Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition نسخه متنی

Exploring the Start Menu

The Start menu lets you access useful software and services, including programs, documents, folders, and commands, while the majority of Windows XP's files run in the background quietly to support Windows itself and other programs.

If you've used a previous version of Windows, you'll notice that the redesigned Start menu has two columns instead of one. The left side lists programs, and the right side shows links to common Windows components and system folders.

To open the Start menu:

Click Start, at the left end of the taskbar (or press Ctrl+Esc).

or

Press and release the Windows logo key.

Start menu left column

The left column of the Start menu has three parts, separated by horizontal lines (Figure 2.2 ):

Pinned Items list. Items in the top section of this column remain there, always available to open. You can select programs to appear here, as well as their order. Your web browser and email program are two appropriate choices. See "Adding items to the Start menu" in the next section.

Most Frequently Used Programs list. Windows maintains this list by appending programs as you use them. Each added program replaces one that you haven't used recently. You can delete items from this list and set the number of items displayed, but you can't reorder or add items manually.

All Programs menu. The All Programs menu displays all the programs that you've installed or that Windows Setup has installed. Click the right-pointing arrow (or press P) to see it; it's not displayed by default because it's big.

Start menu right column

The right column of the Start menu also is divided into three sections.

Files, drives, and network: My Documents, My Recent Documents, My Pictures, My Music, My Computer, My Network Places. This part of the Start menu lets you open your personal documents and other files, open Windows Explorer for all the drives in your computer, and reach places on your network.

Workplace and device management: Control Panel, Printers and Faxes. Chapter 4). Printers and Faxes lets you change print settings such as page orientation, fineness (resolution) of printed copies, whether to print in color, and whether your fax should pick up automatically or wait for you to do it (see Chapter 7).

Everything else: Help and Support, Search, Run. Help and Support Center, a vast improvement over Windows Help, is connected to the internet whenever you are and can find much that can help you with Windowsfrom a small help file to an article in the vast Microsoft Knowledge Base (see Chapter 3). Search lets you find files, folders, objects, and text strings on any drive that you're permitted to access. Run lets you run a program or open a folder or document by typing its name.

To close the Start menu:

Press and release the Windows logo key, or press Esc.

or

Click anywhere off the menu (on the desktop or in a program, for example).