Move Favorites From Vista To Windows 8

A brand new Start Screen has been added which unfortunately has replaced the good old Start Menu. Microsoft has also removed Start button (ORB) from Windows 8 Taskbar and has replaced it with a new Start Screen thumbnail which appears when you move your mouse cursor to bottom- left corner of screen. To make Windows 8 users life easier, Microsoft has added a new context menu which appears when you right- click on extreme bottom- left corner of screen. I personally prefer to call it . This new menu provides quick access to lots of useful Windows utilities such as Power Options, Command Prompt, Control Panel, etc. But did you know you can customize this new menu in Windows 8?

Yep, I accidentally found an interesting way to customize this new menu present in Windows 8. In past, Microsoft used to put all menus, context menus, etc in system files such as Shell. Explorer. exe, etc. You can visit following article which will provide you a better idea.

Would you like to move some folders or programs off the C:\ drive to free up space or to reduce wear and tear on an expensive SSD? Unfortunately, moving folders or.

I have not seen such kind of things in any previous Windows version. In Windows 8, Microsoft is using a hidden folder which contains all those shortcuts which are shown in Quick Access Menu. Quite interesting, huh? I was working on this tutorial since a few days but couldn't post it as I was trying to find out each and every thing which can be customized in this new menu present in Windows 8.

So without wasting time, let me share the hidden secret way to customize this new Quick Access Menu of Windows 8: Customize Quick Access Menu in Windows 8: I was looking into various system folders of Windows 8 to find out what's new and where are all new UI resources present in Windows 8. Then suddenly I found following hidden folder: C: \Users\user. Alternatively, you can directly go to Win. X folder by using %Local.

App. Data%\Microsoft\Windows\Win. X\ command in RUN dialog box. Once you open . So you can delete unwanted shortcuts to make the context menu short and to easily find the shortcuts which you want to use.

Where are Favorites stored? Favorites folder location in Windows 7 / Vista / XP. Where are my Favorites stored? The location of your Favorites folder depends on your.

To remove a shortcut, simply go to that Group folder and delete the shortcut. For example, if you want to delete .

Now you'll need to either log off or restart Explorer to take effect. You can restart Explorer using Task Manager. Check out following article: Windows 8 Allows You to Restart Explorer Using Task Manager. Now you'll not see that removed shortcut in context menu. As you can see in above image, . For example, you can change name of . To rename a shortcut, first maximize the ribbon in Windows Explorer.

UPDATE: This tutorial will also work in Windows 10. How to transfer data from your old computer to Windows 8. When you purchase a new computer, one of the most daunting tasks is figuring out how to transfer the data. With Windows 8, Microsoft has made Windows Update behave more sanely. Windows Update will only try to restart your computer once per month, after Microsoft’s. It's actually a pretty quick and easy task.

Click on small arrow present below the Close button and it'll maximize the ribbon. You can also press . Now open the Group folder which contains your desired shortcut and you'll see a hidden file . Double- click on . You'll see a list of all shortcuts present in Quick Access Menu along with some file names and random numbers. Actually this file defines the labels or names of shortcuts which you see in Quick Access Menu. The first part of a line contains shortcut's file name such as .

These labels are pre- defined in those system files. To change the name of a shortcut, you just need to replace the label part given after the equal sign (=) with your desired name. For example, we are going to change . Once you replace the label and save the file, again restart Explorer or log off and you'll see new name in context menu: Moving Shortcuts in Quick Access Menu in Windows 8: You can also ungroup all these shortcuts present in Quick Access Menu. For example you can move all shortcuts in a single group to remove separators between the groups or you can also create new groups for desired shortcuts. To ungroup all shortcuts, simply move all shortcuts in a single folder. For example, you can move all shortcuts present in .

Restart Explorer or log off and you'll see all shortcuts in a single group in Quick Access Menu. You'll not see any separator between shortcuts. To create new group, simply create a new folder such as . Restart Explorer or log off and you'll see a new group in context menu: Adding New Shortcuts in Quick Access Menu in Windows 8: UPDATE: Check out following tutorial to learn how to add new shortcuts in .

I'm sure it can be done and I'm trying my best to find a way to do it. I tried to place a new shortcut in those Group folders but didn't work.

I also tried to add its entry in hidden Desktop. I tried to replace existing shortcuts with my new shortcuts having same names but again didn't work. I have found something interesting in Windows Registry (regedit). Following Registry key contains references for all these shortcuts: HKEY. You can change an existing shortcut to open your desired program instead of built- in program shortcut.

Simply right- click on a shortcut present in those Group folders and select Properties option. Now change the command present in Target text box to the full path of your desired program's EXE file. Once done, the shortcut present in Quick Access Menu will open your desired program instead of the previous built- in program shortcut. So using this method, you can change shortcut's target and open desired programs using those shortcuts in context menu. Share this article: Facebook.