Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, Second Edition

Customizing the Start Menu

As millions of Windows users have demonstrated, it’s perfectly possible to live a long and happy life without ever tampering with the Start menu. For many people, the idea of making it look or work differently comes dangerously close to nerd territory. (It’s true that listing your favorite files there gives you quicker access to them—but it’s even easier to use the Quick Launch toolbar, as described in Section 2.5.1.)

Still, knowing how to manipulate the Start menu listings may come in handy someday, and provides an interesting glimpse into the way Windows works.

Note

Thanks to the User Accounts feature described in Chapter 17, any changes you make to the Start menu apply only to you. Each person with an account on this PC has an independent, customized Start menu. When you sign on to the machine using your name and password, Windows XP loads your customized Start menu.

Basic Start Menu Settings

Microsoft offers a fascinating set of customization options for the Start menu. It’s hard to tell whether these options were selected by a scientific usability study or by a dartboard, but you’re likely to find something that suits you.

To view and change the basic options, right-click the Start menu; choose Properties from the shortcut menu. Now the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box opens, as seen in Figure 1-22.

The General tab

When you click the Customize button, you see the dialog box shown at right in Figure 1-22. Here you’re offered a random assortment ...