You Won’t Believe This Windows 8 HACK - Keep Both an Old Style Start Menu and Start Screen!
If you’re one of the many users who felt lost without the traditional Start button and menu in Windows 8, you’ll be pleased to know that you can have it all - the new Start screen and the old-style Start menu - on your Windows 8 computer. And the best part? You don’t need any third-party software or special skills to make it happen. Here’s how:
Step 1: Create a new toolbar
Right click on an empty area of the taskbar and select “Toolbars” > “New Toolbar”.
In the “Folder” box that appears, type the following location: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
You can also copy and paste this location into the “Folder” box.
Click “Select Folder” and you’re done!
Step 2: Move the newly created toolbar
You’ll now see a “Programs” toolbar on your taskbar.
Right-click on it and deselect “Show Text” and “Show Title”. This will remove the text and title from the toolbar, leaving only the programs inside it.
Right-click on the taskbar and make sure that “Lock the taskbar” is unchecked.
Now, click and drag the “Programs” toolbar to the left side of the taskbar, until it’s beside the Start button (which is no longer a button, but a hot corner on the screen).
Step 3: Enjoy!
Congratulations! You now have both an old-style Start menu and the new Start screen at your fingertips. Just click on the Start button to access the Start screen, and click on the “Programs” toolbar to access the old-style Start menu.
And there you have it! A simple and easy hack that will make your Windows 8 experience much more user-friendly. Give it a try and see how it works for you. Who knows, maybe Microsoft will bring back the traditional Start menu in future versions of Windows, but until then, this hack will definitely come in handy.
In this Windows 8 How-To article you’ll learn a simple trick to add an old style “Start Menu” to launch Windows applications, while keeping the Metro style Start Screen enabled.
I am one of the many users that really likes how Windows 8 is coming along: the new Metro style design and the chromeless apps, the Ribbon Office style menu, the new Storage Spaces, the Reset and Fresh your PC and all the other features that are built in the upcoming version of Microsoft’ OS.
All the good features aside, there are a lot of users that dislike the new Start Screen, or how most people know it for the “Start Menu”. In a previous article I showed you how to disable the Start Screen and bring back the old Start Menu with a simple tweak in Windows’ regedit and with just one click with a gadget called StartMenu. These are great solutions, but what about having an old style like Start Menu that can list all your programs without having to leave the Windows desktop and keeping the Metro style Start Screen at the same time? I think that this can be compelling to many users.
Essentially the way that you do this is by just adding a simple toolbar on the right side of the Taskbar that can list all the applications in Windows 8 and it updates automatically when a new application is installed. Keep reading to learn more.
How to create a toolbar in the Taskbar to list all your programs
Right-click on the Taskbar, select Toolbars and choose New toolbar.
In the New Toolbar window type the following and press Enter:
Then just click Select Folder to finish. That simple!
This not only is going to make quicker to launch a desktop application, like opening Microsoft Word or accessing the advanced options in Control Panel — you won’t have to go to the Start Screen, type Control Panel, then scroll down and click More Settings; too many clicks–, but also you don’t have to change between different environments just to open a desktop app. And this can also be helpful for those users that are not so thrilled about the new Start Screen in Windows 8.
Remember to be the first to leave us a comment on this topic and to share other tricks for Windows 8 if you’d like.
