My Computer on the Start Menu

Spurred on by Dave Cook's Windows 2000 tips and tricks, David Dorn discovers that you can also access My Computer from the Start Button in Windows Me

If you're anything like me, your task bar is always visible, even when the rest of the screen is a clutter of windows, both maximised and sized. I can guarantee that it's always when I can't actually see the 'My Computer' icon that I need to get to it to retrieve a file or perform some other function that needs access to drives.

So, here's a neat trick to allow access to the entire contents of your PC's hard drives (and any mapped network drives), CDs, floppies, removable drives and so on. It's simple.

1. With a clear desktop (no programs open) follow these simple steps:
2. Single Click on 'My Computer'
3. Right click on it and drag it to the Start button
4. Hover over the Start button, which will expand to show you your menu. You'll see that you now have a large I-beam cursor
5. Choose the new home for the shortcut to 'My Computer' and release the mouse button
6. You'll see a new icon - it's called 'Shortcut to My Computer'

That's it!

You can treat it just like any other menu entry under the Start button, and gain access to everything you'll need. Try it - if you don't like it, you can always delete it!

Enjoy!

David Dorn