Windows has a nice new Start menu, which you can customize more thoroughly than you could with the Start menu in any earlier version of Windows. Open the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box by right-clicking the taskbar and clicking Properties. On the Start Menu tab, select either the Start Menu option or the Classic Start Menu option to choose which version of the Start menu to use, and then click Customize. The Customize Start Menu dialog box appears; you use this box to customize how Windows displays the Start menu.

The following sections describe the most useful Start menu hacks. First you learn how to configure what does and does not appear on the Start menu. Then you learn how to prevent some programs from appearing on the frequently used programs list. You also learn how to restore the Start menu’s sort order when it’s not in alphabetical order.

Configuring the Start Menu’s Contents

Even though you can completely customize the Start menu in the user interface, power users and IT professionals will likely want to script Start menu customizations. Power users don’t want to reconfigure the Start menu every time they install Windows. IT professionals can use scripts to deploy these settings or configure them automatically when creating default user profiles.

If you want to script these settings, you need to know where to find them in the registry. All these settings are in the same place:

The first section, “Classic Start Menu,” contains values that affect the classic Start menu. The second section, “New Start Menu,” contains values that affect the new Start menu, also known as the Start panel. Most of these settings are REG_DWORD values, but some are REG_SZ values. If the possible data for any of the settings includes 0×01, 0×02, and so on, that setting is a REG_DWORD value. If the possible data includes NO or YES, it’s a REG_SZ value.

CLASSIC START MENU

StartMenuAdminTools
0×00–Hide Administrative Tools
0×01–Display Administrative Tools

CascadeControlPanel
NO–Display Control Panel as link
YES–Display Control Panel as menu

CascadeMyDocuments
NO–Display My Documents as link
YES–Display My Documents as menu

CascadeMyPictures
NO–Display My Pictures as link
YES–Display My Pictures as menu

CascadePrinters
NO–Display Printers as link
YES–Display Printers as menu

IntelliMenus
0×00–Don’t use personalized menus
0×01–Use Personalized Menus

CascadeNetworkConnections
NO–Display Network Connections as link
YES–Display Network Connections as menu

Start_LargeMFUIcons
0×00–Show small icons in Start menu
0×01–Show large icons in Start menu

StartMenuChange
0×00–Disable dragging and dropping
0×01–Enable dragging and dropping

StartMenuFavorites
0×00–Hide Favorites
0×01–Display Favorites

StartMenuLogoff
0×00–Hide Log Off
0×01–Display Log Off

StartMenuRun
0×00–Hide Run command
0×01–Display Run command

StartMenuScrollPrograms
NO–Don’t scroll Programs menu
YES–Scroll Programs menu

NEW START MENU

Start_ShowControlPanel
0×00–Hide Control Panel
0×01–Show Control Panel as link
0×02–Show Control Panel as menu

Start_EnableDragDrop
0×00–Disable dragging and dropping
0×01–Enable dragging and dropping

StartMenuFavorites
0×00–Hide Favorites menu
0×01–Show Favorites menu

Start_ShowMyComputer
0×00–Hide My Computer
0×01–Show My Computer as link
0×02–Show My Computer as menu

Start_ShowMyDocs
0×00–Hide My Documents
0×01–Show My Documents as link
0×02–Show My Documents as menu

Start_ShowMyMusic
0×00–Hide My Music
0×01–Show My Music as link
0×02–Show My Music as menu

Start_ShowMyPics
0×00–Hide My Pictures
0×01–Show My Pictures as link
0×02–Show My Pictures as menu

Start_ShowNetConn
0×00–Hide Network Connections
0×01–Show Network Connections as link
0×02–Show Network Connections as menu

Start_AdminToolsTemp
0×00–Hide Administrative Tools
0×01–Show on All Programs menu
0×02–Show on All Programs menu and Start menu

Start_ShowHelp
0×00–Hide Help and Support
0×01–Show Help and Support

Start_ShowNetPlaces
0×00–Hide My Network Places
0×01–Show My Network Places

Start_ShowOEMLink
0×00–Hide Manufacturer Link
0×01–Show Manufacturer Link

Start_ShowPrinters
0×00–Hide Printers and Faxes
0×01–Show Printers and Faxes

Start_ShowRun
0×00–Hide Run command
0×01–Show Run command

Start_ShowSearch
0×00–Hide Search command
0×01–Show Search command

Start_ScrollPrograms
0×00–Don’t scroll Programs menu
0×01–Scroll Programs menu