ANN: Classic Shell 2.8.1 is out (cascading All Programs and more)

This is a beta version of the 3rd generation of Classic Shell. Get it from here: http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/


The new features are:

• Added an option for cascading All Programs in the Windows start menu
• Added an option to open the start menu when hovering over the start button
• Added a possibility for the skins to include the user name in the start menu
• Added support for dropdown menus and chevrons in the Explorer toolbar
• Added an option to automatically open progress dialogs to show more details
• Converted the help to CHM file format
• A much better installer using WiX
• The settings no longer have semicolon in front of them. Just enter the new value. Leave the value blank to use the default
• Changes to StartMenu.ini no longer require the start menu to be restarted

Report any problems on the Source Forge bug tracker, or post in this forum.

Need help with translations

Hey, everybody. Currently Classic Shell does not support translations for its Settings UI. It has been one of the more frequiently requested feature. I'd like to provide translations but I need help (since I'm not that good at foreign languages).

Judging by the download counts, the languages that will be most popular are German, French and Dutch. If you are fluent in any of these languages and you want to help, please contact me. There are about 30 lines of text and 2 dialogs that need to be translated.

Regards
Ivo

So it replaces the 7 start menu.
Are there still icons on desktop or they will be hidden like with Litestep and other similiar shells?

Classic Shell does not do anything with the desktop or the taskbar. It is not a full shell replacement - just a new start menu and some Explorer enhancements.

Hi, and thanks for this great Software

Ivo said:

...

The new features are:

• Added an option for cascading All Programs in the Windows start menu

...

Click to expand...

Can i sort the Menus the way i want them or are they always in alphabetical order?

Ivo, If I upgrade does it remember all the previous hard work settings?

Sympatico said:

Ivo, If I upgrade does it remember all the previous hard work settings?

Click to expand...

The settings that are kept in the registry (the ones you can edit from the Settings dialogs) are preserved and backwards-compatible.
The ini files will be reset. I do this because I change the format of the ini files often and it is not possible to be backwards-compatible with older INIs. So back up your ini files before you uninstall your old version (depending how recent it is, the uninstaller may offer to back them up for you).

JohnSands said:

Can i sort the Menus the way i want them or are they always in alphabetical order?

Click to expand...

The cascading All Programs menu lets you reorder the programs as you wish (drag and drop). The order is independent from the classic start menu. So if you ordered your programs for the classic start menu, you will have to order them again in the new menu.

Cheers for the reply Ivo, from reading the description sounds like a different deal anyway (the ; ) I just knew that would turn into a Smiley without the space!!

above theme is not working still old style theme like 1.9.8

vipz10 said:

above theme is not working still old style theme like 1.9.8

Click to expand...

What theme? How is it not working? Do you believe somebody can read your post and figure out what you are trying to say?

Whoo Hooo!!!

Classic Shell = My FAVORITE 7 appy!

Update: the new version 2.8.2 is out

Version 2.8.2 fixes all bugs found in the previous version. The biggest one was that the Windows start menu may freeze and become unresponsive if you use the "cascading All Programs" option.

There are also some new features:

• Few new commands to use in your custom toolbars for picking different Explorer views - Details, List, Icons, etc
• A setting in Explorer.ini to control the spacing of the folders in the navigation pane tree
• A setting in StartMenu.ini to show Shutdown even in Remote Desktop sessions
• The Hibernate command in the start menu will be hidden if hibernation is disabled

Hi. I needed to report a major problem with 2.8.2 - it is erasing registry entries! The ones I have seen it erase are ALL entries under

HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN\

But I don't know what (if any) others it is altering/erasing.

A system restore fixed the problem, but only after I noticed startup programs not running down by the clock!

Please look into this asap!! Otherwise thank you for this most magnificent program!

Oh-oh. That would be a problem
Did you upgrade from an older version? Which one?
Did you try to uninstall 2.8.2 and then you noticed the problem?

Hello Ivo

The new Version 2.8.1 and 2.8.2 will not my StartMenuItems.ini in the version 2.0.0 hat this funktionality perfect why ???

Here my StartMenuItems.ini:

; MAIN_MENU.Items - the structure of the main menu. You can add or remove items here
; REMOVE THE SEMICOLON FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT LINE TO ENABLE THE CUSTOM MENU STRUCTURE
MAIN_MENU.Items=PROGRAMS, MyKlooItem, MyComputerItem, SettingsMenu, SEPARATOR, DisconnectItem, RestartItem, ShutdownItem

; SettingsMenu - the name, icon and structure of the Settings menu
SettingsMenu.Items=CONTROL_PANEL, SEPARATOR, PRINTERS, TaskbarSettingsItem, SEPARATOR, ClassicSettingsItem
SettingsMenu.Name=$Menu.Settings
SettingsMenu.Icon=shell32.dll,330

; And so on. You get the idea.
MyComputerItem.Link=::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

MyKlooItem.Link=::{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
MyKlooItem.Name=Datenkloo

RestartItem.Command=restart
RestartItem.Name=Neustart
RestartItem.Icon=C:\KOPIER.PRG\XP EXIT + REBOOT\ICON085.ICO

ShutdownItem.Command=shutdown
ShutdownItem.Name=Beenden
ShutdownItem.Icon=C:\KOPIER.PRG\XP EXIT + REBOOT\ICON086.ICO

TaskbarSettingsItem.Command=taskbar_settings
TaskbarSettingsItem.Name=$Menu.Taskbar
TaskbarSettingsItem.Icon=shell32.dll,40
TaskbarSettingsItem.Tip=$Menu.TaskbarTip

ClassicSettingsItem.Command=menu_settings
ClassicSettingsItem.Name=$Menu.ClassicSettings
ClassicSettingsItem.Icon=ClassicStartMenuDLL.dll,103
ClassicSettingsItem.Tip=$Menu.SettingsTip

The format of the ini file has changed. It often changes between versions so it is not recommended to reuse ini files. The breaking change is the introduction of the property EnableCustomMenu. You have to set it to 1.
Since you probably overwrote your ini file, you will have to download the original from Source Forge. Go to the Files section and look for ClassicShellIniFiles_2_8_2.zip.

Ivo said:

Oh-oh. That would be a problem
Did you upgrade from an older version? Which one?
Did you try to uninstall 2.8.2 and then you noticed the problem?

Click to expand...

Yes it was an upgrade over 2.8.1.
See what happens from your end when you do the same thing. I am in IT so I am 99.9% sure it was 2.8.2 that did it. I tried it a second time to test (after the first restore), and the same thing happened. 2.8.1 works fine tho, except for one thing- the cascading menus sometimes don't show at all on the start menu, nor does 'shut down' work. 2.8.2 seemed to solve this, albeit with the other unfortunate side-effect mentioned.

I know what is happening. When 2.8.1 (also 2.8.2) is uninstalled, it deleted the Run registry key. This is a bug in the installer. I know how to fix it for the next version, but unfortunately it is too late as the damage is already done.
I am currently developing a fix, so at least when you upgrade from 2.8.1/2.8.2 to 2.8.3 it will do some tricks to try and preserve the Run key. I hope to release it in the next day or 2.

Ivo said:

The format of the ini file has changed. It often changes between versions so it is not recommended to reuse ini files. The breaking change is the introduction of the property EnableCustomMenu. You have to set it to 1.
Since you probably overwrote your ini file, you will have to download the original from Source Forge. Go to the Files section and look for ClassicShellIniFiles_2_8_2.zip.

Click to expand...

Thanks Ivo you are the BEST !!!

Ivo,

I can translate it into Chinese. Tell me the way now.
Also I can translate your site into Chinese. So more and more Chinese people will know this software.