BleepingComputer.com: Win7 Start Menu : Drag-N-Drop?

Hello:
So far, I have few negative things to say about Windows 7. But one thing I cannot get past is the inability to organize the start menu. On my other machine that is running XP I can drag-n-drop icons in the start menu to and from folders or leave them outside of folders altogether. Now in 7 I try to drag-n-drop, but nothing wants to move. It does visually show that I'm dragging by "highlighting" the icon I have under my cursor. I double-checked to make sure that dragging and dropping is enabled in the start menu.

Is anyone else having this issue? What am I doing wrong, if anything?

You can get the "Classic Start" menu back:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/06/csmen...k-to-windows-7/

Well, I appreciate the link, but I'm wanting to keep the new start menu. I just want to be able to organize it. I know it's possible, it's just making it hard.

Windows 7 no longer includes any pinned start menu shortcuts,you can still pin shortcuts for your apts. into the start menu MRU.TO do this,select the shortcut you want and drag it to the top of the start menu list{most recently used application list} Or,right click a shortcut in the start menu "MRU" list and choose Pin to Start Menu or Unpin to start Menu hope this helps.Also you can drag as many icons as you want onto the quick start taskbar and organize them anyway you like,check out this website for more infoPaul Thurrott's Supersite for windows

sleepwalker, on Oct 6 2009, 12:41 AM, said:

Hmm. I don't think you understand what I'm asking about. Windows 7 does allow shortcuts to be pinned to the start menu. What I'm trying to do is arrange icons in the start menu in the order I want.

I think I may have caught onto something; in the start menu customization options there is a checkbox for sorting start menu icons by name. If I uncheck it I think I may be able to arrange them in the order I want. I say "I think" because I haven't really sat down and tried just yet.

once you pin the shortcut to the start menu you can put it where you like as per help center If you use a program regularly, you can create a shortcut to it by pinning the program icon to the Start menu. Pinned program icons appear on the left side of the Start menu.

Right-click the program icon you want to pin to the Start menu, and then click Pin to Start Menu.

Notes
To unpin a program icon, right-click it, and then click Unpin from Start Menu.

To change the order of a pinned item, drag the program icon to a new position in the list.

Okay:
Still you're not understanding what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about pinning items to the start menu. I'm talking about arranging the folders and their icons in the start menu. I hope I'm making myself clear.

Can you tell us which version of Windows 7 you're running? Is it Beta, RC or RTM?

Jacee, on Oct 11 2009, 09:19 PM, said:

Hmm. I think it's RTM, only because I know it's not Beta or RC. And it's Win 7 Ultimate if that helps at all.

How to customize the start menu:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...-the-Start-menu

Jacee, on Oct 13 2009, 02:08 PM, said:

Okay, I appreciate the link, but I'm apparently still not making myself clear enough. I am talking about when you click the Start button, then click "All Programs". I am talking about the folder and icon structure of everything in "All Programs".

To clarify, I am not talking about any pinned icons or taskbar "customization". Please look at your Start menu for reference. At this point I don't know how I can make myself any clearer.

Try the start menu properties dialog,right click on the start button or the start orb,and clicking on properties.A related dialog customize start menu, is displayed by clicking the customize button.All programs is a list of the shortcuts stored in your user profile's start menu folder structure and the public account's start menu folder structure.If you use the start menu search you probably won't need to go in there that much good luck.

Guys, I think I get what he's wanting because it's my biggest gripe with Windows 7 so far. I got an Ultimate Signature Edition for hosting a Windows 7 party and I'm getting up to speed on it now straight from XP with virtually no Vista exposure.

The Start menu is easily my biggest gripe. Why? On my XP machine I had ZERO icons on my desktop. My Start menu there was totally organized. The only thing under Programs were temporary things that only got there from installing. I instead had folders that showed up ABOVE Programs so that when you clicked Start you saw something like these folders:

Communications
Desktop Publishing
Games
Multimedia
Reference
System

Under each of these were other folders or links to apps that belonged in each category. Thus to get to say... Flight Simulator, I'd click Start, Games, Microsoft Flight Simulator (folder) and then Microsoft FSX (link).

With XP you could always get to the actual place where all this was stored. With Windows 7 it's hidden from you. Open Windows Explorer. Click Organize. Then click Folder and Search Options. Then click View. Then select Show Hidden files, folders and drives.

This will allow you to see where they hid the start data.

Now the fun part. Go to Users, All Users, Start Menu, Programs. There you are. Now you can FINALLY add in new folder structures and add what you want here.

STILL it's not optimal. Microsoft insists on doing virtualized things that are apt to screw up. So, the Games folder here isn't a real folder. If you add your stuff to it you might blow it away easily later. Plus odd things can happen. I installed Microsoft Flight Simulator. It's supposed to have a whole folder set with several apps. Nope. It VANISHES and only one link ends up in Games. If you install other games they show up in their own folders but not here. I'm scared to put anything in here as a result. Plus, where the hell are my other Flight Simulator items?

Also, I'd rally like to just be able to put this structure ABOVE all programs, like up where pinned items can go but you can't. You can put things up there but not any sort of cascading things like folders. If you put a folder there and click on it it opens a window you then have to close. You can't just drill down. It's a pretty brain-dead approach.

Agrajag, on Oct 16 2009, 01:29 AM, said:

Hurrah! Someone understands what I'm wanting! Yes, Win7's start menu is just a big mess. I long for the old XP abilities of ordering icons and folders in the order that I want them!

Trust me, I had the same sort of confused response from some other Vista/Win7 users. They're used to it. We're not. Coming to Win7 straight from XP is a real shock. I think I touched Vista maybe 3 times and I'm a computer geek (big PC gamer which is why I skipped Vista).

The start menu has some nice features but, for example, I didn't need to type things into search box. I knew where 99% of everything was because it was nice and orderly. I only used Search in XP in all these years maybe a handful of times. I have a mouse and I like using it. I don't want to have to type. I also install hundreds of things so having one HUGE list under All Programs is idiotic and messy.

Be aware that my approach also requires messing with some Permissions (another thing I'm finding annoying with Win7). I'm the only user of my PC. I wish I could tell the OS that and have it LEAVE ME ALONE. I'm not in an office. I'm not worried about random street people walking up to my 4th bedroom to try to access my PC. I just want to do what I want to do. I don't even want Users. I'm the ONLY user.

It looks to me like this is going to take a lot more people using Win7 and some creative coder will hate this as much as we do and come up with a seamless solution. No work-around I've seen is worth it.