[ltsb, 1809] I've Broken my custom start menu, what have i missed

[Jaan]

Hi all, just after some input.

 

I've removed the custom start menu that we used and want to have a very basic start menu.

 

I've removed the XML we used to have and created one as below

 

 

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
   xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
   xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
   xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
   Version="1">
 
   
     
       
       
     
   
 

 

But it looks like this, no idea where the three boxes are being generated from:

 

 

I'm after this affect. no tiles basic list:

 

 

What have i missed?

[meakjoe]

Drop this bit of code in above the CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection to achieve the desired result. The key is you need to define the section with nothing inside of it, rather than just not defining the section at all which will revert back to the OS default as currently displayed.

 

[Jaan]

That worked a treat thanks.

 

Where the best place to put the pinned taskbar items such as file explorer?

 

thanks again

[meakjoe]

It looks like you've got it correct in your example above, within the CustomTaskBarLayoutCollection.

 

Only issue I found was that the links have to point to a shortcut within the Start Menu folder, rather than the path to the actual .exe. Alternatively, you can link to the AppID which is a more global option and not path dependant, so chrome can be targeted with the following...

 

You can get a full list of AppIDs from opening a powershell window and running get-startapps

[RLR]

That worked a treat thanks.

 

Where the best place to put the pinned taskbar items such as file explorer?

 

thanks again

 

Do you mean within the xml? If so, you just combine it all so it would be something like this:

 

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
   xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
   xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
   xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
   Version="1">

 
   
     
     
   
 
   
     
       
   
          
     
   
 

[Jaan]

It stops working when i add the pinned taskbar items. Do i have it in the correct place?

 

[Jaan]

I've officially broken this now.... no idea why its not working

 

code used:

 

what it looks like:

 

ignore to papercut icon, that launches at log in

 

 

if i just use:

 

 

i get the following start menu which is what i want:

 

 

if i try and pin anything to the task bar i get the three random tiles as above. Also this computer is missing

Edited March 25, 2022 by Jaan

[award-mint]

Not sure if it's needed but I've got the following additional line on the XML I'm currently using.

 

xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"

 

The start of my XML looks like this:

 

       xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"    
      xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"    
      xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"    
      xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"    
      Version="1">

 

Everything else looks okay.

Edited March 25, 2022 by award-mint

[Jaan]

Not sure if it's needed but I've got the following additional line on the XML I'm currently using.

 

xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"

 

The start of my XML looks like this:

 

       xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"    
      xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"    
      xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"    
      xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"    
      Version="1">

 

Everything else looks okay.

 

Thanks for this. are you able to post your complete xml please?

 

Thanks

[Jaan]

I've added the line you suggested. I currently have a black start menu (Tiles) which is what i'm after. But the taskbar is also blank.

 

	xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout" 
xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"  
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification" 
xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
Version="1">
 

	
		
	

	
		
			
				
				
				
			
			
	

[meakjoe]

Try the below, this should just pin Edge to the taskbar, with an empty start menu. It should be a starting point.

 

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"    
xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"    
xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"    
xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"    
Version="1">

[Jaan]

Using the code you provided (i've added different pined items) i just get a blank taskbar. The start menu is as expected.

 

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"    
xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"    
xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"    
xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"    
Version="1">

[Jaan]

I'm on 1809 LTSC should that matter?

 

Start menu is as a want but pinned taskbar icons don't appear.

[Jaan]

Just to report back here.

 

The above xml works fine on 21H2, but not 1809.

[Jaan]

Just to report back here.

 

The above xml works fine on 21H2, but not 1809.

 

EDIT: Actually, its just the admin accounts it works for not standard users. ...... its a computer based GPO