There are many mysteries in this world. One that hits close to our tech-loving home is how Windows chooses to sort or add programs to the All Programs menu. Keep in mind that the list of programs you see there are merely shortcuts that point to an executable file. Well, at least this mystery is easy to sort out (get it? easy? to SORT out?). Try this:
- Go to Start > All Programs
- RIGHT-click (I said RIGHT-click) on any item in the list
- Select "Sort by Name"
All your programs will be sorted alphabetically. And while you're at it, why dont you do some housekeeping? We're all about tech feng shui here (reduce the clutter, allow the chi to flow freely) You'll notice that also in that RIGHT-click menu are some other options:
- Delete will remove the item from the menu but will NOT delete from your PC
- Rename will allow you to rename a program to whatever you want to call it. For example, Ad-Aware gets listed as LavaSoft Ad-Aware. I never remember that, so I renamed the shortcut to the program to just Ad-Aware. It doesnt affect (effect? I can never get those straight) the program in any way.
- Properties has a fun feature - you can go to it, then select the third tab, Customize > Change Icon and choose a pretty little picture that will be easy for you to spot in that long list of programs. Note: not all programs have this option - deal with it.
