Recipe 5.12. Displaying Control Panel Applets in a Cascading Menu


Problem

You want to be able to quickly get to Control Panel applets without having to navigate numerous menus.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

You can speed up the time it takes to get to Control Panel applets by forcing Windows XP to display them in a cascading menu when you choose Control Panel from the Start button, as shown in Figure 5-11.

Figure 5-11. To speed up access to Control Panel applets, force XP to display them as a cascading menu


Here's how:

  1. Right-click on the Taskbar and choose Properties Start Menu.

  2. In the Control Panel heading, choose Display as a menu.

  3. Click OK twice.

Discussion

Displaying the Control Panel like this will make it easier to get to specific Control Panel applets quickly. But it won't reorganize the Control Panel for you. So the applets will still stay organized the way that XP organizes them by default. Some people may get more out of the Control Panel by hiding Control Panel applets altogether, or recategorizing them, as you'll see in the next recipe. And, in fact, combining this recipe with the next one may be the best solution for many to getting the Control Panel under control. If you hide and recategorize applets in the way shown in the next recipe, you'll only display those applets that you really use, and you'll have them displayed in the most organized way possible. Then if you display them in a cascading menu, your favorite ones will be within immediate reach.

See Also

Recipe 5.13 to hide and recategorize control panel applets



Windows XP Cookbook
Windows XP Cookbook (Cookbooks)
ISBN: 0596007256
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 408

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