Vista Start Menu - quirk

[Bob]

In XP, I could place nested folders with shortcuts at the start menu. This
results in folder being on the top of the "All Programs" stack and it worked
fine.

However, if I do that in Vista, it will display along with all the other
folders because it seems that Vista doesn't have a stack above "Programs".
But I find that a folder placed in the start menu will not open to expose
the subfolders and/or shortcuts it contains. I suppose this is by design,
but I thought I'd write this post to be sure.

Can anyone confirm this is the way Vista is? Or is there another way to do
what I want?

In particular:

IN XP, it is okay to place folders and shortcuts at the following path.
Doing so will place them above all others in the "All Programs" menu.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu


IN VISTA, only shortcuts may be placed in the following path. Placing
folders here will not work.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

The only solution I've found is to go one deeper at:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Ken Zhao [MSFT]]

Hello Bob,

Thank you for using newsgroup!

Based on my test, I can reproduce this scenario which I think this is by
design.

Thanks & Regards,

Ken Zhao

Microsoft Online Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

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[Ray]

[snip]

In particular:

IN XP, it is okay to place folders and shortcuts at the following
path. Doing so will place them above all others in the "All
Programs" menu.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu


IN VISTA, only shortcuts may be placed in the following path.
Placing folders here will not work.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

The only solution I've found is to go one deeper at:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Any thoughts?

I've put several folders in the Start Menu folder, at the same level as
the Programs folder. They appear at the very top of the first window
that appears when I click "start". I didn't do anything special to get
them there, other than respond to a bunch of annoying elevation and
permission prompts.

Could it depend on the version of Vista? I'm running home premium.
Are you using an administrator account? That might make a difference.

To put folders in the Start Menu folder, I right-click the start button
and select "explore all users". Then I just copy/paste them where I
want them. Vista asks for permission for each move, of course.

 

[Guest]

What you are trying to do will work, just like it does in XP, if you choose
the Classic start menu in Vista.

Personally I prefer the classic menu, but if you want the added bells and
whistles of the new Vista start menu, you can only rearrange your folders
under \Start Menu\Programs\

Also I find it annoying how the menus from subfolders of Programs do not
spring out automatically when you hover on them. You have to click them. The
classic start menu does keep that cascading submenus feature.

 

[Bob]

Yes, that is what I'm experiencing too.

I also miss the cascading submenus feature from XP (AND btw the inability to
collapse unaffected folders in IE 7 when you try to add favorites!)

There must be a whole new generation of programmers to MSFT that don't
appreciate the old XP/IE6 folder presentation techniques.

I'll keep the good, bad and ugly look of Vista for my user community as I
want them to see Vista as most of the world will see it. They are free to
change to the classic look if they can figure out how.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Bob.

 

[Ray]

What you are trying to do will work, just like it does in XP, if
you choose the Classic start menu in Vista.

Personally I prefer the classic menu, but if you want the added
bells and whistles of the new Vista start menu, you can only
rearrange your folders under \Start Menu\Programs\

I had forgotten about the non-classic view, since I changed to the
classic view immediately on starting Vista for the first time. If you
use the classic view to put folders under Start Menu, what happens to
them if you then change to non-classic view?

 

[Didymus]

Windows Vista Home Premium
I can't the Menu re-organization to work properly with the default Menu.
Changed it to the Classic view, re-organized, works great... except when you
go back to the default view... the changes are there but they don't work...

Gary