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:
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
This article was posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista.
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Anthony
Hi Vishal,
I took you advise and made changes to the My Video link in the registry. However I dont see the changes as I saw in modifying the Favorites entry. Any Ideas what links work and what links dont. Thanks for your help.
AL Fischer
VERY GOOD! Now, how can we ADD a Program entry instead of replacing FAVORITES with it?
AL Fischer
VERY GOOD! Now, how can we ADD a Program entry instead of replacing FAVORITES with it?
Arlen
It worked very nicely.... It was great until I tried to save a website in my Internet Browser and discovered that my programs were there instead of My Favorites and it would not allow me to save a websit to it. Now I have another problem. How can I fix it?
VG
^^ Please check the NOTE section given at the end.
Thorsten Albrecht
Instead of replying "^^ Please check the NOTE section given at the end." you should mention that anybody who uses this workaround will loose his Internet Explorer Favorites. This solution for the classic start menu is only a workaround if anybody won't use his IE anymore.
Thorsten
Bianca Duvall
Umm.. now my Windows 7 internet explorer favourites menu has my applications listed ! DOH!.
Lucky I saved my reg entries before i changed them.
Oh well it seemed good, shame it doesnt work
david
Thanks, works great. One caveat -- when restarting after setting the dword to "1" Win 7 Pro freaked out and showed only the recycle bin and a shortened program menu. A full reboot is what was needed to get rid of the "All Programs" button.
Once again, great work.
aximili
Am I the only one who can't see the programs in
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
?
I changed those registry values to All User's programs
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
What happens to Current User's programs??
Thanks though, this Windows 7 programs list is so stupid.