Backporting Explorer from Windows 8 Build 7955???

[ohmsmega]

Lurked for many years finally registered... Wiki and FTP are amazing! I have Neptune as well. Finally got 95 stuff to work
in VPC after all the help thanks guys!

OK I found a copy of Win 8 M3 build 7955 that I made back in 2011 while cleaning and it had the Ribbon in WE with the
old style 7/Vista Icons. Is it Possible AT ALL, before trying Better Explorer again (which crashed all the time) to backport
this shell into Windows 7 SP1 and place it over the top of the current one. It looked so darn good I thought, if they can backport stuff to previous
Windowses can this be done? Dependency Walker? Hex editors? If MS can send IE4/WE4 to W95/ NT from 98 back in the day
can it be done again? I liked it enough I want to keep it. But I hate Windows 10 do not want to use it at this time.
Thanks for checking for me! I searched for this first and then google....

[winnt32]

Please don't do this. It's not worth your time.

[ohmsmega]

Please don't do this. It's not worth your time.

How come? Time consuming? Hard? Protections? Just curious. Are you saying it's possible but just super hard? Is the code for this Explorer part of Better Explorer?
I might just stick with BE. I actually dove into this old prototype. RedPill didn't work all the way and I had to move back the BIOS clock or the install got stuck at 97% for me. I could not remember how to remove the timebomb so I just wiped my drive out and came back to 7UX86. But the memories though.... Summer of 2011, IT WAS my main OS I got it to work with everything on my old Acer.

Just thought I'd ask. Was a good proto wish they 'd kept the look (7989 was a favorite too but I didn't get to DL that one) I hate where it went after that.
Had fun cleaning out that closet. Three DIFFERENT discs of Windows 95 fount as well. One bloody A, two bloody Bs. Or no bloody C discs unfortunately. Thanks to the site I was able to ID all three. Man that was a lot of info for W95. I bet all my stuff is already in the database too... I have the IE4 install disc. "Internet the way you want it"...

[shaglonux]

I guess it's a time consuming project, and it may be unsuccessful at the end, but sounds interesting for me.

It's not impossible I guess, I've seen that Windows Movie Maker from ME was backported to Windows 98 with copying some newer, dependent DLL files (with hex editing the main executable like SHELL32.DLL -> SHELL32.NEW), or the same with EXPLORER.EXE, and some other system components where many of the system files just have overwritten with the newer ones from Windows ME in 98.

The problems you may face, that as I know the EXPLORER.EXE in Windows 8.x contains some parts of the Metro/UWP platform. I don't know how much this part is advanced in this exact build, but this can prevent you from the success. Another thing is, that overwriting some DLL files with newer version in the Windows directory is may not be adequate or sufficient, because many of the required files nowadays may be at the WinSxS folder, and I'm not sure that this list/folder is expandable at all.

Also notice, if you will have success to replace the shell (which includes the Windows Explorer), you will probably lose the Start Menu too, and you'll have the Start Screen from this build instead.

[ohmsmega]

I guess it's a time consuming project, and it may be unsuccessful at the end, but sounds interesting for me.

It's not impossible I guess, I've seen that Windows Movie Maker from ME was backported to Windows 98 with copying some newer, dependent DLL files (with hex editing the main executable like SHELL32.DLL -> SHELL32.NEW), or the same with EXPLORER.EXE, and some other system components where many of the system files just have overwritten with the newer ones from Windows ME in 98.

The problems you may face, that as I know the EXPLORER.EXE in Windows 8.x contains some parts of the Metro/UWP platform. I don't know how much this part is advanced in this exact build, but this can prevent you from the success. Another thing is, that overwriting some DLL files with newer version in the Windows directory is may not be adequate or sufficient, because many of the required files nowadays may be at the WinSxS folder, and I'm not sure that this list/folder is expandable at all.

Also notice, if you will have success to replace the shell (which includes the Windows Explorer), you will probably lose the Start Menu too, and you'll have the Start Screen from this build instead.

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping all it was was to replace the explorer.exe and the dlls. And not actually have to code anything. The best coding I can do is watch a YT and make a VB.NET web browser. When I ran my copy of 7955 I saw how the desktop "jumped" into view after startup. I hate metro crap but if it had to house the desktop oh well. So much for "Windows Desktop Update 2021. I have Better Explorer installed and it's messing with the W7 Action Center. The notices still remain AFTER closing them

[shaglonux]

I was hoping all it was was to replace the explorer.exe and the dlls. And not actually have to code anything.

I made a quick test today, where I tried to transfer the previously mentioned files from one system to another. The results are disappointing (as I expected) - in Windows 7 the digital signature of the newer exe files are detected as corrupted, or the applications fail to start with an "invalid Win32 application" error. There are no entries in the Event Viewer about the errors. These are also apply to the most basic applications such as NOTEPAD.EXE too. It seems to me, there is no easy way to "backport" this version of shell, or any newer version of integrated applications to Windows 7.

I liked it enough I want to keep it. But I hate Windows 10 do not want to use it at this time.

If you want to use this exact Windows Explorer version just because of it's appearance, you can customize the icons in the ExplorerFrame.dll. If you intend to change any of the system files, make backup before, if you can, test the changes in VM, and notice that Windows Update can change back your modifications anytime.

As I've seen, the icons of the Explorer's ribbon in Windows 8.1 is almost completely in Windows 7 style, the biggest difference is the background, which became white, instead of blue gradient, so almost nothing needed to change. Also I use Windows 8.1 as my main OS, and it works perfectly nowadays too if your PC has drivers for this version of Windows (like mine). If you don't use the Store, or the Metro/UWP things, using Windows 8.1 is not a big deal, and provides you the desired GUI instantly. If you install Classic Shell, you can get back the old Windows 7 style Start Menu too, and you can forgot the Start Screen at all.

[ohmsmega]

I guess it's a time consuming project, and it may be unsuccessful at the end, but sounds interesting for me.

It's not impossible I guess, I've seen that Windows Movie Maker from ME was backported to Windows 98 with copying some newer, dependent DLL files (with hex editing the main executable like SHELL32.DLL -> SHELL32.NEW), or the same with EXPLORER.EXE, and some other system components where many of the system files just have overwritten with the newer ones from Windows ME in 98.

The problems you may face, that as I know the EXPLORER.EXE in Windows 8.x contains some parts of the Metro/UWP platform. I don't know how much this part is advanced in this exact build, but this can prevent you from the success. Another thing is, that overwriting some DLL files with newer version in the Windows directory is may not be adequate or sufficient, because many of the required files nowadays may be at the WinSxS folder, and I'm not sure that this list/folder is expandable at all.

Also notice, if you will have success to replace the shell (which includes the Windows Explorer), you will probably lose the Start Menu too, and you'll have the Start Screen from this build instead.

I thought the WinSxS (Windows Success?!) folder was fro windows updates?

[ohmsmega]

I was hoping all it was was to replace the explorer.exe and the dlls. And not actually have to code anything.

I made a quick test today, where I tried to transfer the previously mentioned files from one system to another. The results are disappointing (as I expected) - in Windows 7 the digital signature of the newer exe files are detected as corrupted, or the applications fail to start with an "invalid Win32 application" error. There are no entries in the Event Viewer about the errors. These are also apply to the most basic applications such as NOTEPAD.EXE too. It seems to me, there is no easy way to "backport" this version of shell, or any newer version of integrated applications to Windows 7.

I liked it enough I want to keep it. But I hate Windows 10 do not want to use it at this time.

If you want to use this exact Windows Explorer version just because of it's appearance, you can customize the icons in the ExplorerFrame.dll. If you intend to change any of the system files, make backup before, if you can, test the changes in VM, and notice that Windows Update can change back your modifications anytime.

As I've seen, the icons of the Explorer's ribbon in Windows 8.1 is almost completely in Windows 7 style, the biggest difference is the background, which became white, instead of blue gradient, so almost nothing needed to change. Also I use Windows 8.1 as my main OS, and it works perfectly nowadays too if your PC has drivers for this version of Windows (like mine). If you don't use the Store, or the Metro/UWP things, using Windows 8.1 is not a big deal, and provides you the desired GUI instantly. If you install Classic Shell, you can get back the old Windows 7 style Start Menu too, and you can forgot the Start Screen at all.

Thanks for trying fer me. I did not go to W8.1 is because they Murdered AERO....
I hated to sound picky with my question but the way it looks in that particular build and being OCD er CDO... The blue buttons and matching office and paint etc...2011 was a good year lol
This looked good too... WAY OVER MY HEAD MATE lol
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/265 ... e-and-size

EDIT: I found something else I could try.
http://itgeek2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/ ... ws-xp.html

[ohmsmega]

Please don't do this. It's not worth your time.

Can one edit the ISO files and paste the Explorer?

[yourepicfailure]

no.
no.
no.

It has been explained to you that you can't use these explorer on 7.
There is no method today to do it. If it was possible, it would have been done.

[ohmsmega]

no.
no.
no.

It has been explained to you that you can't use these explorer on 7.
There is no method today to do it. If it was possible, it would have been done.

Just asking questions man.

[AlphaBeta]

I am not quite sure how do you want to port anything when you don't know a thing about the executable format or the system architecture.

The executables specify the minimum required OS version. Of course it won't run on a version that's lower than that.

WinSxS stands for Windows Side By Side. It is a part of a system that is comparable to package managers on Linux distros.

[ohmsmega]

I am not quite sure how do you want to port anything when you don't know a thing about the executable format or the system architecture.

The executables specify the minimum required OS version. Of course it won't run on a version that's lower than that.

WinSxS stands for Windows Side By Side. It is a part of a system that is comparable to package managers on Linux distros.

Thanks for the replies. Nope I don't know about programming but there are folks here that are working wonders on some of this
stuff sooooo I thought I would take a shot. I don't want to port it now since it take a lot of work. If it was a simple take ownership, overwrite, reboot THAT is what I wanted to know about but I digress.

[cosmic]

The executables specify the minimum required OS version. Of course it won't run on a version that's lower than that.

Microsoft actually provides a tool called EDITBIN that can be used to modify the minimum required OS version of an executable. The real issue is that there are probably many APIs and DLLs that explorer.exe depends on which are not available on previous OS versions. Dependency Walker could be used to identify those missing APIs, but then you would still need to patch it to remove all the references to them.

I agree that it's not going to be worth your time. It's probably best if you just tried to use that DeviantArt style that you linked.

[ohmsmega]

The executables specify the minimum required OS version. Of course it won't run on a version that's lower than that.

Microsoft actually provides a tool called EDITBIN that can be used to modify the minimum required OS version of an executable. The real issue is that there are probably many APIs and DLLs that explorer.exe depends on which are not available on previous OS versions. Dependency Walker could be used to identify those missing APIs, but then you would still need to patch it to remove all the references to them.

I agree that it's not going to be worth your time. It's probably best if you just tried to use that DeviantArt style that you linked.

Thanks. My pea brain 16 hr double shift body thought that you could backport these kinds of things. If they did it for other softwares, they could (they still can...) like pushing 98's explorer shell back to 95 and NT40 (they had other reasons too do that at the time too)
To me everything looked UNIFORM. MSOFFICE ribbon, Explorer ribbon, and Windows Live apps ribbon. But that's just me. Kudos to Better Explorer's team but DANG it's still buggy.
If I had another computer I'd run it with the modified date in BIOS.

EDIT: I hate those dang version checkers in those installers.