Category: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2000

“This policy setting allows you to set the maximum number of shortcuts the system can display in the Recent Items menu on the Start menu. The Recent Items menu contains shortcuts to the nonprogram files the user has most recently opened. If you enable this policy setting the system displays the number of shortcuts specified by the policy setting. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting by default the system displays shortcuts to the 10 most recently opened documents. “

This policy setting allows you to remove the Documents icon from the Start menu and its submenus. If you enable this policy setting the Documents icon is removed from the Start menu and its submenus. Enabling this policy setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the Documents folder. Note: To make changes to this policy setting effective you must log off and then log on. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting he Documents icon is available from the Start menu. Also see the “Remove Documents icon on the desktop” policy setting.

Hides all folders on the user-specific (top) section of the Start menu. Other items appear but folders are hidden. This setting is designed for use with redirected folders. Redirected folders appear on the main (bottom) section of the Start menu. However the original user-specific version of the folder still appears on the top section of the Start menu. Because the appearance of two folders with the same name might confuse users you can use this setting to hide user-specific folders. Note that this setting hides all user-specific folders not just those associated with redirected folders. If you enable this setting no folders appear on the top section of the Start menu. If users add folders to the Start Menu directory in their user profiles the folders appear in the directory but not on the Start menu. If you disable this setting or do not configured it Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional display folders on both sections of the Start menu.

This policy setting allows you to remove the Help command from the Start menu. If you enable this policy setting the Help command is removed from the Start menu. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the Help command is available from the Start menu. This policy setting only affects the Start menu. It does not remove the Help menu from File Explorer and does not prevent users from running Help.

Removes the Recent Items menu from the Start menu. Removes the Documents menu from the classic Start menu. The Recent Items menu contains links to the non-program files that users have most recently opened. It appears so that users can easily reopen their documents. If you enable this setting the system saves document shortcuts but does not display the Recent Items menu in the Start Menu and users cannot turn the menu on. If you later disable the setting so that the Recent Items menu appears in the Start Menu the document shortcuts saved before the setting was enabled and while it was in effect appear in the Recent Items menu. When the setting is disabled the Recent Items menu appears in the Start Menu and users cannot remove it. If the setting is not configured users can turn the Recent Items menu on and off. Note: This setting does not prevent Windows programs from displaying shortcuts to recently opened documents. See the “Do not keep history of recently opened documents” setting. This setting also does not hide document shortcuts displayed in the Open dialog box. See the “Hide the dropdown list of recent files” setting.

Prevents users from adding the Favorites menu to the Start menu or classic Start menu. If you enable this setting the Display Favorites item does not appear in the Advanced Start menu options box. If you disable or do not configure this setting the Display Favorite item is available. Note:The Favorities menu does not appear on the Start menu by default. To display the Favorites menu right-click Start click Properties and then click Customize. If you are using Start menu click the Advanced tab and then under Start menu items click the Favorites menu. If you are using the classic Start menu click Display Favorites under Advanced Start menu options. Note:The items that appear in the Favorites menu when you install Windows are preconfigured by the system to appeal to most users. However users can add and remove items from this menu and system administrators can create a customized Favorites menu for a user group. Note:This setting only affects the Start menu. The Favorites item still appears in File Explorer and in Internet Explorer.

Displays Start menu shortcuts to partially installed programs in gray text. This setting makes it easier for users to distinguish between programs that are fully installed and those that are only partially installed. Partially installed programs include those that a system administrator assigns using Windows Installer and those that users have configured for full installation upon first use. If you disable this setting or do not configure it all Start menu shortcuts appear as black text. Note: Enabling this setting can make the Start menu slow to open.