i went to the preferences section to change from the
classic to the start menu. however, even though the way in
which the start menu opens is the same, the entire bar is
not green and my account icon, etc... are not displayed.
how can i fix this?

Susannah,

Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
Click the Visual Effects tab, click Custom, and then click to check the Use
Visual styles on windows and buttons check box.
Click OK to close the Performance Options dialog box, and then click OK to
close the System Properties dialog box.

Enable or Disable the New Interface Components in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=288186

--
Regards,
Ramesh
(E-Mail Removed)


"susannah" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:032e01c37962$a4e7b3b0$(E-Mail Removed)...
i went to the preferences section to change from the
classic to the start menu. however, even though the way in
which the start menu opens is the same, the entire bar is
not green and my account icon, etc... are not displayed.
how can i fix this?