Customizing the Start Menu

Start menu is the gate to all programs in Windows operating system family including XP.  Start menu is the place of all shortcuts located. Windows XP enables you to easily customize it. Here, you'll learn to pin/unpin a program, change the Start menu style, and deleting/renaming a shortcut.



To pin a program to Start menu:

- First, find a program executable file or a program shotcut. You can find it through Windows Explorer or by clicking Start > All Programs.

- Right-click the shortcut or executable file, and then click Pin to Start menu. Then the program shortcut will be added in the Start menu immediately. You can check the Start menu now to see the program shortcut.



To unpin a Program from Start menu:

- Click the Start menu button.

- Right-click the program you want to unpin, and then click Unpin from Start menu. The program shortcut then hides from there.


To change the Start menu Style:

We have two options about the Start menu style, namely XP style and classic style. You can switch from one style to another by following these steps:

- Right-click the blank part of the taskbar, and the click Properties.

- In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click the Start Menu tab.


- There, you will see there are two menu style options, Start menu which is the default XP style, and Classic Start menu which is the older start menu style. Just select either of them that you like to use. If you want to change some appearance settings of each style, click the Customize button next to the option.

- Click OK button.


To delete a shortcut from Start menu:

- Click the Start menu button, and then click All Programs.

- Right-click a program shortcut that you want to delete, then click Delete. In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes button. Then the shortcut disappears now.

Note! : If you want to remove a program/software instead of removing only the shortcut from Start menu, it would be better if you uninstall it using its uninstallation shortcut or via the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.


To rename a shortcut:

- Click the Start menu button, and then click All Programs.

- Right-click a program shortcut that you want to rename, then click Rename.

- Type the new name for the shortcut, and then press ENTER. Then its name will change immediately.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment