Start Menu stuck?

[Stolichnaya]

Ok, so this is my gripe with Windows 7, Build 7100, 32-bit OS.

I have an Acer Aspire 4520, with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor TK-53, 1.70GHz. I have 4 GB RAM, of which only 3 GB seems usable.

Everything seems terrific, works fine. BUT... I have this problem with the Start menu Left Hand Side White Band. When I first clean-installed Windows 7, it had Getting Started, Windows Media Center, Calculator, Sticky Notes, Snipping Tool, Paint, Remote Desktop Connection, Magnifier and Notepad. Of these, I could further expand the Getting Started and Sticky Notes.

But now that I have finished installation of all my programs (Office, Acrobat etc.), I notice that not only am I not able to expand the expandable programs anymore, but also I cannot do a right click on those and 'Remove from this list'. They seem to be stuck there. They're not allowing any other programs to progress to their place, no matter how many times I open the other programs!

Anyone else having this problem?

(Subsequently, I managed to solve this mystery. Right click on Taskbar -> Properties -> Start Menu tab -> Privacy, clear the box that says, "Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu". This clears the entire list. But it still doesn't solve why the right click on specific program and 'Remove from this list' doesn't work.)

While I am here, another question -

I notice I have IE8, Libraries and WMP on the Taskbar for fast access. This is in place of the Quick Launch icons that used to be there. How can I add more icons of other programs to this Taskbar?

Edited May 11, 2009 by Stolichnaya

[awergh]

you can add icons to the super bar by right clicking on the program icon

and going to pin to taskbar.

or you can actually drag the icon onto the super bar to pin it