MORE Advanced Customization of the Windows Start Menu

[KeithA45]

Hi guys,

I've been customizing my start menu, and I'd like to add more folders into the section with "My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, and My Computer", but I can't find anything online to help me. The section I want to add folders in is circled in the picture I attached (I attatched a picture because I have no idea what to call the section, that's how unsure I am where to start)

I don't mind going into complicated settings, as long as I know where to start.

Thanks,

- Keith

[andsome]

Open My Documents, then look at the top left hand corner. Click FILE/New/Folder. You can then right click on the folder icon and rename it to what ever you want. Do the same through all the other folders. :D

[KeithA45]

Open My Documents, then look at the top left hand corner. Click FILE/New/Folder. You can then right click on the folder icon and rename it to what ever you want. Do the same through all the other folders. :D

? Unless I'm missing something, that just makes a new folder in My Documents, and doesn't have anything to do with the start menu. I'm hoping to add a new shortcut to that section that typically has "My Documents, My Recent Documents, My Picture, My Music, My Computer, and My Network Places"

Thanks in advance

[KeithA45]

If it helps at all, I'm running windows XP Professional, and Dual-Boot on a MacBook Pro (although I doubt that second part matters)

[Boris]

I assume that you'd have to manually hack the Registry ?

The link below shows how it works for the "normal" Start Menu folders

http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1218/

[andsome]

Open My Documents, then look at the top left hand corner. Click FILE/New/Folder. You can then right click on the folder icon and rename it to what ever you want. Do the same through all the other folders. :D

? Unless I'm missing something, that just makes a new folder in My Documents, and doesn't have anything to do with the start menu. I'm hoping to add a new shortcut to that section that typically has "My Documents, My Recent Documents, My Picture, My Music, My Computer, and My Network Places"

Thanks in advance

Sorry, I misunderstood.

[ambavaram]

1.right click on the folder which is in desktop in that option is there pin to start menu it will help to your requirements

[KeithA45]

1.right click on the folder which is in desktop in that option is there pin to start menu it will help to your requirements

Almost, that pins programs onto the up-left side of the start menu, I want to pin shortcuts to folders to the up-right corner of the start menu.

[Scarecrow Man]

They are system folders, My Computer, My Documents, etc.. You cannot create a system folder, therefore you cannot add it to the start menu in the area you are asking for.

At least, not that I know of.

[Boris]

I assume that you'd have to manually hack the Registry ?

The link below shows how it works for the "normal" Start Menu folders

http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1218/

As I said above, you would need to experiment with some hacking :)

This page may also be of some help ?

http://www.technospot.net/blogs/how-to-cre...in-my-computer/

[Goodcoin]

I'm also interested in the subject. It would be nice to put "My Videos" next to "My Pictures" and "My Music".

They are system folders, My Computer, My Documents, etc.. You cannot create a system folder, therefore you cannot add it to the start menu in the area you are asking for.

According to this article, creating a system folder should not be any problem:

http://www.technospot.net/blogs/how-to-cre...in-my-computer/

Now we need to figure out how to add it to the start menu.

These are the registry values for the existing folders:

Start_ShowControlPanel - Control Panel

Start_ShowMyComputer - My Computer

Start_ShowMyDocs - My Documents

Start_ShowMyMusic - My Music

Start_ShowMyPics - My Pictures

Start_ShowNetConn - Network Connections

As you see, the internal words for the folders are different. For instance, it's "MyDocs" for "My Documents". Logically, in order to add another system folder, such as "My Videos", Windows has to understand its internal name, something like "MyVids", which is going to be used in the value name like this:

Start_ShowMyVids - My Videos

The big question is, how can we make it understand?

[Goodcoin]

The solution might be easier than I thought. Apparently, we don't need to create a system folder. Everything could be done by adding a custom key here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel

For instance, we could copy "MyPics" and create "MyVids" based on that. Logically, it would create a reference for Start_ShowMyVids string. Sounds easy, but let's see if it actually works. I'll keep you posted.

[Goodcoin]

I found a similar thread on another forum:

http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44893

Apparently, the registry key suggested by me is the right place to start. Here's the partial solution posted in that thread:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\MyVideo]
"Type"="group"
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-21791"
"Bitmap"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\shell32.dll,238"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\MyVideo\Hide]
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"Type"="radio"
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-30492"
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"ValueName"="Start_ShowMyVideo"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\MyVideo\Menu]
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"Type"="radio"
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-30491"
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"ValueName"="Start_ShowMyVideo"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000002
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\MyVideo\Open]
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"Type"="radio"
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-30490"
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"ValueName"="Start_ShowMyVideo"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\MyVideo\Policy]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\MyVideo\Policy\NoStartMenuMyMusic]

This is what the author of that solution said:

Applying above code I can see "My video" radio-button in the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box (*), but not in the start menu!

(*) procedure:

1. Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.

2. On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.

3. On the Advanced tab, under Start menu items I can see the "My video" radio-button item (the same as "My pictures" or "My music" items)!

Shortly, that's the right path to the solution, but for some reason it does not work as it should. We need some professional help here.

[Goodcoin]

I return with some bad news. Don't chop my head off, though. :D

It seems that this particular task is impossible to accomplish with registry tweaks, no matter how advanced. It will require tampering with the code, reverse-engineering some of the system files, and so on. This is not only problematic, since it would require a help of a professional coder, but also illegal.

The only more or less close result I was able to achieve is placing the link to My Videos folder below RUN, in a spot which appears to be reserved for custom OEM applications. It can be done with the help of the following registry addition (make sure to backup your registry first!):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="My Videos"
"InfoTip"="Opens the My Videos folder, where you can store video files."

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="%systemroot%\\system32\\shell32.dll,129"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="My Videos"
"Param1"="C:\\Documents and Settings\\USER\\My Documents\\My Videos"

The path, the info tip and the folder name can be modified.

Also, you can place the "My Videos" folder instead of "Set Program Access and Defaults". To do so, you need to replace the "{2559a1f6-" part with "{2559a1f7-" in the code above.

You might have to log off and back on in order to see all the changes (like a new icon instead of the old one).