Start menu tiles layout savefile?

I have another method for seeing the entire Start menu backed up. But it uses the command prompt approach for this. You will note that the original date was October 2014 and was updated during June prior to 10's release. You would want to use the Command prompt (admin) for this one. How to backup or reset the start menu in Windows 10 - gHacks Tech News

One of the problems trying to back up the tile area of course would be fluxuation over time! As you go along you will likely being trying out new programs as well as possibly dumping a few older ones or finding newer versions where the tiles will end up being changed. Seeing a full system image backup on the other hand will preserve the existing program installs along with the existing tiles which in theory should actually work out even better.

There won't be any broken links since everything remains intact from the time the image is created in the image itself you can fall back on. That option provides a full snapshot of the system in the state it is in which is updated simply by seeing a newer image back up made.

Night Hawk said:

I have another method for seeing the entire Start menu backed up. But it uses the command prompt approach for this. You will note that the original date was October 2014 and was updated during June prior to 10's release. You would want to use the Command prompt (admin) for this one. How to backup or reset the start menu in Windows 10 - gHacks Tech News

One of the problems trying to back up the tile area of course would be fluxuation over time! As you go along you will likely being trying out new programs as well as possibly dumping a few older ones or finding newer versions where the tiles will end up being changed. Seeing a full system image backup on the other hand will preserve the existing program installs along with the existing tiles which in theory should actually work out even better.

There won't be any broken links since everything remains intact from the time the image is created in the image itself you can fall back on. That option provides a full snapshot of the system in the state it is in which is updated simply by seeing a newer image back up made.

I'm afraid that method is no longer valid in Windows 10.

Unfortunately one look at the original date and even when updated is where I ended up at when not finding any specific method for saving and restoring the way the tiles are arranged. With any program change by adding one on or removing, updating one with a new shortcut like Waterfox now seeing a totally new icon for that particular browser the save become obsolete as well.

I would think that even a partial not complete system image but partial system backup would preserve the apps as well as the present layout to some extent since the TileDataLayer folder is found under the user account. But the need to reinstall one or more of the exact same programs on any clean install of 10 to come later still can put you back to Square One for something like this.

The one working solution to solve all simply comes back to seeing a complete system image type backup where everything is preserved as it is. Another guide found for this only explains the two method for seeing the defaults restored. Somehow that was linked back to .. ? Ten Forums!

TPreston said:

its not a single file now in 10 they changed it to a database located here

C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Database

copying it from another pc has saved me a reimage and works without any issue

I was just in the same fix. I've been using my laptop for quite awhile waiting for Western Digital to replace my 2 month old disk drive.
Finally they came through so my desktop is up and running windows 10 Pro, with a Windows designed start menu.
Well, I tried to copy the database to a thumb drive, and all but two files copied. The two that didn't copy gave an error message I've never seen before. I'm attaching an image.
I did another search, and saw 2 or 3 that gave info on doing it at the command level. So looks like I'm going to have to do that.
Did you have any problems copying it?

Well, I know why it didn't work now. Cuz Windows has changed things up a bit. I've found quite a few posts that refer to your method, TPreston. They are all sayind it must be done at the Admin command prompt - and it's in a different location. It sounds like quite a pain in the xxx, but I guess I'll try it.
Man, even using Google advanced search, I'm getting results that are Totally Unrelated. And with the results that are relative, I''ve seen at least 3 different commands to use at the Admin command prompt. I'm kinda scared.... cuz even if I do a backup of whatever file they say to use, how can I be sure a restore will really work. But now is the best time for me to try it since this is a raw install of Windows. I've only installed one app - Revo Uninstaller. I swear by it, and I'm going to be installing lots of programs once I get this Start screen taken care of. Whether I do it with a little automation, or do it manually.
Wish me luck. TPreston, looks like you're one of the lucky ones since you got to do it in a pretty easy way before Windows decided they found a better place for the files.