[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Naamah:
Find on ppcgeeks:

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.

Quote:

[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:

Quote:

[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.

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:

Quote:

[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.