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  • From Windows to wireless, Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector finds solutions to readers' most vexing PC problems.
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Should I Report Program Problems to Microsoft?

Lincoln Spector

Trim Office Menus

How do I remove an item from a Microsoft Word menu?

Chuck Bedford,Grandville, Michigan

Removing items you don't use makes the menus easier to navigate. The following trick will work in Word, Excel, and other programs in Microsoft Office versions 2000, 2002, and 2003:

In the program with the unwanted menu item, select Tools, Customize. With the Customize dialog box open, click the menu at the top of the program window that holds the item you want to remove, right-click the item, and select Delete; then click the dialog box's Close button.

Office 2007 doesn't have menus, so there's nothing to customize. Removing items from the ribbon isn't an option. However, you can customize the Quick Access Toolbar and keyboard shortcuts in Office 2007 applications: Click the Office icon in the top-left corner, choose the options button for the program at the bottom of the drop-down list, and select Customize in the left pane.

Personalize Your Windows Explorer Shortcuts

The simplest way to open Explorer to a specific file or folder is to right-click and drag its icon out of Explorer and onto the desktop (or the Start menu, quick-launch toolbar, or other location), release the button, and select Create Shortcuts Here. If you want to remove "Shortcut to" from the name, select the shortcut, press <F2>, make the change, and press <Enter>. To open Explorer with the folder tree visible in the left pane, right-click the shortcut and choose Properties. Position the cursor in the Shortcut tab's Target field, press <Home>, and type explorer.exe /e, (don't forget the space before the slash or the comma at the end). For example, to open Explorer to your D drive, type explorer.exe /e, D:\. When you're done, press <Enter>. (Note that Vista displays folders by default, so no change for it is needed.)

Send your questions to answer@pcworld.com. Answer Line pays $50 for published items. You'll find Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector's humorous and other writings at www.thelinkinspector.com.

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