yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mr.Const:
Downloads:

2.4 Full Free version!

Download in http://charlie-soft.com/Software/Win_Mobile_Start_menu.php

Login details:

Mail: winstart@charlie-soft.com

password: s141ke
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
Indeed ;)

I hope someone will find this usefull! I have now switched to Android...
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
Thanks !

I'm working on an update which correct these two minor visual bugs plus add an option to save the start configuration (so when flashing device the configuration will be easy to load)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] wmg316:
I too have found a possible bug...not real sure though since I am testing different start menus...but anyway it is here now using WinStart (was there in v2.1...and now v2.2).

In Start Menu, Settings, System...I have what I am calling "ghost" icons (see pic - they are Backlight, TaskMgr, Customer Feedback, Error Reporting, Bluetooth, Contrast). I can click and hold one, the pop-up menu comes up, and I cannot hide, rename, move, or anything...to these "ghost" icons.

Also when selecting these "ghost" icons, I get an error message that they are not signed, or one of the components cannot be found...

These "working" shortcuts are actually located in other locations other than the "System" menu...not sure why they are showing up here?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] osiedacz:
Yup, I just noticed them too. And we both use the same ROM, essentially. I tried to run them and find that it must point to control panel items that are typically in a ROM, but that NRG does not put in his. Maybe this start menu program needs to check the ROMs control panel contents during install? Then it could either hide the shortcuts that are not there, or put them in so they work?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
Yep, I have these ghost icons too. But in previous version it was possible to hide them ;)

I decided to let them appear in case they work on a ROM other than NRG's.

This start menu program ask to control panel which panels are working (.cpl) and in energy rom these panels tell me they that they work (they give me a name...)

Some of them works (error reporting works for me...) but I have no possibility to find if it's a ghost panel (like backlight) or a control panel without icon (like error reporting).

I will add the possibility to hide them in future release V2.2.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] osiedacz:
Option For Recent Run

One other option I would like to see if regarding the "recent" program list. Right now it shows every program run on the phone, so useless items like activesync and arkswitch show up here. Maybe you could give the option to show all like it does now, or to just show the ones that are started from within this start menu program.

Edit: Forget it, I am dumb. That is a running program list. Very nice, I can hide the ones I don't want.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Joe Bleau:
WinStartV2.1Free.cab Bugs FIX on Energy.RHODIUM.Feb.01

Thank you petititi for a very nice Start menu alternative.

<snip> the rest was deleted because it does not work with the free v2.2.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] osiedacz:
I've been digging around in the control panel section of the registry on my rom and I can see that the "ghost" items still have part of their info in the registry. It seems that when NRG customized his control panel, he didn't fully delete the items he moved. So if I compare the Backlight item that works to the one that is a ghost, the ghost is missing most of the info. Like the icon.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
Yes, but like I said before, some parameters like "error reporting" don't have icon but are working.... In futur version, you will be able to hide them!
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jrebo:
Thank You for fixing the hardware start button issue.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
V2.2 final version is out, try the new feature and tell me if there is any problems !
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] JVH3:
Version 2.2

verified that the hardware start button works right after a soft reset.

verified that the image lingering issue is corrected.

I don't use the Cookie Start menu.

It is so nice having a fast memory efficient start menu.

I had been using the Panel Start menu in Energy Roms. WinStart blows it away. It instantly responds and displays the start menu.

Only bugs that I can see

still has the ghost icons in Start->Settings->System - but they can be hidden.

Active Sync always shows up as a running program and there is not a way to hide it.

One thing that would be nice is a way to make a hidden icon visible again.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
Ghost icons will stay like this as explain before...

Active sync hide bug will be corrected in future release !

To make icon hidden visible again, you just have to click on "alphabetical order".

I will maybe set two options instead of one...
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] osiedacz:
Close Animation

Fantastic program, thanks again for the recent fixes. I am loving this thing.

One idea I had for eye candy was to have a close animation similar to the open one, but in reverse when you just close the program without selecting an icon.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] JVH3:
Not sure if this is worth doing, because it may slow down the launching of apps or introduce bugs.

But here's a thought on how it could be implemented.

Right now I assume that the apps are launched similar to this

Process p = new Process();

p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = sDir;

p.StartInfo.FileName = sFullPathToExeIncludingApp;

if (bHaveArgs)

{

p.StartInfo.Arguments = arguments;

}

p.Start();

But, instead it could be followed with a WaitForExit, such as:

Process p = new Process();

p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "\\Windows";

p.StartInfo.FileName = "\\Windows\\Cam1.exe";

if (bHaveArgs)

{

p.StartInfo.Arguments = arguments;

}

p.Start();

p.WaitForExit();

Then follow this with some code to do the animation.

But, that make it so no other app could launch until the last launched was terminated.

So, each time an app was launched, a new thread would first need to be spawed to launch the app.

I have not done much with threading since college so, I did a google on it. Looks pretty easy to spawn a thread.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7a2f3ay4(v=vs.80).aspx

To avoid the hassles of thread saftey, it could just launch another exe when the app terminates that shows the animation.

-----

In the end, I don't think this is going to look good, since yiou won't have the image of the app at the state just befor termination. You could use the icon image. Or you could just wait a little after launch (There is a WaitForExit that takes a milliseconds parameter) , take a screen capture. Then do the wait for exit. But, doing the screen capture is going to affect perfromance.

But, right now, the app is so snappy and bug free that I would rather not see this, if it affected performance or introduced any bugs.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
I think you are talking of two different things: for osiedacz, the close animation should occurs only at winstart close and for JVH3 it's when any application close. Am I right ?

So the reverse anim at winstart close is something I can do easily and I'm thinking about it but for the anim at the end of any apps, it's something a lot more difficult... And I think it's more difficult than we think :(

But ideas like this are good and I keep it in mind, maybe one day I will try to add it...
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] osiedacz:
Correct, I was just talking about when you open Winstart and don't actually launch an app. You just click the close button at the bottom to go back to where you came from. Right now you get the nice animation when it opens, but if I click the X to close, it just shuts off. that's it.

I agree that adding more when you actually launch an app inside it might slow it down.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] sector6:
hi,

I downloaded the full version from your site today (v2.2).

I played around with it and everything is looking good except for the 'Quick Links' feature when I swipe the screen to the left. Quick Links screen is supposed to show the recently opened applets right? However, nothing appears on the screen after opening and closing several apps.

This is my specs, on a Vodafone HT touch pro2:

OS 5.2.21854

Rom 1.86.161.1(67102)WWE (stock rom)

Radio 4.49.25.17

Any help would be much appreciated.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
That's not good indeed!

After some experiment, it seems I have the same behavior ! I think it's a problem with V2.2...

I work on this and answer you when I found the problem.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] sector6:
Thanks for the prompt reply. I'll patiently wait for the update :)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] JVH3:
I thought it only showed running programs, not recent programs.

I noticed it yesterday and thought it was a feature to give more room for the rest, since I had nothing running.

I should have thought about the fact that Active Sync and ArkSwitch normally always show up, even when told to always hide.

In anycase, when I have any other programs running, the ones I care about show up.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] bipinsen:
Nice to see a great app worth shelling out some money for! As I play around with this, I might have some requests.. Would it be ok to mention them here? I don't know how much the app is open for development suggestions.

In any case, it looks great so far!! :cool:
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jakfish:
Occasional Gap in Icon Layout?

A great, great app--it solves much of my Start Menu hassle.

The only major bug so far is a weird gap in some of the icon layouts. For instance, in Office, the first icon space can't be filled, even after "alphabetizing"--at least in my layout (TMobile HTC Touch Pro2/Energy.RHODIUM.28244.Sense2.5.Cookie.2.0.Feb.01.7z).

Do you think in your Save feature, users will soon be able to save icon placement/renaming?

Thanks again,

Jake
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
For the icon space, I don't know why this append... Can you export the registry of the folder with gaps (for instance HKLM\security\shell\startmenu\start\office mobile), I will maybe understand your problem (for me, no gap anywhere).

For the save feature, it's planed but I have some problem when trying to restore (if icon's name have changed -> problems...)

I hope I will correct your bugs soon and upload a new version soon !
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] sector6:
The running programs list only goes to the top row (where the activesync goes).

Other bugs:

i) On the "Quick Link" screen, it's quite hard to get back to the original menu. The swiping motion to the right doesn't always work.

ii) On the Running programs row, the Communication Manager icon, and a blank icon labelled 'phone' (after making a call) remain after closing the respective programs. They disappear after a soft reset. For the other programs i tried, their icons disappear from the Running programs row as expected.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jakfish:
>>Can you export the registry of the folder with gaps (for instance HKLM\security\shell\startmenu\start\office mobile)<<

I don't have that key. I have HKLM\security\Shell\Startinfo\StartMenu\ and HKLM\security\Shell\Startinfo\Start. Do either of those work? I can email whatever reg export you'd like.

Jake

TMobile HTC Touch Pro 2/Energy.RHODIUM.28244.Sense2.5.Cookie.2.0.Feb.01.7z/WinStart 2.2 Retail
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
@jakfish:

sorry, my mistake !

The correct one is HKLM\security\Shell\Startinfo\Start
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jakfish:
Sent you an email with start.reg attached.

Jake
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] JVH3:
phone is always running after making a call. Pressing end does not kill the process.

To make it not show up, You need to press and hold the icon. Then set it to always hide.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] bipinsen:
Even though I paid for this application, I had to go back to what I think is the best start menu replacement application. The response of that application is instantaneous. The icon rendering is lightning fast. The kinetic scrolling is smooth and fast. The big negatives with it are instability, and it runs as a program and not a service. On both of these issues, your WinStart blows the competition away. But, the application is very slow on my TP2, even when I disable the animations. It looks like the icons are not cached very well. There is a discernible lag when clicking in and out of folders. Scrolling is jumpy. Swiping in and out of recent programs screen sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't.

So while I'm not asking for any money back, I would really like to see the interface improved in this application for me to think I got my money's worth.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] wmg316:
No disrespect to 'bipinsen' (please don't take offense), but I am having the opposite experience.

Although there is a bit of a lag the first time I invoke the WinStart start menu after a fresh boot...every time after that is lightning fast. Moving in and out of folders is instantaneous. Scrolling is very smooth. All of my icons are clear and sharp.

My setup:

Performances: all checked EXCEPT for "Show the open animation"; Max icon loaded = 100

Layout: 4 icons per line; 80 Icon size; 192 background fusion; Print Name checked; Show background apps not checked; Text color ffffff

Disable start menu: checked

Hook hardware key: checked
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] bipinsen:
How dare you contradict my experience? :p

Have you tried MMApplauncher? I will be curious to know how you view the user experience between the two? This might not be the best place for your feedback, so feel free to pm.

I liked the feedback on this app enough to buy it! Can't remember the last time that happened... ;)

But with my same hardware and software settings, the experience on MM is far superior than this one. But, as is always the case, YMMV.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
You can already tweak the interface to improve the responsiveness:

reduce the numbers of icons (4 is the default, but with 3 it's a bit more reactive)

reduce the icon size

all options checked in performance tab

Of course, if you're not satisfied, I can give your money back, ask me via PM...

Thanks for sharing your config, I hope that with these infos he will enjoy the soft ;)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] wmg316:
Potential Bug

@ 'petititi'

When I go to Start, Settings, Connections, and try to open "USB to PC", nothing happens. This does open with Normal Start Menu.

Could you take a look at this?

If this is relevant, I have this registry entry pertaining to this app:

[HKLM\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start\Settings\Connections\MyCPL.cpl,6]
"Target" = string value of "HTCUSBToPCPopUp.exe _HTCUSBTOPC_COMM"
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] bipinsen:
Not a problem. As long as my registration key works on future updates, I will be happy to keep an eye on this application to see what comes next! Enjoy your beer! ;)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
I have the same problem on my phone so it will be easier to debug. Thanks for your registry export, you anticipate my needs !

Thanks, I hope you will be happy with next release (in a few days)!
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] wmg316:
Also not working in Start, Settings, Connections are:

"PCConnection" (cplmain.cpl,28 - target = \Windows\ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,28)

"Beam" (cplmain.cpl,15 - target = \Windows\ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,15).
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] shizuku:
I registered the program and find it very snappy in use. However, when i install a new program it doesn't come up in Winstart, only after a soft reset. Is this normal?

The issue wmg316 has with trying to open "USB to PC" and nothing happens, i can confirm that it does not work.

@petititi: thanks for this program
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] -Jonny-:
Can anyone tell me what is different between the free and pay for versions (except for the cost!)?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
In the free version, you can't tweak the menu (number of icons, background image, color of text, animations...) and the "Quick list of recent programs" is not available...

Moreover, I try to answer and add features that user of paid version asked me...
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jakfish:
Also, in the registered version, users can disable the normal Start, thus giving exclusive rights to WinStart. That saves a lot of memory.

This is a really good program, petititi. I exported this registry key: HKLM-Security-Shell-Startinfo-Start and edited it on my desktop. I capitalized the text, shortened some titles, and then bold-ed the system font of my HTC Touch Pro 2 and change the font to Tahoma. Using Joe Bleau's pure_black_wallpaper, my pages are very readable, and I can find icons fast and easy.

The Start.reg file imported fine, back into the registry, so when I flash ROMs again, this set up will already be ready for the device.

Jake
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
I will probably add this feature in next release (export/load start menu...)

For the font change, it's something a little harder... I will look what I can do.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jakfish:
An odd little thing, and it may be a Microsoft weirdness: I can't rename "Settings" directory or move it to another position on the page. Every other icon is re-nameable and movable. But upon soft reset, "Settings" remains the same.

Jake
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] wmg316:
I haven't tried renaming the Settings folder...but I agree...I can't move it. Workaround is to move all other items before/after the settings until you get it where you want it...
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] developer_man:
TMobile HTC Touch Pro 2/Energy.RHODIUM.28244.Sense2.5.Cookie.2.0.Feb.01.7z/WinStart 2.2 Retail
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Joe Bleau:
Rename/Move Settings?

Have you ever tried to rename or move "Control Panel" or "My Documents" in a Windows PC?

I guess it's part of the OS & anyway I find it fine as it is and can't think of a more descriptive label or a better location for it.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] jakfish:
Yeah, I figured it was something probably hard-coded. But it ruins my aesthetics :) I like having all my directories in caps.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Dunc001:
@petiti - Would it be possible to give me the parameters I'd need to create a shortcut which would allow me to open WinStart directly into the Games folder. I currently use a quicklink in Cookies Home Tab which jumps to the folder in Resco Explorer, but would prefer to be able to direct the quicklink to Winstart\Games if possible. To be clear, I'm not wanting WinStart to open in Games by default when opening it normally (hard or softkey), I just want to be able to create a new link in CHT which will open it in the Games folder. I am using paid for version ;)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] hefman:
+1 for this, if it's not already possible... :)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
it's already built-in!You just have to add the name of the folder as parameterof winstart:

"/program files/winstart.exe games" will then open the games folder (if exist)

If you have trouble, I can make a tuto...

@all: I have a lot of work now so I have to put WinStart development in standby for a week or two but I have some ideas for improvement: I will not stop working on WinStart!
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] papazche:
..

Now it is ok, I can open, it with no problems at all...
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] hefman:
I should have figured it was already a feature... :)

Thanks and enjoy your "break"... :p
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] aedon:
I Love This Apppp!!!

Ive been looking for days for an app to get rid of that nasty lookin hexgrid and this is the ONLY one ive found that doesnt give a blank black or white backgournd :D

The only thing is that as soon as i clicked on the home screen icon when I was rearanging them, it dissapeared :/

its nothing big, but i was woundering if there is a reason for it or if its just a bug

I uninstalled it to see if it would come back and it did, then reinstalled it and it went away again :(

the only other thing i would like is if it could either have:

-horizontal page scrolling

-the open program links at the bottom, or a way to dissable it alltogeather

(sorry, im sure it took alot of work to get that working, but i dont like seeing the apps that are open repeat like that)

maybe the open link thing could be a pop up carouswheel at the bottom?

i dont know

otherwise, I love it

great job

if i could rate it in stars, 5 for sure
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
Thanks for your support!

For your "home screen icon" problem, try to order the icon with alphabetical order using the option (this option will perform some cleaning in registry too), it will maybe correct this bug.

If the problem is still here, tell me so when I go back to work on WinStart, I will try to solve this problem !

For your two suggestions, horizontal scrolling is not planned (a lot of work), the quick links in the bottom neither but I have an idea : hide by default the top links but with a slide to the bottom unhide them... Wait a week or two and you will have a new version ;)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] shizuku:
Hello Petititi

Any news on a new revision of Winstart?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
I am just writing a new post about the V2.3 beta ;)

Wait an hour or two and you will have something new to test !
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] wmg316:
v2.3 Beta Test

I uninstalled v2.2 and installed v2.3Beta

I am encountering the exact problems with the shortcuts (USB to PC, PCConnection and Beam) that I had in v2.2 below:
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] petititi:
OK, I forgot to correct this bug, I'm sorry. A lot of things happened since the last time we talk about this problem...

But this time, I promise it will be corrected in next release :D
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Joe Bleau:
Re: v2.3 Beta Test - USB to PC, PCConnection and Beam

Meanwhile, how can we fix this?

Thanks to wmg316 for pointing this out. :cool: Confirmed those bugs on HTC Tilt 2 running the Energy.RHODIUM.29017.Sense2.5.Cookie.2.0.Mar.15 ROM.

This said, thank you petititi for your WinStart app & continuous developpment. Suggestion to the NRGZ28 chef to talk with you and include WinStart in Energy ROMs was made here: NRG ROMs Issues Report & Tweak Suggestions.