Windows 8 Consumer Preview Bypass Metro Start Screen and Show Desktop

A Guy

Righteous Dude
Team Member
VIP Member
Gold Member
Messages
27,530
Location
Bay Area
Unlike previous versions of Windows where you are taken to desktop at system startup, Windows 8 welcomes you with Metro Start Screen, providing quick access to applications and system shortcuts, pinned programs, and so on. Apparently, Windows 8 doesn’t allow users to bring the classic Windows Startup behavior back. If you don’t want to click the Desktop metro tile every time after logging into Windows, here’s how to bypass Metro Start Screen and jump to desktop directly.

Source

A Guy
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    INTEL Core i5-750
    Motherboard
    ASUS P7P55D
    Memory
    KINGSTON HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX750
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 27MP33HQ 32" IPS LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB, 2 x SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
    PSU
    ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS®, 550W
    Case
    ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
    Cooling
    COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 3 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Case
    Internet Speed
    20 + Mbps
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Avast
Says incorrect function in task scheduler on Last run result. Doesn't take me directly to the desktop when binded to the task.

If I just click on the desktop of my second monitor, or the shortcut it takes me to the desktop, but not automatically after logon with the binded task.

Regular delayed shortcut in startup folder works though. Thanks.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    LCARS
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Monkey Trainer Extraordinaire
    CPU
    My toilet habits are a private matter, thanks.
    Motherboard
    She finds stuff to do.
    Memory
    Not that I can recall.
    Graphics Card(s)
    XXX rated
    Sound Card
    Huh?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Monitors are lizards.
    Screen Resolution
    I haven't found one yet.
    Hard Drives
    Sure isn't easy driving.
    PSU
    Again, toilet habits are a private matter.
    Case
    Pending
    Cooling
    2 ice cubes.
    Keyboard
    Nar, it has other key friends.
    Mouse
    Cat
    Internet Speed
    Warp 9.9
This is great A Guy Thanks

Now with using Vistart and this fix, it goes to desktop and I have my Start Button :D. Loaded pretty quick for me, so I didn't need to bind the desktop script Windows Logon
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MSI GS70 20D-295US
    CPU
    i7 4700HQ
    Motherboard
    MSI
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M GDDR5 2GB VRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek with Soundblaster Cinema
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Matrix
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Super RAID with 2 SSD RAID0
    1TB WD
    Cooling
    Duel Fan Thermal Cooling
    Keyboard
    steelseries
    Mouse
    RAZER OUROBOROS
    Antivirus
    NIS 2015
I find it works....after a delay of about 10 - 15 seconds. I get the usual Start screen then it flips eventually to the Desktop and like Airbot I got an Incorrect Function in the Task Scheduler for its last run.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ult SP1 + Win 10 Pro - (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware® ALX X58
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7-975 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Socket 1366 Core i7, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Mem
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295/Hauppauge HVR2250 TV Tuner
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High definition Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080P
    Hard Drives
    2 X 500gb SATA
    1 X 1TB SATA
    1 X 3TB external eSATA
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling
    Cooling
    Alienware® High-Perf. Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
    Keyboard
    Microsoft® Wireless Entertainment 8000 + Logitech® G15 Wired
    Mouse
    Microsoft® Wireless Laser 8000 + Logitech® G9 Wired
    Internet Speed
    1tbs
    Other Info
    Using non-RAID on purpose as I find it too fussy and temperamental.
Is there a way to bypass that 10-15 second delay?

On the subject of ViStart, windrider, is it just me or can you not pin items to the ViStart Start Menu, or drag/drop items onto it?
Since Win7 I haven't really used the folder structure of Start Menu, just the 'pinned items' and 'recently used' items; so the new Start Screen may well end up as my new pinned items screen instead if I can't get ViStart to work 100% like the old Windows 7 Start Menu.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I think ViStart is simply an overlay and doesn't actually work the way the old start menu did. Best ask about it on their forums: My Community - Index
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ult SP1 + Win 10 Pro - (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware® ALX X58
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7-975 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Socket 1366 Core i7, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Mem
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295/Hauppauge HVR2250 TV Tuner
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High definition Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080P
    Hard Drives
    2 X 500gb SATA
    1 X 1TB SATA
    1 X 3TB external eSATA
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling
    Cooling
    Alienware® High-Perf. Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
    Keyboard
    Microsoft® Wireless Entertainment 8000 + Logitech® G15 Wired
    Mouse
    Microsoft® Wireless Laser 8000 + Logitech® G9 Wired
    Internet Speed
    1tbs
    Other Info
    Using non-RAID on purpose as I find it too fussy and temperamental.
There is a delay of a few seconds because you are loading essentially a script or batch file into the Startup folder which has to wait until all Windows processes start up before it can run. Once Windows is up and running completely then the batch file is run that takes you to the Desktop. use this time to get a cup o joe :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/Win 8 CP Dual Boot
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio
    CPU
    Intel 2.53 GHz
    Motherboard
    Sony Vaio
    Memory
    8 GB Ram DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
    Hard Drives
    320 GB Toshiba MK3254 GSY SATA
I find it works....after a delay of about 10 - 15 seconds. I get the usual Start screen then it flips eventually to the Desktop and like Airbot I got an Incorrect Function in the Task Scheduler for its last run.

Hi there
nice idea but with an SSD even in a small netbook bootup is so fast that an extra click on the Metro Desktop tile isn't a problem -- waiting around 20 secs WOULD be --especially if you've installed an SSD.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
The delay is caused by the time it takes Windows to fully boot. If Windows boots quickly on an SSD then the batch file would run much quicker in the process so there would not be much of a delay. This option is nice for those that, for example, have a desktop without a password sign in, that turn the PC on, then go to grab there coffee in the morning. By the time they get back it's sitting on the desktop waiting. I also have a cleanup batch file loaded that cleans out all my temp files at boot so I start fresh every day. Housekeeping maintenance at every boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/Win 8 CP Dual Boot
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio
    CPU
    Intel 2.53 GHz
    Motherboard
    Sony Vaio
    Memory
    8 GB Ram DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
    Hard Drives
    320 GB Toshiba MK3254 GSY SATA
Just use the hack published here from a German guy (he exchanged the shell in Registry). Will launch windows exlorer after logon and forces Windows 8 desktop.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/Win 8/Android x86/iOS/OS X

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer x223w
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
    PSU
    300W generic
    Case
    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
The delay irritated me. I found it quicker to click the desktop or, fingers on winkey d
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Use several different computers during a day, so specs are irrelevant.
I get a similar effect by adding a shortcut to explorer.exe c:\ (minimized) in the following folder:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
Just use the hack published here from a German guy (he exchanged the shell in Registry). Will launch windows exlorer after logon and forces Windows 8 desktop.

The "German" guy sorta copied that from me - or if not, he thinks very closely to how I do lol.

I'm "German" too but the born in America type heh. :)

http://www.eightforums.com/installa...-start-desktop-instead-metro-5.html#post75802

@GMan: Hey cool - thx for that link (I stumled yesterday accidently over this forum - so maybe I missed some entries). I intend to write a short blog entry about that issue and will take your link also as a reference.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/Win 8/Android x86/iOS/OS X
Welcome!

It's cool and suits me well, but other guys are itching for a complete disabling of Metro. MS really made that difficult if not impossible.

In my efforts, I realized that it is possible (not completely sure) that MS hard coded the Metro into Explorer to open the Start Screen no matter what, under certain conditions. Certain reactions and non-reactions to my efforts made me feel this way.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer x223w
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
    PSU
    300W generic
    Case
    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
I don't have it in my PE build.

It means pin to taskbar does not work - but explorer is ok - in fact almost everything is just fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hi there

Initially I thought -- what a good idea.
Having now used W8 for some time now I can't see whats wrong in starting with the Metro Screen

If you clear the zillions of tiles you DON't want and just keep the main ones you can start your application IMMEDIATELY without having to hunt for it in the START Menu.

And of course if it's a NON METRO app you'll be taken into the Desktop application saving at least two mouse clicks !!! and possibly a search if your item is way way down in a sub menu.

The only time you might actually need to click on the Desktop App first is if you want to start say IE as your first application in "Non Invasive" mode (I.e non metro mode). Even here it's possible to get round this problem too by creating a shortcut which launches I.E. The old way of working -- but the more I get used to it I'm actually quite liking the Navigation methods.

I just wish the tiles could be customised decently.

I know some people are used to a particular way of working but once you get used to this it's quite intuitive.

I think MS have actually done their homework on this -- although getting people to change long established habits is never an easy task. I didn't like it at first either.

cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
I still don't like it.

That kind of thing is ok on a phone/craplet.

I would rather bypass it totally.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 1501
    CPU
    AMD Sempron Processor 3500+ 1.8 GHz
    Memory
    1GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon Xpress 1150
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Other Info
    Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g mini-card
Back
Top