Hello,

For some reason, my Start / "All Programs" menu on Windows XP no longer
displays a large number of my programs. Is there an easy way to fix this?
All of the programs are still on my computer; they're just not accessable
from the Start menu.

Please note that I'm borderline computer illiterate. So, if you have any
suggestions, please feel free to explain them as though I'm "the village
idiot."

Thanks for your help.
Bob

Start>Run>Regedit>ok
Now navigate to the following keys:-
HKEY CURRENT
USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Exp lorer\User Shell Folders\
Set Start Menu value to "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu"


HKEY LOCAL
MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\User Shell
Folders
Set Common Start Menu value to "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu"

Close the registry editor and restart the machine.

If you find the above process is difficult then you may try:-
'Remove "All Programs" from Start Menu - Undo' line 154
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

regards,
S.Sengupta [MS-MVP]





Bob wrote:

> Hello,
>
> For some reason, my Start / "All Programs" menu on Windows XP no longer
> displays a large number of my programs. Is there an easy way to fix this?
> All of the programs are still on my computer; they're just not accessable
> from the Start menu.
>
> Please note that I'm borderline computer illiterate. So, if you have any
> suggestions, please feel free to explain them as though I'm "the village
> idiot."
>
> Thanks for your help.
> Bob
>
>

This has happened to me (Start Menu/All Programs is empty), and the fix
suggested below does not seem to have worked. Any other suggestions
out there?



S.Sengupta wrote:
> Start>Run>Regedit>ok
> Now navigate to the following keys:-
> HKEY CURRENT
> USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Exp lorer\User Shell Folders\
> Set Start Menu value to "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu"
>
>
> HKEY LOCAL
> MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\User Shell
> Folders
> Set Common Start Menu value to "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu"
>
> Close the registry editor and restart the machine.
>
> If you find the above process is difficult then you may try:-
> 'Remove "All Programs" from Start Menu - Undo' line 154
> http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
>
> regards,
> S.Sengupta [MS-MVP]
>
>
>
>
>
> Bob wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > For some reason, my Start / "All Programs" menu on Windows XP no longer
> > displays a large number of my programs. Is there an easy way to fix this?
> > All of the programs are still on my computer; they're just not accessable
> > from the Start menu.
> >
> > Please note that I'm borderline computer illiterate. So, if you have any
> > suggestions, please feel free to explain them as though I'm "the village
> > idiot."
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
> > Bob
> >
> >

I should also note that a couple of other keys in that directory looked
different from the apparently standard "%USERPROFILE%" suggested by S.
Sengupta. My Programs and Startup keys have values respectively of

%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Fairfax\Programs
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Fairfax\Programs\Startup

These are the only two that vary. Should these be changed too?