The Start button that opens the Start menu always appears as the first button on the taskbar. The Start menu is the most basic menu in Windows, giving you access to all the stuff on your computer.
To open the Start menu, simply click the Start button icon in the lower-left corner of the taskbar, press the Q button, or press Ctrl+Esc on your keyboard. [Paid Recommendations^^: Using Mac photo recovery to recover your lost photos.]
The Start menu is divided into two columns. The options in the right column of the Start menu are fixed and never change. (Note that your user picture and name are included as part of these fixed items, appearing at the top of the right column.) As for the left column, only the All Programs button, the Search Programs and Files text button (at the bottom), and the Internet Explorer options (at the top) are fixed. The other icons that appear in this column change over time to represent the applications that you launch most frequently.
To ensure that a particular item remains on the Start menu, open the menu, right-click the item you want added, and then choose Pin to Start Menu from its shortcut menu.
To run one of the recently used programs, simply click that icon in the left column of the Start menu. To open a Windows Explorer window for a particular Windows component — Documents, for example, or Computer, or Network, or Control Panel — click the component’s button in the right column of the Start menu.
To launch an application program or open a Windows Explorer window or the Control Panel that does not appear on the Start menu, type the first few characters of its name in the Search Programs and Files text box and then click the link for the sought-for program that appears in the Search Results on the Start menu to launch or open it.
To display a list of all the application programs installed on your computer, click the All Programs option on the Start menu. You can then launch the application by clicking its folder (if the program uses one) and then clicking its program icon and name on the Start menu. [Paid Recommendations^^: Using photo recovery to recover your lost photos.]
To shut down your computer at the end of the workday, press your computer’s Power button or click the Shut Down button that appears to the immediate right of the Search Programs and Files button. Windows then prompts you to save any unsaved changes before closing down open application programs, logging you off, and powering down your system. (See “Restart, Sleep/Hibernate, Lock, Log Off, and Shut Down” in Part 2 for details about the other Power button options.)
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