Windows Mobile 6.5 Start Menu Auto Customization Guide

[askwhy]

This guide is a WORK IN PROGRESS -- I am sure it will get updated, I am always open to suggestions, and if anything needs correcting please let me know. I was going to post this 'little' guide in a thread I was hanging out in, but I got a bit carried away writing it, and anyways it applies to all WM6.5 ROM. As always, should you goof up your device trying something you read on PPCG, please don't try to pass the buck. You clicked it means you did it. I will try to help if anyone has trouble, but I am not responsible for what you do to your phone.

So, you want to automatically customize the WM6.5 Start Menu after flashing a new ROM? No Problem. This guide assumes you already understand something about the basic windows mobile file structure, and how to navigate and edit the mobile registry. After you review and set everything up manually once, you can prepare it for future automatic setups. I know, this looks lengthy, maybe even complicated -- but it's not that bad -- the guide is just designed to be thorough, and in hindsight after trying this you will probably wonder what all the big deal was ever about...

Quick Summary:

1- Setup Start Menu to your liking using reStart and Total Commander
2- Save copies of any shortcuts, folders, or custom icons you added
3- Make scripts for any shortcuts or folders you want to delete
4- Export registry keys containing rank and icon info
5- Place the files in the corresponding Sashimi folders on your storage card
6- After flashing a new ROM, run Sashimi in Auto mode and your Start Menu is restored!


The Guide:

WHERE is the Start Menu and what determines icon order and appearance?

LOCATION: Nearly everything you see on the Start Menu or in its sub-folders is actually a shortcut file (.lnk) contained within the "\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\" folder. APPEARANCE: By default, the shortcuts will take on the icon appearance of the program or file type they are pointing to, but that can be changed in the registry. ORDER: The order of the icons is determined by a registry key called 'Rank', but this can be overridden by another value called 'Favorite' and ideally you don't want to mix the two (more on that later).

WHERE do I begin?

So, we flash a ROM and we have a Start Menu with some things we don't want, some things to reorder, and a couple things to add. First of all, anything you want to add will require a new shortcut. There are a number of ways to do this, but I use Total Commander. First, highlight the desired program file, then on file menu choose '>>>>' then Create Shortcut, click 'Tree' option and choose desired folder under \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ and click ok. Anything you don't want, just take note of the filename for now and delete it, we can automate the deletion later with a script.

Once you have your shortcuts in the right Start menu folders, it's time to look at the registry. I suggest you install CeRegEditor on your PC which lets you edit your mobile registry fullscreen on your pc with your keyboard and mouse. It will also allow you to export your various custom keys as files that can be dropped right into Sashimi for automatic customization later (and it does SO much more). Of course you can also use any mobile registry editor that you want, as long as it can export keys for later import.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start]

This is where it happens. The keys stored here assign the shortcuts and folders in "\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\" their order and appearance. We won't be examining all the keys or values stored here in this guide -- we are just going to cover some basics. The "Icon' key can be seen attached to both the individual entries for shortcuts (such as Total Commander.lnk) and to the entries for Sub-Folders (such as Utilities or System). You can change the value of the 'Icon' key to point to any icon you like.

Example:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start\ Total Commander.lnk]
"Icon"="\windows\Start_Icon_FileExp.png"

So, understanding what icon is assigned to a folder or shortcut is easy enough. If you have added any icons for use in the Start menu, take note of where you save them so you can store a copy in Sashimi for later use. Rank is where things get sticky. First of all, the honeycomb layout. Since the 6.5 Start Menu is a 'honeycomb', the order as it corresponds to the registry 'rank' values is neither exactly Left>Right nor exactly Top>Bottom, it's a little of both -- which can get confusing. Lets just say it's series of 'zigzaging' rows -- and you will get used to it eventually from seeing where programs end up.

What matters is that you look at the values for rank and notice how the higher ranked items are...you guessed it...higher up on the Start menu. Notice that rank values do not have to be sequential. Their values relative to each other determine which is 'higher' than another on the menu. Later on, if you import a reg key which reassigns all your 'rank' values they way you want it, it can completely restore your desired Start menu structure -- as long as you haven't used the Tap-and-Hold 'Move to Top' function. Which brings us to the 'Favorite' key. It is not my favorite key. Why Microsoft decided to have their nearly useless 'move to top' function use something other than 'rank' is beyond me. Anyways, they did. If you ever use 'move to top' or the newer 'iPhone style tap-and-move' even once and you will override any rank settings for that particular icon, and your results afterward making other rank changes are going to be unpredictable at best. I recommend never using the built-in function for moving icons, at least until Microsoft gets their act together. Stick to manual, reStart, or something similar that modifies rank in the registry.

...continued in Part 2

[askwhy]

...continued from Part 1

If you view the registry in CeRegistryEditor you can choose to view the Data values for Rank as decimal or hexadecimal (decimal by default) but when you export keys you may notice them in hexadecimal -- this is fine, do not let the hexadecimal rank example below confuse you. How do you decide what values to assign? I suppose you could manually make a numbered list to help sort out which you want where, but I prefer to use reStart to initially get the menu setup how I like it before I export the keys for later use. It gives you a single top to bottom list to work with, and you can put everything in an order you like, then just look at the rank values it assigned afterward.

However you do it, once you have your rank sorted out, you will want to export some registry keys. You could export the entire [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start] but I would NOT recommend it. Instead, to make sure you are only changing the things you need to change, only export the keys for the shortcuts or folders that you are modifying. Those should be sufficient.

For example, my exported registry key for Total Commander with a decimal rank of 1001 looks like:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start\ Total Commander.lnk]
"Rank"=dword:000003E9
"Icon"="\\windows\\Start_Icon_FileExp.png"

Anything 'above' it on the menu will have to have a higher rank value (>1001), and it will itself be 'above' anything that has a lower rank value (<1001). Again, rank works great for assigning order as long as you don't mix it with 'Favorite' which happens when you use the 'Move To Top' or the 'iPhone style move' tap-and-hold functions. They don't play nice with rank.

So, now you can customize the Start menu by knowing where to put custom shortcuts and folders, and where to look for and change what icon and rank is assigned to them in the registry (again, reStart is recommended for sorting rank easily). Once you have things the way you like them, it's time to prepare everything for Sashimi.


HOW do I change it automatically after flashing a ROM?

Sashimi. Basically, Sashimi is like a Swiss Army knife for mobile device setup. There are a number of excellent guides such as MurDucky/LuckySe7en's on how to do various things with Sashimi like install applications, provision account setups, and more -- I am going to try and focus here on just the task at hand -- the Start Menu. To get started with Sashimi:

1. Download Sashimi RAW 8.0
2. Install Sashimi RAW to Storage Card (yes, NOT to device, to the Storage Card)
3. Open Total Commander (or other file explorer) and navigate to \Storage Card\SASHIMI

Ok, take a look in here. The only folders we are going to concern ourselves with right now are \Auto\Root, \Auto\Scripts, and \Auto\REG. Their functions are as follows:

\Auto\Root is a file copy repository -- anything in it gets copied to corresponding folder on the device
\Auto\Scripts is where you can place any MSCR (Mortscript) files of which we will use a few to delete things
\Auto\REG is where you can drop any exported registry keys that you want to be auto-imported later

Within \Auto\Root you will want to make a 'Windows' folder, and within that a 'Start Menu' folder, and within that a 'Programs' folder...do you see where this is going? You need to copy any custom shortcuts you added or moved into the corresponding folder within \Storage Card\SASHIMI\Auto\Root\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ so that later they will be copied into the correct corresponding folder on your device. Also, do the same for any icons you have added, saving a copy in the corresponding folder under \Auto\Root so that when Sashimi runs later it will put them back in the correct places you have pointed to in the registry.

Within \Auto\Scripts you will put Mortscripts to delete any shortcuts you don't want. It can do Delete, Copy, Xcopy, Move, Unzip, and more...and you can also use Mortscripts to change registry keys, but if you are exporting them from a registry editor than making scripts for those same keys would be redundant.

Within \Auto\REG you can drop any exported registry files and when you later run Sashimi they will automatically override any existing settings in the registry thereby restoring your Start Menu.

So, what does a Mortscript for deleting something look like?

Delete ( "\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Total Commander.lnk" )

Yeah, that's it. There are lots of options and Mortscript can do so much more, but that's how you delete something with it. Modify to taste and save as a text file with the .MSCR extension.

One last thing before your preparations are done. Sashimi auto-install leaves its icons on the Start Menu root -- you might want to go into \Storage Card\SASHIMI\Program\INI\ and edit settings.ini so that ShortcutsPath is set to where you want it to put its own icons. Example:

ShortcutsPath=\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Utilities\Tweaks

Ok. Now you're ready for the main event! *WHEW* Whenever you have flashed a new ROM and it is all done with its own setup, navigate using Total Commander or another file explorer to \Storage Card\SASHIMI\Program\Bin\ and run SASHIMI.EXE -- it will set itself up and leave you on the main menu where you can double-click 'Auto' and let it ride! When it's finished just soft-reset and you should be all done....Congrats!


Well, that about does it for now. Suggestions are more than welcome. What's that you say? I go on and on too much? This could have been much much shorter? Yeah, I kinda already know all that, but thanks. *grin*

[dwizzy130]

This is a nice guide and i'm sure it will help alot of people. I came up with a similar method a while ago. After contacting the author of reStart and learning about it (this was right after it came out), I exported my icons and reg values and just made a cab out of it, so then all I have to do is delete the whole Windows/Start Menu/Programs directory and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start\ directory in the registry and then install the cab. Your method using SASHIMI though is more automated and better for the masses. Nice job.

dwizzy130

[askwhy]

Originally Posted by dwizzy130

This is a nice guide and i'm sure it will help alot of people. I came up with a similar method a while ago. After contacting the author of reStart and learning about it (this was right after it came out), I exported my icons and reg values and just made a cab out of it, so then all I have to do is delete the whole Windows/Start Menu/Programs directory and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start\ directory in the registry and then install the cab. Your method using SASHIMI though is more automated and better for the masses. Nice job.

dwizzy130

Thank you dwizzy for the feedback! I figure it might be a while before someone actually makes use of this, but it's good to hear it from a trusted source that it doesn't look like a total mess... Cheers!

[echomatics]

Great stuff!

[LunaticSerenade]

I can't quite get the delete script to work...any thoughts?

Or maybe an example?

I think I'm just dumb lol.

[rabidg00se]

I've run into a bit of trouble using re/START, and I've been unable to get a response over at xda (admittedly, all I did was send showaco a PM, and I'm sure he's too busy to deal with the problems of the incompetent, but...still).

I used it to reorder my Start Menu to my liking, only to discover that my Start Menu has now disappeared. When I press "Start," all I see is the Today icon. When I click that it brings me (predictably) to the Today screen. Luckily I'm using Home 2, so I have a way to access my programs. I'd still really like my Start Menu back, however.

Any ideas?

[dwizzy130]

Originally Posted by rabidg00se

I've run into a bit of trouble using re/START, and I've been unable to get a response over at xda (admittedly, all I did was send showaco a PM, and I'm sure he's too busy to deal with the problems of the incompetent, but...still).

I used it to reorder my Start Menu to my liking, only to discover that my Start Menu has now disappeared. When I press "Start," all I see is the Today icon. When I click that it brings me (predictably) to the Today screen. Luckily I'm using Home 2, so I have a way to access my programs. I'd still really like my Start Menu back, however.

Any ideas?

When it gives you that one today icon, change into landscape and then it should show up. If not, there are some other tricks to fix it.

dwizzy130

[rabidg00se]

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't work, unfortunately. I'm still getting only the Today icon. What else can I try?

[dwizzy130]

Originally Posted by rabidg00se

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't work, unfortunately. I'm still getting only the Today icon. What else can I try?

If you can get to a reg editor, then delete the entire "Start" key here:
HKLM\Security\Shell\StartInfo\
You will have to start over with the customization, but it will save you from a hard reset.

dwizzy130