To access the Start Menu in Windows 7, push the Windows Start Button at the bottom left. The start button looks like this:
While the Windows 7 start menu will look similar to what you saw in Windows XP, it contains a new search tool for locating items on your PC. For example, if you’ve worked with someone on several projects, and you have documents with the other person’s name in them and e-mails in Outlook from that person, a search for the person’s name will return both the documents and all e-mails where he or she was included.
Additionally, the search tool can also be used to find installed programs. For example: A search for “Word” will return an icon for creating a new Word document as the number one search result.
The start menu also is the place to find commonly used programs like the “Computer” and “Documents” that may not be on your desktop.
This tech tip is in preparation for the Windows 7 and Office 2010 upgrade within KDE. You’ll be hearing more about these products in the coming weeks as machines are upgraded.
To provide feedback or submit a technical topic/question you’d like to see addressed, please send e-mails to matt.jury@education.ky.gov.
Published 7/22/11