Posted on 07/15/2023 5:04:55 PM PDT by Paul R.
There seems to be no way to get certain desired exe files (apps) to show up in the "All Programs" list in the Windows 10 Pro Start Menu. (This is common to Win 7 also, I believe, and perhaps earlier OS's as well.) I can add such exe's* to the Start Menu "tiles" in Win 10 Pro, but not to the "All Programs" list. This seems quite odd, but maybe I'm missing something?
*Examples of such apps / exe files are "IV_Player" (Irfan View Player, a very handy & lightweight media file player), as well as "Wavosaur", a handy and lightweight audio editor. I understand why Windows doesn't want to list every exe file in "All Programs" (!!!), but why one can't add one to the list I don't know... Maybe this happens because these "simple" programs don't (AFAIK) get a key in the Registry? Hmmm....
Thanks in advance! :-)
Seriously?
Me thinks you are making a mistake.
I tried to research this a bit on the web and got nowhere... ;-)
I second BitWielder1’s suggestion.
Quite seriously. Try installing one of these small apps (exe files) yourself. Then go find it on your (probably) C: drive and try to add it to the “All Programs” list in “Start” in Win 10 Pro...
As I said, there are way too many exe files (perhaps tens of thousands) to list in “All Programs” on a PC with lots of goodies on it. But, it seems weird there doesn’t appear to be a way to specifically plunk a few there, when they CAN be added as a Start Menu tile or “shortcut to” on the desktop.
I’d rather not have all these I use placed as tiles or Desktop shortcuts - they are easier and more compactly organized in “All Programs”. IMO. ;-)
Although not many people still write their own batch files, I suspect the same problem exists with them, too.
Well, of course. That’s how I locate .exe files to, say, add them to the Start “tiles” or the desktop. But, there seems to be no way to add them to “All Programs”.
Right-click on the Start Button. From there, select “Open” (for yourself) or “Open All Users”. A Windows Explorer window will open. From there, enter the “Programs” folder. From there, drop in your desired shortcut. You may need to be administrator to do so.
I should add that I am showing you what I see with the Classic Shell addon for Windows 10. It may be different in stock Windows 10.
Ah, yes, that (making sure to be right on top the Start Button when I release the mouse button) adds the program shortcut to the top of the Start menu (Win 7) or adds it as a tile (Win 10 Pro), but, the program (or shortcut) still doesn’t show up in “All Programs”. Which is where I want some of these so as to keep the tiles in Win 10 Pro, um, not so numerous...
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\
I believe Classic Shell will look much like what I’m seeing in Win 7 Pro on that machine...
It used to have to be installed and registered to windows. Has that changed ?
That may well be what’s going on, per my comment about Registry Keys, perhaps? But it seems the issue is peculiar to “All Programs”, as I can manually create a shortcut on the Desktop or plunk the thing into the Start Menu tiles as discussed above.
How one would create a Registry Key for, say, “wavosaur.exe” I have not a clue!
It’s not really an issue for an exe file I use a lot (though it’s slightly unsettling to NOT be able to find such in “All Programs”!) But for the lesser used unregistered(?) exe files... I guess I could just make a group of alphabetically ordered tiles at or near the bottom of the tiles window.
bkmk
This has been a pain in the rear since the menu structure was modified in Windows 8, but there has been a fix, Classic Shell which I have been using for years.
https://www.fosshub.com/Classic-Shell.html
But it is not quite as simple as that. You still need to go to the actual locations of your start menu to take complete control of your start menu like you used to in Windows 7. You may have to unhide these directories and may also have to use administrative privileges to add and edit items in the following folders.
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu —— for all users
C:\Users\{your name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu -—— for just your account
You can add programs you want to be able to access through your start menu in the programs directory and also add your own additional directories. But if you do not install “Classic Shell” you won’t be able to see them in your windows start menu ... but remember this is for your “protection”. Who knows what bad things might happen if you were allowed to do this without jumping through more hoops?
Once you add Classic Shell your new programs and directories will be visible in your Classic Shell start menu.
Of course, if you don’t feel like going through this hassle you can always right click on your shortcuts and pin them to your Windows start menu and access them through one of the tiles or you can put them in folders that you have pinned to the start menu.
I should note that Classic Shell has editing functions of its own.
Classic Shell I could try. :-)
However, the idea of a folder containing these programs, which folder can then get pinned to the Start menu -- THAT I think I'll try 1st. It might be the best and most compact way of all to "organize" these files (apps)... And I already have a folder named "Audio Programs" for a couple such apps, in my C:\ directory, it's just not pinned to "Start".
IV_Player.exe MAY have to be in the IrfanView plugins folder to run properly. But I can copy it into another folder and find out... Thanks.
A-HA!
IV_Player.exe can run from any HD location. Apparently it’s stand alone. “Wunnerful”!
One down... :-)
I appreciate the extra control available using Classic Shell, and editing the actual start directories. I have been using Classic Shell since Windows 7 days, I forgot that even Windows 7 had difficulties with nesting directories in the Start Menu which is why I started using Classic Shell in the first place.
IV_Player.exe MAY have to be in the IrfanView plugins folder to run properly. But I can copy it into another folder and find out... Thanks.
Or you can just create a shortcut to it and “pin” the shortcut to the start menu and then drag the “pinned” shortcut into your “pinned” folder. These days I am more used to doing this on my Android and Amazon Fire devices to keep the number of screens down or smaller.
Even though I have been jumping through hoops trying to keep my programs organized for years... I have been so disgusted with the extra effort required to manipulate the start menus in later versions of Windows that I have often just used folders on my desktop to keep things organized. I definitely feel the same way as you when it comes to having to use 3rd party apps for something that should work fine without them. If it wasn't for all of the Windows programs that I have a lot of time and experience with I would likely change to a Linux operating system. I dual boot with Ubuntu Studio on all of my laptops and appreciate the lack of hoops. But I have some weird driver issues with Linux as well which also keep me using Windows for most tasks.
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