Recipe 5.10. Controlling the Start Menu s Frequently Used Programs List

Recipe 5.10. Controlling the Start Menu's Frequently Used Programs List

Problem

You want to customize the Most Frequently Used Programs list, which appears on the Start menu just above the All Programs link. You want control the number of programs that appear on that list, or change how programs appear there and even stop the list from appearing altogether.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

You can easily change the number of programs that appear on the list, delete programs from the list, rename them, and clear the list. Here's how:

1. Right-click on the Start button and choose Properties Customize General. The Customize Start menu dialog box appears, shown in Figure 5-10.

   Figure 5-10. Customize the Start menu from this dialog box

   
   
   

2. To set the number of programs that will appear on the list, edit the Number of programs on Start menu box. You can choose any number up to 30, although obviously 30 programs will not be able to appear on the list, because there's not enough room.

3. If you want no programs to appear on the list, choose 0.

4. If you want to clear the current programs from the list, click on Clear List.

5. When you're finished making your changes, click on OK, and then click OK again.

You can also delete programs from the list manually by right-clicking on the shortcut to the program and selecting Remove from This List. To rename the shortcut, right-click on it and choose Rename. To add a program to the list, right-click on its icons from the desktop or from Windows Explorer and drag it to the Start button. The Start menu will pop up. Drag the icon to the location on the list where you want it to appear, and release the mouse button. The program will now appear on the list.

Using the Registry

By default, a variety of programs do not appear on the Start menu's Frequently Used Programs list. If any of the following text is included in the program's shortcut name, the program will be excluded from the list:

• Documentation

• Help

• Install

• More Info

• Readme

• Read me

• Read First

• Setup

• Support

• What's New

Additionally, the following executables are excluded from the list:

• Setup.exe

• Install.exe

• Isuninst.exe

• Unwise.exe

• Unwise32.exe

• St5unst.exe

• Rundll32.exe

• Explorer.exe

• Icwconn1.exe

• Inoculan.exe

• Mobsync.exe

• Navwnt.exe

• Realmon.exe

• Sndvol32.exe

There may be other programs that you don't want to show up there, though. You can specify that certain applications never show up on the list by using the Registry. To do it:

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications.

2. Look for a subkey that is the executable name of the application that you want to ban from the list for example, visio.exe.

3. Create a new String value for that subkey, named NoStartPage. Leave the value blank.

4. Exit the Registry. You may have to reboot in order for the setting to take effect.

5. To allow the program to show up on the list, delete its NoStartPage subkey, and exit the Registry. You may have to reboot in order for the setting to take effect.

You can also use the Registry to stop all programs from showing up on the list:

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

2. Create a new DWORD value of NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList and give it a value of 1.

3. Exit the Registry. You may need to reboot in order for the setting to take effect.

4. Delete NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList or enter a value of 0 to let programs start showing up on the list again. Exit the Registry. Reboot in order for the settings to take effect.

Discussion

The rules for what appears and doesn't appear on the Frequently Used Programs list are rather mysterious. Windows XP uses a counter of some kind, counts the number of times a program runs, and, based on that counter, displays programs on the list. So just clearing the list using the GUI will only temporarily stop a program from appearing there. If there's a program you don't want to ever show up, use the Registry, as outlined in this recipe, to ban the program from the list.

See Also

MS KB 282462, "Programs Removed from the Most Frequently Used Programs List Can Reappear," and MS KB 284198, "How To Prevent a Program from Being Displayed in the Most Frequently Used Programs List in Windows XP"