Blank "All Programs" menu after upgrade to from 7057 to 7100


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I know MS advises against upgrading from one beta to the next..but given that they provided a method for doing so and also given that I don't want to have to start from scratch with a fresh install (which I have on another partition in 64 bit version)..Here's the problem: The "all programs" menu contains no icons at all. If I right click on "all programs" and open it I can see all my programs are there, but they just don't show up on the menu. Now I've upgraded many different versions of Windows..But this is something I've never seen before and it's annoying..Not a show-stopper, since I still have an alternate, if slightly less convenient way to launch my apps. 7100 is otherwise fine. I noticed this problem on updating from 7057 or even straight from 7000 to any build after 7057. In case you're wondering, I have lots of backups in various configs on my external 1.5TB drive so I've done a lot of formatting and restoring of the system partition and am not afraid to mess around with this stuff since I can always get it back to the where I want it.

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I know MS advises against upgrading from one beta to the next..but given that they provided a method for doing so and also given that I don't want to have to start from scratch with a fresh install (which I have on another partition in 64 bit version)..Here's the problem: The "all programs" menu contains no icons at all. If I right click on "all programs" and open it I can see all my programs are there, but they just don't show up on the menu. Now I've upgraded many different versions of Windows..But this is something I've never seen before and it's annoying..Not a show-stopper, since I still have an alternate, if slightly less convenient way to launch my apps. 7100 is otherwise fine. I noticed this problem on updating from 7057 or even straight from 7000 to any build after 7057. In case you're wondering, I have lots of backups in various configs on my external 1.5TB drive so I've done a lot of formatting and restoring of the system partition and am not afraid to mess around with this stuff since I can always get it back to the where I want it.

this is a fairly common problem when upgrading from beta build to beta/RC build, im pretty sure its a registry problem but sadly i dont know how to help you out with this one. maybe have a quick google around and see if you can find anything

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this is a fairly common problem when upgrading from beta build to beta/RC build, im pretty sure its a registry problem but sadly i dont know how to help you out with this one. maybe have a quick google around and see if you can find anything

The thing is I've upgraded from build to build many times but never run into this sort of thing. It would be nice if I could get it fixed since it's my only complaint about 7100. And since it happened on even the sanctioned upgrade (straight from 7000 to 7100) it's very strange since I was able to go from 7000 to any of the 7057 and lower builds without a problem.

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i did a fresh install & i didnt have any icons listed under all programs menu

Now that is really odd. I did a fresh install of the 64 bit version and there were no missing icons.

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i did a fresh install & i didnt have any icons listed under all programs menu

That's really, REALLY odd. So not only can it happen on beta-on-beta upgrades and beta-on-Vista upgrades, but clean installs.

Was it the same symptoms in that a search in Start finds the program you want, and right-clicking All Programs and choosing Open shows all your programs?

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I had the same problem when I upgraded 7000 to 7077... the All Programs menu was blank. So i upgraded from 7077 to 7100 and the menu is still blank. I was able to copy some shortcuts into the menu which lasted until i rebooted then it was all blank once again.

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Your registry settings for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders may be set incorrectly.

First thing to try is resetting your taskbar start menu to default settings and see if that corrects it. Right-click on taskbar --> Properties --> Start Menu tab --> Customize button --> Use Default Setting button --> OK button --> Apply button.

There are some excellent registry modifications (.reg files) at the following site:

AskVG.com by Vishal Gupta

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wguimb, I can't speak to your default settings idea, but previously I checked the shell folders section of the Registry, and they were fine. If they weren't, that wouldn't explain why my Start menu just came back one day (for good) all by itself after a reboot, or how some people can prompt their Start menu items to return by re-copying their Start menu items into the appropriate folder--until they reboot, when the menu is gone again.

For reference, there's another thread on this here:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums...8c-a7309f66b76b

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Someone on another board posted this:

1. Click on the Start Menu.

2. Right Click on ?All Programs?.

3. Select ?Open All users?

4. Open the Programs Folder.

5. Create a new folder named ?A?.

6. Drag all the other folders into the A folder.

7. Close Windows Explorer.

You?re done. When you click on ?All Programs? you?ll see a limited number of Program Items. If you click on the A folder, you see all of your Programs. NOTE: In this folder the folders follow single shortcut items.

I tried it the other day..and it works!

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wguimb, I can't speak to your ......

For reference, there's another thread on this here:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums...8c-a7309f66b76b

Thanks, I saw that thread also. It appears to be related to ownership and permissions. Something MSFT needs to address and give a final solution for prior to RTM. The fact that it is happening on "clean" installations is very troublesome in my view.

I have not had the problem with clean installs of either x86 or x64 builds. I did do an upgrade at boot of Windows 7 7100 x86 from build 7077 x86. I used the File Transfer Wizard and it worked great. However, due to some registry changes I had made on 7077 to show "Programs" in the start menu, build 7100 did not have a line in the start menu for "All Programs" after the upgrade. Build 7077 did not have that line either before the upgrade. Which is fine with me.

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