OD 2.1 and Win 8.1 - Start Menu Needed

from Stardock Forums

Hello,

Long time OD2 user on Win 7 and mostly very happy with it.

 

My company just sent me a new laptop with Win 8.1 installed, and I hate it.  I literally have no idea how to make it do anything without many, many keystrokes and faffing about :-)

 

Sounds like a perfect job for OD2.1, I hear you say!

 

So I installed OD2.1 and gleefully clicked on the "start" icon on the dock, only to groan with disappointment.  It just shows the shitty Win 8.1 tile screen instead of a Start menu that actually does something!

 

Is there a way to get proper OD Start functionality on Win 8.1?

 

Could I, for example, buy Start8 and get to that Start menu via OD2.1?

 

Cheers,

Geoff

objectdock
4,901 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Here's an update from my side.

I installed Classic Shell for Windows 8, which thankfully makes the computer useable again.

If I run OD2.1 now, and click the Start button on the dock, the Classic Shell Start menu pops up - which is exactly what I want!  Whoopee!

 

However, if I then select the "Hide task bar" option on the OD2.1 settings and click Start this time, nothing happens (actually there's a brief flash of the start menu, but then it disappears instantly).  I suspect OD2.1 is somehow suppressing the Classic Start menu from popping up.

 

I don't want to run with both the OD2.1 dock and the Windows task bar showing because that would be silly.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I'm guessing not many people use OD2.1 with Windows 8 because this is a very obvious requirement.

 

Cheers,

Geoff 

 

 

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Start8 was designed to bring back the start menu. Run that with OD2.1 and you should have no problem. As for using OD to hide the start menu...no clue as I run Win7.

Fences - Organize your desktop icons today!
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

As Uvah says, use Start8.  It integrates well with ObjectDock and the menu will show at the position requested.

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

check out Start 8 here. It will make you feel right at home. This is the program to use. It's updated if necessary, works like a charm and will cause no problems to your computer. 

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Thanks, folks.  I will check it out.

I see now why Win8 really bombed  :-)

 

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

I just installed the Start8 trial and it does exactly what I need.  It's almost as good as having Win7 back again :-)

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Cheers,

Geoff

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

:grin: