Adding the Application to the Start Button

Your installation program can still create a "Program Group" in the Programs folder by using dynamic data exchange (DDE) as used in Windows version 3.1, but this is no longer the preferred method. Instead, your installation program should add an icon for your primary application to the Start menu. The program can, optionally, prompt the user to choose which program icons to place in the menu. However, icons should not be added for every application in your package, and an extensive hierarchy of programs and folders should not be created on the Start menu.

The installer provides a simple method for populating the Start menu.

To add an icon to the Start menu, your installation program should create a link to your application's executable file by using the IShellLink interface. To determine which directory should contain the link, call the SHGetSpecialFolderLocation function with the CSIDL_PROGRAMS value.