Gotenks98 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Starting out I want to say that this isnt for me but for the users I will be supporting. I am doing this is kind of a temporary fix until Windows 10 comes out. While there are tons of replacements out there I am looking for something specific. I am needing something that fits 3 criteria. One is I need for this to be free for Enterprise useage. Two is I need for the installer to not install excessive non-needed junk during its install. Three I need it to have a silent install switch that can be used with a script or MDT 2013. Are there any start menu replacements that fit into all 3 of these categories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
survivegamers Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hi there. I personally use Start8 by Stardock and love it. It has a silent install and registration option. Check out this forum post for more information on the silent install: http://forums.stardock.com/436730 +Anarkii 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odom Member Posted December 30, 2014 Member Share Posted December 30, 2014 +1 for Start8, but it is not free, private nor commercial. You will have a tough time finding anything for free for commercial usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹ Posted December 31, 2014 Subscriber¹ Share Posted December 31, 2014 Classic Shell. It is the best. http://www.classicshell.net/eula/ +Warwagon, xrobwx71, Ian W and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Yea, Classic Shell does hit all three points. Free for commercial use, no crapware included, and there's an option for a silent install. Is Classic Shell Free? Yes, Classic Shell is free for both personal and commercial use*. You are permitted to distribute the Classic Shell installer or offer it for download on your website, as long as: You do it free of charge You don't misrepresent the origin of the software You don't modify the software in any way Wrapping Classic Shell in a secondary installer or bundling with other software is not allowed The Classic Shell name and logo are trademarks and cannot be used to identify other products or services. * "Commercial use" means you can use it in a commercial environment - your office, school, etc. It does not mean you can sell the software. If you are operating a computer shop it is permitted to install Classic Shell for your customers as long as you do it free of charge. If you do this on a large scale a donation is encouraged. /qn - runs the installer in quiet mode /x %MSI% /qb - uninstalls the product in basic UI level /f %MSI% - repairs the product /l* log.txt - runs the installer and logs the process in the log.txt file APPLICATIONFOLDER="C:\Programs\Classic Shell" - sets the installation folder /qn ADDLOCAL=ClassicExplorer - installs only Classic Explorer in quiet mode /qn ADDLOCAL=ClassicStartMenu - installs only Classic Start Menu in quiet mode ADDLOCAL=ClassicStartMenu,ClassicIE - installs the Classic Start Menu and Classic IE. Note: there must be no space before ClassicIE /qb START_MENU_FOLDER=0 - runs in basic mode and skips the creation of a start menu folder NOSTART=1 - suppresses the automatic launch of the start menu after install Ian W and +E.Worm Jimmy 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Zagadka Subscriber² Posted December 31, 2014 Subscriber² Share Posted December 31, 2014 Start8 fulfills my needs, but I haven't compared it directly to others. As long as it has the search box, All Programs, and shortcuts to control panel, devices, etc, it is functional to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEVER85 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Classic Shell. You're a sap if you actually spend money to get back the inferior Windows 7 Start menu. +Warwagon 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MS Bob 11 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Get Classic Shell. It is the best. Here's a feature comparison: http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2399 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link6155 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Try StartIsBack: http://youtu.be/D3PRlOGQJ3o It's the closest thing to the Windows 7 Start Menu and has a large amount of skins to support it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I can't use Windows 8 without StartIsBack, personally. It's the only one that brings the feel and more importantly, speed of the Windows 7 start menu to Windows 8, complete with the exact same search you had in 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmeunit Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Classic Shell also has ADMX file for GPO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Anarkii Subscriber² Posted December 31, 2014 Subscriber² Share Posted December 31, 2014 Definately Start8 is what you want. Excellent start menu. Its like $5 but well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas the Tank Engine Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I came across this thread a few months ago, when I was possibly looking to finally buy Windows 8, never got around to it, but it does give some ideas. From researching, I would've gone with StartIsBack. https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1116777-a-list-of-start-menu-replacements-for-windows-8/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotenks98 Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 classic shell it is then. Thank you all for replying to this. I am going to try to add this to my deployment today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freak180 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Use whatever that is free Win10 comes next year anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
survivegamers Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Get Classic Shell. It is the best. Here's a feature comparison: http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2399 Unfortunately the feature comparison is inaccurate. As an example: "Number of items that can fit without having to scroll at any given resolution" shows start8 as having very few. If you go to configure in start8 you can actually specify whether or not to use large icons and how many icons to allocate space to. It also states that the start button cannot be used for start8, but any icon can be used. So, I'm not really sure I would use this to determine which software is best for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrobwx71 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Classic Shell. It is the best. http://www.classicshell.net/eula/ I second this +1. I use Classic Shell on my computers at work and home. Love it! We've been using it over a year and have zero complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted January 1, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hello, Perhaps you will find the following message thread of use: Does Windows 8 have the normal Start Menu? from the Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support section. It lists several third-party Start Menu tools for Windows 8. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas the Tank Engine Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hello, Perhaps you will find the following message thread of use: Does Windows 8 have the normal Start Menu? from the Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support section. It lists several third-party Start Menu tools for Windows 8. You just linked to a similar thing that I linked to earlier in this thread: I came across this thread a few months ago, when I was possibly looking to finally buy Windows 8, never got around to it, but it does give some ideas. From researching, I would've gone with StartIsBack. https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1116777-a-list-of-start-menu-replacements-for-windows-8/ goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MS Bob 11 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Unfortunately the feature comparison is inaccurate. As an example: "Number of items that can fit without having to scroll at any given resolution" shows start8 as having very few. If you go to configure in start8 you can actually specify whether or not to use large icons and how many icons to allocate space to. It also states that the start button cannot be used for start8, but any icon can be used. So, I'm not really sure I would use this to determine which software is best for you. You've misunderstood the comparison. "Number of items that can fit..." refers to the All Programs menu. Start8 only has a Windows 7 like compact tree-view for that so even if you view small icons, it'll fit less items than the cascading multi-column style because it can only use a single column. As for the Start button, it refers to the built-in Windows Start button. AFAIK, Start8 can replace that with any custom button, but it can't use the built-in button as it is complete with the exact animation. WndSks and survivegamers 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted January 3, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted January 3, 2015 Hello, Whoop! Thanks for catching that. I didn't see what the URL you posted expanded to when I originally wrote my reply. In this case, please consider it my version of a "+1" for your response. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky You just linked to a similar thing that I linked to earlier in this thread: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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