Create a More Efficient Desktop: Customizing the Start Menu

The Start menu is an integral part to the user-friendly design of the Windows desktop. The Start menu provides easy access to all the programs loaded on your computer. The Start Menu categorizes the programs and alphabetizes them within their categories. If you are searching for a document you were just working on the other day it can be found under the category "My Recent Document." And for a game of solitaire you need only look under "All Programs" and then "Games". But, to make your experience even easier you can customize the Start Menu.

Customizing the Start Menu allows you keep icons for your most frequently used programs separate from the masses, listed directly on the Start Menu itself and not categorized. You can also extend a submenu from the control panel, network connections or printers menu items. If there are certain control panel tools or networked printers that you access frequently you can add them to a submenu for direct access without having to open the control panel or printers window.

Adding a program to your Start Menu

To add a program to your Start menu click on the "Start" button, navigate to find and hover over the program you wish to add. For example to add Microsoft Office Word 2003 I would click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office 2003, and then hover on (but not click) Microsoft Office Word 2003. Once you have the program located, right-click on it and then choose "Pin to Start Menu" from the pop-up menu. Now, the icon for your program is displayed on the Start menu for easy one-click access.

Changing the location of Start menu items

You can easily change the location of Start menu items by clicking and dragging with the mouse. Simply left-click and hold on the item you wish to move and drag it to a new location. A thin line will mark the spot that the item will be moved to when you release the mouse button.

Adding submenus

To add a submenu, right-click on the "Start" button and choose "Properties" from the pop-up menu. This opens the "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" dialog box with the "Start Menu" tab active. Make sure the "Start menu" option button is active and then click "Customize" to open the "Customize Start Menu" dialog box. Click the "Advanced" tab. Find the item you would like to create a submenu for in the "Start menu items" list. Let's use control panel for an example. Click the "Display as menu item" radio button under "Control Panel" then click "OK" and "Apply". Now, when you open the Start menu and hover over "control panel" it will display a submenu.

Opening an item that has a submenu

Going back to our Control Panel example, if you wish to open the Control Panel after creating a submenu you will notice you can no longer click on the words "control panel" to open the window. Instead, you will need to right-click on "control panel" and choose "open" from the pop-up window.