Classic Shell: Forum

Hi, I installed and used Classic Shell no problem, then I upgraded to Windows 8.1. Having done a few google searches on how to fix the new problem of Classic Shell not launching on its own after the update, I tried to solve the problem with various fixes I found, but nothing has seemed to work.

I've repaired the installation, done a fresh install, and added a shortcut for Classic Start Menu to my startup folder, but I still have to manually launch Classic Start Menu every time I boot up/restart. Also, yes, it is set to start automatically and to replace the Start Button within the Classic Shell settings.

The thing is, the only thing I haven't tried, is adjusting the settings for Class Shell within services.msc on account of the fact that I can't even find the listing for Classic Shell, regardless of if I actually have it running or not.

If it makes any difference, I've bypassed the lockscreen in group policy, and I also launch straight to the desktop.

Send help please!

If you've tried Repair install and adding a shortcut and it still doesn't launch, check if C:\Program Files\Classic Shell\ClassicStartMenu.exe is set to run as administrator from the Compatibility tab in its Properties and uncheck it if it is.

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Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Do you see a process called ClassicStartMenu.exe? If so, what is the user for that process, and what parent process? You can see the parent process using Process Explorer.

Some people have reported that tools like Zone Alarm are blocking the start menu. Try temporarily disabling your firewall and AV software.

Also see if you can temporarily undo your group policy to verify that it is not causing the problem.

Changing it to not launch as Administrator fixed the problem! Thanks for the help and the fantastic program xD

But the questions remains that how did it get set to run as administrator? Did Windows show you a "This program can correctly"/"Run with recommended settings" dialog after the upgrade?

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Not as far as I remember no o_o

I made the same observation.
With Windows 8, everything was fine.
With Windows 8.1 - and with a classic shell update, repair, etc - it did not launch automatically.
The icon of classicstartmenu was not visible.

As work around, I created a shortcut in the startup folder to ClassicStartMenu.
Now it is launching with a small delay.
Your startup folder is something like:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

There I created a shortcut to ClassicStartMenu

Is it possible that in your case the ClassicStartMenu.exe was set to run as admin as well?

Same problem- worked fine with Windows 8 but has stopped working after installing Windows 8.1, so we tried the Administrator suggestion but that box was not clicked. Any other ideas? We checked under Internet Options Advanced settings, and Third Party Add-ons are Enabled. We checked under Manage Add-ons and the ones that need to be enabled are enabled.

@problem, have you done a Repair install of Classic Shell on Windows 8.1?

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Hey G, Yes we did a repair first then when that did not work we did an uninstall and then reinstalled. Still fooling with this and now Classic Shell Start Button and Menu are back, but it is not booting to the desktop like we had it with Windows 8.

Classic Shell does not boot to desktop on Windows 8.1 because there is a Windows feature for that in 8.1. Right-click on the taskbar, select Properties, go to the Navigation tab. Then find the option and check it.

That did the job. THANKS!