Is it possible to port the Win 10 beta start menu to 8.1?

[BioMarkII]

Recently I was wandering around with some old Windows 10 builds and I really liked the start menu in them. Is it possible to port to Windows 8.1?

[Samuka]

Well, possible, i think yes. However, you need solve new dependencies required by explorer, shell32, etc

[Meow]

Recently I was wandering around with some old Windows 10 builds and I really liked the start menu in them. Is it possible to port to Windows 8.1?

There are already posts about this. Go look at one.

Offtopic Comment

Posted on Windows 2000 SP4

[com1337]

Recently I was wandering around with some old Windows 10 builds and I really liked the start menu in them. Is it possible to port to Windows 8.1?

There are already posts about this. Go look at one.

Offtopic Comment

Posted on Windows 2000 SP4

Mind linking one?

[yourepicfailure]

https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewt ... 62&t=36739
https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewt ... 62&t=38172
https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewt ... 62&t=37508

[BioMarkII]

Thanks everybody. I'll take a look into this.

[yourepicfailure]

If you give me a little time, I believe I may still have my notes on this when I was working on it for giansteen.

Off the top of my head, 9780 and 9785 are the candidates for x86 and 64-bit respectably. You would strip the certification from explorer with signtool. There were a few dlls that needed to be copied and replaced from the build, but were compatible with the target. In order to run explorer, since it is a system excecutable, you would need to boot with signature verification flag set through either bcd or at boot-time with f8 menu. You would also need to copy the related muis from the lang folders as well from the candidate build to run the copied executables.

[BioMarkII]

If you give me a little time, I believe I may still have my notes on this when I was working on it for giansteen.

Off the top of my head, 9780 and 9785 are the candidates for x86 and 64-bit respectably. You would strip the certification from explorer with signtool. There were a few dlls that needed to be copied and replaced from the build, but were compatible with the target. In order to run explorer, since it is a system excecutable, you would need to boot with signature verification flag set through either bcd or at boot-time with f8 menu. You would also need to copy the related muis from the lang folders as well from the candidate build to run the copied executables.

I will definitely try that when I get some free time. Doesn't sound as challenging as I expected it to be.

[yourepicfailure]

Managed to find my old test VHD and notes on the subject.

The VHD was Windows 8.1 Pro, with Update 1.
The largest hurdle was the lack of exactly one function: IsShellManagedWindow inside of user32.dll.
One function in shell32.dll, and 4 from shcore.dll.

I never got around to stubbing the exe with IDA as I feared stubbing user32 would cause problems, even if it was just one function required.
A completely user-mode dll like shell32, not much fear. No, you can't simply copy over user32 either. Not without gutting and replacing much of the core executables such as ntdll, and in turn, ntoskrnl.
At that point it'd be better to just install 9785 in the first place.

[Applegame12345]

Managed to find my old test VHD and notes on the subject.

The VHD was Windows 8.1 Pro, with Update 1.
The largest hurdle was the lack of exactly one function: IsShellManagedWindow inside of user32.dll.
One function in shell32.dll, and 4 from shcore.dll.

I never got around to stubbing the exe with IDA as I feared stubbing user32 would cause problems, even if it was just one function required.
A completely user-mode dll like shell32, not much fear. No, you can't simply copy over user32 either. Not without gutting and replacing much of the core executables such as ntdll, and in turn, ntoskrnl.
At that point it'd be better to just install 9785 in the first place.

It is still worth trying though.

[Splitwirez]

I never got around to stubbing the exe with IDA as I feared stubbing user32 would cause problems, even if it was just one function required.
A completely user-mode dll like shell32, not much fear. No, you can't simply copy over user32 either. Not without gutting and replacing much of the core executables such as ntdll, and in turn, ntoskrnl.
At that point it'd be better to just install 9785 in the first place.

Food for thought: Might it be possible to use https://github.com/microsoft/Detours to work around that problem?

[LiteOS]

i dont think so
i did something similar, making windows server 2019 core with explorer from 2015 ltsb or server 2016 and others
and there same error when trying to run explorer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyofz4XX_BU

[Jake harrison]

I think the start menu is linked to the theme as well. I used the build 8400 theme on build 9785 and everything works exept the start menu refuses to open, the build 8400 theme works on every version of windows 8 including build 9200 & 9600.

[LiteOS]

I think the start menu is linked to the theme as well. I used the build 8400 theme on build 9785 and everything works exept the start menu refuses to open, the build 8400 theme works on every version of windows 8 including build 9200 & 9600.

which dll what the theme ?

[LiteOS]

I think the start menu is linked to the theme as well. I used the build 8400 theme on build 9785 and everything works exept the start menu refuses to open, the build 8400 theme works on every version of windows 8 including build 9200 & 9600.

which error msg u had when trying to run explorer.exe ?

[Jake harrison]

I think the start menu is linked to the theme as well. I used the build 8400 theme on build 9785 and everything works exept the start menu refuses to open, the build 8400 theme works on every version of windows 8 including build 9200 & 9600.

which error msg u had when trying to run explorer.exe ?

When I ran explorer from build 9785 on windows 8.1 with the digital signature removed I got dll error 0x0000007b, and When I used the theme from build 8400 on build 9785 the start menu wont open at all but no error message. I think if we copy the theme from windows build 9785 to 8.1 and copy explorer with all its dependencys to 8.1 the start menu should work. heres a link to explorer from build 9785 with the digital signature removed "https://mega.nz/file/QE5mjQIA#67-oCnSfE ... BQR6zEhKY4" you must boot with driver verification removed tho.

[LiteOS]

the theme file is uxtheme.dll ?
or which method u used to find the dependencys dlls

ty that might be very helpful
making crossbreed windows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyofz4XX_BU

[yuuma]

I have gone through the files included in Windows RT update 3.
The following link has the paths to all the files needed to get the start menu working. These files are present in Windows 10 TP.
I haven't tested it yet, but it may give you a hint on how to port the start menu.
The signatures on the files are expired, so please run them with test mode enabled.

https://writening.net/page?tWgddT

[EverythingeeB]

I have gone through the files included in Windows RT update 3.
The following link has the paths to all the files needed to get the start menu working. These files are present in Windows 10 TP.
I haven't tested it yet, but it may give you a hint on how to port the start menu.
The signatures on the files are expired, so please run them with test mode enabled.

https://writening.net/page?tWgddT

That's a lot... hopefully someone can compile an image that has these files already copied.

[Rukasumi]

uh so did anyone manage to make a easy way to add this?

[williamWL]

I believe the start menu is associated with the theme. I applied the Build 8400 theme on Build 9785, and everything functions except the start menu, which doesn't open. The Build 8400 theme is compatible with every Windows 8 version, including Builds 9200 and 9600. pikashow

[ActivateYourTech]

I believe the start menu is associated with the theme. I applied the Build 8400 theme on Build 9785, and everything functions except the start menu, which doesn't open. The Build 8400 theme is compatible with every Windows 8 version, including Builds 9200 and 9600. pikashow

Did you need to patch UXtheme for it?