Customizing the Start Menu

Start menu listings accompanied by a right-facing triangle arrow represent folders. For example, clicking Start→All Programs→Games reveals a submenu that lists all the games that come with Windows (see Figure 1-26).

Without these folders consolidating the All Programs menu, you’d need one of those very expensive 95-inch monitors to see the entire list of applications. Fortunately, you can create Programs menu folders of your own and stock them with whatever icons you like. For instance, you may want to create a folder for CD-ROM-based games, eliminating those long lists from the All Programs menu.

To add a folder to the All Programs menu, follow these steps:

Open the Start menu. Right-click All Programs. From the shortcut menu, choose Explore.

The subfolders you are about to create in the All Programs menu will show up only when you are logged on. (If you want to make a change that affects everybody with an account on this computer, choose Explore All Users from the shortcut menu instead.)

Figure 1-27. The listings on the All Programs menu appear in the right pane. Notice that some of the items have folder icons; these are the folders that hold submenus. If you click Programs (in the left pane) before creating the new folder, you’ll create a folder within the body of the All Programs list. To add a folder whose name will appear above the line in the All Programs menu, click Start Menu (in the left pane) before creating a new folder.

In any case, the Start Menu Explorer window appears.

Click the Programs folder.

Its contents are listed in the right pane, as shown in Figure 1-27.

Choose File→New→Folder.

Or, if your right mouse button hasn’t been getting enough exercise, right-click a blank spot in the right pane, and then choose New→Folder from the shortcut menu.

When the new folder item appears, type a folder name and then press Enter.

Close the Start Menu window, if you like.

Your new folder appears at the bottom of the Start→All Programs menu. Feel free to drag your new folder up or down on the menu.

Now you can put your favorite file, folder, disk, or application icons into this new folder. To do so, drag an icon onto the Start→All Programs menu, and then, without releasing the mouse, onto the new folder/submenu you created. Of course, the first time you do this, your newly created folder submenu just says “Empty”; drag the icon onto that “Empty” notation to install it into your submenu. Then drag as many other icons as you like into this new folder.

You can even create folders within folders in your Start→All Programs menu. Just repeat the instructions given earlier—but following step 2, click the + sign next to the first folder you added. Then continue with step 3.