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Windows 7 Start Menu Button

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RegardlessDolan
Posts: 3
Joined: November 2nd, 2013, 9:18 pm

Windows 7 Start Menu Button

Post by RegardlessDolan »

I've been scouring the web for a way to accomplish this, but I've found absolutely nothing. I'm at my wits end here. So, I figured I'd come see if anyone can help me; it's would be massively appreciated.

I'm trying to make a simple button for rainmeter, that when pressed, opens the Windows 7 start menu. I've seen it done using the "openstartmenu" application, but there's 1 glaring problem with that: the start menu opens at your taskbar, like normal. I want to press this button, and have the start menu appear right next to the button. It seems so simple, yet I for the life of me cannot figure out how to do it.

Here's a picture in case you're not sure what I mean:
http://i.imgur.com/eLizzZU.jpg


Somebody, please, I need help.
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fonpaolo
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Posts: 1387
Joined: April 11th, 2013, 8:08 pm
Location: Italy

Re: Windows 7 Start Menu Button

Post by fonpaolo »

I don't know if this could be useful, try this
...or this page.
Both on deviantART.
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moshi
Posts: 1740
Joined: November 13th, 2012, 9:53 pm

Re: Windows 7 Start Menu Button

Post by moshi »

RegardlessDolan wrote:I've seen it done using the "openstartmenu" application, but there's 1 glaring problem with that: the start menu opens at your taskbar, like normal. I want to press this button, and have the start menu appear right next to the button. It seems so simple, yet I for the life of me cannot figure out how to do it.
openstartmenu.exe -> open start menu at standard location
openstartmenu.exe /? -> show this help
openstartmenu.exe /mouse -> open start menu at mouse location
openstartmenu.exe /mouse +20 -80 -> mouse location +20 horizontal -80 vertical (for example)
openstartmenu.exe /screen 100 50 -> location in the screen at 100,50
openstartmenu.exe /hidetaskbar -> Hide the taskbar
openstartmenu.exe /showtaskbar -> Show the taskbar and open the start menu
openstartmenu.exe /showtaskbar /nostartmenu -> Show the taskbar without openning the start menu
http://www.chrisnsoft.com/download

expect visual glitches. no, there is nothing that can be done about that.
RegardlessDolan
Posts: 3
Joined: November 2nd, 2013, 9:18 pm

Re: Windows 7 Start Menu Button

Post by RegardlessDolan »

moshi wrote: openstartmenu.exe -> open start menu at standard location
openstartmenu.exe /? -> show this help
openstartmenu.exe /mouse -> open start menu at mouse location
openstartmenu.exe /mouse +20 -80 -> mouse location +20 horizontal -80 vertical (for example)
openstartmenu.exe /screen 100 50 -> location in the screen at 100,50
openstartmenu.exe /hidetaskbar -> Hide the taskbar
openstartmenu.exe /showtaskbar -> Show the taskbar and open the start menu
openstartmenu.exe /showtaskbar /nostartmenu -> Show the taskbar without openning the start menu
http://www.chrisnsoft.com/download

expect visual glitches. no, there is nothing that can be done about that.
Alright, we're making some progress. This is a great start, but there's still one problem: after the start menu is brought up, clicking anything in it (such as "all programs", or typing a letter into the search bar), the menu resets to it's default location at the bottom-left corner of the screen. Any idea how to keep that from happening?
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moshi
Posts: 1740
Joined: November 13th, 2012, 9:53 pm

Re: Windows 7 Start Menu Button

Post by moshi »

as i said:
RegardlessDolan wrote:expect visual glitches. no, there is nothing that can be done about that.
maybe i am wrong. but you would have to contact the author of that software to find out.
RegardlessDolan
Posts: 3
Joined: November 2nd, 2013, 9:18 pm

Re: Windows 7 Start Menu Button

Post by RegardlessDolan »

moshi wrote:as i said: maybe i am wrong. but you would have to contact the author of that software to find out.
Ah, well, that's disappointing.

Anyways, I managed to get it working almost how I wanted it. I ended up writing a simple script to disable the taskbar upon startup, but to leave the start orb alone. Then, I positioned the taskbar so that the orb is where I needed it to be for the button, and ran the script, leaving the orb as a standalone button on my rainmeter theme. Then, I used the program DisplayFusion to create a second taskbar, to replace the disabled one.

It still needs a little cleaning up and tweaking before it's finished, but I think it's coming along quite nicely. Here's a pic in case anyone is interested in the end result.
http://i.imgur.com/QWK5tqy.jpg