Get Windows XP Styled Classic All Programs List in Windows Vista and 7

IMPORTANT: This method will replace "Favorites" list in Internet Explorer with "All Programs" list.

Many people complain about Windows Vista start menu. They want Windows XP styled "All Programs" list in Vista. Windows Vista shows the Programs list within startmenu on the other hand XP shows it in a new expanded column outside the startmenu.

Recently we received an email from "James Phillips":

Dear Vishal, I am contacting you as a last resort (I have already stated my problem in various forums and blogs with no success whatsoever).

My problem is with Vista's start menu, specifically the way it displays the All Programs list. Instead of showing the list within the start menu itself, i would like it to expand out into a new column, just like in XP.

I know this function is available using the classic menu, but i actually like all of the other features in the normal menu (search etc...) so I would prefer not to use classic.

thanks for any suggestions you may have.

Actually there is a way to enable XP styled All Programs list in Vista which will also work in Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7.

Long time back, we posted a tutorial to customize Windows XP start menu:

Change Look-n-Feel of Windows XP Start Menu

We'll use the Step 5 mentioned in above tutorial to implement XP styled Programs list in Vista. We'll replace "Favorites" menu with "All Programs" menu.

1. Open regedit and go to following keys one by one:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

2. Now you'll need to change the value of Favorites string value in right-side pane to:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Change C: to your system drive, where windows is installed in your system.

3. That's it. Log off or restart your system and now "Favorites" link in start menu will change to "Programs" and will show all program shortcuts installed in your system just like XP start menu does.

NOTE: If you can't see the new menu in startmenu, you'll need to enable "Favorites Menu" from Taskbar Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize.

4. You can also disable the All Programs button in start menu. Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoStartMenuMorePrograms and set its value to 1

Now log off or restart your system and the final output will look as following:

As you can see, the new Programs menu shows the program shortcuts very similar to XP and "All Programs" button is no longer there.

PS: If you want a ready-made registry script to do the task automatically, then download following ZIP file, extract it and run the extracted REG file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it. Restart your system to take affects:

Download Registry Script

NOTE: If you want to restore the default settings, Open regedit and go to following keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

In right-side pane, change value of "Favorites" to:

%USERPROFILE%\Favorites

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This article was posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista.

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57 Comments

boe

Hello,

I forgot where I left off but I did set up classic menus. I would really like to click on start and have it go straight to all programs without having to click on all programs after clicking on start. Is this possible?
phill

1 thing with it
open ie and look at your favourites?
delete any of them and it screws it
Rob

I tried it, and got the nice all program list, but also found that my favorites in EI8 are now replaced by the program list! hmm

Restoration, or partial restoration, instructions would be nice. Of course I didnt' back up my registry before doing surgery!
Matt

uhhhh...help? When I try to do step 4, I get an error that says: Cannot create value: error writing to the registry
Matt

Sorry, my KEYBOARD put a W when it shoud have put an E ^^
Andy R

Vishay, you are truly a life saver. I have wanted to find this for ages - Iwas dreading moving to windows 7 can't believe that anyone would prefer the hoprrible cramped vista style to this, or to think it was a "step forward" in user interface management.

This registry setting could easily be made into an option by Microsoft- the fact that they haven't done it shows that they care more about their own imagined paradigms than their users' preferences.

For this, I will forward links to this page to all my chums and get you lots of hits and advertising revenue. You deserve it, mate!
paul shuckett

i used your shortcut download to change my registry to show all programs in windows 7. Along the way, it has created a defect in windows explorer. I cant see my favorites; instead it lists all my programs. Also I cant add shortcuts to my deesktop pointing to bookmarks in mozilla. I need to know the changes the script made so I can undo them
VG

^^ Open regedit and goto following keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

In right-side pane, change value of "Favorites" to:

%USERPROFILE%\Favorites
paul shuckett

thanks. I restored favorites back into internet explorer. Now another problem As part of the downloaded script, I believe you included suppression of the all programs line in the startup by using the dword vlue NoStartMenuMorePrograms and set its value to 1. I cant find this using the find feature in regedit. Where is it located so I can delete it. Thanks again for your help
VG

^^ Please check Point 4.