Windows 8 - Adding Shortcuts to Metro UI

[Mardread]

A few of you are probably playing with the DB of Windows 8 right now and some of those folks may be a little flustered with the Metro UI. The biggest concern I had really was the inability to add Shortcuts to the Metro UI Start screen. If you install the program through the normal means, it adds it just fine. If you have programs that can be moved with no adverse effects (Such as Blizzard Games) and you wish to add them to the Metro Start, there seems to be no direct way of adding those program shortcuts.

Here is something that I learned, I will use WoW as an example:

- First you have to unhide hidden folders through your config
- Next, go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. This is where all the shortcuts are placed into the Start Menu. Notice, pinning a program to the start menu DOES NOT place it in the Metro UI.
- Find your WoW directory and right click Launcher.exe. Send To Desktop (Create Shortcut) NOTE: You cannot create a shortcut directly to the folder. The system will not let you.
- Rename your shortcut to WoW or whatever you want.
- Copy the shortcut on your desktop
- Paste it into C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs (Since I have Starcraft and WoW, I just made a simple Blizzard Games folder and pasted them in there. This is not necessary though)
- Open the Metro UI Start and you should see the new shortcuts on the right side of the window.

This is a long way of going about to add programs or shortcuts to the Metro UI, but it works just fine.

[Cyanotical]

Is there a way to customize the icon so it doesn't look so generic compared to the other metro apps?

[Mardread]

Not that I know of, I am still tinkering with trying to work my way around the new UI. There is a way to disable the new UI through a registry change and a small app that someone made on deviantart. If you disable Metro UI though, all the cool improvements gets disabled as well. Which is kinda shitty on MS end.
I will attempt to look at the app shortcuts next to see what can be changed and tinkered with. I do not like the color scheme or look of Metro UI, though I do like what it is capable of. It basically takes gadgets and makes it a whole lot better.

[trunksy]

Has anyone figured out how to do it for batch files ie .BAT instead of .EXE shortcuts? It seems that it only recognizes .EXE shortcuts and not .BAT.