Customizing the Start Menu

The Start menu is your main resource for organizing your programs and files and getting your work done in Windows Vista. You can customize the Start menu in several ways: You can change its new Windows Vista look so that it looks like the Start menu in an earlier version of Windows, you can modify the way items are displayed on the Start menu, and you can add items to or delete items from the main part of the Start menu and from the All Programs folder or its subfolders.

Choose and Customize the Style

Click the Start button, type start in the Search box of the Start menu, and click Taskbar And Start Menu to display the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box.

On the Start Menu tab, click an option to specify the style you want for the Start menu.

Click Customize to display the Customize Start Menu dialog box. (The contents of the dialog box that appears might differ from the one shown here, depending on the style you selected for the Start menu.)

Specify the items to be displayed and how you want them displayed.

Specify how many recently used programs you want to be listed.

Select these check boxes if you want links to your Internet browser and e-mail program to appear on the Start menu, and, if so, specify the programs.

Click if you want to remove all custom settings.

Click OK.

Click OK to close the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box.

Add or Remove a Start Menu Program

Click the Start button, and choose All Programs from the Start menu.

Open any folder you need to locate the program you want to add to the main part of the Start menu, and right-click the program.

Choose Pin To Start Menu from the shortcut menu.

Right-click a program that has been "pinned" to the Start menu, and choose Unpin From Start Menu from the shortcut menu to remove the program.

Add a Link to an Item

Locate the item, and drag it onto the Start button.

Click the Start button, and verify that the item is now on the Start menu.