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Customizing the Start Menu on a Windows 7 System

To change the items that appear when you click on the Start button on a Windows 7 system, take the following steps:

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. Select the Start Menu tab.

   

3. Click on the Customize button.
4. You can then select which items, such as "Computer", "Documents", etc. that you wish to be displayed.

   

   If you want to use the default settings, click on the button labeled Use Default Settings. E.g., you might want to choose that option if some items have disappeared from the Start Menu. The default settings are listed below:

   Computer (default: "Display as a link)
   Connect To (default: checked)
   Control Panel (default: "Display as a link")
   Default Programs (default: checked)
   Devices and Printers (default: checked)
   Documents (default: "Display as a link)
   Downloads (default: "Don't display this item")
   Help (default: checked)
   Highlight newly installed programs (default: checked)
   Homegroup (default: unchecked)
   Music (default: "Display as a link")
   Network (default: unchecked)
   Personal folder (default: "Display as a link")
   Pictures (default: "Display as a link")
   Recent Items (default: unchecked)
   Recorded TV (default: "Don't display this item)
   Run command (default: unchecked)
   Search other files and libraries (default: "Search with public folders")
   Search All Programs menu by name (default: checked)
   System administrative tools (default: unchecked)
   Use large icons (default: checked)
   Videos (default: "Don't display this item)

   Start menu size

   Number of recent programs to display (default: 10)
   Number of recent items to display in Jump Lists (default: 10)

5. When you are finished click on OK then OK again.

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Reorganizing Items under All Programs for Windows 7

If you want to add or reorganize programs and folders under All Programs, which you see when you click on the Windows Start button, you will first need to log into an account that has administrator privileges then display hidden and system files and folders. Once you've done that, use the Windows Explorer to navigate to the location for the ProgramData folder, which will, typically, be C:\ProgramData. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. Within this directory you will see the folders and programs that appear when you view the items within All Programs after you click on the Windows Start button.

You can then move folders and shortcuts about or right-click and choose New to create a new folder.

Some entries you see under All Programs may be under C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs, where Username is the relevant user account, instead. E.g., if you are logged into the account Jane, some of entries may be under C:\Users\Jane\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs . These are entries that appear under All Programs just for that account, whereas those under C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs apply to all accounts on the system.

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Viewing Hidden and System Files and Folders Under Windows 7

To see the location of hidden and system files and folders under Windows 7, you need to take the following steps to make them visible.

1. Click on the Windows Start button at the lower, left-hand corner of your screen.
2. Select Computer.
3. Click on Organize.
4. Select Folder and search options.
5. Click on the View tab.
6. Under the Hidden files and folders entry, check "Show hidden files, folders, and drives".
7. Below the above entry, you will see an entry for "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)"; uncheck it. You will see a warning that "These files are required to start and run Windows. Deleting or editing them can make your computer inoperable. Are you sure you want to display these files?" Click on Yes.

   

8. Click on OK to apply the changes.

   

You can follow a similar process to reverse the changes to hide the files again after you've accessed the files you need to access to protect yourself from accidentally modifying any system files.

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Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2

If you have a backup made with the backup utility, NTBackup, that comes with Windows XP, but want to restore files from the backup on a Windows 7 system you have to download the Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 from Microsoft. The Windows NT Removable Storage Manager (RSM) is no longer included in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2, but this utility will allow you to restore files in a Windows .bkf backup file made with the backup utility on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to computers that are running Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.

There are versions of the Update for Windows 7 (KB974674) utility for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 as well as for all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 and all supported IA-64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2.

The utility is distributed as an .MSU file, e.g. Windows6.1-KB974674-x86.msu for the 32-bit version for Windows XP. An .msu file is a Microsoft Update Stanalone Package file.

References:

1. Windows NT Backup - Restore in Win 7?
   Date: June 5, 2009
   Microsoft TechNet: Resources for IT Professionals
2. Description of the Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 Article ID: 974674
   Last Review: January 27, 2010
   Revision: 2.0
   Microsoft Support

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Windows Easy Transfer from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7

If you are upgrading a prior version of Windows, such as Windows XP or vista, to Windows 7, you can use the Windows Easy Transfer program to transfer files and settings for accounts on the system.

[ More Info ]

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Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

You can use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check on whether a system is compatible with Windows 7.

After installing the software, start it and click on Start check.

The check of the system may take several minutes. When it completes, you will see a list of the issues found.

If you scroll down through the issues found, you can determine if any issues were found with hardware in or attached to the system, such as a video card in the computer or a printer attached to the system, by examining the Devices section.

If you click on Save Report, you can save a report on what the Windows Upgrade Advisor found in .mht or .html format. A compatibility report for an HP Pavilion a1630n system can be seen here. The report indicates the NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE video card in the system is compatible with Windows 7 and that Windows Aero support should be available.

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Taskbar Color Not Changing for Themes on a Windows 7 System

My wife reported that the taskbar color on her Windows 7 desktop system was not changing when she changed the theme as it did on her laptop. The background color would change for a theme, but the taskbar color remained the same gray color.

I right-clicked on the desktop and chose Personalize. At the bottom of the window where one could select a theme, there was an option to Troubleshooot problems with transparency and other Aero effects . I clicked on that option. A window then appeared where I could click on Next to troubleshoot Aero problems.

When I clicked on Next, I saw a window with "Update the driver for your video card" and the message that "The current video card may support Aero with a driver that is compliant with the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM). Contact the manufacturer of your computer or video card for a WDDM-compatible driver."

I clicked on Next and saw a "Troubleshooting has completed" window stating the following:

Problems found

Video card driver doesn't support Aero effects

I decided to check the Windows Experience Index (WEI) score for the system. I clicked on the Start button and selected Control Panel. The View by settng was Category. I changed it to Large icons and then selected Performance Information and Tools, which showed me the WEI score was 1.0.

The WEI assesses key system components on a scale of 1.0 to 7.9. A system is rated with an overall score, called the base score, and with subscores for each of five individual hardware components: processor, memory, graphics, gaming graphics, and primary hard disk. The base score is determined from the lowest of the five subscores, because a system's performance is limited by its slowest or least-powerful hardware component.

In this case the values were as follows:

Component	What is rated	Subscore
Processor:	Calculations per second	4.2
Memory (RAM):	Memory operations per second	4.6
Graphics:	Desktop performance for Windows Aero	1.9
Gaming graphics:	3D business and gaming graphics performance	1.0
Primary hard disk:	Disk data transfer rate	5.9

In this case the overall score was 1.0, because of the gaming graphics score. I clicked on Re-run the assessment. The only score that changed was the one for memory, which changed from 4.6 to 4.9. I had replaced the memory modules in the system.

According to the table provided at Winows Experience Index, a value of 3.0 is typically needed to have Windows Aero automatically enabled.

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Removing the Arrow from Windows Shortcuts under Windows 7

A family member doesn't like the arrows on Windows shortcuts, so I needed to remove them from her new Windows 7 system. I found that the registry key I removed from her Windows XP system to remove the arrows from shortcuts on that system no longer was present in the Windows registry on her Windows 7 system. I did find someone providing a .reg file that could be used to add a registry entry under Windows 7 that would remove the shortcut arrows.

[ More Info ]

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Image Backup with Windows 7 Backup Program

I recently upgraded my wife's laptop from Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium. I installed a lot of applications on the system and decided it was time to get an image backup of the system. I've been using Symantec's Ghost 2003 program for image backups, but when I tried to backup the laptop with it, it aborted part way through the backup. So I decided to try the backup program that comes with Windows 7 to create an image backup. It was fairly straightforward to use and I didn't encounter any problems with it.

[ More Info ]

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Adding Folders Under "All Programs" for All Users Under Windows 7

I just recently installed Windows 7 on my wife's laptop. I wanted to add a new program group (folder) that I intended to name "Utilities" under "All Programs" so that the group would be visible to all accounts on the system. I right-clicked on the start program button as I would under Windows XP, but there was no "Open all users" or "Explore all users" option. And there was no Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs folder where I would add a new folder under Windows XP. Instead, you add a folder under C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. To see this folder you will have to turn on the display of hidden files and folders, which you do under Windows 7 by selecting "Organize" from the Windows Explorer, then selecting "Folder and search options", and then clicking on the "View tab". Then under "Hidden files and folders", select "Show hidden files, folders, and drives". You will then be able to see the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder and create a new folder within it.

Once I had created the Utilities folder by right-clicking and selecting "New" and "Folder" within the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs, I then expected to just be able to right-click again within the Utilities folder and select "New" and "Shortcut". But the only option under "New" was "Folder". So I next opened another Windows Explorer window, thinking I could create a shortcut by just going to the folder where the program was located that I wanted to add to the Utilities folder and then clicking on the program, in this case procmon.exe, and then dragging it over to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Utilities while holding down the Alt key (if you just drag the program from one location on the same drive to another, the progam is moved, but, if you hold down the Alt key at the same time, you will get a shortcut, aka "link"). But that didn't work either. I received the message "Windows can't create a shorcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?" I chose "yes". I was then able to move the shortcut from the desktop to the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Utilities, though I was told "You'll need to provide administrator permission to move to this folder." I clicked on "Continue" and the shortcut was moved. I was logged on under an account, admin, in the administrator group throughout the process.

This seems like a far more cumbersome means of performing a fairly simple task under Windows 7 than it was under Windows XP.

Apparently, you can have at most 70 folders under "All Programs" in Windows 7. Tim Long posted the following at Windows 7 Blank ‘All Programs’ Menu:

I’ve run into a problem in Windows 7 RC where the ‘All Programs’ menu goes completely blank, making it a pain to access installed programs. The search feature still works and programs can be accessed that way.

This happens when there are more than about 70 folders in the ‘All Programs’ menu. The workaround I have come up with is:

1. Uninstall programs until there is <70 folders in the All Programs menu.
2. Use Explorer to browse the All Programs folder (typically C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs) and reorganise some of the folders into a subfolder. For example, create a Utilities folder and drag some of the other folders inside it. There must be <70 folders in the top level.

So you can use either method 1 or method 2 above to resolve the problem.

References:

1. Start Menu All Programs - Add or Delete Shortcuts
   By: Brink
   Date: November 3, 2008
   Windows 7 Forums
2. Windows 7 blank All Programs menu
   Date: August 19, 2009
   Super User
3. Windows 7 Blank ‘All Programs’ Menu
   By: Tim Long
   Date: August 19, 2009
   Blogs - TiGra Networks

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