How do I get rid of Personalized Menus in WinXP?

[M Skabialka]

I don't seem to be able to get rid of Personalized Menus on a new PC running
Windows XP Pro. I have tried:

1. Under Start, Properties, Classic Start Menu, I have removed the check
form 'Use Personalized Menus'

2. In the Accessibility wizard I have checked 'Disable Personalized Menus'

However, whenever I select an item in the Toolbar (like insert, view,
format), the menus only show recently used commands. On other machines I
have turned this off with step 1 only, above.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Are you referring to the menus in a Microsoft Office application like Word, Excel etc.?

If so, the options for these menus are not in the Windows XP options, they are in the Office application options. Open the office application and go to Tools/Customize/Options Tab. Place a check mark in the "Always use full menus" option.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

With the Classic Start Menu, both of these need to be UNChecked.
XP Start Menu doesn't have Use Personalized Menus option.

XP Start Menu >>
Right click the Start button | Properties |
Start Menu tab | Customize button | Advanced tab |
Scroll down to and UNCheck:
Scroll Programs * |
Click OK | Click Apply | Click OK

Classic Start Menu >>
Right click the Start button | Properties |
Start Menu tab | Customize button |
Scroll down to and UNCheck both of these:
Scroll Programs * |
Use Personalized Menus **
Click OK | Click Apply | Click OK

[*Specifies whether to display the items on the Programs menu as one long
scrolling menu or as horizontal pages. Depending on your screen resolution,
if you have more than 29 or 38 programs installed, and you select to have
one long scrolling menu, you can access the programs you don’t see
by clicking the arrow at each end of the list of programs.]

[**Specifies whether to turn on Personalized Menus.
Personalized Menus keeps the Programs menu clean by hiding items you haven't
used recently, while still keeping other programs easily accessible. You
can gain access to hidden programs by clicking the down arrow at the bottom
of the Programs menu.]

"Use Personalized Menus" Option in Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Has No
Effect on Internet Explorer Favorites Menu
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257045

However, whenever I select an item in the Toolbar (like insert, view,
format), the menus only show recently used commands.

This applies to MS Office programs such as MS Word.

From MS Word HELP:

Microsoft Office automatically customizes menus and toolbars based on how
often you use the commands. When you first start an Office program, only the
most basic commands appear. Then, as you work, the menus and toolbars adjust
so that only the commands and toolbar buttons you use most often appear.

Displaying all the commands on a menu
To look for a command that you don't use often or have never used before,
click the arrows at the bottom of the menu to show all the commands. You
can also double-click the menu to expand it. When you expand one menu, all
of the menus are expanded until you choose a command or perform another
action. When you click a command on the expanded menu, the command is
immediately added to the short version of the menu. If you do not use the
command often, it is dropped from the short version of the menu.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[M Skabialka]

Thank-you, that is exactly what I needed!
And marking it in one Office application applied it to all of the others
also, which was great!

Mich

Are you referring to the menus in a Microsoft Office application like Word,
Excel etc.?

If so, the options for these menus are not in the Windows XP options, they
are in the Office application options. Open the office application and go to
Tools/Customize/Options Tab. Place a check mark in the "Always use full
menus" option.

 

[M Skabialka]

As it turns out it was only Office that this was occurring in, and the fix
from Ronnie Vernon was what I needed, as I had done both of the suggestions
below.

But thanks for the help.

Mich

With the Classic Start Menu, both of these need to be UNChecked.
XP Start Menu doesn't have Use Personalized Menus option.

XP Start Menu >>
Right click the Start button | Properties |
Start Menu tab | Customize button | Advanced tab |
Scroll down to and UNCheck:
Scroll Programs * |
Click OK | Click Apply | Click OK

Classic Start Menu >>
Right click the Start button | Properties |
Start Menu tab | Customize button |
Scroll down to and UNCheck both of these:
Scroll Programs * |
Use Personalized Menus **
Click OK | Click Apply | Click OK

[*Specifies whether to display the items on the Programs menu as one long
scrolling menu or as horizontal pages. Depending on your screen
resolution,
if you have more than 29 or 38 programs installed, and you select to have
one long scrolling menu, you can access the programs you don’t see
by clicking the arrow at each end of the list of programs.]

[**Specifies whether to turn on Personalized Menus.
Personalized Menus keeps the Programs menu clean by hiding items you
haven't
used recently, while still keeping other programs easily accessible. You
can gain access to hidden programs by clicking the down arrow at the
bottom
of the Programs menu.]

"Use Personalized Menus" Option in Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Has
No
Effect on Internet Explorer Favorites Menu
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257045

However, whenever I select an item in the Toolbar (like insert, view,
format), the menus only show recently used commands.

This applies to MS Office programs such as MS Word.

From MS Word HELP:

Microsoft Office automatically customizes menus and toolbars based on how
often you use the commands. When you first start an Office program, only
the
most basic commands appear. Then, as you work, the menus and toolbars
adjust
so that only the commands and toolbar buttons you use most often appear.

Displaying all the commands on a menu
To look for a command that you don't use often or have never used before,
click the arrows at the bottom of the menu to show all the commands. You
can also double-click the menu to expand it. When you expand one menu, all
of the menus are expanded until you choose a command or perform another
action. When you click a command on the expanded menu, the command is
immediately added to the short version of the menu. If you do not use the
command often, it is dropped from the short version of the menu.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I don't seem to be able to get rid of Personalized Menus on a new PC
running Windows XP Pro. I have tried:

1. Under Start, Properties, Classic Start Menu, I have removed the check
form 'Use Personalized Menus'

2. In the Accessibility wizard I have checked 'Disable Personalized
Menus'

However, whenever I select an item in the Toolbar (like insert, view,
format), the menus only show recently used commands. On other machines I
have turned this off with step 1 only, above.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Your welcome. Enjoy.