Discussion on:

Add a self-made Start button to the Windows 8 desktop

With this little hack you can get your Start Menu back or at least a reasonable facsimile - are you going to try it?

In Windows XP, Vista and 7, "All Programs" off the start menu had folders for applications, or groups of applications (e.g., all Open Office apps in one folder, all my printer utilities in another folder, etc.) It seems in all the screen shots that the list of apps is a flat list. I have over 400 entries, all logically grouped in about 50 folders in my All Programs menu. To have to scroll through such a huge list seems very inefficient. Is there still a way of having similar behaviour in Windows 8?

Before anyone suggests it, I don't think that typing in the first few characters is very effective, because I cannot always remember the name of some oddly-named utility, which is why I have it in a folder named by function (such as Network Utils).

Open control panel ,go to personalization,click on task bar,click on desktop and apply. When now go to desktop you will find a desktop icon on the task bar that will list in one place everything you can think of from programs to settings. If you dont like just a few clicks and you are back to hunting around for things . I hope this helps you and others .

they are at C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Make a shortcut and pin it to the start menu.

Yes!!!!! This is exactly my position, with 300+ programs and odd utils that I need, you describe the way I have my box organized. Another reason to avoid the Win8 UI.

Create a new toolbar (right click the taskbar -> toolbars -> new toolbar) with the link to the start menu (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs). That was the solution offered in a previous one of these discussions and I find it a great answer.

Don't ever uncheck that box if you do all of your work constructing the "new toolbar" will be lost. At least that is what happened to me on the consumer preview.

Maybe someone will write a shell with the Windows 7 UI fully implemented?

After all, Linix has a few different shells. Why not Windows?

nt

How about just installing Windows 7 instead of a "shell"? You can still buy it AND it's still priced like it was new so you can feel like you're still relevant.

nt

the same is said about XP but you can still buy that, too. Just $100 for 7 Home Premium. Ernie, you can keep your dad's Cadillac Brougham. No need to go out and buy the XTS.

here's how I checked

www.microsoft. com - - click on the hot link 'Store' -- click on the hot link 'Windows'

and you get a full page ad about Win 8 with a line 'Like Windows 7 only better' with all the prices.

Hover over the hot link on the left that says 'Windows' and you get the choice of two links "Windows 8' or 'Windows 8 Pro' - nowhere in the store is there Windows 7 available for sale or download.

I have left countless links to purchase Windows 7. If you are searching on Microsoft's Australia site it might be a different case there. Though from what I hear your Chinese neighbors can get you Windows 7 for a few dollars... even Aussie dollars.

Update: The Microsoft Store has Windows Home Premium for $119 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Home-Premium/productID.235488300/vip.true), Windows 7 Professional starting at $199 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Professional/productID.216645600/vip.true), and Windows 7 Ultimate starting at $219 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Ultimate/productID.216647200/vip.true).

go to the Microsoft store online, enter "Windows 7" in the search box. It's still there.

here's how I checked

www.microsoft. com - - click on the hot link 'Store' -- click on the hot link 'Windows'

and you get a full page ad about Win 8 with a line 'Like Windows 7 only better' with all the prices.

Hover over the hot link on the left that says 'Windows' and you get the choice of two links "Windows 8' or 'Windows 8 Pro' - nowhere in the store is there Windows 7 available for sale or download.

on the Microsoft online store is unclear?

about Windows 7 in the footer area, and even did some searching via their search box and they did turn up some downloads for extras and the like. They also found some pages that no longer link in to anything else, as if they're old ones that are no longer valid.

Are you suggesting Microsoft are NOT showing everything for sale in their Store in the proper Store pages?

Anyway, average users will follow the basic front door access, which is what I did, and MS do not have Win 7 for sale any more.

BTW My son has an old link for a free three month trial version of Win 7 Enterprise that still takes you direct to the page which has no other links to it or from it.

You can still purchase Windows 7 from Microsoft.

In the store enter a search for Windows 7 and you will see links for the various versions of 7. Click on the link and purchase.

Example:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/ThemeID.27509700/productID.216645600

nt

I even put a copy of windows 7 pro in my virtual shopping cart to prove it to myself. I can even order it from my smartphone.
End of discussion

The Microsoft Store has Windows Home Premium for $119 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Home-Premium/productID.235488300/vip.true), Windows 7 Professional starting at $199 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Professional/productID.216645600/vip.true), and Windows 7 Ultimate starting at $219 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Ultimate/productID.216647200/vip.true).

here's how I checked and found Microsoft don't sell Win 7 any more - despite some old pages that aren't part of their shop now.

www.microsoft. com - - click on the hot link 'Store' -- click on the hot link 'Windows'

and you get a full page ad about Win 8 with a line 'Like Windows 7 only better' with all the prices.

Hover over the hot link on the left that says 'Windows' and you get the choice of two links "Windows 8' or 'Windows 8 Pro' - nowhere in the store is there Windows 7 available for sale or download.

I can't believe this Deadly Earnest guy, creating more "heat" than "light." CLEARLY..... Win7 is available for sale, from multiple weblinks. And all of them appear to be from the official microsoftstore.com website, as many respondents have already pointed out, to no avail. The earth is still turning, the sky has not fallen, and Win7 has not disappeared. Yet this guy just goes on and on, harping on about how you cannot buy this stuff that's obviously for sale, regardless of whether it was bought through "basic front door access" (whatever that means -- a jumble of words that can mean anything to anyone). AGAIN... for those a little slow or hard of hearing.... search by the method that JJFitz helpfully recommended (above).

Q. "Are you suggesting Microsoft are NOT showing everything for sale in their Store in the proper Store pages?"
A. Yes. Obviously Microsoft, like most corporations, has one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. And does not cross-list every Win7 link on every page (nor should they, when Win8 is the main promotion). As JJFitz said, end of discussion.

A week or so ago I would have been all over this.

I'm getting tired of aiming for where the Start button used to be and clicking the first icon on the tool bar instead. Also, I've moved my Taskbar to left side, but of course the Start Screen hotspot remains in the bottom left. Now when habit sends me to the top left for the Start menu, I get neither it nor the Start Screen option. This button would eliminate both of those problems. But I took an oath to learn how MS intended this product to be used. Still, it feels like I'm fighting with it every inch of the way.

As i asked elsewhere, if all I'm going to do with the Start Screen is use it as an overgrown Start menu, is there any reason to not schedule the traditional desktop at boot and add this button? Maybe the Start Screen is capable of more and I'm just not aware of it. Maybe I'm aware of all it does, but nothing besides starting programs fits the way I use a computer.

I continue to maintain that removing all Start button functionality is sheer idiocy. People keep creating these types of hacks to get the "Start Menu" back, or writing programs that bring it back when all we really need is for MS to restore the functionality and give desktop/laptop users the choice of which one they want to use.

OR, hear me out, OR people can just install Windows 7 and use that.

I'm bookmarking this, might use it in our images.

Gods of us all, you're not deploying this, are you? What are you using, Ghost? Supposedly SCCM won't capture a W8 image yet.

A future plan maybe. To ease the transition. Also, this is a good idea for people using touch as well, touching is easier than "flicking?".

seems like a lot of hand-wringing over a minor change to me.... the future is coming, better to go with it than try to hold on to the past...

nt

nt

Palmetto gave me this link before.
It is very helpful in understanding where windows has come from and where it is going.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-windows-8-user-experience.aspx

and they don't really care about the desktop or the traditional business environment productivity processes at all. Well, that's what i get from the blog.

Thanks for the link.

"The Windows 8 user experience is forward-looking, yet respectful of the past. It reimagines what a PC is capable of, the scenarios for which it is optimized, and how you interact with it. It enables tablets and laptops that are incredibly light and thin, with excellent battery life, which you can use with touch and keyboard and mouse in any combination you prefer. It is also the most capable, lean, and usable OS ever to power desktop PCs and gaming rigs."

It may be capable and lean but it is NOT the most usable OS for a desktop PC or gaming rig

I am using Windows 8 on my custom built gaming PC. I upgraded the OS from Windows 7 to Windows 8 and I use it to play Call of Duty Black Ops II. The PC performance and game response are superb.
The PC boots up seconds and I am in the game in less than one minute.
Windows 7 on the exact same machine was never that fast.
I call that very usable.

I tried using a Win 8 trial copy and found it took longer to reach the applications and was horrid to look at due to the huge icons on the desktop. I've seen it on a tablet and it looked OK on the eight inch screen, but on the 24 inch monitor it was just ugly. The decreased productivity in regards to non touch applications were a major issue, and I hate to think how big a problem trying to use a large touch screen would be for my arms and shoulders.

(nt)

what I and many others have experienced with it. Who wrote made it a definitive statement as if it was a law of nature or a fact, and it isn't.

nt

the replies, don't it. And when you hit the take off line everyone gets confused about what the hell is going on in the new thread.

Are you listening TechRepublic?

nt

Weird how that works, innit?