I have many programs on my WinXP machine. Three columns are full but
many do not display. Is there some way to make four columns of programs
-- the program names are short and I could truncate some if necessary


--
ivanf

ivanf wrote:
> I have many programs on my WinXP machine. Three columns are full but
> many do not display. Is there some way to make four columns of
> programs -- the program names are short and I could truncate some if
> necessary

You can right click the Start Button and select the Customize Button/Advanced Tab. Scroll down to the Scroll Programs option and select it. Apply/OK. This will cause the programs to display in one column that you can scroll to see all of the items.

A better solution is to right click All Programs and select Explore/All Users. This will open the All Programs folder in Windows Explorer. Creat some new folders with descriptive names and move the programs into these folders (like creating a folder called Games and move all of the game programs into that new folder). This will cut down on the overall number of individual items in the All Programs menu and reduce the number of columns that will be displayed.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

"ivanf" <ivanf.1zxza9@pcbanter.net> wrote in message
news:ivanf.1zxza9@pcbanter.net...
>
> I have many programs on my WinXP machine. Three columns are full but
> many do not display. Is there some way to make four columns of programs
> -- the program names are short and I could truncate some if necessary
>
>
> --
> ivanf

ivanf,

I also have many programs on my PC, but rather than have many columns on
START - All Programs (too many programs makes it not easy to find one of
them), I have created folders into which I have put many of these programs.
ie:- I have one folder which houses all my Image Editing software, and one
folder for all my M/Soft software etc. I have 15 folders which contain in
excess of 200 programs. This 'categorising' of software will help you
achieve your aim I think.

If you choose to do this, here's the way I did it (others may show a better
way)

In Windows Explorer:-
Open C:
Open Documents & Settings
Open All Users
Open Start Menu
Open Programs
at this stage right click in the right hand window and from dropdown menu
select 'New Folder'
Rename this folder to whatever you like (maybe 'Image Edit') and then you
can 'Drag & Drop' all your Image editing programs into there

hope this helps

dfrog

Excellent. That's the solution for me. Thank you.

Regards,

"dfrog" <dfrog@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:4060tfF18r0q7U1@individual.net...
>
> "ivanf" <ivanf.1zxza9@pcbanter.net> wrote in message
> news:ivanf.1zxza9@pcbanter.net...
>>
>> I have many programs on my WinXP machine. Three columns are full but
>> many do not display. Is there some way to make four columns of programs
>> -- the program names are short and I could truncate some if necessary
>>
>>
>> --
>> ivanf
>
> ivanf,
>
> I also have many programs on my PC, but rather than have many columns on
> START - All Programs (too many programs makes it not easy to find one of
> them), I have created folders into which I have put many of these
> programs. ie:- I have one folder which houses all my Image Editing
> software, and one folder for all my M/Soft software etc. I have 15 folders
> which contain in excess of 200 programs. This 'categorising' of software
> will help you achieve your aim I think.
>
> If you choose to do this, here's the way I did it (others may show a
> better way)
>
> In Windows Explorer:-
> Open C:
> Open Documents & Settings
> Open All Users
> Open Start Menu
> Open Programs
> at this stage right click in the right hand window and from dropdown menu
> select 'New Folder'
> Rename this folder to whatever you like (maybe 'Image Edit') and then you
> can 'Drag & Drop' all your Image editing programs into there
>
> hope this helps
>
> dfrog
>
>
>