorer is launched. However, when I right-click it, select Properties and change the target, the icon changes its appearance from a shortcut to an application to a shortcut to a folder. Once it becomes a shortcut to a folder, I am unable to Pin it to the Taskbar.

I have found a way around this by FIRST pinning it to the Taskbar and THEN changing the target. Otherwise, if I change the target first, then I am unable to Pin it to the Taskbar.

But now I have another problem. When I launch Windows Explorer, a second icon appears on my Taskbar. Is there a way to get all instances of Windows Explorer to appear on my current Taskbar icon rather than opening a new set of icons. I want it to behave as Internet Explorer, Word and all of my other programs work when I open up multiple windows of the program.
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JMT

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Rudi
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by Rudi »

See if the final post in this thread (if you can decipher the abbreviations) resolves your scenario with two File Explorer icons.
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Rudi

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HansV
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by HansV »

If you change the target to something like

explorer.exe C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MyFolder

or

explorer.exe /e,C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MyFolder

it should remain a shortcut to the application explorer.exe. However, if you change the target to

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MyFolder

it will become a shortcut to a folder.

I don't know why a second Explorer icon appears on your taskbar, but I see that Rudi has posted a link about that.
Best wishes,
Hans

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

I followed the steps in the post that Rudy referenced, but it still causes Windows Explorer to open a second icon when launched.
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JMT

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Rudi
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by Rudi »

Additional info I found...

Taskbar icons get duplicated when a shortcut is pinned to the taskbar, rather than the program itself. The solution is to find and remove the extra shortcut. The most straightforward way to do this is simply to right click and “Unpin” all the icons for the program in question, launch the program via the Start Menu, and then right click the running program on the taskbar to re-pin it.

If this doesn't resolve the problem. There’s usually a hidden shortcut that is being referenced by the running program. In this case, the solution is to “Show Hidden Files” in Windows Explorer, and navigate to the system path for taskbar shortcuts. This path is : C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar – there you can attempt deleting the shortcut manually, and re-adding it once again.
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Rudi

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

Thank you Rudi but if I pin the program directly to the Taskbar then I am back to the original situation with IE launching to a folder that I do not want. I want it to launch to my specific target folder.

Basically what I want is for IE to launch to a specific folder and at the same time be pinned to my Taskbar without duplicating when I launch it.
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JMT

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by Rudi »

The experiments that I have performed helped me to conclude this:

-- Having the explorer.exe icon on the taskbar prevents duplicate icons when I open explorer using this taskbar icon, however, I cannot then modify the target since it is a .exe icon
-- Having a shortcut of the explorer icon on the taskbar allows me to change the target, but since its a shortcut, it opens a second icon on the taskbar

The only way to have a shortcut to a specific target but avoid a second button appearing on the taskbar is to use the PIN option within the .exe format of the explorer icon.
A bonus allows you to have multiple pinned locations and quick access using the right click on the icon or the click and slide up technique.

To pin a specific shortcut to the explorer icon, navigate in the explorer window to the target folder, then drag the button from the address bar to the taskbar icon.
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Rudi

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

I just navigated to the desired target folder in Windows Explorer and then selected the folder name from the address bar and dragged it to my Taskbar. The folder was then pinned to my Taskbar, but upon launching it, Windows Explorer would open to This PC rather than to my target folder.
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JMT

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by Rudi »

You will always get to the This PC folder if you left click on the taskbar button. In order to access the pinned folder you need to right click the taskbar button, and then click on the pinned item. Alternatively, you can left click and hold on the button and slide upwards. Then click the pinned item.
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Rudi

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jmt356
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

I tried to right-click on the icon on my Taskbar and then click on the icon, and it still opened up to This PC.
I then tried to left click the icon on my Taskbar, slide upward and then click the icon my Taskbar or alternatively click on File Explorer in the window that pops up. That also took me to This PC.

In any case, there is no way to create a shortcut to Windows Explorer on my taskbar that opens up to one of my target folders by pressing Windows button + [the number corresponding to the position of the pinned icon from the left], is there?
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JMT

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by PaulB »

jmt356 wrote:In any case, there is no way to create a shortcut to Windows Explorer on my taskbar that opens up to one of my target folders by pressing Windows button + [the number corresponding to the position of the pinned icon from the left], is there?
We pretty well established that fact last year in this thread and re-confirmed it here. I implemented the solution proposed by JoeP in this post.
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Paul

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HansV
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by HansV »

Pinning a folder to the existing taskbar shortcut appears to be the best workaround. Rudi has proposed it again in this thread. But jmt356 isn't satisfied with that. I don't think we can fulfil all his requirements.
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Hans

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

Is the following a correct summary of what we found on this thread:

On Windows 8.1, there are 2 options for launching Windows Explorer (WE) through a Taskbar shortcut:
- Pinning the WE program to the Taskbar, which will launch "This PC" as the location by default; or
- Pinning an WE shortcut to the Taskbar, which allows the user to customize the address to which IE launches, but opens up a second icon on the Taskbar when multiple instances of IE are running.
Last edited by jmt356 on 30 Aug 2014, 17:21, edited 1 time in total.
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JMT

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HansV
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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by HansV »

IE = Internet Explorer. I thought we were discussing File Explorer (formerly known as Windows Explorer).

Apart from that: yes.
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Hans

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

HansV wrote:IE = Internet Explorer. I thought we were discussing File Explorer (formerly known as Windows Explorer).
You are correct. I edited my entry to correct the typos.
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JMT

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Re: Get Windows 8.1 for free

Post by jmt356 »

I have had so many problems since I upgraded to Windows 8.1 last month, including:
- Word Open dialogue to my Favorites folder is extremely slow (this now appears to have resolved on its own)
- Outlook contacts displaying an hour later than the time programmed (partially resolved);
- Computer hanging on restart;
- Most recently, shortcuts occasionally and randomly do not work when editing Outlook contacts.

All of these issues started after I installed Windows 8.1 and Strong VPN last month. I am thus considering rolling back to my pre-Windows 8.1 / Strong VPN installation disk image. However, I am concerned with what the potential consequences will be if I roll back to Windows 8. I imagine Windows 8 will no longer be supported by Microsoft, but that is not such a bad thing because I never really had any problems with it to begin with. I guess the only real problem is there may be some security vulnerabilities and future patches may not be made available, but this is not as major a concern to me as the constant issues that have arisen since my installation of Windows 8.1. Are there other concerns that I should be aware of?

BTW, I am not sure if the issues arose directly as a result of installing Windows 8.1 or as a result of Strong VPN, but in any case, I want to roll back to a version in which neither was installed just to be safe.
Regards,

JMT