Optimize PC|Windows Computer Tips and Resources

Before my laptop’s hard drive failed, my Windows XP start menu and installed programs list was three columns long. Needless to say, it was nearly impossible to find anything when I had to rely on sifting through the scores of programs and applications that were installed on my PC.

Several months back I stumbled on this software - Menu Inventor, that has probably saved me hours over the last few months by allowing me to create my own, fully customizable, start menu and programs list for my computer. I’m still trying dealing with the whole NTLDR error on my laptop - so I’m running with minimal programs in case I have to reformat and start over… but once I get this error fixed, I will be rebuilding my Menu Inventor list.

In any case - I used Menu Inventor as an alternative to my built-in Windows start menu. I did not literally replace my Windows Start menu, rather I added applications that I used every day to Menu Inventor so that when I needed to do work on something, I could easily start the proper program.

Because of my work and how I work, I had the following software available within two easy clicks from my desktop:

Real Draw Pro (Graphics program )
My Sprint connection manager (wireless internet when I was on the go)
Apache/MySQL startup (For local development of websites)
Truecrypt (For encrypted documents, sensitive client data)
Regcure (Registry Cleaning Software)

As well as odds and end programs that I used on a weekly basis.

Windows Start Menu replacement program

While I did not completely remove my need for using Windows’ built-in start menu, you could certainly do so with this software. XP’s start menu is not easily customizable by the average computer user - but Menu Inventor is.

Basically, once you cross the threshold of having more than a small handful of applications installed on your PC, it can take up quite a bit of time to search for the program that you are looking for. In my case, I am certain that this little program has saved me hours over the last few months - well worth the free download.

In case the Menu Inventor website is slow for you (it was for me - probably due to the site being hosted in the Czech Republic), you can also download the latest version from Download.com

By the way - this is not a paid review or a plug for the software at the creator’s request - I just really like this program.