Computer Tips

Add Cascading Menu for Restart, Shut Down, Hibernate and Other Power Shortcuts in Desktop Context Menu of Windows 7 and Later

Almost all computer users need to restart, shut down or hibernate their systems at some time and doing all these things were easy enough in previous Windows versions such as Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. But suddenly Microsoft introduced Metro UI in Windows 8 and removed the Start button and Start menu from Windows 8. Although you can get start button and start menu back using this tutorial but that's a different thing.

Many Windows 8 and later users are facing problems in getting used to this new Metro UI and Start Screen and the most difficult part of this new interface is the missing power options. There is no direct option given to restart, shut down, hibernate, sleep your PC.

Oh yeah, you can select these options using new Charms bar or by clicking on Taskbar and pressing "Alt+F4" key combination or by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+Del" keys together to choose a power option from the given list. There are a few other known ways as well but why do we need to follow so many steps? Why not provide a direct option for such an essential task? Believe me selecting these power options from start menu was far better and easier.

I really do hope that Microsoft will do something regarding it in final version of Windows 8 and will add a direct option to perform these power related tasks. But in the meantime you can use this tutorial to get an easy access to all power options.

NOTE: This trick will work in Windows 7 and later Windows versions only.

In this tutorial, we'll tell you how to add a new cascading menu in Desktop context menu (right-click menu) which will provide easy and direct access to all following power options:

Lock
Log Off
Switch User
Sleep
Hibernate
Restart
Restart with Boot Options Menu
Shut Down
Shut Down (Hybrid)
Using this new menu, you just need to right-click on Desktop and select the desired power option to immediately restart, shut down your system or do other above mentioned stuff.

FYI, We are going to use the same method in this tutorial which we shared long time back for Windows 7 users. Check out following link to learn more:

Add Cascading Menus for Your Favorite Programs in Windows Desktop Context Menu

The above mentioned method helps you in adding cascading menus for your favorite program shortcuts in Desktop context menu of Windows 7 and later. Use of cascading menu doesn't increase size of your default Desktop context menu and you can add many shortcuts under it. The above tutorial has been featured on various popular websites including Microsoft's own website.

Back to the tutorial, using the same registry trick given in the above mentioned topic, we'll add a new menu "Power Menu" in Desktop context menu which will contain all power options inside it.

Following is a screenshot of this new "Power Menu" in action:

 http://media.askvg.com/downloads/2012/03/Add-Cascading-Power-Menu-in-Desktop-Context-Menu.zip

Author: Hamedledam