81 replies to this topic 1 votes

[Matt Sharpe]

Alright, since I can't see a thread about this I thought I'd start one.

Has anyone found a way to disable Metro and get the Start Menu back in the Win8 Consumer Preview yet?

I have tried the old Dev Preview reg hack but it didn't have any effect.

note: I don't want to discuss whether you think we should disable metro, I'm simply interested whether it's possible. Thanks.

[veternan]

I'm waiting for NEW version of
Metro UI Tweaker for Windows 8

Hope they figure it out...

[9UnknownMen]

Quote

“The ‘Do not show the Start Menu when the user logs in’ policy allows you to boot the OS into the more familiar desktop and not the Metro start menu. Interesting to note that booting into the desktop is also the default behaviour for Windows Server 8 so you can also use this setting on your server if you want to start them into Metro (but you prob don’t want to).”

More at Some possibly not-so-good news for business users with Windows 8

[the_scotsman]

ViStart apparently does the job. haven't tried myself.

[~Johnny]

the_scotsman, on 02 March 2012 - 09:46, said:

ViStart apparently does the job. haven't tried myself.

Well, ViStart just adds a fake start menu / button that only half works, but it doesn't disable Metro.

I don't think we'll be seeing any simply Metro disabler for a while considering the previous changed a registry key which no exists / has any effect. I believe they've removed the old start menu code entirely?

[lalalawawawa]

~Johnny, on 02 March 2012 - 09:51, said:

I believe they've removed the old start menu code entirely?

I could be wrong, but I don't think so. 'Start Menu' is still present in ProgramData - Microsoft - Windows, and everything put there is being detected and added to the Windows key + Q (view all apps) screen. Something still works.

[~Johnny]

kavazovangel, on 02 March 2012 - 10:05, said:

I could be wrong, but I don't think so. 'Start Menu' is still present in ProgramData - Microsoft - Windows, and everything put there is being detected and added to the Windows key + Q (view all apps) screen. Something still works.

That's just the shortcuts to the default apps - all the same folder structure exists (and the new start screen also uses it), but I think the actual code in explorer.exe is gone.

[Adam20]

I've just done this on my test setup, obviously it isnt disabling metro start screen, but it is taking me into the Desktop straight away (well after a few seconds) so I do feel somewhat happier now:

Go into the Start Menu, Startup Folder of the user profile.

Create Desktop.scf

Enter the following:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save and logoff and test logging in, works a treat.

[Mark]

Would running that script as a scheduled item rather than a startup item possibly make the switch to standard desktop happen more quickly?

[Adam20]

I tried it and it didnt really seem any quicker and launched the Libraries folder too for some strange reason.

[Wakers]

Adam20, on 02 March 2012 - 10:19, said:

I've just done this on my test setup, obviously it isnt disabling metro start screen, but it is taking me into the Desktop straight away (well after a few seconds) so I do feel somewhat happier now:

Go into the Start Menu, Startup Folder of the user profile.

Create Desktop.scf

Enter the following:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save and logoff and test logging in, works a treat.

Create in notepad and save as .scf?

[Mark]

Adam20, on 02 March 2012 - 11:05, said:

I tried it and it didnt really seem any quicker and launched the Libraries folder too for some strange reason.

Same thiing happened to me, can the same switches be passed to a shortcut instead of using the scf file, I think that might stop it from opening explorer.

[Wakers]

I just tried it and it sort of works. It's a bit delayed though, which makes me think it hasn't worked until I click on something on the start screen, at which point it loads the desktop.

Still, a good hack to start with!

[migo]

If you want to disable Metro, what's the point of upgrading to Windows 8? Why not just stay with 7?

[dafin0]

migo, on 02 March 2012 - 11:35, said:

If you want to disable Metro, what's the point of upgrading to Windows 8? Why not just stay with 7?

i dont mind the metro UI but even with out it Win 8 has lots of cool new things that make my everyday work easier (computer tech)