dkznelson
07-20-2005, 11:39 PM
This problem is common to almost any version of
Windows, from 95 through XP.
A lot of us never stop tinkering with the Start Menu.
If you add a new program you might create a new
subcategory and move some other Start Menu
shortcuts under that category. I usually remove
an older version of same app, before I install the
new. There are million ways you can alter the
Start Menu in an effort (often futile!) to find what
you want a little faster.
I've got several Registry cleaners but they all leave
behind countless redundant Start Menu entries.
An older version of Registry First Aid did scan
your Start Menu and clean out all these unneeded
entries, but it had the unfortunate side effect of
rearranging your Start Menu!
I'm very comfortable working in the Registry, but
there is no way I can manually find and remove all
these redundant entries.
Is there a Registry cleaner (or specialized applet)
that can list all these redundant entries? I can
see why most Registry cleaners won't touch these
entries. As long the shortcut target or command
line is correct the assumption is that the Registry
entry is valid, even if its been shifted and renamed
a dozen times within the Start Menu.
Some clever programmer must have developed
an app that can find all the redundant entries,
while protecting the Start Menu.
dkznelson
Windows, from 95 through XP.
A lot of us never stop tinkering with the Start Menu.
If you add a new program you might create a new
subcategory and move some other Start Menu
shortcuts under that category. I usually remove
an older version of same app, before I install the
new. There are million ways you can alter the
Start Menu in an effort (often futile!) to find what
you want a little faster.
I've got several Registry cleaners but they all leave
behind countless redundant Start Menu entries.
An older version of Registry First Aid did scan
your Start Menu and clean out all these unneeded
entries, but it had the unfortunate side effect of
rearranging your Start Menu!
I'm very comfortable working in the Registry, but
there is no way I can manually find and remove all
these redundant entries.
Is there a Registry cleaner (or specialized applet)
that can list all these redundant entries? I can
see why most Registry cleaners won't touch these
entries. As long the shortcut target or command
line is correct the assumption is that the Registry
entry is valid, even if its been shifted and renamed
a dozen times within the Start Menu.
Some clever programmer must have developed
an app that can find all the redundant entries,
while protecting the Start Menu.
dkznelson