WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Start and Programs Menus

For many users, the Start and Programs menus are the central repository for frequently used programs and files. You can customize the contents of the Start menu and the Programs menu—simply drag items to easily add, remove, and reorder links to programs, files, and folders. A shortcut menu appears when you right-click an item.

In Windows 2000 Professional, you can display certain components, such as Control Panel, as subfolders directly from the Start menu rather than in a new window. For more information about changing the display of components from the Start menu, see "Procedures for Customizing the Start Menu" later in this chapter.

Personalized menus are another new feature of Windows 2000 Professional. Enabled by default, the system keeps track of the most frequently used items on the Programs menu (and its submenus) and displays only those items when you activate the menu. To expand the menu to see all of the items that are available, allow the mouse pointer to pause on the double arrows at the bottom of the menu (as seen in Figure 8.2) to display infrequently used items (as seen in Figure 8.3).

Figure 8.2 Personalized Menu Displaying Only the Most Recently Used Items

Figure 8.3 Personalized Menu Expanded to Display Infrequently Used Items

For more information about Personalized Menus, see "Procedures for Using Personalized Menus" later in this chapter.

Personalized menus are also available in Internet Explorer 5 and Microsoft® Office 2000 programs. Enabling and disabling personalized menus in Windows 2000 does not affect personalized menus in other programs.

Administrators can use Group Policy settings to restrict access to the Start and Programs menus. Some of these Group Policy settings are described later in this chapter.

Considerations for Customizing the Start and Programs Menus

When customizing the Start and Programs menus, you need to consider the following:

Add the folders, documents, and programs that your workgroup uses most frequently to the Start menu. You also might want to add some of these items to the Windows taskbar, to the Quick Launch toolbar, or to new toolbars that you create. See "Customizing the Taskbar and Toolbars" later in this chapter.

Add all of your workgroup''s custom program groups and programs to the Programs menu. You can reorganize the Programs menu and add custom program groups to suit the specific needs of your workgroup. For example, you might want to create a program group called "Inventory" that contains only the inventory programs specific to your workgroup.

If your workgroup accesses distributed applications that use the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), you might want to customize program shortcuts to point to the appropriate local component or to a component on a network server.

Consider how much control you want your users to have. Use local computer Group Policy settings if a greater degree of control is necessary and you don''t have a Windows 2000 Server Active Directory network.

You can add shortcuts to frequently used programs, files, folders, or Web sites to the Start or Programs menus for every user who logs on to the computer, or for individual users.

To add and remove Start and Programs menu items for all users

Right-click Start, and then click Open All Users.

Add items to and remove items from the Start menu, or double-click Programs to add items to and remove items from the Programs menu.

The items that appear on the Programs menu are arranged alphabetically by default. You can add, remove, and reorder items.

To add items to or remove items from the Programs menu

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then do one of the following:




To add an item, click Add, and then follow the instructions in the Create Shortcut wizard.

To remove an item, click Remove, click the item you want to remove, and then click Remove.

To reorder items on the Programs menu

Click Start, and then point to Programs.

Click the item you want to move, and then drag it to the new location.

To alphabetize items on the Programs menu

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then click Re-sort.

You can add and remove items from the Start menu, or change their order.

To add an item to the Start menu

Drag the item''s icon to the Start button.

To remove an item from the Start menu

Click Start, right-click the item you want to remove, and then click Delete.

To reorder the items on the Start menu

Click Start, click the item you want to move, and then drag it to the new location.

To add Administrative Tools to the Start menu

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Display Administrative Tools check box.

To add the Favorites folder to the Start menu

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Display Favorites check box.

To add the Logoff command to the Start menu

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Display Logoff check box.

To display the contents of subfolders on the Start menu

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Expand Control Panel, Expand My Documents, Expand Network and Dial-up Connections, and Expand Printers check boxes.

To display the contents of the Programs menu in a scrolling list

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Scroll the Programs menu check box.

Personalized Menus hides infrequently used items from the Programs menu. The Personalized Menus option in Windows 2000 is different from the Personalized Favorites Menu setting in Internet Explorer 5 and the Personalized Menus and Toolbars options in Microsoft Office 2000 programs.

In Windows 2000, you cannot customize how Personalized Menus works; the option is either enabled or disabled. By default, Personalized Menus is enabled.

To disable Personalized Menus in Windows 2000 without using Group Policy

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.

On the General tab, clear the Use Personalized Menus check box.

NOTE

---

If you disable personalized menus in the Accessibility Wizard, the Use Personalized Menus check box is cleared, but the option remains available.

To enable Personalized menus for Internet Explorer 5

On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

On the Advanced tab, select the Enable Personalized Favorites Menu check box.

You can use Group Policy settings or a combination of Group Policy settings to control access to the Start menu. Table 8.4 lists and describes each Group Policy setting that can affect the Start menu.

Other Group Policy settings you enforce can affect how the Start menu Group Policy settings work. For additional information, right-click the Group Policy setting, click Properties, and then click the Explain tab, or refer to the Group Policy Reference on the Windows 2000 Resource Kit companion CD.

The Group Policy settings listed in Table 8.4 are located in the Group Policy snap-in under Local Computer PolicyUser ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesStart Menu & Taskbar.

Table 8.4 Group Policy Settings That Can Affect the Start Menu