ANN: Classic Shell - start menu and other features

[avecchio]

Classic Shell freezes the Start Menu

Hi, I recently did a custom install of Windows 7 from Vista. I really missed the classic start menu. I first tried to configure the Win7 Start Menu but still didn't like it. I then installed CSMenu but did not care for it. I installed Classic Shell (I did not install Classic Explorer) and it appeared to give me exactly what I wanted so I went to set some options. I selected small icons and something else I can't remember. After that my Start Menu button froze (clicking on it does nothing). If I right click on it and try to select Properties or Windows Explorer they also do nothing. I uninstalled CSMenu and tried it again; still no luck. I uninstalled Classic Shell and I was able to get the standard Win7 Start Menu. When I reinstalled Classic Shell the Start Menu button again is frozen. I really would like to use Classic Shell. Can anyone help?

 

[Ivo]

Which version of Classic Shell do you have?

 

[Ivo]

Most likely you messed with the Controls settings. First try Shift+Win key or Shift+click or Shift+right-click to bring up the classic menu or the classic menu settings. If none of these work, your next bet is to reset the controls settings. Open regedit and go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu key. Find the "Controls" value and delete it. Log off, then log in. That would restore the default controls.

 

[avecchio]

Classic Shell freezes the Start Menu

Which version of Classic Shell do you have?

I have 1.9.2

 

[avecchio]

Classic Shell freezes the Start Menu

Most likely you messed with the Controls settings. First try Shift+Win key or Shift+click or Shift+right-click to bring up the classic menu or the classic menu settings. If none of these work, your next bet is to reset the controls settings. Open regedit and go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu key. Find the "Controls" value and delete it. Log off, then log in. That would restore the default controls.

The Shift+Win key or Shift+click or Shift+right-click did work to bring up the standard Win7 Start Menu but did nothing to fix the issue of the frozen button when I did not use those combinations. The modification of the registry seems to have fixes the problem. I now seem to be able to get the Classic Shell menu ok. I will do some more testing to see if it fixed it permanently. Thanks very much for your help.

 

[Ivo]

Well, you can pick which menu you get for different mouse or keyboard combinations. You can choose from Classic Menu, Windows Menu, or Nothing. Of course if you pick Nothing for regular mouse click, then nothing will happen when you click on the start button.

 

[dood]

I've been looking for a solution for the classic menu since W7 first hit.

Thanks!! And keep up the good work!

 

[Ivo]

How about middle-click? This way you can have the new menu on left-click and classic
menu on middle-click. This is by far easier to implement than adding an extra button.

Do you have think about this idea ?

The latest version 1.9.6 can use middle click to open the Classic or the Windows start menu. Open the Settings and look for the "Middle Click opens:" setting.

 

[ello]

Is it possible to get Classic Shell to make my folder View like XP? Below is a XP example. It would be wonderfull if you could direct me to a addon that does this if or help me do it with Classic Shell.

http://forum.daz3d.com/postimages/or..._1_2328286.jpg

As a 3d artist the install of Windows7 has slowed my workflow.. If only I could get this look and feel back? How Can I get My Windows7 to look like the picture in that link. I want and need the XP Slideshow folderview and the nagavation tools on the left side to look like that as well..

Someone please help me, thanks in advance

 

[Ivo]

No, Classic Shell can't do that. Maybe if you post in the main forum instead of just this thread you will get some helpful respones.

 

[RayTheRat]

Yeah! What Dood said! This is great! I commend you highly and all that stuff. Donation forthcoming.

I don't know if you have any idea how frustrated I've been with W7 and its all-but-unusable user interface. I only keep it because I have a multi-core macine with a lotta memory.

You've saved me from converting everything to linux.

 

[tanzanos]

I have classic shell v2 on win7 x 64. However not all installed programmes are showing in the programs menu. Is there a way to make classic shell show all installed programmes?

 

[Ivo]

Yes and No.

The start menu shows the contents of the Start Menu folders and that's it. Some applications add themselves there during install and others don't. Also some applications are in the start menu, but were never installed (Notepad for example). Since "Start Menu" is just a folder on disk, you can add/remove shortcuts there as you wish.

So while the start menu can't show you all installed programs automatically, you can add them there manually.

 

[tanzanos]

Yes and No.

The start menu shows the contents of the Start Menu folders and that's it. Some applications add themselves there during install and others don't. Also some applications are in the start menu, but were never installed (Notepad for example). Since "Start Menu" is just a folder on disk, you can add/remove shortcuts there as you wish.

So while the start menu can't show you all installed programs automatically, you can add them there manually.

How do I do that? An example is: I also have 2 games installed (bf2 and bfbc2) Yet only bf2 shows in the prog menu. How do I add the other to the menu?
Even Classic shell does not show up in the menu.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Ivo]

This is most likely because BFBC2 is a much newer game and registers itself into the Game Explorer instead of the Start Menu.

There are two ways to put it in the start menu:
1) Right-click on the start button and pick "Open". This will open the start menu folder in Explorer. Decide where you want to place the new shortcut - in the main folder, in Programs\Games, or make a new folder just for it. Then locate the EXE of the game and make a shortcut to it in the selected folder.

2) You can drag the Games folder from the Windows menu into the classic start menu. Go to the Windows menu and make sure the "Games" is enabled and is displayed as a menu. Open the Windows menu and grab the Games item and drag it away. While dragging, open the classic menu and drop the Games item there.

P.S. The next version of Classic Shell will add things to the start menu.

 

[tanzanos]

Thank you for the help. I will wait for the next version. The reason I want all programmes to be listed in the start menu is because I want to access all the applications that are in the particular folder ie: when I go to BF2 it will open a submenu showing all the applications relevant to this game such as the game itself, uninstall, update, etc.

MS really screwed up on Win 7 UI. They reinvented the wheel just to make it look different but they ended up with a square wheel that is only good for parking without a handbrake.

 

[Ivo]

What you are asking for is simply not possible. There is no way to detect which files are important enough to show in the start menu. It is the installer's responsibility to create a folder in the start menu and add the appropriate shortcuts there. If it doesn't do it, you will have to do this yourself. In this case you will have to make a folder for BFBC2, add a link for the main EXE, uninstall, and whatever else you want.

What I meant to say about Classic Shell adding things to the start menu, is that it will add its own shorcuts (like Help and Settings). It will not do that for other software you have installed.

 

[Kelderic]

Ivo, thank you for the great program!

One possible error to report. I have changed the icon of the control panel (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/96565-control-panel-change-default-icon.html), but the icon remains unchanged in the classic start menu. Is there another registry value that needs to be changed? Thanks again!

 

[Ivo]

The Control Panel in the start menu uses icon 137 from shell32.dll. You can change that by editing the StartMenuItems.ini file. First make sure you remove the semicolon from the MAIN_MENU.Items near the top of the file. Then find the line CONTROL_PANEL.Icon=... , remove the semicolon from it, and change the value of the property to whatever icon you want to use.

 

[Kelderic]

It worked, quick and easy, I didn't even need to reboot. Thank you!

There's only one other suggestion I can think of, which has to do with the Shut Down button. On Vista, Shut Down opened the box to pick from a list with Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, etc. In 7, it has the button Shut Down, which shuts down with a single click, and then on the side, it has that extra button to choose if we need something else. The one click shut down is the only thing I liked about the new start menu, because it saved time. Would it be possibly to add that function to the classic start menu?

Thanks again!