Solved How to change default start menu folder in Windows 7

[Malickfan86]

Hi,

I am the sole user of a system running Windows 7.

As a result, I got sick of specifying whether I wanted to install a program for just my own account of for all users. I decided to look up some instructions and change the shell folders in the registry so that both my start menu and the common start menu point to:

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

However, newly installed and updated programs continue to place their shortcuts in the following folder, giving me no choice but to manually copy and paste them:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

How do I tweak my system for all new programs to automatically go to the former folder and leave behind the latter completely?

 

[Kaktussoft]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\User Shell Folders

It asks you the question to install for "you only" or "all users" anyway. And you see the common start menu anyway! Why do you wanna fix it?

 

[Malickfan86]

Actually only about 1 in 5 programs ask me that question. The rest place shortcuts in ProgramData by default.

I made adjustments because I wanted to put all my shortcuts in a single location. I also did the same with my startup items, a process which was somewhat more confusing. There should have been a setting in Windows to simplify the current user/all user shortcuts for single-user computers.

 

[Malickfan86]

To clarify (for others' and my sake) the common start menu and startup shell folders are set to the AppData folders, where all of my shortcuts are stored, and my user start menu and startup shell folders are set to the ProgramData folders, where none of my shortcuts are stored.