Vista start menu problems

If you are using the Vista Start Menu, you may want to click the adjacent Customize button and investigate the plethora of options on the Customize Start Menu dialog box, as shown in Figure C. Rather than two tabs, this newly designed dialog box only has one tab and a host of configuration options now appear in the scrolling outline box.

You can put the main area of the Start Menu to much better use if you configure it as a launching area for all the programs you use most often. You may want to clear the E-mail Link check box as well--especially if you have a shortcut to your E-mail application in the Startup folder so that it starts each time you log on or if you launch it once and then leave it running all the time.

Once you clear up that space on the Start Menu, access the All Programs submenu, right-click on a shortcut to a program you use most often, and select the Pin To Start Menu command. You can add between 15 and 30 shortcuts to your most often used programs to the Start Menu.

The number of shortcuts you can add will depend on your screen resolution setting. However, you'll notice that in the System Icons panel you can add and remove not only the Clock, but also the Volume, Network, and if you're using a laptop, the Power icon. If you configure the Taskbar with the Auto-Hide setting and rely on the Clock and Calendar gadgets on the desktop's Windows Sidebar for the time and date, you can then clear the Clock check box in order to enlarge the space available to the Taskbar and provide more room in the Notification Area.

The Toolbars tab, shown in Figure E, is completely new to the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, and displays the same list of toolbars that you can see by right-clicking on the Taskbar itself and selecting the Toolbars submenu from the context menu. And while you can easily enable and disable the various toolbars from the Toolbars tab, you can't add new toolbars. To do that, you still have to go to the Toolbars submenu on the Taskbar.

Windows Vista's Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box has received a fair amount of reorganization and fine tuning yet is still familiar when it comes to customizing the Taskbar and Start Menu. If you have comments or information to share about Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, please take a moment to drop by the Discussion area and let us hear.

Greg Shultz is a freelance Technical Writer. Previously, he has worked as Documentation Specialist in the software industry, a Technical Support Specialist in educational industry, and a Technical Journalist in the computer publishing industry. The Taskbar tab. Select Sign in with a local account instead.

You'll see this link only if you're using a Microsoft account, and you may not see it if your device is on a network. Choose a new account name, password, and password hint, and then select Finish and sign out. Under Other users , select Add someone else to this PC. On Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Professional, provide a name for the user and a password, and then select Next. Set a user name, password, and password hint.

Sign out of your account and then sign in to your new account. If everything is fixed, move your personal data and files to the new account. You can then copy and paste your files from the old account folder to similar locations in the new account folder. Or if you prefer, you can upload your files from your old account to OneDrive, and then sign into the new account and download the files from OneDrive. If you were using a Microsoft account to sign in before, associate the Microsoft account with the new administrator account.

Select Sign in with a Microsoft account instead and enter your account info. You'll see this link only if you're using a local account, and you may not see it if your device is on a network. Windows 10 More Turn on Lock the taskbar. Select the Processes tab. Scroll down to Windows Explorer, select it, then select Restart. Check for updates Note: Need another way to get to Settings? Type your Microsoft account password and select Next.

Ask a question. Quick access. Search related threads. Remove From My Forums. Answered by:. Archived Forums. Windows 7 User Interface. Sign in to vote. Since Vista there has been a problem with the start menu if you turn on "display as menu" occasionaly when you hover over an item such as Documents it will come up with the box's shadow but the options will not be there.

Thursday, May 21, PM. Several computers does not mean that this is not a driver issue. Think about it. If it was really a Windows problem then everyone would see this - including the developers at Microsoft. Like I said, I have never seen or even heard of this in 10 years.