Solved Customize Vista Start Menu Dark side

I have windows vista and was wondering if it was possible to CHANGE the links on the right hand side of thee toolbar. I know how to turn the default ones on and off but I want to change my options. For example, Pictures is in at the moment and I would rather this be another folder in my user folder, called "photos"

Hi,

Yes this can be done. Right on Pictures and click Rename. Change name to "Photos" and press enter. Now right click on Photos again, click Properties, on the Location tab, type a new directory and click Move. I think this answers your question.

Richard

Hello maccaquacker, welcome to Vista Forums.



I fooled around with this when I first got Vista, I found 3 of the right side links "moveable" have a look at what niemiro said.

You can edit where the Pictures link is pointing with regedit:

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

Change C:\users\Username\Pictures to <path_to your_photos_folder>

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

Change %USERPROFILE%\Pictures to <path_to your_photos_folder>

Restart for it to take effect. Clicking on Pictures Link will open "photos".

I just moved the pictures to documents with no problems, right click, properties.

click these images to enlarge

I don't think maccaquaker wants to move the Pictures folder.

It seems to me he wants to click the Pictures link on the start menu , and have his own separate "photos" folder open up.

SIW2 said:

I don't think maccaquaker wants to move the Pictures folder.

It seems to me he wants to click the Pictures link on the start menu , and have his own separate "photos" folder open up.

Click to expand...

Hello SIW, I was just goofing around, trying to give them some ideas; you can point it to any location you choose, look at the snip of my old start menu in my first post in this thread.

SIW2 said:

I don't think maccaquaker wants to move the Pictures folder.

It seems to me he wants to click the Pictures link on the start menu , and have his own separate "photos" folder open up.

Click to expand...

SIW2 Is right, I have two folders, "Photos" and "Pictures."
They have totally separate items in them and I do not want them to merge, just simply have the shortcut on the start menu point to another location

Hello,

So is this issue solved now?

Richard

No,

I need it changing as if it were a shorcut, not an entire folder location

SIW2 said:

You can edit where the Pictures link is pointing with regedit:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\My Pictures
Change C:\users\Username\Pictures to <path_to your_photos_folder>
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\My Pictures
Change %USERPROFILE%\Pictures to <path_to your_photos_folder>
Restart for it to take effect. Clicking on Pictures Link will open "photos".

Click to expand...

But wont this change the links to my pics folder everywhere?????

Also, see above message

I found 2 very clever work-arounds on the Windows 7 Forum that would probably work with Vista and might just solve your problem, or at least be pretty close.

In regard to suggestion #1, there's another way to look at your problem that may be more helpful. For clarity, I would describe it this way: you can ADD your Photos folder to the Start Menu Right Pane, and DELETE the default Pictures folder. (I think this is what the OPs were alluding to. . .)

1. Substitute an Added 'Default' Folder with Your Custom (Photos) Folder
Right click Start Menu, go to Properties, Start Menu, Customize and choose any listed default folder that you don’t already have in your Start Menu Right Pane. Opt to display that folder as a link or menu. Add that folder to the list, remove the default location, and add the location of your own Photos folder, selecting the "Include a folder" button. Once it’s in the Start Menu Right Pane, right-click it and Rename it to Photos. (Then, if you wish, you can delete the default Pictures folder -- or leave it and have both Pictures and Photos in your menu.)

2. Reset User Folder Option: Although you can't add custom folders to the right side of the Start Menu, you can however set your User folder to open as a menu instead of a link, and it will expand out and you can get to your custom Photos folder that way. One extra step but that's about all you can do. Start Menu - Customize

But wont that move the contents of the folder I pick

Considering that you've created a new folder, the folder itself, obviously won't move. As to the contents, they're still going to be in your User files, so I don't think they would move any more than changing the title of the file or folder would cause them to move.

Yes but last time I tried that on another program, changed the default location of ALL the files WITHIN folder A to folder B, moving them

Okay, but in this case, aren't you just moving them from one location within the User folder to another --- which you would have to do even if you just changed the name of the folder.

In any event, it may come down to your having to make a decision of priorities -- whether you want your Photos shortcut enough to pay whatever price you have to, in order to have that.

Yes, I suppose you're right, thanks for trying everyone, but it doesnt matter to me that much, Id just prefer it that way