Hack your Start Menu: Customize the programs and folders

It's really quite simple. I mean, how simple can it get? I will show you more than two ways to mess around with your start menu, and it will most likely improve your production speed.


The first way is just to drag and drop into the start menu. For example, if you want to add a folder that you use often into the start menu, just drag it over the start icon until it opens, hover over All Programs, and place it in an empty slot. You can also right-click one of the folders and select Sort By Name to sort all the files by name. This saves me a lot of time because it's easier to look in alphabetic order than to look in "Most Recent" order. Warning: I don't think there's a way to reverse this action. If you don't like this setting, then don't try it.

Another way to add folders is to right-click the Start Menu and select Explore. Then, open the Programs folder. In this folder, add whatever folders or files you want, and they should appear in the Start Menu.

If you don't want a certain program on your start menu, just right-click it and select Remove From This List.
NOTE: It will come back once you use it enough. Scroll down for a way to make it stay off the Start Menu permanently.

To keep a application off the frequently run programs list is a little harder, but worth it. First, open the Run dialog box by either Pressing Windows Key + R or clicking the Start Menu and then the Run option. Type regedit and press enter.

WARNING: The Registry, (regedit), is a very dangerous place. Be careful, and do only what I tell you to do. If you mess up your computer, it's not my fault, it's just because you got side-tracked. And trust me, it's easy to get side-tracked.

That said, let's get to business. To demonstrate, I will use Solitaire as an example. Open My Computer, then HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications. (You'll have to do some serious scrolling to get to Applications). Once in here, select the name of the application you want. The thing is, these are the root EXE file names, so if you don't know the root EXE or process name of the application you want off the start menu frequently run list, you will need some investigation skills. (By the way, Solitaire's process is sol.exe. Let's just pretend we don't know that.) Just open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Escape, trust me, it works, then run the application, Solitaire in this case, and see it's listing in the Applications tab of Task Manager. To find out it's process, just right-click it in Task Manager and select "Go To Process". The process name will be highlighted. That, (sol.exe), is what you need to keep it off the Start Menu. Go back to the registry and find sol.exe in the list. If it's not there, which I doubt it is, right-click on the Applications folder icon and select New > Key. Call it the process name, (sol.exe for the example), and wala, it's there. Now, select the process name and go to the right pane. Right-click here and select New > String value. Call it NoStartPage. You will never see Solitaire, or the application you're trying to keep away on the Start Menu Frequently Run Programs list anymore. (You need to log off your computer for it to work.) To undo this, just delete NoStartPage. Yay! I suggest you try it with Solitaire to get the hang of it, and then try it with any other application. Comment if you're having trouble.

You can also add an application to the list by right-clicking it and selecting Pin To Start Menu.

This concludes this Start Menu bonanza.