How to make folders into menus in start menu

[nakedbamboo]

How can you make the folders behave as menus in the start menu? For example when I click on All Programs and there is a folder called Microsoft Office, I would like to click or hover on it to show the contents off to the side instead of opening a window.

Everything is backwards in my start menu. The left side is all empty and white, while the right side has stuff on it. I would like move all the right hand stuff to the left, but the folders do not work like I want.

Thanks for any help.

 

[ianp5a]

In XP, creating groups of applications was easy. You create a folder on the Start Menu and put your app shortcuts in it. Then the folder would behave like a menu and you can start any app easily from that menu. I would group together all my favourite "Internet" or all "Video" apps. Making going to the cascading "All Programs" menu unneccessary
In Window 7 I to cannot find out how to do this. The alternative would be to edit the right-side buttons.
I hope someone knows of a fix for either solution.

 

[moinmoin]

Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
make a folder and you see it in the start menu.

 

[ianp5a]

But it does not work like in XP. So it does not open like a menu. You just get a explorer window.

XP was much better at that.

 

[TheBeginner]

This method only customizes the "All Programs" part of the Start Menu.
Is there a way to make custom folders for the space "above the All Programs" when you first
click the Microsoft Orb? (any application/shortcut can be "posted" to this space by right click it and select "pin to Start Menu"; to remove, right click it and select "unpin from Start Menu").

The Win-7 comes with a "Getting Started" which has an arrow on the right, when moused over, it has submenus (Discover Windows 7, Personalize Windows, ...). As I right click the "Getting Started" and select "pin to Start Menu", it moved up (but does NOT change to bold face like those in Vista or XP), the right side arrow is still there ...

So I wanted to make my own folder to put into that space and make it look like "Getting Started" with a right arrow. For example, a folder "Browsers", the right arrow will list Firefox, IE, Chrome, Safari.

I suspect the info is kept in the registry, since I could not find any place in the file system where the info is stored, I may be wrong on this ....

- TheBeginner

 

[Ruby Rod]

Actually, if you like the XP style of Start Menu operation try downloading

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Probably the handiest piece of SW that I've encountered here.