Stupid Start Menu

[mmonnin]

So ok I went and organized some of my start menu programs.

I put all of the MS Office stuff into a Microsoft Office folder I.E. Word, Excel....

Then I say I can put OE and IE in there too since I never open those programs from there. I put those 2 links into the Micrsoft Office folder. So its no longer just office stuff and I rename it to just Microsoft.

Once I do that windows, ON ITS OWN, takes all of the Office links and puts them back into a deleted Microsoft Office folder!!!!!!! I end up with OE and IE in a micrsucks folder and the original MS Office folder.

If I try to open the folder on the HDD, there are no links at all in the office folder. OE and IE would appear in there but no Office Links.

I have no idea why it would do that. Did it several times. Windows also didnt like that I was messing around with the Games folder and was trying to put other games into it and rename the Games folder to MS Games. Somehow the games like Pinball and heats ended back up in the Games folder. So I ended up deleting all those games' links.

Anyone know the mystery behind all this crap.

[primesuspect]

Yeah, it's called "Enhanced User Experience" ;D

[mmonnin]

Figured such a quick responce had no real answer.;)

[primesuspect]

I'm just trying to make Thrax post in here about how I shouldn't do that ;D

[mmonnin]

Tsk Tsk.:rolleyes2

[profdlp]

Did you coordinate the "All Users" and "your username" folders?

I've been doing that for years. I have six categories:

Communicate
Utilities
Education
Office
Games
Audio-Visual

That's it, as far as being under the "All Programs" area. I have sub-categories in all of those Folders, too.

[JAZ]

I didn't have that problem and I moved Office shortcuts as well.

[mmonnin]

I am the only user besides admin. Never logged on as admin either. Norge, my roommate, was having problems too with the MS Games crap.

[Straight_Man]

So ok I went and organized some of my start menu programs.

I put all of the MS Office stuff into a Microsoft Office folder I.E. Word, Excel....

Then I say I can put OE and IE in there too since I never open those programs from there. I put those 2 links into the Micrsoft Office folder. So its no longer just office stuff and I rename it to just Microsoft.

Once I do that windows, ON ITS OWN, takes all of the Office links and puts them back into a deleted Microsoft Office folder!!!!!!! I end up with OE and IE in a micrsucks folder and the original MS Office folder.

If I try to open the folder on the HDD, there are no links at all in the office folder. OE and IE would appear in there but no Office Links.

I have no idea why it would do that. Did it several times. Windows also didnt like that I was messing around with the Games folder and was trying to put other games into it and rename the Games folder to MS Games. Somehow the games like Pinball and heats ended back up in the Games folder. So I ended up deleting all those games' links.

Anyone know the mystery behind all this crap.

Um, some apps do record what start menu folder they "Belong in" AND check to see where that folder is on restart. They have start menu folder "Associations". The tree can be modded, but on restart they will go back due to registry entries. Note, for office, you can do a repair install and tell it to use a different start menu folder to keep shortcuts in, it will then mod the registry entries for them, for some versions of Office.

How exactly did you do this??? Did you go into the root system folder (in my case, it is E: drive, yes I have a root redirect in boot.ini that someday I will vaporize and make it C: again) for those things you installed for all users, then go to the /Documents And Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs folder and right click the folder you want to rename and rename it, restart, and have this happen???? Try modding in All Users, Administrator, and your user you default to if so, see if renaming in the file system tree then gets registered right. You will need, in XP, to do this as ADMIN, and might have to do for ALL your users for things that show for each user and in All Users.

On my box, changing the folder name in the All Users subtree of Documents And Settings held after a restart for the games folder, for example. But had to be done there.

"Enhanced User Experience, Prime???" :D ;D

Try legacy things showing thier faces. I have used the folder rename in Start Menu file trees since 95 OSR2, and that typically always worked when Windows got stubborn. Sometimes, with 95 and 98 SE, AFTER a restart.

Jhon D.

[mmonnin]

There was no restart tho.

[profdlp]

Are you using Windows Explorer to do it? What about logging on as admin and checking both the "All Users" and "your username" folders?

[TheBaron]

he is logged in as an admin, as he said:

I am the only user besides admin. Never logged on as admin either.

[profdlp]

he is logged in as an admin, as he said:
...Never logged on as admin either...
:nudge: :confused2 :scratch:

[Leonardo]

Yeah, I've been organizing the Start Menu ever since I installed XP a couple years ago - never had your problem, Marc. I do the same thing with all the Win2K Pro office computers as well. My default folder for organizing is All Users. Regardless of which logon I use to move shortcuts, I will use an administrator-privileged account.

[mmonnin]

Well there is the default Admin account and my mmonnin account. I have never logged on as Admin since my account is an Admin.

I guess I could try using Windows Explorer. I was just going to the start menu and dragging things around.

[Straight_Man]

There was no restart tho.

I THINK that part of the problem might be no restart. Windows historically has DYN-DATA coded changes to major things, like Start Menu structure, and it has a limited DYN-DATA pool area for entries to work with. Once it is restarted, and vets things, then it commits what the registry does not disagree with-- unless the DYN-DATA LIFO stack area get changes pushed into it too much(overflowing the work area, which Windows handles by erasing changes by overwriting them rather than BSODs these days), then some DYN-DATA entries get popped off the stack, and forgotten.

With XP, sometimes you need a restart, sometimes you need a user logoff and login-- for hardware to commit, many times a restart is needed, and I think it would appear that either changes to start menu got popped off the bottom or top of the DYN-DATA precommit stack by too many changes without a user logoff and login or restart or Windows simply had registry entries for Office and IE and OE that were commited and it simply deferred to the existing entries when the DYN-DATA stack was not commited-- a definite part of the "self-healing" underlying pseudoprocesses in Windows, from 95 up.

I hope the stack of Dynamic Data as not yet commited to registry idea is something you can understand well, using perhaps your electronic knowledge of stacks and registers to see what is happening. I can tell you what, not PRECISELY why in terms of what reg keys to directly modify, and it has to be one of two things in this case, as I move what will not stay moved for you and it stays moved here. I try a user logoff followed by a login to same user, then a repeat of action and Windows restart if that does not "take." AND limit how much I do between one of those two things as far as changes Windows is likely to self-heal or literally forget as explained in summary above with XP and 2000 especially.

John D.

[Thrax]

So don't move them.

[profdlp]

...I guess I could try using Windows Explorer...
Any luck? :cool:

[mmonnin]

I havent tried it yet.

[Leonardo]

I always use Windows Explorer for files navigation and organization. I can't stand My Computer. To me, it's clumsy and inefficient.

[ginipig]

I always use Windows Explorer for files navigation and organization. I can't stand My Computer. To me, it's clumsy and inefficient.
Yeah, I use A43 (http://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/) when organizing my data, Foobar2k for Audio, The Bat! for Email, and OpenOffice for Productivity. Very rarely do I use built-in apps.