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PC911 > Tips & Tweaks> Customizations Index > Customizations #7

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Replace Scrolling Menu For Multiple Columns For Start Menu
When you clicked your Start menu in Win95, you got multiple columns of menus across your desktop side by side if needed. Win98 makes the Start menu a single column with a scrolling arrow at the bottom. Many people prefer the old way so if you have Win98 or Win2K and IE4 or 5, here's how to do it:

  • Launch Regedit and drill down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ explorer.
  • In the left pane, highlight the Advanced folder by clicking it once.
  • Right-click a blank area of the right-hand pane. Click New, then String Value.
  • Name it StartMenuScrollPrograms and hit Enter.
  • Right-click the name you just created and click Modify. In the Value Data box, type FALSE, then click OK.
  • Enjoy!

Remove "Find" From The Start Menu
If you use it from time to time then you should skip this. If however you rarely if ever use this option then read on. You can easily remove or replace the Find menu item from your Start menu in Win9x or NT with a simple Registry change. Here's what to do:

  • Launch Regedit and drill down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer.
  • Look for a DWORD Value in the right pane called NoFind. If it isn't there you can create it by right clicking the free space below the other items under the "Name" column and choosing New/DWORD Value and naming it NoFind
  • Now right click the new value and Modify the Value data: from 0 (which will show the Find menu item) to 1 (which will hide the Find menu item).
  • The setting change will not take effect until you reboot.
  • Enjoy!

Tweak Your IE5 Search Engine
This is a cool little Registry tweak to replace the default search engine used by IE5. This is what to do:

  • Launch Regedit and drill down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\ Search.
  • Right click on CustomSearch or SearchAssistant and change the URL to the search engine of your preference.
  • Note: The default settings are:
    • CustomizeSearch = http://ie.search.MSN.com{SUB_RFC1766}/srchast/srchcust.htm and ...
    • SearchAssistant = http://ie.search.MSN.com{SUB_RFC1766}/srchast/srchasst.htm.
  • If you are careful about backing up the information, you can experiment with a couple of different search engines until you find the best set up.
  • Enjoy!

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