6 Old Windows Apps and Features You Didn't Know Are Still Around

In the evolution of Windows systems, many once indispensable tools have been phased out or integrated by Microsoft. While many tools have been removed, some still exist and may still help you.

1. Nostalgic Windows Media Player: If you've been using Windows for many years, you probably remember this old-fashioned media player. It is known for its clean interface, visualizer, custom skins, and the ability to burn and read CDs. The good news is that it still exists on your Windows system.

You can enter "Old Windows Media Player" through Windows Search and click it in the search results to open it.

If the search results are not displayed, you may need to enable it in your settings first. To do this, use Windows Search to turn on "Enable or Turn Windows Features". Just check the "Media Features" and "Legal Windows Media Player" check boxes.

2. Control Panel: Adjust Advanced and Legacy Settings: Control Panel used to be the center for adjusting computer settings and preferences. Starting with Windows 8, it has been replaced by the Settings app, which is more user-friendly and includes more features.

However, there are still some advanced and legacy tools in Control Panel that may still be useful. For example, you can find Device Manager, Backup and Restore (Windows 7), Network and Sharing Center, Power Options, and Management Tools.

You can use Windows Search to open the Control Panel. Certain options (such as System and Troubleshooting) open the Settings app if the original tool has been completely removed from Windows.

3. Older Context Menu: Access Classic Options: In Windows 11, the context menu (right-click menu) has been replaced by a more streamlined, modern and user-friendly version. Some even think that the current Windows context menu is better.

If you miss the old context menu, it doesn't completely disappear. When you right-click on the project, you can click "Show More Options" to bring it up. This solution only calls it back temporarily, you need to do it every time to access it.

You can make the old context menu the default option by changing the registry. But be careful when doing this – if you mess up the registry, your computer may not be available. So make sure you know what you are doing and how to back up and restore the Windows registry.

4. Disk Cleanup: Delete temporary files and unnecessary files: The Disk Cleanup utility helps you delete temporary files and unnecessary files on Windows. It is largely considered a legacy tool, as "storage awareness" (automatically freeing storage space on Windows PCs) has replaced it. However, if you need a quick way to clean up storage space manually, disk cleaning is still useful.

Use Windows Search to open Disk Cleanup, select the drive you want to clean, and click the OK button.

Wait for disk cleaning to scan for files it can safely delete from the drive. After that, check the file you want to delete and click the OK button.

Click Delete in the pop-up window to confirm your action.

5. Disk Defragmenter: Optimize Your HDD: Disk Defragmenter is now known as "Optimize and Organize Drives". With modern computers turning to solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of hard drives (HDDs), defragmentation has become obsolete because SSDs do not require defragmentation.

Defragmentation of SSDs is not recommended as it will reduce its performance and service life. Optimize and Organize Drives automatically optimizes the SSD, but does not defragment it.

If you are using HDD and feel slow, you may need to optimize and defragment it to improve its performance. To do this, right-click the drive and select Properties in the context menu.

Select the Tools tab, and then click Optimize in the Optimize and Organize Drives section.

In the Optimize Drive window, select HDD and click the Optimize button.

6. Character Mapping: Type Special Characters: Sometimes, you may need to type special characters that are not on your keyboard. For example, it may be accented letters (such as é or ü), mathematical and scientific symbols used in equations or formulas, or currency symbols (such as €, £ and ¥). Without changing the layout of your Windows keyboard, you can use character mapping.

To open character mapping, click Search in the taskbar or press Win S to open Windows Search. Type "Character Map" in the search box, and then click it in the search results.

After highlighting a character in the character map, click Select to appear in the Characters to copy text box. Then, click Copy and paste it into the desired program.

When selecting a character, you can see its encoding (for example, Unicode, DOS, or Windows) in the lower right corner. For some characters, its Alt code will also be displayed in the lower right corner.

You can change the encoding by ticking the Advanced View check box to expand the options and select another encoding in the Character Set drop-down menu.

Since their alternatives have been added to Windows, Microsoft will eventually remove many of these features. However, in certain specific cases, these legacy tools may still be useful. Remember, Microsoft may no longer actively update them.

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