XP Start Menu Tweaks

[Lee Schaeffer]

I'm working on an HP laptop at the moment and on the very bottom of the
right side of the start menu is a menu item for an "HP Info Center".

Above it is a seperator line and then the standard "Run..." "Search" and
"Help and Support" items.

1) Is there a way to remove this item without uninstalling the program?
There are no options if i right click on it and I can't click and drag it.

2) How was it put there? And can I also add buttons in that section of the
Start Menu? I did some searching and the closest I've come to a way to do
that is to do a registry hack to replace one of the standard buttons with
your own. According to everything I've read what HP did is impossible. My
only guess is that it's a custom build of XP that came with the laptop.

 

[JS]

Use msconfig (Start/run/msconfig) or

Try Autoruns from SysInternals:
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html
This will show all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot and
selectively allow you to stop any that you don't want.
Note: You may need to highlight an item (right click) and use the Google
option on some entries to get the details.

JS

 

[Keith Miller MVP]

Taskbar & Start Menu Properties -> 'Start Menu' tab -> 'Customize...' button -> 'Advanced' tab

One of the 'Start Menu Items:' should be 'Manufacturer's link' -- clear the checkbox to prevent its
display on the Start Menu.