Helpful Tips and Solutions

[Reggie]

1. How do I change what the Extended Apps menu shows?

- Launch Start Menu Reviver
- Click (touch) on the Apps charm
- Locate the white drop-down box on the top-right corner
- Click (touch) the arrow and choose one of the options below:

All Apps - Displays both Desktop and Metro apps (Windows 8 only)
Modern Apps - Displays only Modern or Metro apps (Windows 8 only)
Desktop Apps - Displays only Desktop apps of current user
Start Menu Folder - Displays start menu items of the all users
My Documents - Displays the contents of your My Documents foders
Custom - Displays the contents of your Custom folder
Recent Items - Displays the list of all recently opened items

2. How do I make the Extended Apps menu display a custom folder?

- Launch Start Menu Reviver
- Click (touch) on the Apps charm
- Locate the white drop-down box on the top-right concern
- Select the Custom option
- Use the Browse window to select your custom (preferred) folder

3. How can I delete entries from the list of apps shown in the Extended Apps menu?

Removing entries from the App list is as simple as right-clicking an entry and choosing the Delete option (like with a typical start menu).
- You can also switch between Desktop Apps and Start Menu Folder
- However, if would like to personalize your extended menu a bit more, we'd recommend selecting the "Custom" option from the drop-down box and having the menu point to a custom folder with all your (preferred) files, folders and shortcuts.

4. Can I manually add Tiles (Tile Images) to the 'Tile Folder' of Start Menu Reviver?

Yes, you can. You will need to store your tiles (custom images) at the location below:
C:\Program Files\ReviverSoft\Start Menu Reviver\Tile Images\
Once this is done, you will be able to edit a Tile in Start Menu Reviver, view and select one of your custom images for use.

Alternatively, you could just edit a Tile and browse to the location of your custom image when required.

5. The 'Change Colour' and 'Make Tile Transparent' options do not seem to work. I cannot see the changes on the Tile.

This would only be the case for Tiles containing our default Tile Images. It actually does change the color or transparency of the tile. However, you are unable to see this because most of the default tile images are opaque (Blue, yellow etc.) and occupy the whole tile, thereby preventing you from seeing the tile's changes.

If you were to use your own or other (third-party) transparent Tile images, you will see changes to the tile's color and transparency having an effect on the tiles in Start Menu Reviver.

[Reggie]

6. Locations or File Paths of the Desktop Apps and Start Menu Folder options

ext_apps.PNG (6.42 KiB) Viewed 115330 times

In Windows 7
Location of Desktop Apps (Current User only):
%UserProfile%\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start menu\Programs

Location of Start Menu Folder (All Users):
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

In Windows 8

Location of Start Menu Folder (All Users):
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Location of Desktop Apps:
In Windows 8, we display a combination of the start menu folder from the Current user and All users as a list.

Location of Modern Apps:
%Program Files%\WindowsApps

However, we enumerate and validate all apps before we display the Modern Apps in the Extended Apps menu.

[Reggie]

7. Using animated GIFs as Tile Images

One of the cool things about customizing a tile is the ability to add an animated GIF (.gif) image to make it livelier and fun.

animated_gif.PNG (21.95 KiB) Viewed 115025 times

How to use an animated GIF image:

- Right-click (touch and hold) a tile and choose Add Tile or Edit Tile
- Click (touch) the Preview area
- Select Browse
- Choose your Animated GIF image file
- Click on Save

Note: Please preview the Animated GIF (.gif) file to see if it plays correctly and ensure that it is 500x500 pixels in size.

8. How can I carry out an unattended or silent installation of Start Menu Reviver?

Start Menu Reviver can be configured for a Silent Install using the following command line format:

<drive letter>:\<folder>\StartMenuReviverSetup.exe /S

For example: C:\users\Reggie\desktop\StartMenuReviverSetup.exe /S

After the installation is complete, you can launch SMR directly by calling the main SMR exe file:

%ProgramFiles%\ReviverSoft\Start Menu Reviver\StartMenuReviver.exe

[RS_Admin]

9. The Dashboard tile in Start Menu Reviver goes to the Apps screen on Windows 8.1 . How can I make it go to the Metro/Start Screen directly?

Here's what you need to do:

- Right click the Start button
- Select Taskbar Properties
- Select the Navigation tab
- Uncheck the following options:
[ ] Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start
[ ] List desktop apps first in the Apps view when it's sorted by category
- Click on Save and then OK

The Dashboard tile will now show the Metro Screen preview and enable you to go to the Metro/Start Screen directly.

10. How to launch Internet Explorer (IE) in the Metro app mode using Start Menu Reviver

- Launch Start Menu Reviver
- Create a new Tile and in the shortcut field enter "www.google.com" or your preferred homepage URL.
- Save the new Tile

- Now open up Internet Explorer
- Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Programs
- In the first combo box, choose how you open links:
[Always in Internet Explorer]
- Click on OK

It is important that Internet Explorer is set as the default browser on your computer for this to work.

You can acess both IE Modern and IE Desktop mode via the IE Tile.

[Reggie]

11. How do I create a regular Tile to access the Start Screen through Start Menu Reviver?

If you do not wish to use the default Dashboard Tile of Start Menu Reviver and prefer a regular Tile with a static image instead, this can be achieved quite easily.

Here's what you do:

1. Launch Start Menu Reviver
2. Right-click the Dashboard Tile and choose Hide Dashboard Tile.
4. Now create a new tile by right-clicking a vacant tile and choosing Add Tile.
5. In Add Tile window, enter a relevant description for the tile and include the following path (as is) into the Shortcut field:

"C:\Program Files\ReviverSoft\Start Menu Reviver\StartMenuReviver.exe" --dashboard

Select an Image for the tile and click on Save when you are done.

This new Tile will now offer quick access to your Windows Start Screen (Metro UI)!