Windows Search and the Start Menu often fail to index programs installed on secondary drives (D:, E:, etc.) or portable applications. This leaves users digging through folders just to launch a tool they've already installed.

Manually creating shortcuts for dozens of apps is tedious. Even when you do, you often end up with messy names like Launcher_v2.final (x64), broken icons, or shortcuts that accidentally point to the uninstaller.exe instead of the actual game or app.

WinStartFixer is a lightweight PowerShell utility that audits your installed software across all drives. It identifies what's missing from your Start Menu, cleans up messy versioning nomenclature, and batch-generates proper shortcuts with correct icons and working directories in a single action.

• 🔍 Deep Scan: Audits Registry, 64-bit, and 32-bit install paths.
• 🛠️ Path Fallback: Finds folders even if the Registry entry is incomplete by analyzing uninstall strings and icon paths.
• 🧹 Name Cleaning: Automatically removes junk like (User), v1.0.2, and 2024 from shortcut names.
• 🛡️ Smart Filtering: Ignores uninstallers, setup files, and helpers to ensure the shortcut actually opens the app.
• 🎨 Icon Support: Preserves original app icons for a native Windows look.
• 📊 Status Tracking: Clearly shows what is already in your Start Menu and what is missing.

1. Download FixStartMenu.ps1.
2. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
3. Run the script:

   .\FixStartMenu.ps1

   (Note: You may need to run Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process to allow the script to run.)
4. Select IDs: Enter the numbers of the programs you want to fix (e.g., 1, 4, 12) and hit Enter.

Licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

This application was 100% vibe-coded with AI (Google Gemini).