Kurt Shintaku's Blog

UPDATE 11/15/12:
I’ve gotten a report that this registry key may be the cause of the the destabilization of my Surface as was documented here:
https://kurtsh.com/2012/11/11/info-i-have-an-windows-8rt-app-that-just-disappearscrashes-drops-me-into-the-desktop-or-a-blue-background-dude-wtf/

A coworker that was experiencing the exact same symptoms that I was removed the key and has had no problems since, so as a result, I can’t recommend that folks do this hack moving forward.  Nothing is worth destabilizing your desktop experience.

ORIGINAL POST:
[stolen from Maximum PC Magazine]

The first time you boot into the Start Screen after you log in, Windows 8 fills your colored background with your icons with a pretty left-to-right kind of a “fill” animation. We like that. We like it so much, that we want to see it all the time – Windows just makes your Start Screen boringly “appear” when you open and close it after this first login animation.

Open up the registry (type “regedit” on the Windows 8 Start Screen) and navigate over to this key:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
  CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Grid

Right-click on the right-most window pane, hover over “New,” and select the “DWORD” option. Right-click on your new DWORD and rename it to “Launcher_SessionLoginAnimation_OnShow,” and then double-click on it and set its Value data to 1. Voila: Pretty Windows 8 icon animation forevermore! To revert this modification, just delete the DWORD you created.

• Read this and other tips at Maximum PC’s Windows 8 Tips:
  http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/windows_8_tips_guide8731