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Clicking Your Start Button

  • Dec 25, 2006
This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in OneSams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One

Learn More Buy

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in OneSams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One

Learn More Buy

In This Chapter:

  • Master Vista's Start menu
  • Modify your Start menu's look and behavior
  • Locate and run programs
  • Search from your Start menu
  • Pin programs to your Start menu

It's time to jump into Windows Vista! The quicker you learn the ins and outs of Vista's interface the quicker and easier you'll get your work done and have time to enjoy some Media Player music, movies, or perhaps a game.

Just about everything begins with a single click of your mouse—a click on your Vista's Start button. (You can also display Vista's Start menu by pressing your Windows key.) With that one click, you gain access to all your programs, computer settings, and Vista interface. Even some Windows veterans are somewhat taken aback when they first deal with Vista's Start menu. Here is where you first start to see that as much as the UI looks similar to XP, Vista is actually quite different once you start actually using it. Just remember, these differences only serve to help you get more done with less effort.

About Vista's Start Menu

Clicking your Start button produces Vista's Start menu, shown in Figure 3.1. Your Start menu will surely look somewhat different from the one in Figure 3.1 because the programs installed on your computer will differ. In addition, the Start menu changes, depending on what you've recently done, in an attempt to adapt to your behavior.

Figure 3.1

Figure 3.1 Vista's Start button produces your Start menu from which you can launch your programs and perform just about any necessary task.

Did you Know?

If you don't see your Start button, your taskbar is probably set to Auto-Hide mode. By hiding the taskbar except when you need it, you make more room for your other windows. Just move your mouse pointer to the bottom of your screen and the taskbar should appear. In Chapter 6, "Taking the Taskbar to Task," you'll learn how to hide and display your taskbar.

As Chapter 1, "Welcome to Windows Vista," explained, Vista's Start menu doesn't cascade all over your desktop the way Windows XP's did. This leaves you with more desktop space so that you can better see what you were doing and where you're headed. One, two, or three clicks are usually all you need to start programs and adjust settings on your computer from the Start menu.

By the Way

When you install new programs on your computer, those programs add themselves automatically to your Start menu, in most instances. Chapter 28, "Adding and Removing Programs," discusses how to add and remove programs from your computer.

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Last Update: November 17, 2020