Okay, so at first when i run my win32 program the menu works fine, however when i open the application later the next day or such the menu is gone but the code never changed. im making the menu with a .rc file. is this the recommended way?
resource.rc
#include "resource.h"
IDR_MYMENU MENU
BEGIN
   POPUP "&File"
      BEGIN
        MENUITEM "E&xit", ID_FILE_EXIT
      END
END
resource.h
#define IDR_MYMENU 101
#define IDI_MYICON 201
#define ID_FILE_EXIT 9001
#define ID_STUFF_GO 9002
main.cpp
#include "resource.h"
wincl.lpszMenuName = MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDR_MYMENU);   
also i noticed that MSVC++ has a very very complex windows templates, vs bloodshed. should i maybe give up on bloodshed and use MSVC++? I am use to blooshed, but i want to have an edge when i finally learn this stuff?
HWND hwnd;               /* This is the handle for our window */
MSG messages;            /* Here messages to the application are saved */
WNDCLASSEX wincl;        /* Data structure for the windowclass */
/* The Window structure */
wincl.hInstance = hThisInstance;
wincl.lpszClassName = szClassName;
wincl.lpfnWndProc = WindowProcedure;      /* This function is called by windows */
wincl.style = CS_DBLCLKS;                 /* Catch double-clicks */
wincl.cbSize = sizeof (WNDCLASSEX);
/* Use default icon and mouse-pointer */
wincl.hIcon = LoadIcon (GetModuleHandle(NULL), MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_MYICON));
wincl.hIconSm = (HICON) LoadImage(GetModuleHandle(NULL), MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_MYICON), IMAGE_ICON, 16, 16 ,0);
wincl.hCursor = LoadCursor (NULL, IDC_CROSS);
wincl.lpszMenuName = MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDR_MYMENU);                 /* No menu */
wincl.cbClsExtra = 0;                                             /* No extra bytes after the window class */
wincl.cbWndExtra = 0;                                             /* structure or the window instance */
/* Use Windows's default color as the background of the window */
wincl.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH) GetStockObject(BLACK_BRUSH);
/* Register the window class, and if it fails quit the program */
if (!RegisterClassEx (&wincl))
    return 0;
/* The class is registered, let's create the program*/
hwnd = CreateWindowEx (
       0,                   /* Extended possibilites for variation */
       szClassName,         /* Classname */
       "Windows App",       /* Title Text */
       WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW, /* default window */
       CW_USEDEFAULT,       /* Windows decides the position */
       CW_USEDEFAULT,       /* where the window ends up on the screen */
       544,                 /* The programs width */
       375,                 /* and height in pixels */
       HWND_DESKTOP,        /* The window is a child-window to desktop */
       NULL,                /* No menu */
       hThisInstance,       /* Program Instance handler */
       NULL                 /* No Window Creation data */
       );