Hiding programs from appearing in the Start panel

If you have a top-secret program that you do not want anyone else to know you have. Every time you run a program on your computer,Windows XP keeps track of it and will place it on your frequently run programs list as a convenience to you. Sometimes, this feature is not always a convenience and is, instead, like a chronic medical problem that will not go away.

For example, let's use the situation of a guy named Larry. Larry plays Solitaire all the time on his computer when he is at work. It is not the best game, but it will help him pass time and it's a great alternative to actually doing work. Every time Larry plays Solitaire,Windows XP automatically puts the game into the frequently run programs list. This tracking is a problem for Larry because he is concerned that one of his fellow employees might see the program on the list and report him. What should he do?

Follow these steps to Hide programs from appearing in the Start Pannel:

1. Click the Start Menu and select Run. Type in regedit and click OK to start up the Registry Editor.

2. Next, expand the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder.

3. Search through the list of folders until you find the folder called Applications and expand that as well.

4. Now You will see a list of every executable file for the programs installed on his computer. To hide a program from the frequently run programs list, you have to expand the folder that is the executable for the program.To hide Solitaire, You have to expand the sol.exe folder.

If you do not know the name of the executable file that a program shortcut points to, you can easily look this up by right-clicking the shortcut and selecting Properties. In the Properties box, you will see a full path to where the file is located as well as the name of the file. When you right-click the shortcut in the Start Menu for Solitaire, you will discover that the name of the executable for the game is sol.exe.

5. Can't find a folder called sol.exe? That's because some Windows applications are not listed. If his application was listed, You should to skip this step. Otherwise, You have to create a folder. To do so, Select the Applications folder with the mouse and right-click and select New and then Select Key. Then type in the name of the executable for the name of the key. For Solitaire, You have to name the key sol.exe.

6. Now that You have found the folder for the application or have created one, You expand it so that You can see all of its values. Then, right-click the executable's folder that You have just created or found in the registry. Select New and then select String. Next, Type in NoStartPage as the name of the string variable.

7. When done close the Registry Editor and logs off and then back in. You will never see Solitaire in you frequently run programs list again.

Now You can play as much Solitaire at work as you want without having to worry about it showing up in his frequently run programs list.

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How to Hide Programs from appearing in the Start Panel.

Hiding programs from appearing in the Start panel

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