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Formatting Programs Menu

In Win98 when I click Start/Programs my programs menu allows scrolling vertically because all the progs won't fit on the screen. Is there a way to make it expand to the right as Win95 did instead of scrolling? I prefer having all the available programs on the screen at once.

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smeebud

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ckayter

I don't know of any way to make it explode to the right, but rather than have several columns of icons, may I suggest an alternative means of organizing the Start Menu?
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RIGHT CLICK on the TASKBAR, select PROPERTIES. On the TASKBAR OPTIONS tab, verify that "Show Small Icons" is selected.

Go to the START MENU PROGRAMS, select the ADVANCED... button. This opens an Explorer View of the Start Menu.

If you create folders in the right pane, while the PROGRAMS folder is selected on the left, this will create submenu folders. Now you can drag and drop icons and other items into the various folders.

For instance, create a folder called "Tools" or "Utilities" and then move your virus scan, adobe acrobat, winzip, etc. into that folder.

I have created several basic groups on mine and now when I open Programs, all I see is about 14 folders and the MS-DOS prompt. Groups include Graphics Tools, Microsoft Office, Multimedia (all my sound and video apps), etc.

By the way, you can probably delete from here all the readme.txt and application help files. To me, it's seems pretty silly to have an icon to an app's help file. As if you would access the help without having the application open (where you can press F1 and get the help).

After you've organized things, close the Explorer Window and click OK on the Taskbar Properties window.

QUICK TIP: The menus in Win98 are ACTIVE. You don't have to open the Taskbar Properties to rearrange things (although it's much easier if you have a lot of rearranging to do). If you want to move an icon or a subfolder, click and hold for a couple of seconds, then begin to drag it. You'll see a black bar appear. That indicates where the object will land when you release the mouse button.

You can also right click on an item and delete it from the shortcut menu, or copy the shortcut to the clipboard and paste it on the desktop.
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Colleen