Get Classic Start Menu Back in Windows 7 Using CWSM

There is no doubt, Windows 7 comes with lots of new features but its also true that some important functionality have been removed from Windows 7 like good old Classic start menu.

Classic start menu was very useful and easy to use but for some unknown reasons, Microsoft has removed it from Windows 7. Now if you want to get it back, you'll need to take help of 3rd party software.

We have covered "CSMenu" in past which is a free utility to bring a similar start menu in Windows 7.

Today we are sharing another freeware "Classic Windows Start Menu" which can provide a similar Classic start menu in Windows 7. Following is a screenshot of CWSM in action:

As you can see, it looks very similar to Classic start menu. The most impressive thing about CWSM is that it uses Aero engine to render its interface so you get a glassy start menu which looks great.

Its a portable utility so you don't need to install it. You can also customize it for your needs. For example, you can modify the text of menus, change background image, change left-side logo, change icons, etc. You can do all these things by modifying files present in its folder.

You can also make it more glassy by modifying "strings.xml" file and set "<MENU BACKGROUND PRESENT>Yes</>" to "<MENU BACKGROUND PRESENT>No</>":

Once you do it, exit from CWSM by right-click on Start ORB and click on "Yes" button in confirmation dialog box. Then run cwsm.exe again. Now it'll look as following:

There are also some BMP files in its folder: logoffback.bmp, ribbon.bmp, shutdownback.bmp which can be modified to change Log off dialog box, left-side logo and Shutdown dialog box background images respectively.

You can download it using following link:

Download Here

NOTE: It also works in Windows XP and Vista.

Thanks to our active reader "Bryan" for sharing this utility via email...

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This article was posted in Portable Apps, Software Zone, Windows 7.

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17 Comments

VG

^^ No.
Wowa

Only when something lost, we understand the importance of it.
Thanks for good link.
Dustin

This is a good little app, but has some bugs. I'm sure they will be worked out in future editions.
sujit sudhan

hey!..i tried download the cwsm zip file..but it seems corrupted (from the server side). can anybody upload or provide alternative site for this software.?
master

How to remove?

VG! Where are u!
Gary

That seems to be a BIG Problem, How to REMOVE it, Help!!!!
Gary

To those who want to get rid of this program-- " Go to task manager, stop cwsm.exe, then delete all files". Gary