Windows Start Menu only shows Pinned items

[rogerpenskefan12]

Hi Joey, long time since i've been on this site and have a weird problem with my start menu. My start menu usually shows my pinned programs AND programs that i have previously used. Today for some reason, it's only showing the pinned items... i ran CCleaner, logged off and on and went to Control Panel and customized the start menu. No sucess.. Can you please help?

[Joey]

Hi Roger

The start menu history was probably cleared. Use the computer for a couple of days and see if it shows the opened programs history again.

Btw, what version of Windows do you have? XP, Vista or 7? And what version (Starter, Basic, Pro, Ultimate)?

[rogerpenskefan12]

I have Microsoft Windows xp SP3

[Joey]

Is it still happening? If it is I found this on the net. It may help you.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/runmru.htm

[rogerpenskefan12]

The article was verry confusing

[Joey]

The main thing I got from the article is that you might be using a program like "System Mechanic" or "Fresh UI". And that particular program is causing the problems. There are a lot of other similar programs that change Windows settings or are so called "optimizers". You need to either uninstall that particular program or go into it's settings and find the 1 that will allow the Windows XP start menu to go back to saving history like it did originally.

[rogerpenskefan12]

i dont use any of those programs.. i do use CCleaner and Gamebooster

[davo]

hi in Ccleaner,do you have user assist history checked in advanced options?
i tried all the advanced options and after user assist is checked then the registry is scanned and fixed,my start menu short cuts dissapered.
normaly i dont check anything after DNS cache.
also in the past i have used the antivirus TrendMicro,this program will automaticly sort my start menu and all programs list aswell as rearange my 'my documents' folders around.
hope this helps.

[davo]

hi again,you said your using xp service pack 3?
(Just Modified:-  This Run Command Only Works For XP-Pro,  Not Home Edition.)
try this... go to start menu,run.
type in    gpedit.msc
now this will open your registry.
go to user configuration (on the left of the window)
click on  Administrative templates.
open Start menu and taskbar.
ok...on the right window scroll down to   Remove frequent programs list from the start menu.
mine is set to not configured,and should be by default.
if its still set to not configured,this tells me that you have a program on your pc thats doing this program shortcut removal.

[davo]

heres another quick fix that might help.
right click on the task bar,go to 'properties'.
this will open task bar and start menu properties.
click on the tab 'start menu'
click 'customize'
go to 'number of programs on start menu'.
the higher the number,the larger the start menu will become.and vice versa.
if this is set to 0(zero) there will be no programs added below the 'pin to start menu line'
6 is the default setting(well on mine anyway).i configure it to 4 to reduce the size of my start menu.
click ok,apply,ok
the 'advanced' tab will also give you options to change what is displayed in the start menu items eg...add and remove favorites,admin tools,recent documents.

[rogerpenskefan12]

I've done all of that and i dont have anything checked past dns cache.. i think it might be Other Explorer MRUs

[davo]

hi again
without actually looking at your pc and seeing any mods or tweeks and programs that you have,as every computer is diferent in some way or another,and you have tried the other ideas i sugested.i decided to google simaller questions.
heres the best idea i could find.
*This Is Not Written By Myself...
infact i copied it from another forum that spoke of related issues,and hope it doesnt need to be removed.
set a restore point,back up any data you have,and remeber your configurations incase you need to undo any modifying

MFU list is the list of most frequently used programs that appears below the Pinned list on the Start menu. This list keeps track of how often programs are used and displays them in order of most used (top) to least used (bottom). This is a feature of XP's New Start Menu. Sometimes, this list may appear empty - none of the application entries may be added there. Here are the possible solutions to solve the problem.
Resolution
Right-click an empty area in the Start menu and select Properties. In the Start Menu tab, click Customize. Configuration options for the Programs list are on the General tab.
Make sure that the "Number of programs on Start" is not set to 0.
Try clearing the MFU list in the registry once, by pressing Clear List button.
Disable the two policies namely NoInstrumentation and NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList.

Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q292504 talks only about HKEY_CURRENT_USER. But, you also need to check the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive.
Delete the NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList & NoInstrumentation values in the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Backup the registry before modifying.

[rogerpenskefan12]

I really need a simple answer.... Im going to google some more...

[davo]

i went through my registry recording all my settings.
i then ticked user assist history in Ccleaner,also scanned and fixed the registry.
i still had programs in my start menu,so i decided to clean the disk with the microsoft disk cleaner.
i then lost my programs in my start menu,putting myself in the same position you are in regarding the start menu program problem
i went back into my registry and noticed none of my configurations had changed.
so i launched some programs and noticed none would turn up in my start menu.
so with revo uninstaller,i used advanced method and also removed/deleted the registry files/folders for Cclener.
i cleaned the disk again with microsoft disk clean tool.
rebooted my computer and ran a few programs.
all programs returned to my start menu.
ill now install Ccleaner again.
i also still have my Ccleaner registry backup folder,were i sent my reg files to.
let me know if this works for you?

[rogerpenskefan12]

I did EVERYTHING! Nothing, i mean NOTHING worked... i even used my pc for a month to see if the recently used programs would come back...

[rogerpenskefan12]

I downloaded "Tweak UI" and unchecked "clear document history on exit"

I'm going to restart now.

[Joey]

What happened after the restart?

[rogerpenskefan12]

Nothing happened, but after 3-4 weeks of using my pc,the recently used programs came back today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Joey]

w00t!