Windows 8 Start Screen Link + Start Screen Questions

xyciana

New Member
Messages
8
Hi,

I have successfully managed to upgrade, add a shutdown tile on the start screen, add a classic start on the desktop screen and get the right tiles on my desktop and remove the initial screen. I have a usable OS on my laptop again and it may sound strange but I like both interfaces and use them equally.

A few things I am really stuck on.

1. The right corner (charms bar) can take me back to the start tile screen from the desktop screen. However, it would be nice to have an icon on the desktop screen to take me to the start tile screen. I cannot find a way to do this. Please help.

2. I would like to pin my tiles so they never move. There are some tiles I want fixed nicely in the place I put them but each time I want to add a tile, and move it across, all my tiles move about.

3. It would be nice to colour my tiles individually. Is there any App to do this?

4. Some tiles cannot be made bigger (i.e. existing applications). Is there a way to do this?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Fujitsu
1. The right corner (charms bar) can take me back to the start tile screen from the desktop screen. However, it would be nice to have an icon on the desktop screen to take me to the start tile screen. I cannot find a way to do this. Please help.
Hello xyciana and welcome to Eightforums :D

I'm not sure if there is a way to make a shortcut icon to take you to the start screen. But you can use the Windows logo key on your keyboard to take you to the start screen. Just 1 press on the key and you are there.

2. I would like to pin my tiles so they never move. There are some tiles I want fixed nicely in the place I put them but each time I want to add a tile, and move it across, all my tiles move about.
I don't know if that can be done. In my knowledge, No.
3. It would be nice to colour my tiles individually. Is there any App to do this?
No, sorry to say that again, but that's how it is. No way to change the color of the tiles individually. But you never know, in the future somebody might come up with an application to change the color of the tiles ;) For now, no is the answer. :(

4. Some tiles cannot be made bigger (i.e. existing applications). Is there a way to do this?
Well .... No again.

Hope I could help :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Linux Mint 14
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion g4
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2330M CPU @ 2.20GHz
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1 GB Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB HDD
Here is a program you can pin to task bar to show the start screen
 

Attachments

  • Show Start.rar
    274.8 KB · Views: 313

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Hi,

I have successfully managed to ... add a shutdown tile on the start screen, add a classic start on the desktop screen and get the right tiles on my desktop and remove the initial screen.
Somehow all of this doesn't quite make sense to me and even seems somewhat contradictory. Did you say exactly what you meant? Can you add some clarification on what you ended up with after doing what you did?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
OK, this is what I have done thus far to make Windows 8 usable on my PC and wife’s laptop
Firstly, to avoid confusion I’ll call the Windows 7 Look/feel the “Desktop Screen” and I’ll call the screen with Windows 8 Tiles ‘Tiled Screen”. I am comfortable with both windows.


1. Installed Classic Shell
Welcome to Classic Shell

2. Disabled the lock screen
a. Open the run window (Click Start-> Run)
If you have not installed Classic Shell press the windows key and “R”
b. Type gpedit.msc into the box and hit Ok. The Local Group Policy Editor appears.
c. Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Tools -> Control Panel -> Personalization in the left pane of the window.
d. Double click (or tap) on Do not display the lock screen. Another dialog box appears.
e. Select Enabled and click Ok.

3. Installed a quick shutdown tile on the “Tiled” Screen and a shortcut on Desktop Screen
From Desktop Screen
a. Create shortcut link on desktop C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe -s -t 0
b. On shortcut options click Change Icon, Select %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
and pick “Off Button”
c. Right click icon and pin to Start
d. The desktop Icon may not work on the desk top. If it does not simply change the desktop icon shortcut to C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /s /t 00

4. Made Internet Explorer always open in Desktop Mode – Makes it easier to use.
Load Internet Explorer from the Desktop Screen
Tools -> Internet Options -> Programs - > Open Links Drop Down -> Always in Internet Explorer on Desktop
Tools -> Internet Options -> Programs - > Open IE Tiles in desktop

5. Added Peek Preview Desktop back
From Desktop Screen
Right-click on the taskbar, choose Properties, and under the Taskbar tab check "Use Peek to Preview the Desktop."

6. Added Windows Media Centre – Currently FREE
Please note it can take up to 24 hours for your e-mail to come through with the licence key
Add features - Microsoft Windows

7. Resolved the problem with Windows 8 on my wife’s Fujitsu laptop with the Browser Choice window coming up but appearing as a white screen. i.e. It would not work.
1. Open the registry editor (Click Start-> Run-> regedit ), make sure you take a back up of registry.
If you have not installed Classic Shell press the windows key and “R” and type regedit
2. Navigate to the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\BrowserChoice
3. Now create new registry with Value name: Enable, Value type: DWORD
4. Give it the following value, 1 Display the Browser Choice update (default), 0 Do not display the Browser Choice update

8. Added control over tiles on the ‘Tiled Screen.
Installed OblyTile from [APP] OblyTile - Tile Creator for all programs. - xda-developers . This allows you to create tiles on the “Tiled Screen” with the colour you choose. Super!!!

9. I want to run a desktop App from the ‘Desktop’ Screen.
I have not yet found a way to do this. Experimental in OblyTile. Not yet figured how to do it.

10. I want to have an icon on my desktop screen that will switch to the ‘Tiled screen’.
See earlier in the thread but unfortunately start.rar (extracted) does not seem to work for me. It opens up the Classic Shell in the ‘Desktop Screen’
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Fujitsu

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Solved 10 above - See Windows 8

Found the problem in that ClassicShell changes hotkeys to load itself instead of the start screen. This can be changed in the ClassicShell settings. Go to Classic Start Menu Settings->Controls and set Windows Key Opens Windows Start Screen. This is why application sent by topgundcp did not work either. It works now. Many thanks for your help. You can either use the application by topgundcp (see above in this thread) or download from the above link, install and then go to C:\ProgramData\ShowStartScreen and send the shortcut to the desktop.

I've only go No.9 to resolve now. Can anyone give me some pointers?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Fujitsu
Solved my last challenge Number 9. :D See Link below. Its not intuitive for the general user but works a treat. Once you have the App Name (that's the difficult bit), the rest is a breeze. I'm sure someone will find an easy way to get App Names. I have finally got a "near" seamless "Tiled Desktop" & "Desktop Screen". I can run Apps & Programs from both and work in the way that suits me easily. Its taken a little time but I'm now enjoying my Windows 8 experience.

Launch Windows 8 Metro Apps From a Desktop Shortcut or Command Line ItsJustWhatever.com
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Fujitsu
Back
Top