How can I revert back to the old Start menu in Windows 8 Preview?

Question

I don't like the new Metro UI.

Is there any way to get rid of the new Metro UI in Windows 8 Preview and go back to the old Aero UI with its' Start Menu?

This question should be named "How do I disable Windows 8 functionality?" ^^ — Tamara Wijsman, Sep 16 '11 at 09:42
@Tom Wijsman: Agreed. The new paradigm is very exiciting. Screw the Start menu. There are now at least five different ways to launch an applications, besides the Start menu. — surfasb, Sep 16 '11 at 11:53

score 22 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 16 '11 at 09:59

22

Open regedit, go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

then change the value of RPEnabled from 1 to 0 - this disables metro mode, ribbon mode in explorer and the hover options in the windows button.

source: neowin

edited Sep 16 '11 at 09:59

Alpine

1,084

answered Sep 15 '11 at 03:56

Journeyman Geek

129,178

2

+1 it indeed worked, thanks a million! And lol, apparently this is what my desktop changed to when I did this. – user541686 Sep 15 '11 at 03:57
1

FYI: It seems like this also changes the behavior of Task Manager and stuff... – user541686 Sep 15 '11 at 04:37
2

yup. It makes it almost exactly like windows 7... other than that wallpaper... – Journeyman Geek Sep 15 '11 at 05:25
3

Just to note, this method may not work in the community preview. – Journeyman Geek Mar 05 '12 at 00:30
This method will work in the final release, i asked a friend working on windows 8. The reason is that most (~98%) RegistryKeys won´t be changed anymore after first previews release – LostPhysx Oct 17 '12 at 11:00

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 29 '12 at 12:57

3

None of these is a solution for the RTM (final) version of Windows 8. They do work on the Consumer Preview and previous releases of Windows 8.

The following programs will allow you to have the Start Menu as in Windows 7:

I personally recommend Classic Shell. It's Open Source and it works great.

edited Oct 29 '12 at 12:57

Richard

6,150

answered Sep 15 '12 at 20:33

Blisk

764

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 19 '11 at 20:23

2

There is also a Windows 8 Start menu toggle freeware that let's you coose between Metro and Win 7 UI. You can find the guide here.

answered Sep 19 '11 at 20:23

Arno

29

While this may answer the question, it is preferred to list the steps from that link, and provide the link as a source – Canadian Luke Sep 03 '12 at 16:52

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 13 '11 at 12:21

If you want a small Start Menu without modifiyng the appearance of other programs (e. g., not losing the ribbon on File Explorer or WordPad):

Right-click an empty space on the Task Bar and enable the Desktop toolbar in the "Toolbars" submenu.

Then clicking on the small >> button will show a menu with all your desktop shortcuts (not the shortcuts on the Metro start interface, but you can add them manually), plus useful items like yor om directory, Libraries, Computer, or Control Panel.

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How can I revert back to the old Start menu in Windows 8 Preview?

4 Answers4

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