Freeware to replicatge WinXP ability to pin a hierarchical menu tothe Windows 7 Start Menu

[Ed Cryer]

What I mean by "simply opens up a folder" is that it simply
brings you to the Windows Explorer GUI, at the level of that
folder.

For example, if I put "menu" in "c:\a\b\c\menu", and if "menu"
has subdirectories {archivers,browsers,editors, etc.},
and in those subdirectories, there are shortcuts to their
respective programs {IZArc.exe,firefox.exe,Irfanview.exe,etc.},
then I expect a single mouse button press to navigate through
all those hierarchies and to open up the executable.

That's what I refer to as a "cascaded menu" (just like what
you see in this WinXP screenshot:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/9379442769_5419507cea_o.gif

If, instead, when you click on "menu", you end up with the
Windows Explorer, and then you have to click a second time on
editors, and then a third time on "picture editors", and then
a fourth time on "Irfanview.exe", then that is what I mean by
opening up as a "dumb folder".

The difference is immense. Most notably, one click versus four
clicks for every single program that you wish to run.

I'm shocked that Windows 7 is a step backward from Windows XP
in usability, at least in this critical single piece of usability.

It's like buying a brand new car, and it doesn't even have a
cigarette lighter socket to run your accessories.

Just hit the Start Orb and type "Irf". Did XP have that? No.
The cascaded menus were a bit of a pest. They spread all over the place,
sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left. And then they had the
habit of suddenly disappearing without warning.

Get used to the new style. It's better.

Ed

 

[dadiOH]

To be clear, I do *not* want the menu *inside* the "All
Programs" menu.

No, not in "All Programs" in the START MENU folder...the same one that
*contains* "All Programs". Clicking the Start button will expand a menu
that shows "Programs", "Documents", "Settings", whatever AND whatever you
put in the Start Menu folder (which will be the first in the list).

If you don't have a start button and you don't want to use Classic Shell,
the way to do what you want is to make one or more toolbars with your
directory tree(s) and put it/them on the Windows taskbar.

The reason is that this menu is already polluted, and
continues to
be polluted, so, I want the menu at the *same level* as
the "All Programs" menu.

"Polluted"? How is it polluted? The items there are just shortcuts which
have the path to the file or folder; as long as you don't change the
location of what the shortcuts point to, the shortcuts work just fine.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

 

[Tim Rude]

Is there Windows 7 freeware to pin a hierarchical menu to the Start Menu?

No additional software is necessary. However, the hierarchical menu is
on the right hand side of the start menu, rather than on the left.

Have a look at the following link, which includes illustrated
step-by-step instructions:

http://superuser.com/questions/384504

 

[Danny D.]

Just hit the Start Orb and type "Irf". Did XP have that?

We've had that capability since at least Windows 95.
At least, I've been doing that since Microsoft created
the concept of the registry.

For example, if Irfanview is located in:
C:\apps\editors\image\irfanview\Irfanview.exe

Then, I simply typed "irf" at the Start->Run line:
Start->Run->irf
And, up came IrfanView.

The trick was simply to add this value to the registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\
irf.exe = c:\apps\editors\image\irfanview\Irfanview.exe

As per this Microsoft Windows XP knowledge base:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ee872121(v=vs.85).aspx

In fact, since Win95, I've kept a registry file that defines,
in a single button click, any number of quick keystrokes, e.g.,
pdf ==> run adobe acrobat writer
pdfr ==> run adobe acrobat reader
ttax ==> run turbo tax
tax ==> view latest tax pdf
irf ==> run IrfanView
url ==> run Firefox
url google ==> run Firefox and feed it the google home page
nntp ==> run Agent newsreader
calc ==> run calculator (this was built in)
clipbrd ==> open the clipboard (this was built in)
clean ==> run ccleaner
mail ==> run thunderbird
network ==> run ifconfig
etc.

 

[Danny D.]

Will popup menus from a task bar icon do instead?

Actually, all I want is what WinXP & Win95 had, which
was a simple cascading menu, like this:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7380/9405322475_1dbde13bc8_o.gif

 

[Danny D.]

"Polluted"? How is it polluted? The items there are just shortcuts which
have the path to the file or folder; as long as you don't change the
location of what the shortcuts point to, the shortcuts work just fine.

Hi DadiOh,
To each his own, but I prefer to maintain a hierarchical menu
organized by functionality, not by brand name.

Here is just one example of my hierarchical menu:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7380/9405322475_1dbde13bc8_o.gif

I *certainly* could set this up in the default "All Programs" menu,
but, the very next time anyone installed anything, that menu
would instantly get polluted by whatever garbage a program
wishes to add to the start menu.

For example, there are uninstallers and readmes and all sorts
of links to program features that I'd never use in a million
years that are put in the start menu by program installers.

Sure, I could clean out the crap every single time, but, I
found it *much easier* to let the programs poop on the start
menu, and then I simply pull out *just* the shortcuts to
programs that I need, and I populate my own menu.

In addition, when others use the computer, *they* may prefer
the utter clutter of the typical "All Programs" menu.

The *real* problem is that Microsoft invests an inordinate
amount of resources added increasingly higher levels of
abstraction simply because they never organized the hierarchy
in the first place, and users allowed programs to poop
all over their PCs. But, I can't solve the world's problems;
only mine.

 

[dadiOH]

Hi DadiOh,
To each his own, but I prefer to maintain a hierarchical
menu organized by functionality, not by brand name.

Here is just one example of my hierarchical menu:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7380/9405322475_1dbde13bc8_o.gif

I *certainly* could set this up in the default "All
Programs" menu, but, the very next time anyone installed
anything, that menu
would instantly get polluted by whatever garbage a program
wishes to add to the start menu.

And I keep telling you to make your folders in the START MENU folder. Yes,
"All Programs" is there too but there is nothing to stop you from putting
other things there and they will NOT become "polluted"; they will be
displayed as a separate menu tree organized in whatever manner you see fit.
Why is that so hard to understand?


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

 

[JoeBro]

Actually, all I want is what WinXP & Win95 had, which
was a simple cascading menu, like this:

Good luck with that.

 

[Danny D.]

Is there Windows 7 freeware to pin a hierarchical menu to the Start Menu?
WinXP Example:

Today I hope to get back to this, as I had to re-install Windows 7 multiple
times, and today I'm re-installing it again (due to RAID errors and then
again due to 32-bit vs 64-bit problems).

I hope we can find a *simple* solution to the simplest of all acts, which
is merely to create a cascading menu in Windows 7 such as these below
in Windows XP (which came from Windows 2000 & Windows 95 prior).

Simple physical hierarchy *outside* the Microsoft-polluted ones:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5454/9379442805_d708428c5b_o.gif

An example of a simple menu *outside* the polluted one:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/9379442769_5419507cea_o.gif

The main point is to maintain *simplicity* by avoiding Microsoft
complexity. (I'm constantly amazed that nobody with a clear head
seems to work at Microsoft - if I worked there - I'd put a stop to
this nonsense!).

This is what I want *my* simple menus to look like:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7380/9405322475_1dbde13bc8_o.gif

 

[Bob I]

Simple really. Build the cascading folder structure, grab the top folder
you created, drag and hold over start button, when it opens hover over
All Programs, when All Programs opens, drop it. You don't "Pin it"

 

[JoeBro]

Subject: Re: Freeware to replicatge WinXP ability to pin a
hierarchical menu to the Windows 7 Start Menu From: Bob I
<[email protected]> Newsgroups:
alt.comp.freeware,alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.it.windows7


Simple really. Build the cascading folder structure, grab the top
folder you created, drag and hold over start button, when it opens
hover over All Programs, when All Programs opens, drop it. You don't
"Pin it"

Yep, that's how it's done.

 

[Char Jackson]

Yep, that's how it's done.

Agreed, and to help build the cascading menu I use ClassicShell's drag and
drop capability if I need to make a quick and dirty change.

 

[Bob I]

Agreed, and to help build the cascading menu I use ClassicShell's drag and
drop capability if I need to make a quick and dirty change.

Don't need that, simply grab another folder and drag, wait, hold... to
the desired sub folder in plain old Win 7.