Windows 7 Games menu - weirdness

[Rakk]

Ok, I have a weird thing happening on my PC.

Background:
On the start menu in Windows 7 it has this lovely games folder where it seems to work out what are games and puts them in the menu, I have it so the games folder expands on the start menu cos I'm lazy.
The game I spend most of my time playing is Everquest II so its in there.

Weird problem:
I can't seem to remove some stuff that Win7 has deemed to dump in that menu, and I now have 178 icons for 'Everquest II : Desert of Flames'* in that list, and I can't remove/hide them at all, and I want to know how, cos well not only is having 178 icons in that list for the same thing not useful at all anyway, but also they appear to be just icons not even a shortcut to the game .....
Opening that games folder lists all of those icons in an 'Unspecified' category, and for each icon right-clicking doesn't even bring up a context menu (which does appear for actual proper games in there)

So yeah, anybody any ideas?

* Desert of Flames was the first expansion for the game some 5 years ago, the icon I use to launch the game on my desktop is just named 'Everquest II'

 

[pengipete]

I can't check this in W7 - I'm on the Vista laptop - but it should be the same.

Right-click on the "Games" entry on the Start Menu (not the sub-menu) and select "Explore" - then delete anything you like. If that doesn't work on W7, type "Games Explorer" in the Start Menu - it should link to the same location.

 

[Rakk]

I was in the games explorer folder, no right-click menu for the icons (the proper games in that folder do have a right-click context menu associated with them) - so can't delete/hide through that, selecting an icon and pressing delete does nothing ......

 

[vanthus]

There is a known issue with everquest causing this.the only way to delete them,far as i know, short of a reinstall is through the registry.

 

[Rakk]

Marvellous ..... not!!!!
Any idea where in the registry it holds all this lovely info for this?

 

[vanthus]

Well yes i have,but maybe worth giving ccleaner a shot first,only trying to help.

 

[Rakk]

I know you were trying to help, the 'Marvellous .... not!!!' comment was not aimed at you, it was aimed at said known issue (I'm suffering from late nights at the weekend in case it came out as being rude)

 

[vanthus]

I know you were trying to help, the 'Marvellous .... not!!!' comment was not aimed at you, it was aimed at said known issue (I'm suffering from late nights at the weekend in case it came out as being rude)

Oh,i see,sorry must be a bit touchy myself,to be honest i have only used the registry in windows xp & not having windows7 handy(in for repair)i can only suggest/start/type in regedit/click edit tab/find or find next/type in the name of the program/the duplicates may then be obvious to recognize,back up registry before you delete anything.

 

[Rakk]

Well, I found the folders in the registry, and am now down to only 80 icons in that stupid thing, a slow process it is ....

In case anyone wants to know its held in 'Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameUX' and in there in mine is a folder which is a long line of numbers, and all the bits are held in there, but yeah, over half way now .....

Though after some investigation, it appears every time I run the launcher at least it adds another version to the stupid list ........

 

[vanthus]

Yes forgot to mention it will add one every time you run it,dont know of a fix for that unfortunately.maybe the makers of the program could help you more.

 

[Rakk]

Well, as long as I clear it out weekly it should be fine I reckon
Of course I'll remember I've said that in three months when I have hundreds of them again

 

[pengipete]

Out of interest, if you still have unwanted icons showing, try going to the appdata\microsoft\windows\gameexplorer folder for your user account to see if they are in there. If they are, you'll be able to sort it out without touching the registry. (If it works, you can easily create a shortcut to that folder - make life easier in future)

I should add, I don't have any games so I can't tell you what's supposed to be in that folder.