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

Chris Fehily

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Using the Start Menu

As in previous Windows versions, Start-menu commands are a click away. If you don't like the Start menu's default layout and behavior, it's susceptible to behavior-modification therapy.

To choose a Start-menu item:

Click the item.

Use the arrow keys to navigate to the item; then press Enter.

Press the key of the item's first letter.

If two or more items share the same first letter, press that letter repeatedly until the desired item is highlighted; then press Enter.

Figure 2.2) opens a submenu when you click or point to it.

If you prefer the old one-column Start menu, called the classic Start menu, see "Restoring the Old Windows Look" in Chapter 4.

Tweak UI

The easiest way to customize the Windows user interface is with the Tweak UI utility, one of the PowerToys described in "Using the Free Utility Programs" in Chapter 6. After installing Tweak UI, choose Start > All Programs > PowerToys for Windows XP > Tweak UI. Browse around the options in the Explorer-style tree in the left pane, and you'll find ways to change the desktop, Start menu, taskbar, icons, common dialog boxes, mouse behavior, Welcome screen, Windows Explorer, Control Panel, hard-drive letters, and much more. Most settings aren't available through the normal Windows interface.

One of the most useful tweaks makes menus snappier: Click the Mouse option in the left pane and then drag the Menu Speed slider left. If you drag it all the way left and click OK, you'll notice no delay between when you click a menu and when Windows displays it. I've scattered other Tweak UI tips throughout this book. (Some Tweak UI settings provides functions that are otherwise unavailable to XP Home users.)

When you change a setting, Tweak UI actually is changing a registry entry. Many of the registry hacks that you'll find on the web are replicatedmore safelyby Tweak UI. See "Editing the Registry" in Chapter 19.

Adding items to the Start menu

Icons in the Start menu are

shortcuts links to computer or network items such as programs, files, folders, disks, web pages, printers, hardware devices, and other computers. You can add items to the Start menu by dragging and dropping or by pinning. You also can remove or reorder items.

Tip

Changing or deleting a shortcut has no effect on the item that it's linked to; removing a program's shortcut won't uninstall the actual program.

To pin an item to the Start menu:

1. Locate the item (icon) that you want to display at the top of the menu.

2. Right-click the icon; then choose Pin to Start Menu (Figure 2.3 ).

Figure 2.3. You can right-click a program in the Start menu, in Windows Explorer, in My Computer, or on the desktop. For documents, folder, and disks, use drag and drop.

Drag the item to the Start button (Figures 2.4 and

2.5 ).

Figure 2.4. You can pin a program, folder, file, or even a disk to the Start menu by dropping it on the Start button.

Figure 2.5. The Start menu pops open if you pause on the Start button while dragging, letting you drop the item in the desired position.

[View full size image]

Customizing the Start Menu" later in this chapter.

You can't pin items to the classic (one-column) Start menu.

To move a pinned item:

Drag the item to a new position (Figure 2.6 ).

Figure 2.6. The horizontal black line shows where the item will land when it's dropped.

To remove a pinned item:

Right-click the item; then choose Remove from This List (Figure 2.7 ).

Figure 2.7. This technique works in both the Pinned Items and Most Frequently Used Programs lists. In the Pinned Items list, you also can choose Unpin from Start Menu.

To configure the program lists:

1. Right-click the Start button; then choose Properties to open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box (Figure 2.8 ).

Figure 2.8. Besides letting you configure the Start menu, this dialog box lets you choose the old-style, one-column Start menu.

Choose Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Themes > Taskbar and Start Menu > Start Menu tab.

2. Make sure that Start Menu (not Classic Start Menu) is selected; then click Customize to open the Customize Start Menu dialog box (Figure 2.9 ).

Figure 2.9. The General tab of the Customize Start Menu dialog box affects what you see in the menu's left column, where programs are listed.

3. Select an icon size for programs.

Choose Small Icons to make the Start menu's left column less cluttered or Large Icons to make the menu easier to read.

4. In the Programs section, type the number of programs to display in the menu's bottom-left section.

Using more programs gives you quicker access but takes up more vertical space.

5. Click Clear List to erase the menu's bottom-left section (if you don't want someone else to know what you've been running).

Windows will repopulate the list over time.

6. In the Show on Start Menu section, check the boxes if you want your web browser and email program pinned in the menu's top-left section.

7. Use the drop-down lists to choose among the installed browsers and email programs.

8. Click OK.

Tips

You can't choose Large Icons for the menu's right column or for All Programs; that setting always is Small Icons.

Changes you make to the Start menu apply only to you, the logged-on user.

Tweak UI's Taskbar and Start Menu > Start Menu > Frequently Used Programs option lets you stop the programs of your choice from appearing on the Start menu.

Modifying the All Programs menu

The All Programs menu, which appears when you click or point to All Programs in the Start menu (Figure 2.10 ), displays all the programs that you, Windows Setup, and your PC manufacturer have installed on your computer. Program installers generally add program icons to the All Programs menu, but you can add, delete, or reorder them manually. The menu accepts not only program icons, but also document, folder, and disk icons.

Figure 2.10. The All Programs menu superimposes itself over the right side of the Start menu.

To add an item to the All Programs menu:

1. Locate the item (icon) that you want to add.

2. Drag the icon over the Start button, and pause until the Start menu opens.

3. Continue to drag, and pause over All Programs until the submenu opens.

The black horizontal line shows where the icon will appear when you drop it (Figure 2.11 ).

Figure 2.11. Dragging an item to the All Programs menu requires patience.

[View full size image]

4. Drop the icon on the submenu.

Customizing the Start Menu" later in this chapter.

If you're using the classic (one-column) Start menu, you can manage icons with the Customize Classic Start Menu dialog box. Right-click Start; choose Properties; then click Customize.

To delete an item:

1. Right-click the item; then choose Delete (Figure 2.12 ).

Figure 2.12. If your desktop is clear, you also can drag an item off the menu and drop it into the Recycle Bin to delete it.

2. If a confirmation message box appears, click Yes or Delete Shortcut.

Chapter 5.

To move an item:

Drag the item to a new position.

This technique works as shown in Figure 2.6.

To sort items alphabetically:

Right-click any menu item; then choose Sort by Name.

Windows sorts folders in alphabetical order at the top, followed by other menu items in alphabetical order.

Tip

You can sort any submenu this way, not only All Programs.

Managing All Programs items with folders

To keep your All Programs menu from growing wildly long, you can consolidate menu items into submenus (Figure 2.13 ). You add submenus by creating folders.

Figure 2.13. A menu item with a right-pointing triangle spawns a submenu when you click or point to it.

Every item that appears on the Start menu is contained in one of two folders: \Documents and Settings\

<your user name> \Start Menu and \Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu. Only you, the logged-on user, can access items in the

<your user name> folder; I cover those here. Everyone who has a user account can access the items in the All Users folder; I cover those in Chapter 16.

To add or delete All Programs items:

1. Right-click the Start button; then choose Explore (Figure 2.14 ).

Figure 2.14. You can add or delete items that are visible only to you (as shown here) or to all users.

2. To add (or delete) menu items, drag icons into (or delete icons from) the Start Menu\Programs folder or any folder nested in the Programs folder (Figures 2.15 and

2.16 ).

Figure 2.15. The arrows indicate two Start Menu folders: one for all users (top arrow) and one for only you (bottom arrow). Click the plus sign (+) next to a folder to reveal its nested folders.

Figure 2.16. Icons placed inside the Start Menu folder itself appear above the horizontal line in the All Programs menu. (Note where the icons in the right pane of Figure 2.15 appear here.) Icons placed inside the Programs folder appear below the line. Subfolders inside the Programs folder appear as submenus.

To add a submenu:

1. Right-click the Start button; then choose Explore (refer to Figure 2.14).

2. Click the Start Menu\Programs folder in the window's left pane (refer to Figure 2.15, bottom arrow).

3. Choose File > New > Folder.

Right-click an empty area in the right pane; then choose New > Folder.

4. Type the name of the folder; then press Enter.

You create an empty folder, which is an empty submenu (Figure 2.17 ).

Figure 2.17. A subfolder within the Programs folder appears as a submenu in the All Programs menu.

5. To make a particular item appear in the new submenu, drop a shortcut to it on the new folder; then close the Explorer window.

6. Choose Start > All Programs to see the new submenu (Figure 2.18 ).

Figure 2.18. The new folder appears as an empty submenu at the bottom of the All Programs menu. You can drag the folder up or down the menu to reposition it.

Tip

To create a nested submenu, follow the same instructions, but in step 2, click the plus sign next to Programs; click the first folder you added; then continue with step 3.