Manage "All Programs" in XP Pro?

[Jeff H]

Guys,

Finally moved over from 98SE to XP Pro. So far so good, w/ one exception. How do I manage/arrange/group the myriad of listings under the Start - All Programs group? Under 98SE you could go to Task Bar & Start Menu and w/i a Windows Explorer framework create folders for programs and organize those programs. How do I do that under XP Pro? I've found the "Task Bar & Start Menu" icon under Control Panel, but I don't see where it will let me do what I want to do, re organizing program entries.

For example, I'd like to have a main group where I could catalog programs such as Office, Print Shop, digi camera suite, etc. Then I'd like to have a Utilities group, under which I would have subcategories for Hardware and Software. I don't like the "long as your arm" listing I get on the screen when I click on All Programs; I'd like to shorten it by setting up groups, if you will.

TIA,

Jeff

 

[blizz]

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs. Also open that area of
any named user(s) since some programs will create shortcuts there instead of the
All Users category. You can drag, rename and rearrange the shortcuts all you want.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wallysaurus]

To add to what blizz wrote, an easy way to get to the All Users Desktop if you have admin rights is to right click on the "Start" button and choose "Explore All Users" and then choose the Desktop folder.

 

[Jeff H]

Guys, thanks for the replies. I'm sure six months from now my newbie questions will seem trivial, but I find XP Pro complicated at best, compared to Win98SE.

 

[JCROCCO]

I also find it more complicated, and I LOVED 98SE for its simplicity (Not for its unreliability).

XP seems very difficult, especially in a PTP environment using XP PRO.

 

[Jeff H]

JCROCCO, I thought for a minute that I shouldn's say something as heretical as "I like 98SE better than XP." However, for the reasons you mentioned I can say that after one day of XP it's going to take a while to get used to it, compared to 98SE. I didn't find anything particularly unreliable re 98SE. I ghosted it to both a HD and CD's.

That said, it was becoming obvious that I needed to make the move, and it did facilitate a hardware upgrade.

 

[Dogma420]

just forget using the start button....using it will only make microsoft keep using it.

make a folder on your desktop, and just drag it to the side of the screen, this will make a shortcut bar, or just make folders on your desktop and put your favorite stuff in each one.