The keen eye can see that Windows is ignoring the move from James2 to James3 backing up the fact that changes only reflect instantly against the Profile Based Start Menu location (_%AppData%).Ĭommon Start Menu Ignored Again Summary and Lessons Learnt The last image outlined below shows the Start Menu Structure once I have moved the eventvwr shortcut from the %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\James2 to the %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\James3 Folder. This behaviour differs in the user profile based Start Menu (%AppData%) which reflects these changes on the fly regardless of the OS. (This behaviour was for more prevalent in Windows Server 2016, Windows 10 seemed to honor these changes quickly.) You will need to either log off the session or kill the explorer process to see your changes. If you move the executable from one custom folder to another, the Start Menu will not always auto adjust on the fly if housed in the Common Start Menu Location (%ProgramData%). The basics, I guess… Rule 3: Moving the Shortcuts That’s a lot of fun when you are testing the creation of a custom folder. The Start Menu will not display empty folders. Profile based Start Menu taking PrecedenceĬalculator is now missing from Windows Accessories despite it existing at the File System layer.Ĭommon Start Menu ignored for calculator Rule 2: The Empty Void Note that the Profile based Start Menu (%AppData%) overrides and owns the shortcut in the James Folder. The images below display the behaviour of the calculator shortcut when it is defined in both the Common Start Menu (%ProgramData%) and the User Profile based Start menu (%AppData%) It appears that a custom created Start Menu Folder housed in the user profile %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs will be the most authorative, followed by default folders such as Windows Accessories within the same profile, and then finally the common start menu location %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs though this is just from my testing. You cannot have two copies of that same executable path defined anywhere in the Start Menu and expect it to be displayed. What this means in English is that while you can specify c:\windows\system32\calc.exe multiple times, the Start Menu will only ever honour 1 instance of it. As such, there is a rule that mandates the Start Menu will only display one (1) instance of each shortcut based on the executable path. There is some sort of index process that aggregates these sources together. Nicely Aggregated Applications The Lesser Known NastiesĪs with all things Windows 10, there is a surprise in store. Windows will show a nice cleaned combined view. The below image outlines this process in real time, with a folder named James in both my user profile, and then Common Start Menu location. I wrote about this a little more previously here. The Start Menu will combine all results from both of these locations and display a single folder depth (1 folder deep) aggregation of all shortcuts in all folder structures below these directories.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |