I am sure this is simple to most of you guys, and I am sure I have done it before (maybe on an older OS) but I can't seem to figure out how to do it on this XP machine.

When I click my start button, and programs, I have tons of stuff listed.. almost three panels worth. How do I clean that up and get rid of some of that bs?

Hi, The First thing you should do is remove any old or unwanted programs via the Add/Remove programs in Control Panel. After that if they are programs you want to keep but do not need a shortcut in the Programs under start just Right click the item and choose delete. This will NOT delete the program. The items in this list are shortcuts only.

Hello Monkey,

Click start > all Programs > if there is nothing in the folder then right click on that folder and hit delete. if there are things in the folder and you know you dont use that program go ahead and go to start > control panel > add/remove programs. when you remove the program the fold in start menu should go as well. if it doesnt then just follow the 1st step to remove the folder.

K, so if I click on a program like "Sonic Soundstage" on my program list, and click to delete it, it wont delete the program necessarily, it will just take it off my program list under start menu right?

Yes, it will just delete the shortcut on the start menu, and not the program itself.

Do the same as I do, I make folders up for similar applications.

Security apps go in a Security folder
System apps go in a System folde

and so on.

It's well worth it if you make the effort to do this. I have a similar system for my Bookmarks / Favourites folder (3000 plus bookmarks in here)..

Here's a pix of my Program list...