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From Smart Computing Feb 2005

Almost every user can benefit from customizing the Start menu and Taskbar to eliminate those forks and roadblocks. (Note that the following instructions assume you're not using the Classic Start menu, which allows far less customization.)

1. Expand The Start Menu
   
   Begin by putting some of the things you need to get to most often (such as recently opened documents, Control Panel applets, and the contents of the My Computer folder), onto the Start menu as expandable submenus so that you can get to them without waiting for windows to open.
   
   Right-click the Start button, choose Properties, and click Customize on the Start Menu tab. Start by deselecting Open Submenus When I Pause On Them With My Mouse on the Advanced tab, which will keep you from accidentally starting programs as you search for others. In the Start Menu Items box:
   
   ? Under Control Panel, select Display As A Menu. This will put an expandable Control Panel menu on your Start menu, from which you can choose any of the Control Panel applets. In other words, you don't have to wait for the Control Panel to display to open, say, the Add/Remove Programs Wizard.
   
   ? Under My Computer, select Display As A Menu. This puts an expandable My Computer menu on your Start menu, from which you can quickly access the contents of any of your hard drives.
   
   ? Under Network Connections, select Don't Display This Item. You don't need it unless you constantly add or troubleshoot network connections.
   
   ? Select the Scroll Programs option. With this option selected, a program list too tall for the screen will become scrollable rather than spreading out to the side and covering more of your screen.
   
   Finally, make sure List My Most Recently Opened Documents is checked; this will add a My Recent Documents item to the Start menu, which will expand to display your 15 most recently opened documents. Click OK.
   
2. Give Favorites Programs Quick Launch
   
   You can get more control over what appears in the Start menu by limiting what Windows automatically adds and by permanently fixing, or pinning, particular programs to the menu. To limit Windows' automatic selections, right-click the Start button, choose Properties, and click Customize on the General tab. Under Programs, set Number Of Programs On Start Menu to a lower number, such as two (which will eliminate most of Windows' automatic selections but clue you to any programs you may not notice you're using often). While you're here, if you use programs other than IE for browsing and Outlook or Outlook Express for email, specify those programs under Show On Start Menu. Click OK. If the Start menu still contains a link to a program you rarely use, right-click that link and choose Delete or Remove From This List from the shortcut menu.
   
   To pin specific programs to the Start menu, click Start and then All Programs. Find the icon for the program you want to pin to the Start menu and, with the right mouse button, drag it to the left side of the Start menu. A black bar appears to help you position the icon. Release the button. This program is now affixed to your Start menu; repeat the procedure to attach other programs.
   
   Pinning can get to be a habit, and before you know it your Start menu may be overcrowded with program links. You can free up a little more space by switching to small Start menu icons: Right-click Start, choose Properties, click Customize on the General tab, choose Small Icons, and click OK.

3. Whisk Yourself To Web Sites

You can also add links to favorite
or frequently visited Web sites
to your Start menu or Taskbar,
so you can get to those sites quickly?
without first loading your Web browser
and waiting for your home page to display.

Launch IE and surf to a
frequently visited Web site.
You need to use IE to add a link
to your Start menu or Taskbar,
but you do not need to make IE
your default browser to use the link.

To add a link to this site to your Quick Launch
toolbar, drag the icon in IE's address bar
directly to the Quick Launch toolbar
and drop it there.
To add a link to this site to your Start menu,
drag the icon in IE's address bar
first to your Desktop or to your Quick Launch toolbar;
then drag it from there to the Start button,
hold it over the Start button until the
Start menu appears,
and then drop it where you've pinned
your other programs.

Click the link in your Quick Launch toolbar
or your Start menu,
and your default browser
opens directly to the appropriate page.
There's no faster way to surf.

By Mark Scapicchio

4. Get There Faster With Quick Launch

You can get to your favorite programs even faster?

From the Taskbar, instead of having to click the Start button?

if you add them to the Quick Launch toolbar,
an optional Taskbar toolbar.

Add the Quick Launch toolbar to the Taskbar.
Right-click any blank area of the Taskbar
and choose Toolbars and then Quick Launch.

The Quick Launch toolbar should appear
just to the right of your Start button.
At a minimum, it will display perhaps
the most useful Taskbar button of all:
the Desktop button, which you can click
to instantly minimize all open program windows
and display your entire Desktop.
It may also include buttons certain programs
automatically added when you installed them.

Add buttons for the programs you use most.
Click Start and All Programs and navigate to the item
that starts one of the programs you use most.
Hold down the CTRL key,
drag the item to the Quick Launch toolbar,
and release the mouse button.
An icon appears on the Quick Launch toolbar;
click that icon to start the program.
Repeat the procedure for every program
you want to add to the Quick Launch toolbar.

Why would we tell you how to set up Quick Launch after we told you how to pin programs to the Start menu,
and why would you want to use both?
One reason is that some people find the Start menu's larger icons and always-visible descriptions more straightforward than Quick Launch's smaller, textless icons.

(Note that you can display the name of the program
associated with any Quick Launch icon
by holding the mouse pointer over the icon
for a second or two.)

Another reason is that Quick Launch
can be more habit-forming than pinning.

You can add 10 or 12 icons
to it before you know it and find yourself short
of Taskbar real estate for your window buttons.

If this happens, consider expanding your Taskbar to a second tier. Place your pointer on the top edge of the Taskbar
until a two-headed arrow appears,
hold down the mouse button,
and drag slightly upward.
(If you can't change the size of the Taskbar,
it's probably locked.
To unlock it, right-click it and uncheck Lock The Taskbar.)

Make room for pinning more programs
to the Start menu by reducing the number
of programs Windows automatically lists there.

Practice...Practice...Practice...Practice...Practice...Practice...

Practice...Practice...Practice...Practice...Practice...

Like flyers adorning telephone poles, Post-it Notes hang from monitors everywhere, reminding people of appointments, phone numbers, and, for security-challenged computer users, passwords. But 3M, creator of Post-it Notes, says there is a better solution to your ragtag collection of colored paper tags.

Now that they have gone digital, Post-it Notes are part of the Microsoft Partner Pack for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/partnerpack), 
which also includes applications from such companies as PayPal, Google, Advantrics, and others. Post-it Software Notes let you create notes with pictures and hyperlinks that "stick" to your Windows Desktop, just like the paper notes stick to actual items. You can even add alarms to these notes, as well as print them, change their colors, insert dates and times, and attach them to Microsoft Word documents.

Plus, there currently isn't a flaw in the software that causes the notes to fall to the bottom of the Windows Desktop when they lose their digital stickiness.

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