Don’t like the new Windows 8 Start menu? Too simple? It’s easy enough to restore the old Windows 7 Start menu! Here’s how. Download the registry tweak after the break or get further instructions.
1. Step Let’s take a look at the new Windows 8 Start menu. While it’s definitely nice for mobile OS users, this is not really usable as a desktop Start menu, because it lacks all the features that the Windows 7 start menu made so fantastic:
2. Step Luckily, Microsoft allows us to easily revert back to the old Windows 7 start menu. We can restore it via the registry.
3. Step You can download our registry tweak here:
Download Registry Tweak To Restore Old Windows 7 Start Menu
4a) Alternatively, you can simply add this text into a notepad file, select “all files” from the dropdown when you save it and add .reg as the extension:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
“RPEnabled”=dword:00000000
4b) Alternatively, you can also open the registry editor in Windows 8 and change the registry setting there (where is the registry editor in Windows 8)
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Double-click on RPEnabled and change 1 to 0
The Old Windows 7 Start Menu in Windows 8
And voilà here’s the old new start menu with some pinned programs and the classic Start orb:
