How to get the Windows 8.1 Start Button now, for free!

Those new to Windows 8 might find it disconcerting that there's an invisible "hot corner" that triggers the Start screen in Windows 8, rather than the permanent button in previous versions. Or if you use a mouse and multiple monitors, it can be hard to move the cursor exactly to the bottom-left corner of the screen without overshooting into into the next monitor.

With a few minutes of work, you can set up a permanent button in Windows 8 using built-in Windows features, without any third-party software. (This doesn't bring back the old Start menu; it just gives a sizable,  permanently-visible on-screen target to hit when accessing the Start screen.)


How to Make a Start Button in Windows 8:

1. In your Documents folder, create a new folder called Toolbars. Place the icon of your choice inside. (I used this one, pictured above.)
    
2. Start Notepad. Copy and paste in this one line of text:
   
   
   CreateObject("WScript.Shell").SendKeys "^{ESC}"
   
   Save the file in that same Toolbars folder. Call it "Start.vbs".
    
3. Inside that Toolbars folder, create a new subfolder called Start Button.
    
4. Right-click on the Start.vbs file and select Copy. Open the Start Button folder, right-click and select "Paste Shortcut". Rename the shortcut "Start". Then right-click the shortcut, select "Properties" and click the "Change Icon…" button. Select the icon from Step 1.
    
5. On an empty part of the Windows Taskbar, right-click and de-select "Lock all taskbars"
    
6. On an empty part of the Windows Taskbar, right-click, select "Toolbars", then "New Toolbar…" Select the Start Button folder from Step 3.
    
7. By right-clicking on your new Start Button toolbar (not on the button itself), you can customize the way it looks. De-select "Show Title" and "Show Text", and under the "View" menu, select "Large Icons".
    
8. Drag your Start Button toolbar all the way to the left of the taskbar (or place it as you see fit), then right-click an empty spot on the taskbar and re-enable "Lock all taskbars".

For multi-monitor setups, you'll notice you can only add toolbars to your main monitor's taskbar. Also, just like with pressing the physical Windows button on your keyboard or tablet, this new Start button will make the Start screen appear on whichever monitor it was on last, not necessarily on your main monitor.

Update 5/13/2013: This works great on Windows Server 2012 as well! (For those not familiar, Windows Server 2012 has an interface similar to Windows 8, but it's geared toward server machines, as the name implies.) At work I've been administering some servers via Remote Desktop, which I almost never run full-screen. The keyboard's Windows button only activates the Start screen on my local PC. So adding a Start button like this gives me a solid target to aim for with the mouse.

Update 6/10/2013: Apparently the Start button in the upcoming Windows 8.1 looks virtually identical to this, and also brings up the Start screen. So, you can effectively get one feature of Windows 8.1 right now, for free!