|
Organizing the Contents of Programs Menus
FYI: Standard NPS Desktop applications are accessed from the Common Programs menu. All other programs are accessed from the Programs menu. It is important to understand how the Programs menu works and how it can be customized. The Programs menu has a horizontal divider on it. The section below the divider is for machine-based items, and the section above the divider is for user-based items. The following directions should help clarify how the Programs menu can be customized.[Once you have logged on]
(Right Click) "Start" then Choose "Open All Users"
(Double Click) the "Programs" icon
[NOTE above: You should now see a window with files that exactly match the list of items located below the horizontal line in the "Start" --> "Programs" menu, which is a list of machine-based items. This means that no matter which user logs on to this computer, each user will have access to the same programs since the items are stored on this machine.]
[Leaving the Programs window open]
(Right Click) "Start" then Choose "Open" then (Double Click) "Programs"
[NOTE above: You should now see a window with files that exactly match the list of items located above the horizontal line in the "Start" --> "Programs" menu, which is a list of user-based items. This means that no matter which computer you log on, the same programs that were above the horizontal line will be available, since the items are stored in your user profile.]
[NOTE below: The only thing I found tricky was remembering which window belongs to which section of the Programs menu. I suggest making note of what items are listed when you open the first menu.]
[By opening both menus simultaneously, (machine-based, all-users "Programs" window to the left and the user-based "Programs" window to the right) items can be transferred from above the horizontal divider in the "Start" --> "Programs" menu, to below the horizontal divider, or vice-versa. This can be done using standard "drag-and-drop", file move operations. When some applications are installed, the top part of the Programs menu will be modified. In most cases you want the bottom section to be modified instead. To correct this, you can use the methods outlined above to transfer the new menu items from the top section of the Programs menu to the bottom section.]