Start Menu mod

[c-sanchez]

I would like some kind of mod for the (Windows 7) start menu to allow something as two columns of programs.
Here a image of my idea.
Windows 7 / Start Menu mock up

[KodeZwerg]

If you can live without any familiar features this would be feasible. (just the box with the items would be the result if I try.)
Else I would say: not possible, at least not for one that do give support in here as hobby-coder.
Nice how you shortened the names, also very hard to do by code.

[rjbull]

Does it have to be the Start Menu as such?  I ask because I see you use Horst Schaeffer's MemPad.  If you're open to alternative launchers, have you tried his Qsel?

[rjbull]

If it does have to be Start Menu modification, are you aware of these?

Welcome to the Open-Shell-Menu Open-Shell

Originally Classic Shell by Ivo Beltchev

GitHub Release GitHub Pre-Release Build status GitQ Gitter chat
Features

    Classic style Start Menu for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10
    Toolbar for Windows Explorer
    Classic copy UI (Windows 7 only)
    Show file size in Explorer status bar
    Title bar and status bar for Internet Explorer

Ordinarysoft's family of Start Menu replacements
Start Menu X with Start Button

Start Menu X is a replacement of the system menu for professionals. Compatible with Windows 10.
Power users know how inconvenient and time-consuming it is to launch programs from the system menu.
We have created a solution for you!

    Virtual Groups
    Group programs by purpose (office applications, graphics, etc) without changing their location on the hard drive.

    One-click start
    The PRO version allows you to assign a primary program to any folder and start it simply by clicking this folder.

    Flexible configuration
    Customize the menu to your taste! Change the structure and add tabs.

From Windows XP up to Windows 10 (32 and 64 bit)
Freeware!

The Pro version is under $10.  The above is the blurb for Start Menu X, their latest version, but they also offer:

Start Button 8
Start Menu XP
Start Menu 7
Classic Start Menu

("Are you missing the Windows 7 Menu Classic?")

Vista Start Menu
Tidy Start Menu

[c-sanchez]

Does it have to be the Start Menu as such?  I ask because I see you use Horst Schaeffer's MemPad.  If you're open to alternative launchers, have you tried his Qsel?

I tried QSel, it's a good program, light and does what it should, although I don't find it very nice to open a window to search a list of programs and have the start menu for others.
I've tried many other launchers, the ones I like the most are the ones that are a contextual menu in the system tray.

Portable Start Menu is a very good one, it's simple and clean but you can't customize the menu sort.
https://www.aignes.com/psmenu.htm

But of this type of launchers, the one I liked the most is TrayLauncher.
https://code.google.com/archive/p/traylauncher/

So far the best option (for my taste) I have found is Jumplist-Launcher.
creating a list of programs and adding it to the start menu is a good combination, it's a feature of Windows and doesn't keep any extra programs running in the background
https://jumplist-launcher.uptodown.com/windows

Having an additional start menu in addition to windows' own is not good at least for me.

Anyway the start menu + jumplist I think is a very good solution

[rjbull]

Horst Schaeffer's other launcher, the menu-based  PopSel, ships with a ready-made System submenu, see screenshot.  Qsel doesn't seem to have one, other than shutdown options (though it should be possible to add more).

Having mentioned it, I thought I'd better try out Start Menu X    It replaces the Windows Start Menu, though it lets you revert to that if you want to.  It's a lot nicer and more powerful than the Windows default, but it's, well, what did I expect, a Start Menu.  That means it points to the c:\Program Files\ and c:\Program Files (x86)\ subdirectory trees.  Some of my programs are installed in their own directories off c:, e.g. something like "c:\Programs\NoteTab 7\", and Start Menu X is  not as happy finding such as those.  I also have quite a few programs "installed" as if they were portable in subdirectories beneath "c:\NoInst\", and it can't find those at all (unless there's a way to add them I haven't found yet).  So, for a slightly different reason, I'm like you in needing more than one launcher.

In the course of testing, I found something I thought slightly odd, though it's Windows' fault, not Start Menu X's.  You know the Win+I Settings screen.  Start Menu X lists it as just that, Settings.  I was looking for it under the Windows Administrative Tools, Windows System, etc. menus.

In practice, I generally use PopSel for the programs I use most.  I have a few programs in Qsel menus, where I particularly want to group several programs together, though DC member skwire's Splat might be better for that.  Most other things I launch using Listary's "find and run" feature (I'm a big fan of Listary for other reasons too, mainly its ability to "steer" dialog boxes to where a file manager is pointing).  It also has keyword capability, so I can bring up the Listary box and type "blbi" to run BleachBit, for example, without further search.  It's a different way of working from menus, but one I like.  Mouser's "live search" program Find and Run Robot (FARR) with similar functionality is practically a religion on DonationCoder.