How to create a Start Button in Windows 8

If you, like me, are using Windows 7 in your work environment but often find that you must use Remote Desktop to get to a Windows 8 or 2012 box, then you often are likely slowly dragging the mouse to find the Start button or the Charms menu so that you can reach the Modern UI. No longer. Here’s a solution to help fix this problem.

Or maybe you are just not willing to wait for Windows 8.1 and the possible return of the Start button? Do this on the Windows 8 or 2012 machines to help ease your troubles now:

1. Open Notepad by doing a Charms search
2. Copy this text:

• set shell=createobject(“wscript.shell”)
• shell.sendkeys “^{Esc}”

3. Now Save as windowskey.vbs to somewhere accessible by you or all users on the machine, such as the root of C (C:\) or if you will be the only one needing this, the root of your profile (C:\users\%username%\)
4. Right click on your desktop and choose New->Shortcut
5. The path for this shortcut will be “C:\Windows\system32\wscript.exe” and name it something like Windows Key or Start Button
6. Now, alter the icon by right clicking the icon and choosing Properties from the menu and then Change Icon
7. To find different icons already available in Windows, alter the path to “C:\windows\system32\shell32.dll”
8. I chose a Star
9. Press OK or double click the icon in the list of icons and then Apply once your icon is chosen. Leave the Properties window open
10. Now alter the path of the Target in the Properties dialog box:

• For the root of C: c:\windows\system32\wscript.exe c:\users\%username%\windowskey.vbs
• For the root of your profile: c:\windows\system32\wscript.exe c:\users\%username%\windowskey.vbs

11. The shortcut now appears on your desktop and if you press it, it will function as a Start button to get you to the Modern UI/Start screen
12. Now drag the shortcut to the taskbar to pin it

Now when you press the icon on the Taskbar it will emulate a Windows key press and function as a Start button! Wowza!