Section 1.3. The Start Menu: All Versions | Windows Vista: The Missing Manual

1.3. The Start Menu: All Versions

Windows Vista is composed of 50 million lines of computer code, scattered across your hard drive in thousands of files. The vast majority of them are support files, there for behind-the-scenes use by Windows and your applicationsthey're not for you. They may as well bear a sticker saying, "No user -serviceable parts inside."

That's why the Start menu is so important. It lists every useful piece of software on your computer, including commands, programs, and files. Just about everything you do on your PC beginsor can beginwith your Start menu.

In Vista, as you've probably noticed, the word Start no longer appears on the Start menu; now the Start menu is just a round, backlit, glass pebble with a Windows logo behind it. But it's still called the Start menu, and it's still the gateway to everything on the PC.

If you're the type who bills by the hour , you can open the Start menu (Figure 1-3) by clicking it with the mouse. If you're among those who feel that life's too short, however, open it by tapping the key on the keyboard instead. (If your antique, kerosene-operated keyboard has no key, pressing Ctrl+Esc does the same thing.)

Figure 1-3. Left: The Start menu's top-left section is yours to play with. You can "pin" whatever programs you want here, in whatever order you like. The lower-left section lists programs you use most often. (You can delete individual items heresee page 52but you can't add things manually or rearrange them.) The right-hand column links to important Windows features and folder locations .
Right: The All Programs menu replaces the left column of the Start menu, listing almost every piece of software you've got. You can rearrange, add to, or delete items from this list .

Tip: To find out what something issomething in your Start menu, All Programs menu, or indeed anywhere on your desktoppoint to it with your cursor without clicking. A shaded, rectangular Tooltip bar appears, containing a text description. (If the Tooltip doesn't appear, it might be that the window you're pointing to isn't the active window on your desktop. Click the window and then try again.)

1.3.1. Anatomy of the Start Menu

The new Start menu is split down the middle into two columns :

Left side (white) . At the top, above the thin divider line, is the pinned items list , which is yours to modify; it lists programs, folders, documents, and anything else you want to open quickly. This list never changes unless you change it.

Below that is the standard Windows most frequently used programs list . This list is computed automatically by Windows and may change from day to day.

Tip: You can, if you wish, ask Vista not to display a list of the programs you've used most recently. You might want to do that if, for example, it would be best if your boss or your spouse didn't know what you've been up to.If that's your situation (or your boss), right-click the Start button itself; from the shortcut menu, choose Properties. In the resulting dialog box, turn off "Store and display a list of recently opened programs." Click OK.When you next inspect the Start menu, you'll be surprisedbut happyto see that the lower-left quadrant, where the recently used programs are usually listed, is startlingly blank.
Right side (dark) . In general, the right side of the open Start menu is devoted to listing important places on the computer: folders like Documents, Pictures, and Music, or special windows like Network, Control Panel, and Computer.

The important new Search command (Chapter 3) appears here, too. And at the bottom, you'll find new buttons that let you turn the PC off or, when you're about to wander away for coffee, lock it so that a password is required to re-enter.

Tip: After 20 years , Microsoft has finally eliminated the prefix My from the important folders of your PC (My Pictures, My Music, My Documents, My Computer, and so on). Maybe it was tired of all the lawsuits from Fisher-Price.In any case, if you miss that touch of homey personalization, it's easy enough to bring it back; you can rename these special icons just as you would any other icon (page 130). Call it My Computer, call it Your Computer, call it Jar Jar Binksmakes no difference to Vista.

1.3.2. Keyboard Navigation

You can navigate and control the new, improved Start menu in either of two ways:

1.3.2.1. Use the arrow keys

Once the Start menu is open, you can use the arrow keys to "walk" up and down the menu. For example, press the up arrow key to enter the left-hand column from the bottom. Or press the right arrow key to enter the right-hand column.

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Return to the Old Start Menu

The fancily redesigned Vista Start menu has its charms, not the least of which is its new, translucent look. But it's also confusing to old-time Windows users, and, on slowish PCs, slower to open.

Fortunately, it's easy enough to switch back to the organization and design of the old, single-column Start menu of the pre-Vista, pre-XP days. Just right-click the Start button. Now, from the shortcut menu, choose Properties.

In the dialog box that appears, you'll see the option to return to the old Start menu designwhat Microsoft calls Classic Start menu. Click that button, click OK, and enjoy going back to the future.

When you use the Classic Start menu, you'll notice a few differences in the behavior of the Start menu commands. For example, those cascading submenus are back, and everything's listed in one column, not two. (But you knew that, of course, because you're already accustomed to the older Start menu.)

As a convenience, turning on the Classic Start menu also returns the Control Panel icon to your desktop, on the assumption that you really liked Windows better the old way.

To restore the new Start menu, repeat the procedurebut this time, in the dialog box shown here, click Start Menu instead.

Either way, once you've highlighted something in either column, you can press the left/right arrow keys to hop to the opposite side of the menu; press the up/down arrow keys to highlight other commands in the column (even the Off and Lock buttons); or type the first initial of something's name to highlight it. (If there's more than one command that starts with, say, W, press W repeatedly to cycle through them.)

Once you've highlighted something, you can press Enter to "click" it (open it), or tap the key or Esc key to close the Start menu and forget the whole thing.

1.3.2.2. Use the Search box

This thing is awesome .

The instant you pop open the Start menu, your insertion point blinks in the new Start Search box at the bottom of the menu (Figure 1-4). That's your cue that you can begin typing the name of whatever you want to open.

Figure 1-4. As you type, Vista winnows down the list of found items, letter by letter. (You don't have to type the search term and then press Enter.) If the list of results is too long to fit the Start menu, click "See all results" below the list. In any case, Vista highlights the first item in the results. If that's what you want to open, press Enter. If not, you can click what you want to open, or use the arrow keys to walk down the list and then press Enter to open something .

The instant you start to type, you trigger Vista's new, very fast, whole-computer search function. This search finds, among other things, anything in the Start menu, making it a very quick way to pull up something without having to click through a bunch of Start menu submenus.

You can read the meaty details about Search in Chapter 3.