Classic Shell is a free program for returning the previous appearance of the classic Start menu in the operating systems Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista. The program changes the visual display of elements of the Windows operating system for more convenient use.
Many users experience inconvenience when using the Start menu due to the fact that the Windows developer, Microsoft, constantly changes the settings, options and appearance of the Start menu.
Therefore, many users want to return the classic Start menu for the operating systems Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8. In the Windows 7 operating system, users change the appearance of the Start menu in the style of the Windows XP operating system.
The free Classic Shell program returns the classic look of the Start menu and allows you to make extensive settings for the display of styles, options and design of the start menu.
The Classic Shell program consists of three components:
- Classic Start Menu - bringing back the classic Start menu
- Classic Explorer - Adding a Toolbar to Windows Explorer
- Classic IE - customizing panels in Internet Explorer browser
In this article we will look at the operation of the Classic Start Menu component, which allows you to create the old Start menu in the Windows operating system. Not all users need other program components.
The Classic Shell program works in Russian. You can download the Classic Shell program from the official website of the developer. On the downloads page, select the “Classic Shell x.x.x (Russian)” file to download to your computer.
Installing Classic Shell
Installation of the Classic Shell program occurs in Russian and does not cause any difficulties. Go through the Classic Shell installation wizard one by one.
In the Custom Installation window, you must select application components to install on your computer. By default, all components are selected for installation.
We want to bring back the classic Start menu, so we only need to keep the “Classic Start Menu” and “Classic Shell Update” components (for automatic updates).
The "Classic Explorer" and "Classic IE" components change the appearance of Explorer and Internet Explorer, respectively, and not all users need such changes. Therefore, disable the installation of these components.
Classic Shell for Windows 10
After left-clicking on the Start menu, you will see the classic Windows 7-style Start menu installed in the Windows 10 operating system. This is what the Start menu looks like with default settings.
The classic Start menu for Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 will look similar.
Setting up Classic Shell
After installing the application, the “Classic Start Menu Options” window will open. In this window, all program parameters are configured.
You can change Classic Shell settings at any time. To do this, right-click on the “Start” menu and select “Settings” in the context menu.
In the “Start Menu Style” tab, you can select a classic style for the Start menu in the style of the Windows XP or Windows 7 operating systems.
With default settings, the standard Start button is displayed on the Desktop. Instead of the button image from the operating system, you can set the image from Classic Shell (two options) or add your own image if you have a similar image.
By default, the main settings in the program are made in the tabs: “Start Menu Style”, “Basic Settings”, Cover”, “Start Menu Customization”.
Check the box next to “Show all parameters” to configure other parameters in the Classic Shell program.
After this, additional settings will become available in the tabs: “Menu View”, “Start Button”, “Taskbar”, “Windows 10 Settings”, “Context Menu”, “Sounds”, “Language”, “Control”, “Home” menu", "General behavior", "Search field".
Although the program is configured optimally by default, the user can independently change the application settings to suit his needs by experimenting with the settings. To do this, select the settings, see what happened after changing them. If it turns out that you went a little overboard with the settings changes, you can return the program settings to their defaults.
In the application settings, you can hide unnecessary functions, change the display of elements and icons, change the order of elements, and remove elements from the Start menu.
To do this, select the element, select a command and display. After right-clicking on the desired element, select additional functions.
In the “Skin” tab, you can select a cover for the standard “Start” menu. By default, Windows 10 uses the Metro skin. You can choose from other skins: Windows Aero, Metallic, Midnight or Windows 8, a minimalist Classic Skin or No Skin.
Classic Shell parameter settings can be saved to an XML file in order to load the settings from this file during a new installation of the Classic Shell program. To do this, use the “Archive parameters” button, select the desired option: “Save to an XML file” or “Load from an XML file”. To reset the program's settings to default, select "Reset all settings."
Removing Classic Shell
The Classic Shell program is uninstalled in the standard way. If the program was not uninstalled correctly, or some problems arose during the uninstallation process, use a special utility that can be downloaded from here.
Conclusion
The free Classic Shell program installs an alternative (formerly classic) Start menu in the Windows operating system. After installing the program on the computer, the user can return the classic appearance of the Start menu in Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, and make other changes to the appearance and settings of the start menu.
