January 20, 1997
You can add your Internet-surfing history and cache to Start button
The Start button and the Start menu that pops up from it have been a source of curiosity ever since Microsoft built the Windows 95 interface around it (not to mention its Rolling Stone-theme advertising campaign).
Back at the dawn of time, just before Microsoft released Windows 95 to stores on Aug. 24, 1995, I wrote a column for beta testers and soon-to-be-users of the new operating system about groovy things you could add to the Start menu. This included "cascading menus" that displayed updated choices from the Start menu for the Control Panel, Dial-Up Networking, and Printers applets. (You don't need to get that old back issue, dated July 17, 1995, because I'll repeat the tip below.)
Now there is more stuff you can add to your Start menu. If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you can create live, cascading menus for the history of the Web sites you've visited and the cache store you've built up.
To do this, you need a resource ID number for objects such as these. A resource ID is like a Win95 long file name, except that the extension is a very long hex number containing four embedded hyphens and enclosed in curly braces.
Below is the resource ID for your URL history folder:
URL History Folder.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-
444553540000}
To add your history folder to the Start menu, take the following steps.
Step 1. Right-click the Start button, then click Explore.
Step 2. Right-click any empty space in the Explorer window that appears. Click New, then Folder.
Step 3. Type in the resource ID shown above as the new name for the folder. You must include the period, both curly braces, and all four hyphens. When you've typed the closing curly brace, press Enter.
At this point, you should be able to click the Start button and see a new resource-type item on the menu titled URL History Folder. When your mouse comes to rest on it, a submenu will pop out, from which you can choose any of several Web sites.
To add your cache folder to the list, use the following resource ID:
Internet Cache.{7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-
00A0C9034933}
If you've been surfing the World Wide Web a lot, your history and cache folders may have too many items to fit comfortably into a cascading submenu. If so, you can reduce the size of your cache in Internet Explorer by clicking View, Options on the main menu. In the Navigation tab, reduce the number of days stored in the cache.
I promised I'd recap the original tips, and here they are. To add the Control Panel:
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2 DD-
08002B30309D}
To add Dial-Up Networking:
Dial-Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101 A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
To add a Printers submenu:
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Don't send me e-mail saying you can just drag these objects onto the Start button. That simply creates a shortcut, and clicking on that menu item merely opens a new window. Using the method shown above creates true cascading menus with live submenus.
Thanks to reader Yaacov Fenster, who will receive a copy of the new Windows 95 Secrets Gold.
Brian Livingston is the co-author of Windows 95 Secrets Gold and four other Windows books (IDG Books). Send tips to brian_livingston@infoworld.com or fax: (206) 282-1248.
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Copyright © 1997 by InfoWorld Publishing Company
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