Setting Up FREE Proxies & VPN's (& Tor Browser!)

Have you ever wondered how to setup a proxy and use it? Or maybe the definition of VPN has never crossed your path and now you want a bit of info on it? Surely, with all the news flying around, you have heard of Tor? Is it only for bad things? I will answer all these questions and show you how to setup everything to spoof your computer (for FREE) to think it is coming from another city, state, or even country!

Setup a Proxy, Setup a VPN, Setup Tor Browser

WARNING: I am not responsible for how this information may or can be used!

Why Would I Need A Proxy/VPN/Tor Browser?
For the most part, you may not need any of these methods. But sometimes, especially if traveling, you could. While I will explain their definitions in better detail below, for now just know that all these items can be used to circumvent geo-IP restrictions. Meaning, you can make websites and others think that you are not in the location you actually are.

Let's get into some examples of when this could be appropriate: Maybe you have a Netflix account, however, certain countries are restricted from viewing Netflix content. This would be a perfect time to use one of these methods to pretend you are viewing from a Netflix-allowed country.

Or perhaps you want to view some articles on a site that is hosted in a different country. The site only wants to allow people from within a certain area. (e.g. Craigslist will not let you post a listing if you are not in the city you are posting to.) You could use one of these methods to make the website think you are in that required area.

There are many reasons to use one of these methods. You can use it for security and anonymity, but it can also be used illegally. This of which I do not support, but some of the knowledge needed will be the same.

Proxies
A proxy is just using a server's IP address to route your requests through it and make sites and other computers think you are that server and thus, in that location.

This is the most basic way to circumvent geo-IP restrictions. The major drawback is that you have no protection from others who want to track or trace you. If you were to use a proxy for illegal means, and did not setup any type of security, you could easily be found by the government or others...

Why Not Use Proxy Websites?
Proxy websites can be quite useful if you just need to see something fast. But when it comes to downloading or uploading, or viewing videos, spending hours researching, etc., these sites will not allow those types of processes (or can be extremely tedious). For those situations, you may want to manually input a proxy, VPN, or use the Tor Browser.

VPN's
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is essentially a proxy with security. This is good for businesses and alike who wish to transfer sensitive data.

The biggest drawback of a VPN is normally its speed. A speed decrease form a VPN can be quite detrimental, especially if transferring large files. A paid VPN should grant a decent amount of speed, but many free VPN's will slow you down immensely.

Just a side note, a VPN service may store log files. So if you think that you can get away with something illegal just because you are using a VPN, think again. Those that do keep log files of IP addresses will normally give them over to government officials if asked.

Tor Browser
Tor Browser is a simple browser (based off of Firefox) that allows you to surf the web with total anonymity. This is not to say it grants security like a VPN, which is why it is always recommended to use HTTPS sites, or to use in conjunction with a VPN, if you want anonymity and security.

Many people may know of Tor Browser because of the Dark Net and Deep Web. I will not go into how to access these parts as much of its content are for illegal items and services.

A final comment, Tor Browser is fairly slow. I would only suggest using it if you cannot find a faster proxy or VPN.

Finding a Proxy
To use a proxy you will at least need an IP address and a corresponding port number. Proxy IP addresses and port lists can easily be found searching on Google. You will be able to find IP addresses in different cities, states, and/or countries.

If you are lucky, you can find sites that not only give you the IP address and port, but the speed of each of each proxy! Otherwise, you will have to test out each IP address and see if it is a suitable speed for your needs.

How To Setup a Proxy
The easiest (and most useful) method to do this will require Internet Explorer (IE) or Chrome. This can be done with Firefox, but the reason IE or Chrome is preferred is because they actually use the Windows OS to setup the proxy, while Firefox has its own special network settings. This means that if you do go through Firefox, it should only affect Firefox, while going through IE or Chrome will make sure that every application using the Internet will go through the proxy.

I will be using Windows 7 for these steps, but I imagine they will be similar on Windows Vista, 8/8.1, and 10:

Internet Explorer

1. Open IE.
2. Click the ALT button.
3. Select the "Tools" menu.
4. Click "Internet options".

Chrome

1. Open Chrome.
2. Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right hand corner.
3. Choose "Settings".
4. Select "Show advanced settings..."
5. Scroll down to "Network".
6. Click "Change proxy settings..."

Note: Chrome will open the following window on the "Connections" tab. IE will open it to the "General" tab and need to be changed to the "Connections" tab first.

Proxy Settings

1. Choose the "Connections" tab.
2. Click "LAN settings".
3. Under "Proxy server" check off both boxes.
4. Type the IP address in the "Address:" field, and the port number in the "Port:" field.
5. Click "OK".
6. Click "OK" again.

Note II: This may also work on Microsoft Edge, but since I have yet to use Windows 10 on a regular basis, I am unsure at this time.

This procedure will enable a proxy. You can test this out by going to any IP address lookup website and check your location. If it is a different location than from where you are, it is working. However unlikely, you could possibly use a proxy from the same area...

Some proxies will be far too slow and may even timeout going to certain sites. Again, it will be up to you to find a speedy proxy, if that is what you want.

Finding a VPN
I normally do not use a VPN when I am in the USA, as I have no use for it. However, when I am overseas, it sometimes can be useful when trying make sure everything I am doing routes through a US network, and I do not want anyone seeing what I am doing (i.e. reviewing bank statements, etc.).

How To Setup a VPN
There are several free VPN sites out there. For our example, we will use FreeVPN:

1. Click the Windows Orb (Start button).
2. Use the search field and type in "VPN".
3. Click on "Set up a virtual private network (VPN) connection".
4. Type in the server address. (If using FreeVPN, we could use the Denmark server IP address: "de1.vpnme.me".)
5. Change the "Destination name:" to anything you want (optional).
6. Click "Next".
7. Type in the "User name" and "Password". (If using FreeVPN, we could use the Denmark server username and password: "vpnme" & "6gYcdX".)
8. Click "Connect".

The connection may take a few seconds, but you can now test your VPN by checking an IP address lookup website.

To reconnect in the future, do the following:

1. Click on the network connections (WiFi or LAN connection) icon in the lower-right hand corner.
2. Under "VPN" click on the VPN you created. If you changed the name, it will show up as that.
3. Click "Connect".
4. Type in the password. The username should already be provided from connecting the first time.
5. Click "Connect".

There you have it! The VPN should remain in your network connections. If you ever need to delete it, go back to your VPN under the Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections and use right-click to find the delete option on your VPN.

The VPN may be slow, so you may have to go through a lot of them to find one with decent speeds. If you have a slow connection, then it may not matter...

Finding the Tor Browser
The Tor Browser can be found here. I would suggest getting the NON-expert bundle. The expert bundle will require you to input a lot of manual settings, and unless you know what you are doing and absolutely need to, it is unnecessary.

Install Tor Browser. Once it is done, you will have a Tor Browser folder.

How to Setup the Tor Browser
Tor Browser, without any changes, will automatically put you into a random network. That means you could route through a network in the same country, or any other country that is available.

What I am going to show you is how to always use a network from a specified country:

1. Go to where you placed the Tor Browser folder.
2. Open it.
3. In the Windows Explorer search bar (of the Tor Browser folder), type "torrc".
4. Right-click on it and open with Notepad. (You may need to choose "Open" and then search through your programs to use it with Notepad.)
5. Above the first line of text without a "#", type "ExitNodes" followed by a space, and then in curly brackets type the two capital letters of a country you wish to use. So, if I wanted to use Denmark, it would look like this "ExitNodes {DE}", without the quotes.
6. Save the file.
7. Close the file.
8. Open Tor Browser.

If any IP address lookup website shows that you are from the country you inputted (Denmark in my example), then it is working. If not, you may need to close and reopen Tor Browser once more as it sometimes does not register on its first try.

It may be of use to know that the country will remain the same country on every opening of Tor Browser, but the IP address will always change. To let Tor Browser go back to auto-selecting an IP address simply remove "{DE}", or whatever you have used, in the "torrc" file and save it.

Tor Browser may be slow, as mentioned before, but if you already have a slow connection, this may be the quickest method to use a certain proxy with little setup.

Because this is a browser, this only affects the browser and not any other application that connects to the Internet.

Word to the Wise
I have noticed that if I am downloading something and switch between a proxy and my actual IP address, that download will continue without issue (but not all the time). However, a VPN will cut off the connection to a download, so hopefully it can be resumed or is at least a small file.

If downloading through the Tor Browser, you will not have this worry. Yet, you can save yourself some time if you use a download manager as it will act as if it is not using the proxied connection at all!

Adios By Proxy
(Not a great section title, but the best I could come up with.) Using a proxy, VPN, or the Tor Browser can be very beneficial when you need it. I would not say I use them everyday, but every so often I do, and it is nice to have options available.

Each method has its benefits and drawbacks, but as long as you know what they do and when they should be used, it should be an easy decision as to which method is right for you.

Mac/Windows/Linux HDD Dead? Use Linux or Windows!

As most of my readers may know, I am not the biggest fan of Apple or its products. However, that does not mean I rigidly hate Apple or that I do not work with their products from time-to-time. The following is one of my experiences and how it may helps others out there in similar circumstances.

Windows/Linux Dead?, Linux Method, Windows Method

Background
I randomly got an invitation to visit my dad, which I willingly accepted. Upon my arrival one of my tasks was to see if I could find a way to fix his two iMacs. Apparently, they were on the fritz.

I took a look at both and tried what I could without ripping them open. Essentially, they both had faultering hard drives. The iMacs could turn on and get to the boot screen (apple logo), but then they would just hang. Unless we did a hard drive transplant, the iMacs would become all but useless, or so it seemed...

Different OS
In my searches I found two possible methods that could help keep the iMacs "alive" until they could get new hard drives. One involved using Linux, the other Windows. As for the Windows, I will explain more on that later since it is not a free OS.

As a side note, the steps I will be using will strictly involve a dying iMac. Yet, most of the steps described will be the same if trying to use a dying or dead Windows or Linux system. The only difference should be how to get to the respective boot managers of each OS. 

Linux
The Linux method involved downloading a Linux flavor ISO (I prefer Ubuntu or Mint, Mint of which I found to be the faster of the two through my tests), then making a Live CD or a bootable USB flash drive with the ISO. Sounded simple enough.

I first tried to see if I could partition any of the iMacs hard drives and install Linux on the partition. Of course, being that the hard drives were failing, this was not possible.

In short, it took me a bit of time and work, but I was able to find a way to make the iMacs run Linux without issue.

Note I: This should work for either a Mac or iMac.

Note II: If the (i)Mac you are attempting to use has full-disk encryption, this may cause problems for rEFInd, which we will need to use.

How To Install Demo Linux to USB/HDD/CD
The prerequisite for this method is to have at least two USB flash drives, or two external hard drives, or one of each (or just a blank CD and a USB flash drive or external hard drive). One needs to be at least 8GB, while the other should be much larger (20GB+) depending on how much stuff you want to save for later use.

So there is no confusion, an external SSD will work too, but I will be referring to an external HDD as that is what I used for this process.

Another major component is the use of a separate computer. Otherwise, there is no way to burn images to devices, unless your Mac still works and you are doing this for fun.

You will also need a program like Rufus to make a bootable USB flash drive or external drive from an ISO. There are plenty of other programs, but this is extremely small and fast (fastest according to its own description and my own experience). For this tutorial I will be using Rufus, if you are using a blank CD instead, use something like ImgBurn to the burn the ISO.

1. Download a Linux ISO (e.g. Ubuntu, Mint, etc.).
2. Insert a USB flash drive or external HDD to your computer.
3. Download Rufus (portable is fine).
4. Open Rufus.
5. Change "Device" to the USB flash drive or external HDD inserted earlier.
6. Click on the small CD/ROM icon.
7. Find and select your Linux ISO.
8. Press "Open". (Rufus will automatically select the necessary options according to the ISO.)
9. Change the "New volume label" (optional).
10. Press "Start".

Note: Rufus may ask if you wish to choose between "ISO" or "DD". It should recommend "ISO", if not, select it and continue. 

Once Rufus has finished, the first part is done.

Why Not Stop Here?
At this point, the Linux USB flash drive or an external HDD will just have a copy of Linux to test with, but not save to. Meaning, files can be saved but are not persistent on later boots (the files will disappear after shutdown).

In essence, one could use cloud services and save any files or items there. But the bigger problem is that programs (i.e. Skype, Chromium, etc.) need to be saved to the device being used. So every time a person booted into the Demo Linux, they would need to reinstall all of the applications they wish to use.

How to Install rEFInd
This step is important for later, and needs to be done. Unless there is an external USB CD/DVD drive at your disposal, I would suggest using a USB flash drive or an external HDD.

The following steps will use Rufus as well...

1. Download the USB flash drive image of rEFInd.
2. Insert a USB flash drive or external HDD to the computer.
3. Open Rufus.
4. Change "Device" to the USB flash drive or external HDD inserted earlier.
5. Click on the small CD/ROM icon.
6. Find and select your rEFInd image.
7. Press "Open". (Rufus will automatically select the necessary options according to the image.)
8. Press "Start".

Note: Rufus may ask if you wish to choose between "DD" or "ISO". It should recommend "DD", if not, select it and continue.

rEFInd originally started as rEFIt. It is a boot manager, and perfect for our purposes. I will explain why later.

How to Install Linux to USB/HDD
While a USB flash drive will work fine for this, I do recommend an external HDD since they are cheaper and carry much more storage space for equivalent prices.

One problem that may come about is if the USB flash drive or external HDD is using MBR instead of GPT. There are plenty of free programs that should be able to convert a drive from MBR to GPT, and Ubuntu and Mint both come with GParted, which should be able to do this. However, I received an error when attempting to convert from MBR to GPT. As an alternative, I used Windows' DiskPart.

If Windows is available to you, insert your USB flash drive or external HDD first [important!]. Open up a Command Prompt (WinKey + R, then type "cmd", push ENTER key), then type "diskpart" > "list disk" > "select disk #" > "clean" > "convert gpt". After each quoted term push enter. The disk list should show you the available devices and their corresponding sizes. This will help for which number to type in place of "#".

There should be no problems, and if there are, then you may have a faulty device. (Worst case scenario, download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition and try formatting the device to NTFS or FAT32 to see if it becomes operational.) If successful, the drive should be clean. DO NOT FORMAT the drive if asked by Windows, Demo Linux will do that for us later on.

1. Ensure the (i)Mac is turned off.
2. Insert the blank USB flash drive or external HDD into the (i)Mac.
3. Insert the Linux USB flash drive or external HDD into the (i)Mac.
4. Turn on the (i)Mac.
5. Hold the ALT/OPTION key as soon as the computer dings.
6. Let go of the ALT/OPTION key once the boot manager screen appears.
7. Select "EFI Boot", right of the (i)Mac HDD if nothing else is plugged in.
8. A screen with options for Linux will appear. Choose "Try Ubuntu without Install", or the respective option if using a different Linux flavor.
9. Once Linux boots, on a flavor like Ubuntu, there should be an icon on the desktop that states "Install Ubuntu...". Double-click on it.
10. The usual options of selecting a language, connecting to a network, etc. should occur. Pick the options that best suit your preference.* (Stop when you reach the "Installation type" page...)
11. At the "Installation type" page choose "Something else".
12. The next page will show a list of connected devices and their sizes. Double-click the check box for your USB flash drive or external HDD.** A small window will appear with options for partitioning the USB flash drive or external HDD.
13. Change "Type for the new partition:" to "Logical".
14. Change "Use as:" to "Ext4 journaling file system" if it is not already selected by default.
15. For "Mount point:", place just a "/", and nothing else.
16. Click "Install Now".

*If you want the fastest install possible, do not connect to a network. Connecting to a network allows Linux to download items through the install process. This can be done after the install, as Linux should prompt you when it needs additional packages.

**To discern which device is yours, check the size. It should also be sda#; # being the highest of the ones available is the safest bet, but not always correct depending on how many external storage devices are connected.

Note I: This can be done with a computer other than a (i)Mac. The steps to access the bootable media will be different, but all other steps will remain the same.


Note II: For step 13 "Primary" always gave me an error. I was only able to change it to "Primary" after first installing through "Logical", then going back through the process and choosing "Primary" and reinstalling. Making this change seems to add no benefit and is thus unnecessary.

Linux should now be installed on a USB flash drive or an external HDD.

The Reason For rEFInd
The reason we need to use rEFInd instead of the Mac boot manager is because the Mac boot manager is unable to see any drive with Linux already installed. It will recognize that the drive is available, but not that it should be bootable.

The same thing happens with Windows, however, it does not even recognize that the drive exists.

How To Boot Into Linux
This will show you how to boot into Linux and use it as a daily driver.

1. Ensure the (i)Mac is turned off.
2. Insert the CD/USB/HDD with the installed Linux OS into the (i)Mac.
3. Insert the USB/HDD with rEFInd into the (i)Mac.
4. Turn on the (i)Mac.
5. Hold the ALT/OPTION key as soon as the computer dings.
6. Let go of the ALT/OPTION key once the boot manager screen appears.
7. Select "EFI Boot", right of the (i)Mac HDD if nothing else is plugged in.
8. rEFInd will start. The far right option will show a Linux flavor icon with a smaller external HDD icon inside it. Click it. (Other options shown should have different smaller icons displayed, like an internal HDD.)

This will start Linux and anything downloaded or saved will persist on future startups. The only problem some might find is that the boot process can be long and tedious if having to constantly reboot for whatever reason.

Windows, Why Not?
If I had been given the choice between Linux or Windows, I would have installed a fresh copy of Windows 7. Unfortunately, iMacs from 2008 or before do not recognize Windows To Go drives. I believe one iMac I was working with is from 2008, and the other from a couple years before. Because of this, I could not use the Windows route as a possible solution for my situation. However, others can...

How To Install Windows 7/8/10
The prerequisites for using making a Windows To Go drive is to have a USB flash drive or an external hard drive with ample amount of space (8GB or more suggested).

An external HDD is the way to go here. Never mind that purchasing an external HDD can gain you massive amounts of storage space inexpensively. The issue here is that there are certified Windows To Go USB flash drives that make this process painless. However, a "normal" USB flash drive can take forever to install Windows on. An external HDD does not have this problem.

The other prerequisite is using WinToUSB. Microsoft has its own proprietary software to perform a Window To Go install. But there are two downsides to Microsoft's software: 1) The software is only available on Windows 8 or higher, and will also not allow a Windows 7 install. 2) WinToUSB is said to be faster in terms of the install procedure.

1. Download a Windows ISO from here.
2. Download the free version of WinToUSB.
3. Open WinToUSB.
4. Click the small folder icon on the upper-right corner.
5. Find and select your Windows ISO.
6. Click "Open".
7. Highlight the Windows version (that should now appear) by clicking it.
8. Click "Next".
9. Click the drop-down arrow in the upper-right corner.
10. Select the USB flash drive or external HDD to be used.*
11. In the next window there will be radio buttons to choose the system and boot partition. There should only be one option for each. Select both the radio buttons.
12. Select "Legacy" for an external HDD, and "VHD" for a USB flash drive. (Either should be the defaulted option depending on the storage device.)
13. Click "Next".

*If you chose a USB flash drive, it will ask if using a non-certified drive is desired. If so, click "OK". If not, click "Cancel". "OK" will format the drive and then bring up the next page.

The process will proceed showing a percentage until 100% is reached. Once done, the USB flash drive or external HDD will have Windows installed and ready for use.

First Time Windows Use
Before the Windows To Go drive is completely ready, you will need to boot it up. The process is just like installing any Windows OS. It will run through the choices and options and then begin setting up.

I had an interesting problem where (twice) the Windows setup would hang when finalizing the setup. What seemed to make it work was waiting about 15-20 minutes, just to be sure that everything was finalized, then rebooting the system. On reboot, Windows would boot up and work like a charm.

Finalizing Thoughts
This should work on other systems than an iMac, I just happened to go through it because of an iMac. Of course the steps may vary slightly, but not too much as to be difficult in performing.

Linux works quite well on the iMac. I found Mint a bit faster in reacting than Ubuntu, but not enough to matter greatly. I also found the Windows To Go drive (with Windows 7) a bit slow to startup on a MacBook Pro. However, once booted, it seemed to operate decently.

This is also a great way to bring an entire OS with you wherever you go. The benefits of this are portability and the ability to use programs others may not have available or be able to afford. In either case, at the very least, it is a great way to have a backup system waiting and ready to go.

Furthermore, if a multi-boot situation is out of the question, this may be of help. I have done some dual-boots in my time but stopped once a debilitating issue prevented me from getting into either OS. I now prefer virtualization, but that can be costly in terms of RAM usage.

Want to Make a RAID from USB Flash Drives on Windows? Ready for Disappointment (& Possible Solutions)?

Some time ago I had read an article about how someone made a RAID array out of some unused USB flash drives in Windows 7. I found it very interesting and recently realized I had a few USB flash drives I could use to attempt the same thing. After reading this article, and it hinting that using it on a "PC" (Windows) would be possible, I decided to try it out for myself...

The Experience of Failure & Definitive and Possible Ways to RAID USB Flash Drives

Tip for Downloaders
A friend of mine and I were catching up on our lives over a phone call and we segued onto the topic of downloading. After a brief discussion he mentioned that his friend had told him of a good idea, which is really just good practice. If you are downloading small files (not gigs upon gigs, and even if so), it was smart to use a USB flash drive as the designated area for downloading. On browsers and download managers you can tell each where to write a saved file to. By default, these programs usually download to your C drive, or whatever drive your system is on.

You see, every time you write a file, it puts a bit of stress on your OS drive. Even if you have partitioned your one drive into two, and are downloading to the second partition that does not contain the system, it is ultimately still putting stress on the OS drive because it is truly one drive. While a file or two really does nothing, if you download often, you are essentially draining the life of your drive bit-by-bit.

Instead, you should be adjusting your downloads to go to a USB flash drive. USB flash drives are generally inexpensive, so if they die it's easy to replace. You can use an external drive, but those are normally a bit more pricey, so a USB flash drive is ideal for your downloading means. 

This does not mean that your drive will die anytime soon, as most of us don't employ this trick. However, it will help you keep that drive alive that much longer by doing so.

A Bit of Background
Ever since that phone call I realized how right my friend was (actually his friend). So, I made sure to use a USB flash drive for any and all downloads. I initially used a Toshiba 32GB USB flash drive that cost around $30-$40 at the time of purchase, which worked just fine. Once in a while I would run out of space before cleaning it out and decided to upgrade when I could. I then bought a generic 64GB USB flash drive that also worked great, and cost about $10 (due to a promotion). I soon began out of room again, which led me to a generic $10 128GB USB flash drive from China. It worked good to start...

I soon saw issues with it. While my 64GB would sometimes cause a slow down to the point of 30-60 seconds before opening folders inside it, that was survivable. However, the 128GB seemed to always work good after a format. But when I'm doing too many things with it at one time, it will slow down to minutes upon minutes! Testing it showed that it was working as well as could be expected. Not wanting to give up on my 128GB, I decided to try to put some of these USB drives into an array.

Note: All of my USB flash drives are USB 2.0.

The Mac Article
In the second article I read it explains how the author bought 4 PNY 128GB USB 3.0 flash drives and put them into a RAID using OS X. He did not have enough USB 3.0 ports available, so he bought a USB 3.0 hub to attach them all. Using Mac's Disk Utility, he chose RAID and placed each PNY drive into the selection area. He then created a RAID and unleashed some real speed! After doing some tests, he found that the optimal amount of USB flash drives (for speed) are four.

Food for Thought
There are a couple of things to note about this process. The author states that to use the RAID on a PC you would have to use FAT (FAT32) in order for a Windows system to recognize it. While FAT32 is usable, if you plan to move any files onto the RAID larger than 4GB, FAT32 will be unable to do this. And while you can get a Mac to write and format to NTFS or exFAT, you do not have the option to use these formats for RAID.

The author also bought all the USB flash drives, yet, this would be counter-intuitive. The cost for all of these would equate to purchasing a decent SSD, which should be able to top the speeds he gets even if used as an external drive via USB 3.0. On top of this, a SSD would be a much better solution.

RAID Knowledge
There are many types of RAIDs, but the ones we are concerned with are RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD. These are the options any OS X will give you in Disk Utility.

RAID 0 is also known as striped RAID. It is all about speed. One thing many people get wrong, including myself for some time, is that RAID 0 does not require same-size disks in order to be used. However, it is common practice to buy and use identical sized drives as the RAID can only be as big as your smallest drive. The downside from RAID 0 is that if one of the drives dies, then so does the RAID, leading to a loss of data.

RAID 1 is also known as mirrored RAID. It is all about data redundancy. For a RAID 1, you do need to have identical size drives to use it. In addition to this, your drive size will only be half as much as the total amount of storage space for all drives. For example, if you have 4 100GB hard drives in a RAID 1, it will show one drive as 200GB. Likewise, if you have 2 50GB hard drives in a RAID 1, you will only have 50GB. The upside to a RAID 1 is that if one drive fails, the data on it will still be present on the other drive(s).

JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) is also known as concatenated RAID. This is normally used when you have numerous drives of similar or dissimilar sizes. There is no advantage to using this type of RAID except if you want a bunch of drives to act as one drive. Maybe you have a 1GB, a 1.5GB, and 4GB drive. You need to store a 6GB video, and using JBOD would be a perfect example of how to accomplish this task.

So, just in case you're wondering how this would apply to the aforementioned article. The author is using a striped RAID for speed, so if one of those PNY drives dies, he loses all his data. If he were to use a mirrored RAID, he would not get a speed increase, and the setup would be that much more costly as he would only be able to use 256GB of that storage. He could use a JBOD, but then he would have no data redundancy or speed increase, just a large 512GB drive (that would cheaper to buy than create).

Mac on Win Pt. 1
So the requirements to do this are an OS X computer and at least two USB flash drives.

I no longer have a Mac, but I do have OS X on VMWare. This works great for me and will see any USB flash drive I put on. Unfortunately, VMWare will not recognize a USB hub, so I needed to directly connect my USB flash drives to my desktop.

As for USB flash drives, I have quite a few, but I decided to use my generic 128GB and 64GB USB flash drives. I measured them on write and read speeds beforehand and they were approximately the same.

Once I booted up my OS X and it recognized my USB flash drives, I went ahead and started experimenting. Immediately, I ran into my first problem. I had chose a FAT RAID and was trying to drop the drives from their volume names into the RAID selection area. A message would come up stating that I could not put them into a RAID because they used MBR instead of GPT (See my "USB 3.0 Hub Drive Fix..." for more information on this). I did not realize at the time that all I needed to do was to actually select the generic name (with the GB size) above the volume name and drop that into the RAID selection area to make this work.

Instead, I went ahead and formatted each USB flash drive as FAT in Disk Utility. I tried the (wrong) method of dropping the volume names again into the RAID selection area, and was met with the same error. I then decided to go back to Windows and change it from MBR to GPT.

Mac on Win Pt. 2
Back in Windows, I opened an elevated command prompt and started DiskPart (do not use this program unless you really know what you're doing). I went ahead and changed one USB flash drive from MBR to GPT and reformatted as NTFS.

I then went back into OS X to see if this would give the error message before converting the other USB flash drive. This time I could drop the volume into the RAID area. So I went back into Windows and did the same conversion for the other USB flash drive. I dropped the second volume into the RAID area and started the RAID.

Immediately I got an error. Confused, I tried again with the same results. So I decided to see if a HFS+ (journaled) RAID could be done, just to be sure OS X could at least perform that operation. It worked.

In Windows it is possible to read and write to HFS+ drives, but a RAID array is another story. If you have MacDrive 9 Pro, you can apparently read and write to RAID arrays formatted with HFS+. I downloaded the trial and disconnected the drives from OS X. MacDrive 9 Pro would acknowledge there was a RAID array present, but it would not show anything. I could see the two USB flash drives from MacDrive's format utility, and in Windows' Disk Management, but that was it.

Another program to just read HFS+ drives is TransMac. While it would recognize that both of the drives were in HFS+, it could not do more than that. It would throw out errors whenever I tried everything. I did notice that it seemed that the RAID array was connected to the 64GB USB flash drive...

Mac on Win Pt. 3
I connected the USB flash drives back to the OS X, they showed up again as a RAID. I went back into Disk Utility and then discovered I could make the FAT RAID if I used the generic names of the USB flash drives instead of the volume names.

I started the RAID and it finished successfully. It functioned perfectly on OS X, and I even threw on a file just in case there was something weird about it being empty when showing in Windows. I disconnected the drives from OS X and went back into Windows.

Again, the drives did not show. They would show in MacDrive (as just USB flash drives) and Disk Management, but not in Windows Explorer. I decided to try to see if I could do anything in Disk Management. From here, I could see the two drives, and the RAID drive it created.

I decided to delete the RAID volume and see if I could reformat it in Windows. It did delete, but it could not be reformatted. Since it was pointless to try anything further, as there was nothing else to do, I decided to delete the volumes in Disk Management...

Mac on Win Pt. 4
My mistake was trying to do anything in Disk Management. While it does come in handy, it somehow screwed up both the USB flash drives to the point that when connecting back to OS X, VMware would give errors when trying to connect them.

After a few tries (and reboots) I decided to use DiskPart. I deleted the volumes and converted both the USB flash drives back to MBR. I then was able to use Disk Management to reformat them, but the RAID volume would not disappear...

I performed another reboot in order to get the RAID volume to disappear from showing. I then used a third-party tool (MiniTool Partition Wizard) to reformat both drives as NTFS. I did this because Disk Management never seems to use all the space available, but third-party tools will allow this.

I did seem to have a residual empty volume after I restarted my computer, but I just used DiskPart to delete it and reformatted the USB flash drives again with my third-party tool. This fixed the issue.  

I went ahead and assigned different letters in Disk Management and made sure they worked before stopping as it had been an all-day event. Most of this ordeal is just summarized with frustration and agitation put aside.

Win on Win Pt. 5
So the next day I decided to see what else I could try since the Mac method was not working for me. I finally found an article where someone had used VirtualBox (like VMware, but completely free) to access their USB disk directly from the host OS (known as accessing a RAW drive), which would show the USB flash drives as fixed disks instead of removable. They were able to use another Windows OS in Virtualbox and with this technique created a RAID from two USB flash drives. For them, when they disconnected the drives from VirtualBox and reconnected to their host Windows OS, the drives showed up as "foreign" disks and they were able to allegedly complete the RAID...

In VirtualBox, this is somewhat a technical and tedious process. Fortunately, in VMware, it's a bit easier, or so I thought.

I first installed a copy of Windows 8 on VMware. I then upgraded to Windows 8.1 (which was troublesome due to an issue with the Windows Store and Windows Update). I then loaded up my two USB flash drives and checked their functionality.

The USB flash drives were working, so I turned off Windows 8.1 in order to setup the access to a RAW disk. I first selected SCSI, which is recommended by VMware, and selected the correct USB flash drives (as they are only listed as numbers, and I have a ton of drives connected). I started up Windows 8.1 and waited. I got the usual message that the drives were being disconnected from the host and then got an error. The system would boot but with the regular USB flash drives as removable.

Win on Win Pt. 6
I went through the RAW disk process again, using SATA, and tried started Windows 8 again. This time the system couldn't even get to the startup screen... I took some time to peruse the Internet and found out my first mistake. Apparently, you have to add your RAW disks, close VMware, then re-open VMware as an administrator (right-click on VMware and "Run as administrator"). That will allow the RAW disks to run properly.

Following this tip, I tried SCSI again, but to no avail. I recalled that sometimes IDE was needed for certain situations. So I tried IDE for the RAW disks. I used only one USB flash drive and actually got it to boot as a fixed disk! I shut down Windows 8.1 and tried the second drive, but it wouldn't boot...

I thought maybe it was a size or generic drive issue, but then realized my second mistake. The USB flash drives were already configured to automatically show up in Windows 8.1, so there was likely some conflict in Windows 8.1 during boot up. I deleted the RAW disks from VMware and booted up Windows 8.1. After ejecting both USB flash drives, I shut it off.

I made both USB flash drives RAW IDE disks and Windows 8.1 finally booted up with both drives as fixed disks! Success, but how much? I really had two options in Windows 8.1. The first was to use Disk Management and try a RAID 1, or I could use Storage Spaces and make what can be considered a RAID array. I opted for the first option as Windows 7 does not have Storage Spaces, so I doubt that it would be recognized by Windows 7 even if Storage Spaces were able to implement a RAID on these fixed disks. There might be a chance if I was running Windows Server 2012...

Win on Win Pt. 7
So I setup a normal RAID 1 from within Windows 8.1's Disk Management. It worked without issue and I now had a 64GB RAID array created by Windows. The hard part was done, but now the real test was about to begin.

I shut down Windows 8.1 and checked Windows Explorer. The two USB flash drives were shown, but they were inaccessible, and there was definitely no RAID array present. I checked Disk Manager and the two USB flash drives were there, but no third volume that would indicate a RAID was made from the two.

I had another trick up my sleeve, but I had spent some time before on it without success. Essentially, I needed to trick the USB flash drives into thinking they were fixed drives on my OS. There are plenty of tricks out there, but the ones I was able to perform didn't work. One was just impossible due to how Device Manager reacts to uninstalled drivers, the others always had me perform a reboot. Once done, the system would break and require a restore point in order to be fixed. Even if I had accomplished this trick, I would still need to convert the disks from basic to dynamic disks (read "Toshiba Canvio..." for more information).

Win or Lose Pt. 8
My final hoorah was using my two Toshiba 32GB USB flash drives. Oddly enough, they are about 100MB off from one another... However, I thought, why not try similar sizes as the original article had.

I started off with deleting their volumes from within Disk Management. No problem there. But now it was time to make the disks "active" (dynamic), and this I already had experience with so I could only presume the worst. There was no option given by Disk Management, so I tried the other two recommended options. The first was using MiniTool Partition Wizard, which should give you an option to convert from basic to dynamic disk if applicable. No such option came up. I then tried DiskPart, but messages came up telling me the USB flash drive was not an ordinary basic disk and therefore could not be converted to dynamic disk. Again, I had already tried these methods to convert the USB flash drives from basic to dynamic disks before, so this was no surprise.

My final attempt was using a special hex editor to open up and read/write to a USB flash drive. I needed to change a certain value from NTFS to a dynamic disk. I know, a bit odd since those two things aren't of the same subject matter, but from what I have read they use the same location for their values. The change was simple, but the risk was big since it could make my USB flash drives inoperable. I made the change on one USB flash drive and saved it. I ejected and reinserted my drive, which did not show up in Windows Explorer. This could be good or bad. I checked Disk Management, and saw the drive but only as a removable disk. I went into DiskPart which saw the drive twice, one as an error. I tried to change the USB flash drive back to a basic disk, which would tell me that changing it to dynamic had worked. DiskPart would not let me change it. I then reformatted the USB flash drive, took it out, and reinserted it in order to get it show in Windows Explorer again.

This brought me to the end of my journey.

So What Does This Mean?
This means that Windows cannot make a software RAID from USB flash drives. While it can be done within a virtualized environment, it will not carry the actual RAID array over to the host OS.

There are still some tricks out there for those who are willing: If you are on a Windows XP OS you have the ability to install CFAdisk as a driver to a USB. This requires going into Device Manager, finding the USB flash drive, clicking on Properties, and "updating" the driver manually to the aforementioned drivers. It should then change the USB flash drive to a fixed drive. To get back to a removable drive you need to go back to the Properties in Device Manager and uninstall the drivers. Windows XP should then reinstall the regular driver for it. However, allowing this to create a RAID is unknown to me.

Supposedly, there is a method to change FireWire devices to be seen as fixed disks. This entails a registry hack. Yet, I don't know anyone who still has FireWire ports, letalone devices that use FireWire. Again, I have no idea if this would work for a RAID array, but I feel that it could for external hard drives or SSDs.

Another, much more intricate, and pricey measure, is by using actual hard drives. Apparently you can put two hard drives (SSDs?) into a desktop system and RAID them. You can then put them in external enclosures and they will purportedly still be recognized in a RAID formation when connected to a computer. While this is better than buying an expensive hardware RAID setup, it seems like a lot of work.

What's more is that for a USB flash drive, this would be huge risk and a lot of work. You would need a USB female to SATA male adapter, which I don't exist. You could try a USB female to USB header cable, but that will only be seen as a USB connection. And if you could force a RAID, you wouldn't want them just hanging in your system, especially with all the heat accumulating. This means you need an external enclosure, which means you have a USB flash drive connected to the SATA adapter (if it were possible), that is connected to the external enclosure, which has a firewire or eSATA. I included firewire because of the trick above, but USB won't work as I have tried and failed with external drives connected via USB 3.0 (see "Toshiba Canvio..."). A RAID cannot be done over a USB connection for external drives, from what I have read. At the end of the day, even with all the right adapters, it may not work at all.

Another solution where the opportunity for a USB flash RAID may become possible is using the SanDisk Cruzer USB flash disks. Initially, when they came out, they would connect to a Windows OS as a fixed disk. This created an uproar in the user community as there was no way to eject it, causing data mishaps. SanDisk stated they had done so because it was required of Microsoft's licensing in order to officially add support for Windows 8. They have since changed their tune and made newer versions removable. If you happened to get a couple of these, you might be able to actually RAID them with as much effort it takes for actual hard drives or SSD's. To take this thought a bit further, and make it more complex, we could attempt to use an external enclosure that has inputs for a micro USB device. This creates a whole host of other problems that are unnecessary to state since it just won't be possible.

Note: It is not recommended to RAID SSD's. From the research I have seen it will at first give boosts in speed, then it will soon degrade past the point of what one SSD should be doing. In other words, a single SSD will maintain its high speeds a lot longer than if it is in RAID array.  

There is still the possibility of Storage Spaces, which is included in Windows 2012 and Windows 8+. Microsoft may be setting up to do away with RAID done through Disk Management, so maybe they will allow USB RAID at some point. While I have not tested this with Storage Spaces, as I have no host OS that supports it, I do not feel the results would be any different. I do know that Storage Spaces did not even see my USB flash drives in Windows 8... And even if it could be done through virtualization, I have a feeling you still will not get it to come up on your host system.

Lastly, there was trying to use identical size USB flash drives. Now, while my USB flash drive brand was the same, the actual storage size was not (for whatever reason). One was purchased a few years before the other, so that could be a potential reason. Regardless, as simple as the article made it sound, it did not work. I even made the two USB flash drives logical drives at one point (just in case), and still came to the same unsuccessful conclusion. Now, there is a very slight chance that they need to be identical USB flash drives, but I doubt it would matter. The article is from 2010, so the only logical assumption I can come up with would be that somehow the actual USB flash drives being used matter (or it was just author writing something exciting they hadn't actually accomplished). While I can't wholeheartedly admit to that, I can neither contest it as the drives used were a Geek Squad brand, that is no longer sold; so testing with the same hardware cannot be done. One final thought on this is that maybe the system was 32-bit. I use 64-bit, but again, this is just another thing I doubt would matter.

So, you pretty much have only seven options to do this. The first is to use a Mac or Linux. It evidently works and is not hard to setup (on a Mac). As a side note, Macs can also use a special PCI Express card that has RAID integrated and USB 3.0 ports, whether it works or not I have yet to discover. The second option is to perform it in a guest (virtualized) OS of Windows and only use in that environment. The fourth is to use one of the tricks I mentioned, which it seems only Windows XP can do. The fifth option is to find and buy the SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drives that come as fixed disks, but that will become increasingly difficult as time goes on. The fifth option is to use the USB flash drives designated in the original article (if you can find them) and try your luck. The last option is to try to use a hex editor, or a program, that will change a USB flash drive to a fixed disk instead of removable.

I should mention that Super Talent is coming out with the USB 3.0 RAIDDrive, which is supposedly already in a RAID array. But this really takes the fun out of trying! And I'll also add that I have no experience with Thunderbolt, but at those speeds and prices is it even worth trying?


What Did I Use?
I used Windows 7 SP1 x64, Windows 8.1, and OS X Mountain Lion. Again, the USB flash drives I have are USB 2.0. MacDrive 9 Pro and TransMac was used, while HFSExplorer is also another free alternative for viewing HFS+ drives. I also tried the free drivers from Seagate (through Paragon) to view HFS+ on a Windows system. These drivers will force you to uninstall MacDrive first, likely since it is also a Paragon product trying to perform some similar functions.

If you are a Windows XP user there are a set of drivers from Apple (meant for Bootcamp) that many people have said allow them to see HFS+ formatted drives. You can get the official drivers from Apple here.

And...
That's really it. I have become dejected that only a Mac will allow this. While a USB flash RAID is not a widely sought solution, I personally would have some use for such a technique. There is no way to make comments on the original article for Windows 7. Yet, the author can be emailed from ZDNet as he is a contributing editor for ZDNet articles. I have asked a few questions and will hopefully get a response, but it has been a matter of days with no reply.

As for my 128GB USB flash drive, I was eventually able to mitigate some of the lag. You can read about it here at "USB Flash Drive Getting Sluggish?..."

How to Make Windows 10 Look More Like Windows 7 (UPDATE 3!)

I treat Windows 7 much like many people treated Windows XP. I see no real reason to upgrade until something better comes around. Vista was a letdown, but I got used to it for work purposes (after Windows 7 had been out for some time). To its credit, it did pave the way for Windows 7 which I thoroughly enjoy. Windows 8/8.1 (from hereon just Windows 8) just gave me headaches, and while I do use it from time-to-time, and it does have some neat features, it's not enough for me to take the plunge. Windows 10 seems like it will be the new Windows 7 for me, as it takes ideas from both 7 & 8 that make it much more bearable in my eyes.

Let's Install! & Windows 7 Time!

Windows 10
As of now, Windows 10 is in the Technical Preview stages, which means you can download and try it out for free. I found it immediately superior to Windows 8 as it didn't force me into the Metro UI, which I really only see useful if I have a touchscreen monitor. It already has some build updates which do more than just security issues or bugs. If you are a fan of Windows 7, then you may want to give Windows 10 a spin before losing official support like Windows XP did this year.

Let's Install!

Windows 10 Download
In order to get Windows 10 you can go here and register for their Insider Program, needed for the official preview download. The download will be a large ISO file, which you can burn to a DVD or USB flash drive [will require free software] for installation.

For those of you unwilling to sign up for Microsoft's Insider Program, there are downloads available on the Internet elsewhere...

Installation
The installation will be like any Windows OS install. If you have never done this before, I would recommend reading a few online articles to better prepare yourself, and - if possible - have someone with you who has done this before.

Moreorless, pop in the CD (or set your BIOS/EFI to boot from the USB flash drive). The Windows 10 installation will begin. You will need to select a hard disk or SSD to install Windows 10 on. Then you will have a couple prompts to agree to, followed by some customization options (if not using express) before Windows 10 finally boots up.

Note: You should also be able to use this in a multi-boot setup, but be sure you now how to perform this method properly.

VMware
For those of you looking for less of a risk, VMware is the way to go. It is quick, simple, and painless:

1. Create a new virtual machine.
2. Select the Windows 10 ISO.
3. Select Windows 8 x64 as the type of virtual machine to create.
4. You can proceed with the rest of the options left at default.

Note: I found that installing VMware tools immensely helped clear up lag I encountered from the mouse and opening applications. I noticed that when I first tried to install it VMware acted as though I had a CD or ISO ready. I did a reboot of Windows 10 and tried again, and this time it downloaded, appearing as a CD Drive in Windows 10 once completed.


Other (Free) Virtualization Software
You can also try your luck with VirtualBox, but there could be a bevy of issues to contend with. However, I usually find little to none for Windows OS's.

If you're good at finding things, you can look for the old free version of VMware, or try VirtualPC that was discontinued by Microsoft some years back.


Sign In to Windows 10
If you have a Hotmail, Live or Outlook account, you can sign into Windows 10 quickly.

Otherwise, you can click the option to create an account which will lead to a final option of not using a Microsoft account. This will force you to make a general user account that you can then use to get into Windows 10.
 
Windows 10 Build Updates

So far there have been two build updates since the Windows 10 Technical Preview was released to the public. The only drawback is that you can't just download the newest build, you have to get the original preview and work your way up.

If you do want to get the latest "preview", I suggest downloading all Windows updates available first. Some people have had issues with downloading the newest build update and then not being able to install it. The only way to get it to work was for them to then download and install all the Windows updates, followed by redownloading the build update.
 
If you can't get seem to get the latest build, and you were able to download at least the first build update, you will need to change the speed of when you get a build update from "Slow" to "Fast", and then check for a new preview build. The original preview does not have this option. You can find this area by clicking on the Windows start button > PC Settings > Update and recovery > Preview builds.

Note: You do not have to do any updates to make Windows 10 look like Windows 7, but you will get newer features to try out.

Windows 7 Time!

DISCLAIMER: The tweaks presented here are to be used at your own risk. While Windows 10 will not likely be vastly altered upon its official release, there is the possibility these tweaks would no longer work properly, or at all. Some of these programs will also be updated or outdated as companies work on "solutions".

My Computer
My Computer, or Computer as it is actually known in Windows 7 (it just makes for a better subject title), is the simplest tweak to make in Windows 10:

1. Right-click on the desktop.
2. Select "Personalize".
3. Click "Change desktop icons".
4. Check off "Computer".
5. Click "Apply".

UPDATE 2 - Windows Explorer Open to My PC (My Computer)
One of the main objectives I had was to have Windows Explorer open to My PC. However, none of the old tricks worked, and nothing I tried worked. Thanks to the new Windows 10 build 9926, this has been made extremely easy to accomplish:

Open up Windows Explorer.
Go to "View".
Select on "Options".
Click "Change folder and search options".
From the "General" tab, click on the drop-down box for "Open File Explorer to:".
Change "Quick Access" to "This PC".

Now you will have the classic view that most of us are accustomed to.

Windows Explorer Quick Access Toolbar
The Quick Access Toolbar could be helpful, but I wouldn't have any regular use for it. I find it rather intrusive and prefer to do away with it as much as possible:

1. Click on the small drop-down arrow next to the tools.
2. Uncheck all the checked off options.
3. Click "Show above the ribbon" if the Quick Access Toolbar is below the ribbon.

This won't completely take away the Quick Access Toolbar, but it will just leave the small drop-down arrow, which is barely noticeable.

Note: The small drop-down arrow is not to be confused with the one for the "View" tab, which gives you some organization and viewing options.

Sign In
Another shortcoming that has yet to disappear, is the need to sign in before getting to the desktop. While this can be good if multiple users have access to only one computer, for many of us it is just another annoyance. Here is how to skip the sign in process:

1. Press CTRL+R.
2. Type in "netplwiz".
3. Push enter.
4. Highlight the account you want to have automatically sign in with.
5. Uncheck the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" box.
6. Click "Apply".
7. Type in the password for the account.
8. Click "OK".

Windows Start Button (Optional)
Windows 10 brings back the start button, but it's still not like it used to be. While I think it is actually quite good, I am still annoyed by the Metro UI-styled side pane. In addition to this, I had found that when my task bar was on "auto-hide", I could not position my mouse over the lower-left corner to get it to pop-up. I would have to go a bit further right before it would spring up.


UPDATE - StartW8 Start Button 
I started a search for a better start button again and found this one. This start button not only mimics Windows 7 much better than the Pokki start button, it too fixes the "auto-hide" issue.

1. Download the StartW8 menu button.
2. Doubleclick the .MSI file to begin installation.
3. Windows 10 should prompt you with a compatibility helper, but you can ignore that. Confirm any remaining prompts.
4. Select "Complete" (it seems all the options are actually the same).
5. Click "Finish".
6. A settings window will appear where you can choose what the shut down button does and what folders you want. Peruse through them and click "OK" to confirm.

The Windows start button will appear in the corner and will actually look a little different than normal. A power button is actually located within the button icon and separately highlights from the rest of the image (it does not function though). This start button also gets rid of the need to install Start Killer, which was needed for the Pokki start menu. Thanks to this, there a quite a few steps and less work involved.

One additional step is getting back a simple way to go to the PC Settings area. Most updates can be done from the Control Panel area, except for upgrading you preview build. Follow these steps to get back to the PC Settings easily:

1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Click on Recovery (switch from large to small icons if you don't see it listed).
3. Select "If you're experiencing problems with your PC, you can refresh it in PC Settings."

This will open PC Settings, and I would suggest that you pin it to the task bar for easy access later.

The Windows 10 start button is actually quite customizable, and many important items can be reached from right-clicking on it. The main reason I want to use an alternative is because I still want that Windows 7 feel to remain.


Quick Launch & Program Files Toolbars (Optional)
While it is not part of the stock Windows 7 UI, I feel that the Quick Launch Toolbar is just irreplaceable. While Program Files should have everything you need, I require Quick Launch for two reasons. The first reason is that I may not allow the installer to put it in the start menu (programs area). And the second reason is that I often put as many programs as I can on a separate hard drive. I then make a shortcut to the program and drop it into Quick Launch so I have an easy way to access it.

Here is the easiest way to get the Quick Launch Toolbar:

1. Right-click on the task bar.
2. Select "Toolbars".
3. Click "New Toolbar..."
4. In the folder's path area copy and paste "%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch".
5. Push enter, to ensure the path has been chosen.
6. Click "Select Folder".
7. The Quick Launch Toolbar will appear on the far right of the task bar.
8. Right-click on the task bar.
9. Uncheck "Lock the task bar".
10. You will now see three columns of dots next to the Quick Launch Toolbar, as well as a set for pinned applications on the left. Click on the dots to the left of the applications and drag it completely to the right of the Quick Launch Toolbar. (If you drag and go above the task bar with your cursor, it will stop the drag and force you to click and drag again.)
11. Now drag the dots next to the Quick Launch Toolbar completely to the right.
12. Right-click on Quick Launch Toolbar.
13. Uncheck "Show Text".
14. Right-click on Quick Launch Toolbar.
15. Uncheck "Show Title".
16. Drag the dots next to the applications back to the right until you are next to the Quick Launch Toolbar.
17. Right-click on the task bar.
18. Check "Lock the task bar".

Note: You can skips steps 10 & 11 if you would rather leave the Quick Launch Toolbar on the right side. And you can skip steps 12 & 13 and/or 14 & 15 if you would rather see the text and/or titles for the Quick Launch Toolbar.

Note II: If you are using the Pokki start button, and you implement the Quick Launch Toolbar, every time you reboot the Quick Launch Toolbar will be reduced to show one application icon.

You may also need to shimmy the applications slightly to the left or right (via the dots) depending on how many applications you want the Quick Launch Toolbar to show from the task bar.

The Windows 10 start button has an "All apps" button that shows you all your programs, but I found this to difficult to find at first. If you want a Toolbar that shows all your programs you can create a Programs Files Toolbar easily.

Just follow the same steps outlined for the Quick Launch Toolbar, replacing the folder path with:

"%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"

And that's it. While the Program Files Toolbar may not seem handy, it can be a lot easier to deal with than how Windows 10 has it setup now.


Note: If you uncheck either the Quick Launch or Program Files Toolbar from the task bar under "Toolbars", it will remove that toolbar as an option; forcing you to redo the entire process in order to get it back.

Windows Aero
Windows Aero was just one of those themes that was great to have, but since Windows 7, Microsoft has shied away from it with their goofy, cartoony feel. Sure, there are still traces of it left, that I am glad they kept, but I don't like that square look on my folders and browsers. It's far too classic for me, and I stopped using a classic theme during Windows XP.

Admittedly, this tweak isn't perfect. The program used still needs some work, or maybe it's the themes that do. In either case, here's a way to get a little bit of that Windows 7 feel back:

1. Download 7-Zip. Don't worry that it only shows support for Windows 7, it'll work.
2. Install 7-Zip.
3. Download Skin Pack Auto UXThemePatcher (choose Windows 10 Technical Preview).
4. Install Skin Pack Auto UXThemePatcher. (I noticed my Windows 10 running a bit slow, so double-click and single-click through the prompts, waiting for each step to complete).
5. Restart the computer.
6. Download Aero 8 Glow.
7. When first opening the Aero 8 Glow .7z file, Windows 10 will not know what program to use. You will need to click on more options, choose to browse, and manually choose the "7zFM.exe" in Program Files (x86) > 7-Zip to get it to recognize which program to use.
8. When opening Aero 8 Glow, you might get prompted to install the .NET 3.5 Framework. Accept the download and wait to finish.
9. Go to " C:\Windows\Resources\Themes".
10. Open the Aero 8 Glow 7-Zip folder.
11. Highlight all the contents in the Aero 8 Glow 7-Zip folder.
12. Drag and drop the contents into the "Themes " folder previously opened.
13. Right-click on the desktop.
14. Choose "Personalize".
15. Select "Aero 8 Glow v2".
16. Click on "Color" at the bottom.
17. Select Color 12, which is a particular blue.

Note: Aero 8 Glow (v1) is the same except that it keeps the angular corners of Windows 10.


You can choose whatever color you want, I just found this the best color for the theme. If you leave the default color it will retain a gray that looks awful. However, I am using a Windows 10 blue background, so it may be better on others.


This is as about as close to Aero as you can get for now. While changing the color helps the look of folders and browsers, the task bar preview thumbnails will still have a gray color. You'll also notice the corners are rounded, but still have tiny angular corners showing. Again, I am not sure if this is from the theme or the program itself. Feel free to dig around for more Windows 7 themes at winaero.com.

This PC (Computer)
This will work in the latest build of Windows 10, older versions did not have the ability to perform the following trick...

Anyways, if you're like me, you enjoy opening the File Explorer to see all your drives at your disposal. As it stands presently, you must actually take an additional step in order to accomplish this in Windows 10. However, Microsoft has given the option to change this is its newest build:

1.  Go to Start menu.
2. In the search box type "folder options".
3. Select "File Explorer Options".

OR

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Click the "View" tab.
3. Select "Options".
4. Choose "Change folder and search options".
5. Change "Open File Explorer to:" for "This PC".

 This will make it a bit easier for those trying to adjust to what Microsoft assumes you want to access quickly. Of course, if you prefer the new area, you can always go back. I guess Microsoft thought it would be better for people to be able to access destination they use often, or have just used. Concerning my circumstances, going to one of my drives is normally the my most used area.



Windows Explorer Ribbon
Before you perform this tweak, I would recommend giving administrative privileges to your current user account. And if you do that, might as well change the UAC (User Account Control) so that prompts never pop-up when you're performing a task - unless you just make mistakes non-stop, or feel safer with it on...

Anyways, I don't like the Windows Explorer Ribbon very much. It was better when it was hidden and you could just use the Alt key to make it appear. I can see why it could be useful, and you may want to check and make any necessary changes under the "View" tab, but once that's done I think it's better to ditch it altogether:

1. Download Resource Hacker.
2. Go to "C:\Windows\System32".
3. Search for the file "ExplorerFrame.dll".
4. Copy the file to your desktop (it cannot be removed from the folder). Click "Continue" if you get a prompt telling you the action requires administrator privileges.
5. Open Resource Hacker.
6. Go to File > Open.
7. Find and choose the "ExplorerFrame.dll" on your desktop.
8. Open "UIFILE".
9. Right-click "EXPLORER_RIBBON".
10. Delete "EXPLORER_RIBBON". Alternatively, you can open "EXPLORER_RIBBON" and delete the "1033" key. However that specific key is for English, so it will be a different number if you use a different language.
11. Go to File > Save.
12. Save the file. The copy of "ExplorerFrame.dll" will rename itself to include "original" in the title, as a backup.
13. Take the altered file and place it into "C:\Windows\System32". Click "Continue" if you get a prompt telling you the action requires administrator privileges.
14. Restart the computer.

Note: Some people may need to have the System32 folder give you permission to place/replace files inside of it if they do not already have administrator privileges (I tried this and got just a bunch of error messages). You can also use "Net user administrator /action:yes"  in an elevated command prompt, which may help you around this problem.

Windows 10 will now be devoid of a ribbon in Windows Explorer! If need be, simply rename the "original" copy and put it back in the System32 folder; one restart later and you will have the ribbon back.

UPDATE - For whatever reason, my ribbon did come back, but with some issues... There are a couple times where a program pin icon will appear on the left pane of Windows Explorer. No biggie, but looks a bit odd. When right-clicking on any program in the task bar you will have a fairly messed up option menu. Not a deal breaker for me, but it may be for others. I again try to attribute these problems to having Windows 10 on a virtual machine and doing constant experimentation with it, but I cannot be sure.

I tried to redo the process, as it seemed that some items reappeared, but it essentially took away the file explorer from Windows. Fortunately, I had my original backup copy, and a snapshot to revert back to. Unfortunately, I started getting issues with permissions, even though none had arisen when replacing the file with the tweaked version... To bypass this restriction I had to rename the original backup copy to "ExplorerFrame1.dll", then place it in the System32 folder. I then renamed the existing file in Systerm32 to "ExplorerFrame2.dll", and the original backup copy back to "ExplorerFrame.dll".

A restart later and nothing seemed fixed. I redid the tweak just to see if I could (again) get rid of the explorer ribbon. The ribbon did disappear again, bringing back the oddly-placed pin icons in the left pane of Windows Explorer. I did one last restart to ensure that it would not just reappear on boot, and thankfully, it did not.

Notepad on Context Menu (Optional)
This is another item that was left out of Windows 7, but just seems to be extremely helpful in certain circumstances. I deal with a lot of different files, and often I need to use Notepad to open them up. Instead of changing those file types to only open in Notepad, I just use this tweak:

1. Push CTRL+R.
2. Type in "regedit".
3. Click enter.
4. Go to "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell".
5. Right-click on "shell".
6. Select "New".
7. Click "Key".
8. Put in a name like "Notepad", or "Open with Notepad".
9. Right-click on your new key ("Notepad").
10. Select "New".
11. Click "Key".
12. Double-click on the "(Default)" value in the right-hand pane.
13. Put the values as "notepad.exe %1".
14. Click "OK".

Note: Do not mess around in the Windows Registry area, this will only lead to problems if you don't know what you're doing (or even if you do).

You can actually use this method to open items with other programs, but the value inputted needs to be the correct path (with the correct syntax) to that program.

BONUS: Resize Task Bar Thumbnail Previews (Optional)
So, since Windows Aero is on the menu, I wanted to add this little bonus for anyone who actually took the time (and effort) to read this article. The task bar thumbnail previews are the small previews you get if you have the Aero theme enabled on Windows 7 and you hover your cursor over an app or folder from the task bar. Sometimes you have things going on in them (i.e. downloads, videos, etc.) that you want to monitor without having to actually check on. With this tweak you can resize the thumbnails to a size that will allow you to do so without squinting:

1. Download the Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer.
2. Open the Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer zip file.
3. Click the Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer.
4. Choose to "Run".

You now can resize your task bar thumbnail previews as you wish. There is even a button included to restore the thumbnails to their default sizes.

What's Not Windows 7
I tried my best to get as close to Windows 7 with what is widely and freely available. I am sure that once the official release of Windows 10, there will be more programs to help modify and customize items to give a closer feel to Windows 7.

The only thing I could think of that would really make this experience is having the File Explorer open up to Computer instead of Home. Unfortunately, the "File Target" located in its "Properties" is blocked from being changed. I did try some registry tweaking, but couldn't get it to change other than to having nothing in the Home folder. If I ever figure out a method, I'll be sure to update this article with it.

Goodbye Windows 7
I really think (hope) this will be a good replacement for Windows 7. I think part of the problem is that none of us want drastic changes, just subtle ones. Really it comes down to teaching old dogs new tricks. We, myself included, need to move forward, less we miss out and are later unable to keep up with new OS's.

I wanted to add that I tested each one of these tweaks in VMware, which gave me the advantage of being able to take a snapshot of a state (much like a System Restore Point) that I could easily revert to if the tweaks were unsatisfactory. And each tweak was tested on the Windows 10 9879 Build.

Lastly, many of these tweaks are actually for Windows 8. Some are for Windows 7 that also work on Windows 8. So, if you find something for Windows 8 (or 7), feel free to give it a go. Just be sure to make a snapshot, System Restore Point, or backup everything important first.