Right Click on 'Start' has too many options

I hope the title explains where I'm at, I really don't know if this area has a name. If you right click on Start in a fresh install you'll find Open, Explore, Search, Properties, etc. I have those and perhaps a dozen items from programs that have been loaded and I would like to clean those out. Where are they kept?

 

I have several programs in mine also. They are ones that I installed. I would go to Add remove programs to uninstall whatever you wish.

 

You may have misunderstood what I wanted to achieve. I don't want to remove the programs, I want to remove them from the right click on Start.

 

Hi jeffery,

Be aware that you are now entering one of those tweaker categories that can be considered medium to high risk OR "If it ain't broke don't fix it! " I need to ensure, in good conscience, that you do your homework here so you are aware of what your doing and can become aware on how to undo it should the effect become problematic. Many of these are added by a program itself during an install but some entries are added or needed to maintain a programs functionality. Messing with these in an unsafe manner can cause a program to malfunction. That said Please read all of the below:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/how-to-clean-up-your-messy-windows-context-menu/
http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2212p188id118255.htm
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article02-026

See above^....
First Choice,
check if the program itself offers any option to disable remove the context menu items, or at least to tidy or organize the items into a cascaded group. Normally, the options or settings are located under “Shell integration” section. For example, in WinRAR, to get rid of WinRAR context menus, go to Options, then Settings, then open Integration tab and uncheck Integrate WinRAR into shell. There are other options to customize, such as cascaded context menus, icons in context menus and ability to select with context menu items that are enabled. For WinZip, go to Options, and then Explorer Enhancements for removal options.

Second choice:
If the program, its self, doesn’t provide any context menu handler removal option, then download a third party app that allows you some safety to disable and enable these.
Examples would be:
Programs to allow at least some safety net for editing the context menu:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/shellexview.html
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shell_menu_view.html
more.....
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=edit+context+menu&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

Third Choice:
Still not a happy camper and wish to tip toe through the registry your self:
Backup the Registry first.....
This entire article discusses about editing the registry to modify the context menu entries for an object. Before modifying the registry, it's advisable to create appropriate backups. Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the key which you want to modify. Look under each of the sub-keys for the context-menu entry name which you want to remove. Before deleting the key, backup the corresponding branch if you want to undo the changes later. As you're not modifying various parts of the registry, exporting the related subkey should be enough. Once done, delete the sub key and the context menu is gone.
To know how to backup the registry completely, see the following pages:
* Complete registry backup using ERUNT http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm
* How do I create a System Restore point? http://www.winxptutor.com/createrp.htm

Then see:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/context_folders.htm

 

You are getting good advice from Ann so do be careful in the Registry and export any key you intend to dump or else rename it with an easy prefix like zzyxz or something. That makes it easy to find your work with a simple search.

Also be aware that some programs register their own dll's into the system and cannot be easily edited from the context menus, indeed some won't show up on a context menu editor at all.

If it's any consolation, I have 14 entries on my Start button drop down context menu. Sometimes retreat is the better path.

 

Thanks Goddez1, you are not only very beautiful but quite the expert. You pointed me in the right direction and by checking the programs context menu inclusion I was able to clean up 75% of the unused items. Makes for a cleaner system.

 

Your very welcome jeffreyclay and thank you for the compliment as well.