XP's Start Menu Help!

  • Thread starter Robin
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Robin

Robin

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Ive reciently come across a problem with my new computer and one that is really annoying me........usually the Start Menu (the things that pops up when you click start) is a width or thickness determined by the longest name of program in the menu.......on my new computer it does not do this and remains oddly thin moving long names onto the next line...... Is there something wrong here.....on my new computer it does not widen the start menu.....it looks really annoying...Im running XP Home SP2.....

See what I mean......

Old Computer
untitled18vt.png

New Computer
untitled37zv.png


Can Anyone help?

Robin
 
The writing and icons all look bigger. What screen resolution have you set your desktop to in the settings tab in properties?

Also, which naughty program have you whited out? ;)
 
Thanks for all the replies :sly: .... I'll try all these out in a sec but to answer your questions......

My old computer runs on a 17" CRT monitor at 800x600 using normal font and normal icons.....

The new one is running on 19" LCD monitor at 1600x1200 using large fonts (because it would be too small for me) and large icons (for the desktop only)

.....this could be causing the problem but when I tried reverting to normal sized fonts the start menu looks the same but now with smaller fonts and an even thinner menu!.....Do I have to restart after doing something like this because I did not?

......shouldnt the menu resize itself regardless of the font size or font?

If trying out the things that have been suggested and I do manage to get the start menu to resize to the longest program name will there be no chance of having large fonts and a wider taskber then? because I dont want to have everything on the whole computer in normal font (which is really small on a 19")

If any other suggestions pop into your heads feel free to recommend 👍

Thanks for the help and quick reply :)

DQuaN
Also, which naughty program have you whited out? ;)
Click to expand...

:lol::lol: How did I know someone would ask that!......its not something overly bad but I will leave it up to your imagination to guess what it is! :D

Thanks again.......Robin
 
K........I tried changing the font, size etc and it didnt work......the only way the program names fit is if the icons in the start menu are set to the small size.....which is stupid because they are not like that by default.....I dunno what else I can try......
 
Why don't you just lower the resolution?*

That's what most people do when their resolution is too high for their monitor and the text is too small to read. You should also be able to increase the refresh rate if you lower the resolution. Your eyes will love you if you increase the refresh rate. 👍

* If you're going to lower the resolution, it might be a good idea to turn off large fonts ;)
 
Yeah but mine does it worse then yours, at aleast in yours windows media player is displayed on one line......mine is on two and its such a short name! ......What settings are you running on?.....resolution, icon size, font size???

Even when I set the start menu to have small fonts and small icons it just goes like

Microsoft Office Wo....

Shannon.....Its really odd but any lower res on my screen makes things blurred
 
Thats odd...i just clicked da link and its works.......

anyway here is it again.....



This start menu issue is the oddest ever!...
 
i just replicated that by turning large icons on. turn them off (display/appearence/effects, uncheck its box, OK, apply
 
?? There's no way to change the color scheme / appearance of the Start Menu by selecting its properties, as far as I'm aware...

Thanks Carl, got the link and downloaded it, we'll see how I like it after a few days...hope it stands up to the test! (At first glance, it's a tad harsh on the eyes, but I think it'll be easy to get used to...)
 
What type of LCD do you have, Robin? How old is it, how extensively has it been used, etc? LCDs should not have any blurring. Did you notice any blurring with your old CRT before you switched?

The normal max resolution for an LCD is 1280x1024 so you might want to try setting it to that.

If all else fails, move to the small icons and font and just move the monitor closer to you :).
 
Here's my suggestion:

Start Menu -> Settings -> Taskbar and Start Menu

select the start menu tab.

check "classic start menu".

That should fix it.
 
Not me. Why go back in time when the future is forward?

The Classic Start Menu is boring and doesn't fit with the look of Windows XP. Unless you switch to Windows Classic as an entire theme, in which case everything gels.
 
Anderton Prime
Not me. Why go back in time when the future is forward?

The Classic Start Menu is boring and doesn't fit with the look of Windows XP. Unless you switch to Windows Classic as an entire theme, in which case everything gels.
Click to expand...
Nothing beats XP Classic style with the "Desert" color scheme, and the XP-style start menu...


That color green is so pleasing to the eye, nice and neutral...
 

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