Policy settings for the Start menu in Windows XP (292504)

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You can use the Group Policy editor (Gpedit.msc) under the following location to configure Start menu features: Note: Except when noted, all of these registry settings are under the following registry key: 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"