Don't display program in Frequently Used Programs list

Don't display program in Frequently Used Programs list

QUESTION:
XP makes a list of the programs that you've recently used. Well, for reasons I won't go into, I sometimes use a program that I'd rather than have listed there for everyone to see. Is there a way to keep it from appearing in that list? Thanks. - Dale C.

ANSWER:
Hmmm. Spending on-duty time playing solitaire, are we? Well, there are a couple of approaches but you might or might not be able to make the necessary settings changes if you don't have administrative privileges. The easiest way to remove an item from the list is to right click it and select Remove From This List. However, that's only a temporary solution - it'll come back when you use it again, so you have to keep doing this every time you open the program.

There's a registry edit you can use to permanently exclude a specific program from appearing on the list. Here's how to do that:

1. Open your favorite registry editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ FileAssocation
2. In the right pane, double click AddRemoveApps
3. Add the program you want to exclude to the Value Data box by typing a semicolon followed by the name of the program's executable file (for example: type ;sol.exe for Solitaire).
4. Close the registry editor and reboot. Remember, always make a backup of the registry key before you make changes to it.

If you're super secretive and don't want any of the programs you use to be displayed, you can edit the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. There you can set the number of entries allowed to populate this section. If you change the setting to zero, this prevents any programs from being displayed.