Force Classic Start Menu

If you absolutely hate the 'new' Windows XP Start Menu, you can change a registry setting so that no one can use that fancy start menu again on a certain computer. Of course, you can change the setting back to how it was before the registry hack, but your family probably won't be able to figure that out.

Before you edit the registry, you may want to read our detailed overview of editing the registry. Remember to backup the registry because missteps may render your computer unusable.

Alright.

Go to the Start Menu, click Run, and then type in Regedit.exe, press Enter

Browse to:
KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Modify or create the value data type and value name as follows:

Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value Name: NoSimpleStartMenu

Set the value to 0 for the default setting, or 1 to force the classic start menu upon everyone else.

Exit the registry editor and restart your computer.