Adding an application shortcut to the Start menu

The Windows Start menu is probably the first place that a user will look for a shortcut. Things got a little interesting with Windows 8, in which the traditional Start menu was removed and Windows 8.1 in which it makes a return, but shows no application shortcuts. However, we can still see shortcuts in the Apps view, which you can get to by going to the new Start screen and clicking on the down arrow:

In short, remember to think about the version of Windows you're installing to when it comes to the Start menu shortcuts.

In this recipe, we will create a shortcut to our application that is displayed on the Windows Start menu. It will be installed for all users, meaning that any user that logs on will see it. It's also possible, as we'll discuss, to install a shortcut only for the current user.

Getting ready

To prepare for this recipe, perform the following steps:

1. Create a new setup project and call it StartMenuShortcutInstaller.
2. Add...