Is there a Classic View in Windows 7?

For Windows 95 nostalgia geeks

Yes Windows 7 has some fancy eye-candy graphics and display options with the new Aero interface, but maybe you don’t want that? Maybe you’ve gotten accustomed to the classic Windows look which has been around since Windows 95?

If so, well there is an answer! Luckily, Microsoft is not crazy enough to completely cut out the old interface in Windows 7. On a side note, though, Windows 8/10 has a drastically different look and it’s not so easy to get the classic look there, but that’s another story.

Windows 7 Classic Theme

In Windows 7 you can revert back to the classic Windows look easily. In order to do this, go to yourDesktop, right click and choosePersonalize.

Next, you’re going to get a dialog showing a list of Aero themes. This is where you can switch back to the Classic view.

Scroll down the list until you seeBasic and High Contrastthemes. There should be one calledWindows Classic.

Now your desktop will go from the fancy new Windows 7 look to the classic Windows 2000/XP look like below:

And, of course, the Start button and Start menu will look like the 2000/XP version:

Unfortunately, reverting back to the classic look does not bring back the Show Desktop icon where it used to be in XP. Instead, it’s still far off to the right hand side of the task bar. However, you can read some of my previous posts including how torestore the Show Desktop icon in Windows 7.

That’s the quickest and easiest way to get Windows 7 to look like Windows 2000. There are some other programs that can make it even more realistic by changing the boot up image, the login screen, and other stuff, but it requires you to install the software, which will change a lot of files on your system. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio

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Is there a Classic View in Windows 7?#

Windows 7 Classic Theme#