I’ve never seen the problem you talked about with classic shell. And it’s free
It's a setting option - Start8 allows you to retain some features of the Windows 8 interface or disable. I hadn't perused all of the options prior to this, since the most important issue was resolved with the default installation.
Yes, Start8 is $5, but I didn't mind paying. Had I looked at your option, I might have chosen that instead, but I'm not unhappy with my modest purchase.