Policy settings for the Start menu

Policy settings for the Start menu in Windows XP

You can use the Group Policy editor (Gpedit.msc) under the following location to configure Start menu features:

User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Start Menu and Taskbar

Note: Except when noted, all of these registry settings are under the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

The registry entries are DWORD values. A value of 1 is enabled, and a value of 0 is disabled.

Policy:Disable the new simple Start Menu
Description:Disables the new simple Start menu and forces the classic 
Start menu.
Registry Value:"NoSimpleStartMenu"

Policy:Remove pinned programs list from the Start menu
Description:Removes the pinned programs list from the Start menu. Also 
removes the Internet and E-mail checkboxes from the Start menu 
customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoStartMenuPinnedList"  

Policy:Remove frequent programs list from the Start Menu
Description:Removes the frequently-used programs list from the Start 
menu.
Registry Value:"NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList"

Policy:Remove More Programs list from the Start menu
Description:Removes the More Programs list from the Start menu.
Registry Value:"NoStartMenuMorePrograms" 

Policy:Remove common program groups from Start Menu
Description:Removes items in the All Users profile from the More 
Programs list on the Start menu.
Registry Value:"NoCommonGroups" 

Policy:Gray unavailable Windows Installer programs Start Menu shortcuts
Description:Displays partially installed programs in gray text on the 
Start menu.
Registry Value:"GreyMSIAds" 

Policy:Disable and remove links to Windows Update
Description:Removes the Windows Update link from the More Programs list 
in Start menu, from the Tools menu in IE, and blocks user access to 
windowsupdate.Microsoft.com.
Registry Value:"NoWindowsUpdate" 

Policy:Remove user folders from the Start Menu
Description:Removes all user-specific folders except My Documents (My 
Pictures, My Music, Favorites, and Recent Documents) from the Start menu. 
Also removes the corresponding checkboxes from the Start menu 
customization CPL.
Registry Value:This is a combination of the following: 
"NoStartMenuMyMusic", "NoSMMyPictures","NoFavoritesMenu",
"NoRecentDocsMenu" 

Policy:Prohibit user from changing user folder paths
Description:Prevents users from changing the path to the My Pictures, 
My Music, Favorites, and Recent Documents folders.
Registry Value:"DisableMyPicturesDirChange", "DisableMyMusicDirChange", 
"DisableFavoritesDirChange".

Policy:Remove My Documents folder from the Start Menu
Description:Removes My Documents folder from the Start menu and 
corresponding checkbox from the Start menu customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoSMMyDocs"

Policy:Prohibit user from changing My Documents path
Description:Prevents users from changing the path to the My Documents 
folder.
Registry Value:"DisablePersonalDirChange" 

Policy:Remove Recent Documents item from Start Menu
Description:Removes the Recent Documents folder from the Start menu. Also 
removes the corresponding checkbox from the Start menu customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoRecentDocsMenu"  

Policy:Maximum number of recent documents
Description:Specifies the number of shortcuts displayed on the Recent 
Documents submenu.
This policy exist under the following location in Group Policy: 

User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components
Registry Value:"MaxRecentDocs"  

Policy:Clear history of recent documents on exit
Description:Deletes all shortcuts shown in the Recent Documents menu when 
the user logs off.
Registry Value:"ClearRecentDocsOnExit" 

Policy:Remove Favorites item from Start Menu
Description:Prevents users from adding the Favorites item to the Start 
menu. Also removes the corresponding checkbox from the Start menu 
customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoFavoritesMenu" 

Policy:Remove My Computer from the Start Menu
Description:Removes the My Computer item from the Start Menu and the 
corresponding checkbox from the Start menu customization CPL.
Registry Value:"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}" under 
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\NonEnum. 

Policy:Remove Network Connections from the Start Menu
Description:Removes the Network Connections item from the Start menu 
and the corresponding checkbox from the Start menu customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoNetworkConnections" 

Policy:Remove Network Places from the Start Menu
Description:Removes the Network Places item from the Start menu and the 
corresponding checkbox from the Start menu customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoStartMenuNetworkPlaces" 

Policy:Do not add shares of recently used documents to Network Places
Description:Remote shared folders are not added to Network Places whenever
you open a document in the shared folder.
Registry Value:"NoRecentDocsNetHood" 

Policy:Remove Help item from Start Menu
Description:Removes the Help item from the Start menu, but does not 
disable Help files from running.
Registry Value:"NoSMHelp" 

Policy:Remove Search item from Start Menu
Description:Removes the Search item from the Start menu and disables some 
Windows Explorer search elements.
Registry Value:"NoFind" 

Policy:Remove Run item from Start Menu
Description:Removes the ability to execute programs from the Run option 
on the Start menu, Task Manager, or by pressing Winkey + R. Also removes 
the corresponding checkbox from the Start menu customization CPL.
Registry Value:"NoRun" 

Policy:Add "Run in Separate Memory Space" check box to Run dialog box
Description:Allows 16-bit programs to run in a dedicated Virtual DOS 
Machine (VDM) process.
Registry Value:"MemCheckBoxInRunDlg" 

Policy:Do not use the search-based method when resolving shell shortcuts
Description:Prevents the system from conducting a comprehensive search of 
the target drive to resolve a shortcut.
Registry Value:"NoResolveSearch" 

Policy:Do not use the tracking-based method when resolving shell shortcuts
Description:Prevents the system from using NTFS features to resolve a 
shortcut.
Registry Value:"NoResolveTrack" 

Policy:Force Logoff to the Start Menu
Description:Forces the Logoff button to the Start menu and prevents users 
from removing the Logoff option from the Start menu.
Registry Value:"ForceStartMenuLogoff" 

Policy:Disable Logoff on the Start Menu
Description:Removes the "Logoff" button from the Start menu and prevents 
users from adding the Logoff button to the Start menu.
Registry Value:"StartMenuLogoff" 

Policy:Disable and remove the Turn Off Computer button
Description:Removes the "Turn Off Computer" button from the Start Menu and
prevents shutting down Windows using the standard shutdown user interface.
Registry Value:"NoClose" 

Policy:Disable and remove the Undock PC command
Description:Removes the "Undock PC" button from the Start Menu and 
prevents undocking of the PC (laptop).
Registry Value:"NoStartMenuEjectPC" 

Policy:Disable drag-and-drop menus on the Start Menu
Description:Prevents users from modifying the Start menu by dragging and 
dropping items. Other methods of customizing the Start menu are still 
enabled.
Registry Value:"NoChangeStartMenu" 

Policy:Disable changes to Taskbar and Start Menu settings
Description:Removes the Taskbar & Start Menu item from the Control 
Panel, and removes the Properties item from the Start menu (and button) 
context menu.
Registry Value:"NoSetTaskbar" 

Policy:Disable user tracking
Description:Prevents the system from remembering the programs run, paths 
followed, and documents used.
Registry Value:"NoInstrumentation" 

Policy:Remove user name from Start Menu
Description:Removes the user name from the Start menu.
Registry Value:"NoUserNameInStartMenu"