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How to Fix the Biggest PC Annoyances

Computing hassles driving you bonkers? We feel your pain. And we have solutions--for hardware, software, and the Web.

Steve Bass

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Dynamically Dumb XP Menus

The Annoyance: First Windows XP hides infrequently used icons in the system tray, then it adds program shortcuts to my Start menu's left pane. Enough!

The Fix: Take charge of your system tray icons: Right-click the Start button and choose Properties, select the Taskbar tab, and uncheck Hide inactive icons. Or decide for yourself which system tray icons you want to see and which you want out of the way: Leave Hide inactive icons checked, click Customize, and then choose each icon one at a time and set its Behavior to Always show, Always hide, or Hide when inactive. If you don't want XP to add items to its Start menu list of frequently used programs, reopen your Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, choose the Start Menu tab, click Customize, and set 'Number of programs on Start menu' to a figure of your choosing (see FIGURE 6).

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