Start Menu Most Frequently Used programs (MFU) list is empty
Published: August 11, 2004Send your feedback
Symptom
MFU list is the list of most frequently used programs that appears below the Pinned list on the Start menu. This list keeps track of how often programs are used and displays them in order of most used (top) to least used (bottom). This is a feature of XP's New Start Menu. Sometimes, this list may appear empty - none of the application entries may be added there. Here are the possible solutions to solve the problem.
Resolution
Right-click an empty area in the Start menu and select Properties. In the Start Menu tab, click Customize. Configuration options for the Programs list are on the General tab.
- Make sure that the "Number of programs on Start" is not set to 0.
- Try clearing the MFU list in the registry once, by pressing Clear List button.
- Disable the two policies namely NoInstrumentation and NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList. See article Q292504 for more information - Policy Settings for the Start Menu in Windows XP
Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q292504 talks only about HKEY_CURRENT_USER. But, you also need to check the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive.
Delete the NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList & NoInstrumentation values in the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Backup the registry before modifying. See here for more information.
Additional Note: Personalized Favorites feature in Internet Explorer does not work if NoInstrumentation Policy is turned On.
Related articles
Programs Removed from the Most Frequently Used Programs List Can Reappear
Description of the Start Menu in Windows XP
Frequently Used Programs Not Automatically Added to the Start Menu