Integrating folders as menus into Quick Launch(Windows XP, Vista, 7)

              The extendable Quick-Launch bar off ers direct access to important programs. However, more the number of applications is added to it, the more confusing it gets. The time advantage is lost in the eff ort spent on searching for the right program.
              Set aside My Computer as an independent task bar on the desktop. In this way you can quickly access it. Right click the ‘Start’ button, select ‘Properties’ and activate the option ‘Start Menu’. This is important since the tip doesn’t work if you use the ‘Classic Start Menu’. Now right click on the ‘Taskbar’ and deactivate the option ‘Lock the taskbar’. Instead of individual programs, you can add folders in the Quick Launch bar. Related programs can thus be grouped, which improves the overview considerably. However, there is one drawback: the operating system opens the Windows Explorer with the folder contents if you click such an entry. It would have been much better if you could make a selection in the form of a menu. There is a trick though that can help you.
ACTIVATING A FUNCTION: Open ‘Start | Run’, enter ‘regedit’ and click ‘OK’. You can directly type the command in the text fi eld in the start menu in Vista and Windows 7 and press Enter. Navigate to the ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced’ key in the Editor. Then right-click in the right window area, open ‘New | DWORD value’, type the name ‘CascadeFolderBands’ and then confi rm with enter. Double-click the new entry and change its ‘value’ to ‘1’ and re-confi rm with ‘OK’. Then close the registry and restart the computer.
INTEGRATING FOLDERS: Now add the desired directories in the Quick Launch bar. For that, right-click a free area on taskbar and deactivate the ‘Lock Taskbar’ option. After rightclicking the double arrow of the Quick Launch bar, select the ‘Open folder’ context command. Create the desired sub-folder(s) in the directory of the bar, which is now accessible, and sort the desired program links as per your liking. For instance, it is practical to compile all the browsers in one folder. If you integrate several folders at the fi rst level, you have to change their icons so as to diff erentiate them better. You can also create several directory levels. However, you can also use the Start menu in that case.
USING NEW FUNCTIONS: Click on the double arrow icon in the Quick-Launch bar. You can see the integrated folders below, in the menu that pops up. If you point at one, it opens and shows the links it includes. Just clicking it once is enough to start the corresponding program. To open the folders in the Explorer, right-click on them and select ‘Open’.