Smart tips that unleash Windows' hidden powers--whether you've upgraded to XP or not. Scott Dunn Call it the Clark Kent syndrome: Hidden beneath Windows' mild-mannered exterior lurks an operating system that's more powerful than a locomotive. Unleashing Windows' superpowers lets you work smarter, whether you use XP or one of its predecessors. Windows' many configuration options allow you to overcome the limitations of its one-size-fits-all interface and transform the operating system to fit your work style. These tips will help you get the look you want and the power you need to manage files, pump up performance, and customize Windows to your liking.
Scott Dunn is a contributing editor for PC World. He lives in Seattle. Michael Cahlin is a Los Angeles--based freelance writer.
File Management Muscle
You don't need X-ray vision to see what's inside a Windows file without opening it. And XP adds even more tools and techniques for identifying files and determining their contents. You still have to spend time arranging your files, but knowing all of Windows' tricks will make the chore less, well, chorelike. ME, 2K, XP: Give Me the Details If you prefer Details view in your Explorer or folder windows (choose View, Details), you may not be getting all you want. These days, many file formats store lots of data beyond the default Name, Size, Type, and Date Modified information available in earlier versions of Windows. For example, MP3 music files can include an album title, artist's name, track duration, and much more. Word, Excel, and other Microsoft Office files contain such information as the title, author, and subject. Much of this information can be viewed in Explorer and in folder windows without your having to open the files or their Properties dialog boxes. To arrange to get all the details, select View, Choose Details (in Windows XP) or View, Choose Columns (in Windows Me and 2000). Check the items appropriate for the files you keep in the current folder, and click OK. For customizing on the fly, right-click any of the column headings above the file list and then choose a category you want to display or hide (see FIGURE 1). Not all categories appear in this context menu, but if you don't see one that you want, select More... at the bottom of the menu to open the Choose Details dialog box. Bonus tip: To customize the information that Explorer displays for a Word or Excel document, right-click the file in Explorer and choose Properties (or Alt-double-click the file icon). Click the Summary tab and add to or modify the information listed there. You can use the Custom tab to introduce even more information, but not all of the categories available for filling will be visible in Explorer's Details view. All Versions: Unkludge Your Columns Once you've added categories to your folders' Details view, you may have to scroll back and forth to see all the headings. Follow these steps to get a grip on your columns:
To enable these tips to work, you may have to remove categories. In Windows 9x you hide categories by dragging the column head's right border to the left until the column disappears. Drag right or press Ctrl- NumPad Plus to restore it. XP: A Tile of a View If you are a fan of the Large Icons view offered in previous versions of Windows Explorer, you'll love Tiles, the gigantic icons in Windows XP. To see the icons, choose View, Tiles. (Notice that the Large Icons view has become simply 'Icons' in XP's Explorer.) Tiles seem to be part of the Microsoft effort to simplify XP to the level of the most unsophisticated computerphobe, but they're not without redeeming qualities. For example, to the right of each tile is a brief summary of file information specific to that file type. Some of this information isn't visible by default in Details view (see "Give Me the Details," above). Tiles view works best if your folders contain only a few items or if you want to give files distinctive icons to make them easy to recognize. It's especially good for folders that you store icon (.ico) and cursor (.cur) files in (see FIGURE 2). XP: Get Your Thumbnails in a Row For folders that contain only a small number of graphics files, Windows XP offers Filmstrip view, which, despite its name, has nothing to do with video. Choose View, Filmstrip to display a preview of the selected file at the top of the right Explorer pane, along with thumbnails of the other files in the folder in a strip running along the bottom of the right pane. Below the previewed image are slide-show forward and backward buttons, and two buttons that rotate the image left and right. Be forewarned: The rotation buttons actually open and save the file permanently in its rotated state (see FIGURE 3). This is less important if you're using an uncompressed format such as .bmp (bitmap) or a loss-less compression format such as .gif. But rotating .jpg or other files with "lossy" compression will reduce the quality of the file with each rotation. If you don't see the Filmstrip option in the View menu, choose View, Customize This Folder, click the Customize tab, select Photo Album in the drop-down list at the top, and click OK. XP: A New Thumbnails View The Thumbnails view in XP has a new twist. If a folder contains images saved in a common Web format, such as .gif, .png, or .jpg, XP will create an icon for the folder that displays up to four of the images it contains, providing a glimpse of its contents. To show a single image, right-click the folder icon, choose Properties, and click the Customize tab. Or open the folder, right-click an empty area of the window, and choose Customize This Folder. (Alternatively, you can choose Customize This Folder on the View menu.) Click the Customize tab, and under 'Folder pictures' select Choose Picture. Select the picture you want to show in the thumbnail (see the following bonus tip), and click Open. If the preview image is to your liking, click OK. If not, click Choose Picture again to find another picture, or select Restore Default to remove the picture from the folder thumbnail. Bonus tip: You needn't scroll through a list of file names to find the image file you want to show in the thumbnail. Instead, set the Browse dialog box (which appears when you select Choose Picture) to show thumbnails. Click the View icon to the far right of the 'Look in' drop-down menu, and choose Thumbnails. If your view is too crowded, drag any edge of the dialog box to make it bigger. Unfortunately, Windows forgets these settings the next time you open the dialog box. All Versions: The Sort You See When you choose View, Details in Explorer, you can sort the information you see by clicking a column heading (Name, Type, Size, or the like) to list files by that criterion. Click the column heading again to reverse the order. Windows Me and 2000 add a tiny arrow to the column that currently sets the sort order: An up arrow indicates ascending order; a down arrow, descending order. Windows XP goes this one better by highlighting the column head or the entire column that controls the sort, making it even easier to spot the prevailing arrangement at a glance. All Versions: The Folder Sort To sort your file and folder icons in Explorer views other than Details, right-click inside the folder and choose Arrange Icons by--or choose View, Arrange Icons by--and then select a sort criterion. Unfortunately, the only way to tell how the items are currently sorted is to figure it out for yourself. In Windows XP, the possible sort criteria listed on the 'Arrange Icons by' menu change according to your settings in the Choose Details dialog box, so be sure to read the tip "Give Me the Details" above. All Versions: Sort It Yourself To arrange a folder's items manually, choose any view except List or Details, and then drag and drop items (or groups of items that you select by Ctrl-clicking them) to get the arrangement you prefer. To keep your files in nice, neat rows and columns, click the View menu or right-click inside the folder and choose Arrange Icons by, Auto Arrange (provided that it isn't already checked). XP: Get With the Group There are many new ways to view a folder's contents in XP, the most useful of which may be the 'Show in Groups' option on the 'Arrange Icons by' submenu. Choose View, Arrange Icons by, or right-click inside a folder and select Arrange Icons by, Show in Groups. Windows will arrange the icons in logical groupings based on your chosen sort order. For example, if the files are sorted by name, the groups will be the letters of the alphabet. If you sort by date, you'll get groups with names such as 'Yesterday', 'Last week', 'Last month', and 'Earlier this year'. Sorting by size will yield groups named 'Tiny', 'Medium', 'Large', and the like. It's no substitute for having a good file-storage system, but distributing large numbers of folders and files into these (somewhat) meaningful bins simplifies file management. Don't like it? Simply choose the command again to turn it off. ME, XP: Compress in a Jiffy The ability to compress bitmap images and other large files before e-mailing or archiving them is a welcome new feature of Windows Me and XP. To compress, or zip, a file or folder, right-click in a folder or on the desktop and choose New, Compressed (zipped) Folder. Drag files to this folder to compress them in the .zip file. If most of the files are in a single folder, just select the files or subfolders, right-click the selection, and choose Send To, Compressed (zipped) Folder. Windows will create a new compressed folder named after the first file you selected and will include all the selected files and/or subfolders. To add files to or remove them from the compressed folder, drag and drop them as you would any folder. Naturally, you can rename the compressed folder by highlighting it, clicking it again (slowly, so as not to open it), and entering the new name, or by right-clicking and choosing Rename. In Windows Me, you may need to install the compression option from your Windows Me CD. Pop the CD into the drive, and open Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs, click the Windows Setup tab, select System Tools, and click Details. Check Compressed Folders, click OK as many times as needed, and follow the on-screen prompts. ME, XP: Decompress in a Flash You can decompress files by dragging them out of the compressed folder and dropping them where you like. But if you're decompressing all the files in a compressed folder in Windows XP, simply right-click and drag the folder to the desired location and then choose Extract Here. To put the decompressed files into a new folder, either right-drag the files as explained above (XP only), or right-drag the compressed folder to the new folder and choose Extract to launch the Extract Wizard (in Me) or the Extraction Wizard (in XP). Using the wizard is faster than right-dragging. Just press Enter once (in Me) or twice (in XP), wait for decompression to finish, and press Enter again.
Speeding-Bullet Performance
Accommodating a multitude of open (and resource-hungry) applications at the same time is the PC equivalent of leaping tall buildings in a single bound. You can give any version of Windows an infusion of pep by tweaking its default settings. Use these tips to make your system a kryptonite-free zone. All Versions: Tone Down the Effects Your system's performance may be bogged down by excessive visual effects. To get a perkier Windows 98, 2000, or Me, right-click the desktop, choose Properties, and click the Effects tab. Begin unchecking items in the Visual Effects box at the bottom of the dialog box until you find the right balance of speed and attractiveness for you. If Windows XP becomes sluggish, turn off some of the visual fireworks that may be taxing your screen updates via the Performance Options dialog box. Open Control Panel, and if you're using the default Category view, click the Performance and Maintenance link. Under 'Pick a task', choose Adjust visual effects. If you're using the Classic view of Control Panel, double-click the System icon. (Alternatively, you can right-click My Computer in Explorer and choose Properties.) Click the Advanced tab, and select the first Settings button (under Performance). The Visual Effects tab lists check boxes for turning individual effects on for more razzle-dazzle or off for better performance (see FIGURE 5). The preset options at the top of the dialog box simplify matters: If Let Windows choose what's best for my computer isn't already selected, choose it and click OK twice. Try this setting for a while, and if you're not satisfied, return to the dialog box and click Adjust for best performance, which unchecks all the visual options. If you miss some of the excitement, open this dialog box again and experiment by turning individual effects on one by one until you find a good balance between sizzle and steak. All Versions: Lightning Menus Sometimes Windows seems like an endless series of menu options: right-click menus, the Start menu and its submenus, and menus in every application. By default, Windows doesn't show these menus at their maximum speed. One way to change this is by editing the Windows Registry; but it's much easier to install Tweak UI, the free Microsoft Control Panel icon that allows you to customize many arcane aspects of Windows. Depending on the version of Windows you're using, you may be able to download Tweak UI by itself or as part of a larger set of free utilities called Microsoft PowerToys. You can grab Tweak UI 1.33 for Windows 9x, Me, and NT/2000, as well as a free copy of PowerToys for Windows XP, from PCWorld.com's Downloads library. Downloading and installing Tweak UI on older versions of Windows is tricky. First decompress (unzip) the download file, and then locate a file called tweakui.inf. (If your system is set to hide file extensions, choose Tools, Folder Options in Explorer, and under the View tab uncheck Hide extensions for known file types.) Right-click the tweakui.inf file and choose Install. If you're installing Windows XP PowerToys, the installation process is much more conventional. Launch Tweak UI by double-clicking its icon in Control Panel. Click the Mouse tab. Under 'Menu speed', drag the slider all the way to the Fast end (see FIGURE 6). Click OK and, with any luck, your menus will be a wee bit more sprightly. XP: Slow Down User Switches Unlike previous Windows versions, Windows XP lets you switch from one user account to another without logging off or shutting down any programs. This feature is convenient, but it increases the memory demands on your system. For better performance, choose Start, Log Off to log off completely before switching to another profile. You can still allow multiple accounts to run simultaneously when you or another user needs to perform a quick task, but you should log off from the additional accounts as soon as the task is complete. Fast user switching is not an option for Windows XP computers that are connected to a network domain. All Versions: Lose Some Color The more colors your system displays, the more memory and processing power it expends to manage those colors. If you use an older computer system and you've already tried disabling some visual effects (as described in " Tone Down the Effects," above), you may get the performance boost you're looking for by setting your graphics system to 16-bit 'high color' rather than 32-bit 'true color' (in Windows XP these settings are labeled 'Medium' and 'Highest', respectively). Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and click the Settings tab. If your system is currently set to display 32-bit color, choose the option for 16-bit color and click OK; then follow any on-screen instructions that appear (these vary depending on the graphics system). All Versions: Memory Gain Many people find that the best way to boost Windows' performance is by adding RAM. This is especially true of machines running in the 300- to 500-MHz range. Make sure that your PC has at least 128MB of RAM--and preferably 256MB or more. As of this writing, a 128MB memory upgrade costs about $40, but memory is a commodity, and prices can change rapidly.
The Mighty Morphin' OS
So if Windows really is more powerful than a locomotive, why does it look more like Jimmy Olsen than like the Man of Steel? From title bar to taskbar, the default Windows interface conceals more useful quick-change options than an old-fashioned telephone booth. And XP's new Luna look takes this secretiveness to new levels. At least the dumbing down is undoable. These steps give Windows more looks than there are streetlights in Metropolis. All Versions: Begin With the Start Menu You can customize the Start menu to add and remove programs, folders, documents, and other items. In Windows Me, 2000, or XP with the Classic Start menu, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties. In XP, click the Start Menu tab and then click Customize. In Windows 2000 and Me, click the Advanced tab. In All Versions, look for the scrolling list of check boxes at the bottom of the dialog box. The Administrative Tools menu can appear on the Start, Programs menu (XP and Windows 2000). You can hide the Run command (XP and Me) or make the Favorites menu go away. Check boxes that begin with the word 'Expand' let you create cascading menus out of such otherwise-static Start menu items as Control Panel, Network& Dial-Up Connections, My Documents, and My Printers (depending on your version of Windows). When you're done, click OK as many times as needed. To alter Windows XP's newfangled Start menu, right-click the Start button and choose Properties. Click Customize under the Start Menu tab and select the Advanced tab. In the scrolling list labeled 'Start menu items', you can hide or reveal Search, My Music, and other items, or you can make Control Panel, My Computer, Network Connections, My Documents, and related items appear as icons, as a cascading menu, or not at all (see FIGURE 8). Just make your choices and click OK twice. XP: Start Menu Stick-'ems The applications that appear on the left side of Windows XP's new Start menu (above All Programs) are those you launch most often. You may also have an icon for Internet access, another for e-mail, and others above the list of frequently used applications. Microsoft calls that grouping the 'pinned items list'. Icons for these applications don't disappear when you stop using the programs or when you use them less frequently. To make an application or document appear on the pinned items list, open Explorer to the folder where the application is located and right-click the application's .exe file (it's most likely in a directory for that application within Program Files). Or right-click any shortcut to the application in Explorer, on the desktop, or on the Start menu or one of its submenus; and choose Pin to Start menu (see FIGURE 9). To pin a shortcut to a document or folder to this list, drag the icon for the document or folder to the Start menu button. Bonus tip: You can put Internet Explorer, MSN Explorer, Hotmail, or Outlook Express on the pinned items list by right-clicking the Start button, choosing Properties, clicking the Customize button, and making the appropriate selections in the 'Show on Start menu' panel. The Internet and e-mail options available here vary from system to system, however. XP: Rework Your Frequent Apps List To alter the list of applications XP shows on the Start menu, right-click the Start button, choose Properties, and click Customize. Under Programs in the resulting dialog box, type a number between 0 and 30 (or select a number with the arrow keys). This might increase the Start menu's height. To start over, simply click Clear List. XP: A Classic Look As the list of frequently used applications on Windows XP's Start menu changes, you may lose the ability to jump to an item by pressing the first letter in its name. To revert to the Classic Start menu, right-click the Start button, choose Properties, select Classic Start menu, and click OK. XP: Gimme Back My Icons The Windows XP desktop has but a single icon: Recycle Bin. (If you installed XP over your old version of Windows, your old icons remain on the desktop.) If you miss the default desktop icons of Windows past, you can have them back in a trice. Right-click the desktop and choose Properties, click the Desktop tab, and click the Customize Desktop button. Under Desktop Icons, check the box for each icon that you want on your desktop (My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and/or Internet Explorer); then click OK twice. XP: Tidy Up Your Desktop Windows XP also helps you keep your desktop spiffy. The Desktop Cleanup Wizard locates and offers to clean off desktop shortcuts you haven't used lately. Right-click the desktop and choose Properties. Click first the Desktop tab and then the Customize Desktop button. Under Desktop Cleanup, select Clean Desktop Now. In the Desktop Cleanup Wizard, click Next. The Wizard dialog box lists the desktop shortcuts that you haven't used in the last 60 days. Uncheck the ones you want to keep on the desktop, and click Next. Click Finish to acknowledge the final list of shortcuts to be swept away. Windows puts them in a desktop folder called (appropriately) Unused Desktop Shortcuts. If you ever want to retrieve a shortcut, just drag it out of this folder. If you're the forgetful type, check Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 daysto have the software prompt you. Unfortunately, the wizard works only on shortcuts--not on folders, applications, or documents. All Versions: Drop Anchor on Media Player When you apply a skin to Windows Media Player 7 or later (choose View, Taskbar, Skin Chooser), a small Anchor Window appears in the lower right corner that reverts to full mode when you double-click its center button. But you can switch modes simply by pressing Ctrl-1 (full mode) or Ctrl-2 (compact or skin mode). To drop Anchor, choose Tools, Options, click the Player tab, uncheck When in compact mode, always display anchor window (version 7) or Display anchor window when in skin mode (version 8), and click OK. Alternatively, with Media Player 8, click inside the Anchor Window and choose Hide Anchor Window from the pop-up menu (see FIGURE 10).
Up, Upload, and Away
Though it may sometimes seem that not even the Flash could safely speed up your Internet link or network connection, Windows might actually come to your rescue. If some evil genius has taken over your computer's link to the outside world, see if these Windows tweaks reopen your lines of communication. XP: One Explorer Is Plenty If you're happy with Internet Explorer or another browser, and satisfied with your current e-mail and Internet service provider, you can save more than 13MB of hard drive space by deleting MSN Explorer. Windows Help says MSN Explorer is 'software that makes it easy to get more from the Web.' Maybe, but it's just a browser more tightly integrated with Windows Media Player and Microsoft's own MSN Web services. To drop this duplicate browser like a hot potato, open Control Panel, launch Add or Remove Programs, and on the left side of the dialog box, click Add/Remove Windows Components. Scroll through the list of Windows components and uncheck MSN Explorer. Read the warning and click Yes if you don't rely on MSN for your Internet connection. Click Next and follow the remaining on-screen prompts. XP: Get Behind a Firewall Whenever your computer is connected to the Internet or a local network, it's vulnerable to unauthorized intrusions and other attacks. Your first line of defense is a personal firewall, software or hardware that blocks access from outside and may even thwart hostile applications known as Trojan horses. Windows XP's firewall has to be turned on manually. Right-click My Network Places in Explorer or on the desktop, and choose Properties. In the Network Connection window, highlight your connection in the right pane and click Change settings of this connection in the left pane under Network Tasks. (Or right-click your connection and choose Properties.) In the Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab, check Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet, and click OK. Windows XP's firewall monitors only incoming traffic, not outgoing traffic, so it won't help you discover a Trojan horse, spyware, or any other uninvited program transmitting information about you or your PC. That's why it still makes sense to get a third-party firewall such as ZoneLabs' free ZoneAlarm. XP: Firewall Conflicts Software firewalls sometimes block Windows XP from sharing files and printers across a local network. If each PC on the network connects to the Internet through a network hub that itself is connected to a DSL or cable modem, Microsoft recommends that you either provide each system with Internet access via a residential gateway installed between your modem and the network hub, or that you connect your modem directly to the computer running Windows XP and use XP's Internet Connection Sharing to give other computers on the network Internet access. To enable Internet Connection Sharing, open the Network Setup Wizard as described in "A Wizard to the Rescue," below. ME, XP: A Wizard to the Rescue Setting up a home or small-office network may require that you dig through multiple dialog boxes and decipher arcane network protocols. Why bother? Windows' Network Setup Wizard can do most of the work for you. Perhaps the quickest way to launch the wizard is to choose Start, Run, type netconn (in Windows Me) or netsetup (in XP), and press Enter. Then simply follow the instructions on your screen.
10 Quick Changes--No Phone Booth Required
Only the wizards of Redmond would create two versions of the same operating system, and then hide the best features of both by default and make nuking the ones you don't want difficult. Here's how to turn on the good and turn off the bad.
Win 9x Tricks: Powerful Features Without the Upgrade
What's so good about Windows XP? The stability and reliability it brings to Windows 9x and Me machines that crash regularly. If you want the best that XP has to offer, there's no alternative to buying the OS and, if necessary, upgrading your hardware. But that doesn't mean your old 9 x PC can't learn any new tricks. These tips will give you some of the upgrade effect, without the upgrade price. Cosmetics The premier desktop theme utility is Desktop Architect, a fabulous piece of freeware that transforms your desktop icons, pointers, colors, and wallpaper with ease, although it can't change title bars or the taskbar. If you'd like to try for a quasi-XP look, locate a free XP theme from a theme site, such as the Theme Doctor. Browsing You can get Internet Explorer 6, which comes with Windows XP, as a free download from Microsoft. This browser gives you some control over your private information, and it features automatic image resizing, a floating image toolbar, and a media bar for playing music and video files from within the browser. IE 6 has the colorful new XP icons, too, so you'll be browsing in the latest fashion. More important, it's free. Multimedia Unlike Internet Explorer 6, the new Windows Media Player 8 works only with Windows XP--but don't despair. The earlier Windows Media Player 7.x has many of version 8's best features. It lets you apply different skins, manage your digital audio and video files, rip CDs to your hard disk (though not in MP3 format), listen to Internet radio stations, transfer audio files to portable devices, and burn audio CDs. And yes, it's free. If you don't like Windows Media Player, try a third-party media player, such as RealOne or MusicMatch. Frequently Used Apps Besides having obvious visual differences, the new XP Start menu can track up to 30 of your most frequently used applications and put them on the left side of the Start menu for easy access (see " Rework Your Frequent Apps List," above). Though previous Windows versions lack this feature, you can achieve the same effect--and more--with ANsoft's $20 RunIt shareware utility. RunIt's pop-up menus display up to 50 of your most frequently or recently used applications on each menu. Or have your system display a Favorites menu that shows the programs or documents of your choice. RunIt does not alter the Start menu, but you can launch its menus--and a more sophisticated version of the Windows Run dialog box--from an icon in the taskbar tray (the area near the clock), via a keyboard shortcut, or with a tiny floating toolbar (see FIGURE 4). You can download a trial version of RunIt from PCWorld.com's Downloads library. Photo Opportunities Windows XP's highly touted photo-editing tools still rely on the venerable Paint program. If you'd prefer something full-featured, try a third-party program such as Ulead's Photo Explorer 6 freeware for managing and editing photos, which has several tools that XP doesn't.
XP Tweaks: Fixes for XP's Super-Annoyances
What's a superhero without flaws? These tips help undo some of XP's worst. Annihilate Annoying Animations To dump XP's Search 'toon, open any folder, press F3 to start a search, and at the bottom of the Search Companion pane on the left, click Change Preferences. At the top of the pane, click Without an animated screen character (see FIGURE 7). Either continue with a search or close the window. Wipe out Windows Messenger A nagging balloon from the tray area of the taskbar urges you to launch Windows Messenger and sign up for Microsoft's .Net Passport program. To pop it once and for all, choose Start,Run, type regedit, and click OK. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. With the Run folder (called a 'key' in Registry-ese) selected on the left, choose the MSMSGS icon on the right and press Delete. Click Yes to confirm, and exit the Registry Editor. The icon will disappear from the tray the next time you log on. Ungroup Your Buttons XP groups similar applications under a single button in the taskbar, forcing you to choose the item from a pop-up menu. If you would prefer separate buttons for each open application, right-click the taskbar, choose Properties, uncheck Group similar taskbar buttons, and click OK. Bypass the Password Prompt You might not need to enter a password each time you deactivate your screen saver. The fix is easy: Right-click the desktop and choose Properties. Click the Screen Saver tab, uncheck the box labeled On resume, password protect or On resume, display Welcome screen (depending on your log-on configuration), and click OK. Remember Open Folders In previous versions of Windows, folders and Explorer windows you had open when you logged off would open again the next time you logged on. Not so in Windows XP. If you miss this feature, choose Tools, Folder Options in any window, click the View tab, scroll to the end of the Advanced settings list, check Restore previous folder windows at logon, and click OK. Pulverize Personalized Menus In Windows XP's Classic Start menu (see " A Classic Look," above), the 'personalized' menus rearrange menu items and hide many entries until you click the double-arrow symbol to display the entire listing. To get rid of this irksome convention, simply right-click the Start button and choose Properties. Click the Customize button, and scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Start menu options. Uncheck Use Personalized Menus, and click OK twice.
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