Classic Shell: Forum

Hello,

When I installed Classic Shell on my new Lenovo laptop, something odd happened, and I don't understand why.

When I press the Start button, and then All Programs, then scroll through the list of programs, at the top there are some shortcuts to individual exe files, then later there are program folders. This is perfectly normal.

What is not normal, is that in the list of installed programs, there is a folder labelled Programs, and inside that folder, the list of individual EXE files (shortcuts) repeats and shows the entire list of installed programs and there folders again. It is recursive.

Why is this happening? It did not occur on my other Windows 8, upgraded to 8.1 machine.

I've attached a graphic illustrating the problem.

If you accidentally dragged the Programs folder in Explorer, maybe it created a copy.

To fix it, click the Start button to open the menu and then right click "All Programs". Click Open and do this again and click Open All Users. In either of the "Programs" folders, Explorer will show another programs folder. You can delete it if the contents are the same. Or cut/move the shortcuts inside it and then delete it.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Hello,

You would think that would be the problem, but it doesn't seem to be. There is only one programs folder inside the user menu folder structure, and likewise for the all user menu structure. See the attached graphics for confirmation.

Any other ideas?

Have you redirected or moved the Start Menu or Programs folder using Windows folder redirection or Classic Shell Group Policy settings?

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Wouldn't it be 1 level deeper?
A programs folder inside the programs folder (not beside)

Also Classic shell pulls from 2 directories:

C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
and
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Is there a folder labeled 'Programs' inside either one of those directories?

and is it fully recursive (Does this subfolder have a 'programs' subfolder of its own?)

I forget exactly what its called (similar to a pointer) but a while back I read about a type of shortcut that windows would treat exactly like the file it was referring to. If something like this were referring to its parent directory, I could see something similar happening.

Hello,

Folder redirection was not used, but looking into it has given me a clue, though not a solution yet.

When I noticed that there was a Programs folder inside a Programs folder, I deleted what I thought was the extra copy of the Programs folder, and recreated any shortcuts and folders inside that, which is why my Start menu looks fairly clean. However, part of the reason it looks clean is that I hid the Programs folder in the User menu.

Anyway, I note that currently, my user Start menu folder does have a location tab, but the Programs folder inside it does NOT. (Checking another machine, it DOES.) So, apparently, I deleted the system folder and replaced it with and ordinary one with no Location tab. So, how do I reestablish the system aspect of the user Programs folder and get the location tab back on it?

-still stymied

Success At Last!

I looked into folder redirection and found that I needed to edit two registry keys:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

and

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

By studying the values in another computer, I was able to put things back the way they should be. It took a couple reboots, as one of the changes didn't stick properly the first time, but now it all seems to work. Previously things in the User start up folder were not executing. They are now, and I no longer have the recursive menu.

Mark this one solved, I guess.