On 2018/05/17, Jimmy Wilkinson Knife wrote:

They contain EVERYTHING in my start menu.
A program is either installed for all users, or just for me.
It therefore goes in one of those two locations above (not three,
the third is just a subfolder of the second).

A lot of people think what you just wrote, which is why I, myself, was
confused by the conflicting information on the net.

Luckily Paul instantly resolved the latent confusion when he found the
"real" tiled start menu location, which is, apparently, in a proprietary
database format, and mostly in a file named
%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Database\ve datamodel.edb

Given what Paul kindly unearthed, here's my rough draft of a STRATEGY for
an efficient set of tactics for organizing a start menu on Windows 10.

If others have IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS, that would be most welcome, since
we can all learn from the experience of each of us.

***** *****
This is just a work-in-progress unfinished rough draft of my goal.

1. Create a folder for your menus that Windows & apps won't screw up.
For example,
cd C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\.
mkdir menu

Note that this folder is at the same level as the system folder:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\.

2. Then populate that menu folder hieararchy with your menu hierarchy:
WARNING: The Win10 StartMenu is limited to (2) bottom levels!
For example:
.\menu\archiver\compression\{7zip,winrar,izarc,etc .}
.\menu\archiver\encryption\{pgp,veracrypt,openpgp, etc.}
.\menu\browser\cmd\{curl,wget,bashshell,etc.}
.\menu\browser\torrent\{deluge,bittorrent,utorrent ,etc.}
.\menu\browser\web\{firefox,chrome,iron,etc.}
.\menu\cleaner\{ccleaner,bleachbit,jetclean,etc.}
.\menu\database\{googleearth,msaccess,cubrid,etc.}
.\menu\editor\pic\{pinta,photoshop,mspaint,etc.}
.\menu\editor\snd\{audacity,id3tag,goldwave,etc.}
.\menu\editor\txt\{vim,notepad,lemmy,etc.}
.\menu\editor\vid\{shotcut,handbrake,super,etc.}
.\menu\finance\{turbotax,taxcut,quicken,etc.}
.\menu\game\{steam,gtracing,jetpackjoyride,etc.}
.\menu\hardware\discauthor\{devede,dvdflick,bombon o,etc.}
.\menu\hardware\discburn\{imgburn,nero,cdburnerxp, etc.}
.\menu\hardware\driver\{dd,drvback,drivermax,etc.}
.\menu\hardware\hdd\{acronis,diskmon,partitionmagi c,etc.}
.\menu\hardware\ipod\{sharepod,syncios,itunes,etc. }
.\menu\hardware\printer\{hp2170,fineprint,posteraz or,etc.}
etc.

Note a Win10 StartMenu limitiation is 2 levels of hierarchy only!
That is, you can't have 3 or more levels of menu hierarchy:
.\menu\hardware\disc\author\{devede,dvdflick,bombo no,etc.}
.\menu\hardware\disc\burn\{imgburn,nero,cdburnerxp ,etc.}
But you must bring them up one level:
.\menu\hardware\discauthor\{devede,dvdflick,bombon o,etc.}
.\menu\hardware\discburn\{imgburn,nero,cdburnerxp, etc.}

Note: See steps below for locations to most existing app shortcuts.
Note: The actual hierarchy is immaterial - use what makes sense to you.

3. Optional: Add that combined hierarchical menu to your taskbar.
http://i.cubeupload.com/hk5fq8.jpg

Right click on the taskbar Toolbars New toolbar... Select Folder
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\your-menu\

Note: This combined menu hierarchy serves as an excellent backup
as it can be reproduced easily, on the same or other similar box.

4. Manually populate the Win10 Start Menu tiles based off of "your-menu".
a. For each program shortcut in the folder: Right click Pin to Start
b. To create a new group, slide a tile to an empty space.
c. To create a new sub-group, slide a tile on top of another tile.

WARNING: The left side of the Win10 start menu is comprised from:
Global: %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
User: %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

The right side of the Win10 start menu is the "edb" file hive at:
%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Database\
http://i.cubeupload.com/LSBPGI.jpg

Specifically, the right side of the Win10 StartMenu is the "edb" file:
%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Database\ve datamodel.edb
http://i.cubeupload.com/YRxNRK.jpg

5. Optional, add tiles with links to commonly used folder hierarchies:
C:\temp
C:\software
C:\data
C:\apps
etc.

6. Once done, back up the Win10 StartMenu binary database folder.
Temporarily enable the built-in Windows Administrator
Cortana Computer Management Local Users and Groups
Users Administrator (uncheck) Account is disabled
Apply OK
http://i.cubeupload.com/TkxzBC.jpg
Sign-out of your Windows 10 account.
Sign-in using another account or the built-in Administrator account.
File Explorer View Hidden Items
Navigate to C:\Users\ichiro\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\
Copy C:\Users\ichiro\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Databa se\
Paste "Database" to where you want the Windows start menu archived.

7. When needed, you can replace the Win10 StartMenu with your archive:
On another machine, as another account or the built-in Administrator.
Rename the existing "Database" folder to "Database.bak".
Paste your new "Database" folder in its place.

This mechanism has the advantage that is consistent, and easily backed up,
and easily ported from one machine to itself (after reinstalls) or to other
similarly setup boxes.

Improvement suggestions are always welcome.