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Windows 7 brought many changes to the way your things are stored on the computer, including getting rid of the “My Videos” folder. That particular folder is hidden by default for some reason, so Dylan created a screencast to give you a hand in solving this particular issue.

When you open up your Start menu, you’ll find your Music and Documents folders – but nothing for videos. This may irk many of you, considering how many videos we tend to consume, save and even record these days. There is a quick – and easy – solution to adding the shortcut to the Start menu, though. The steps you’ll need to follow are painless, I promise!

• With the Start menu closed, right-click the Start button.
• Click on Properties and then choose the Start Menu tab from the new window.
• Click the little Customize button on the right.
• Scroll down to the Video section, and click the plus-sign next to it to expand if need be.

Within the Video area, you’ll find three options. The “Display as a menu” option will put a small sub-folder (named Videos) onto your Start menu. This gives you a nice little drop-down folder that can show you the videos you have recently watched without having to navigate to (and through!) the folder.

The “Display as a link” option is just that – a link to launch your Videos folder. Choosing this option again puts the word Videos onto the Start menu. Clicking that link will close the Start menu and open the Videos folder itself… much as is done if you choose Music or Documents from the Start menu.

Once you’ve selected your preferred option, click the “Ok” button at the bottom of the screen, and then choose “Apply” and then “Ok” at the bottom of the next screen. Automagically – without even a restart – your Videos preference now appears in your start menu.

Thanks, Dylan, for another excellent screencast!

Windows 7 Start Menu Tips

I’m not blind, folks.

1. ReadyBoost. This feature really does make Vista infinitely more responsive. You must pick up an Apacer HT203 2GB stick or two – immediately. I hate its casing, but I can’t argue with the Apacer’s speed. ReadyBoost isn’t just optional – it’s necessary. They should bundle an Apacer 2GB with every copy of Windows Vista Ultimate, IMHO.
2. Start Menu’s Start Search. Very, very nice. I wish Microsoft would remap the Win+R key combo to it, though. I can tell it’s going to be a time saver for many users – myself included. It reminds me of OS X’s Spotlight. Too bad I hate the rest of the Start Menu.
3. Future Fix Notifications. So, sometimes when Windows Vista crashes, the operating system actually tells you that a fix for the error is coming in a future build of the software. Awesome. No more guesswork! Microsoft Office seems to be enabled with the same feature. A crash isn’t so bad if you know it’s going to be fixed.
4. Windows Explorer’s Details Pane. This is very useful, especially when I can edit information without actually having to open up a properties sheet for a file. It’s not perfect, but this is an example of how I believe Windows Vista will help users understand that certain files have extended metadata. I only wish more fields could be edited (like for Word documents).
5. Windows Explorer’s Folders Pane. Horizontal scrollbars are the bane of my existence. They’ve eliminated them partially from the Windows Explorer. When you navigate the Folders pane, it will auto-scroll for you – never displaying a horizontal scrollbar. Intuitive.
6. Volume Mixer Changes. “Sounds” crazy, but this is a feature everybody wishes they had. You can set volume levels for various programs independently – without touching your default system volume. It’s not amazing, but this is certainly better than what we had before.
7. Task Manager Additions. While truncated fields lack tool tips, at least you can finally right-click a process to “Open File Location.” I’ve needed that more than a few times. The Services tab should also come in handy.
8. Windows Explorer’s Breadcrumb Bar. This one may take a little getting used to, but I’m convinced that this is a much more natural way of exploring the files and folders in my system. Very smart use of space.
9. Richer Drags. When you select multiple objects and drag them around, you’ll see a small box near your cursor which displays how many objects you have selected.
10. Voice Recognition. It’s not perfect but then again one-eight navigation work the helm a lot better than beat the period. I swear not me without. Why is it to me that. Enough of you at varying. I don’t think we think the software will agree with anybody want you or me and I did bring. Not even close. Let’s try that again. Wow, it might have worked at time. Interesting. You can correct sentences on the fly, though it’s not totally intuitive. This entire paragraph was dictated. I wonder if it’s learning my speech patterns?

Okay, so that last one was thrown in for good measure. All work and no play makes Homer go something-something.

Ten Things I Love About Windows Vista