Speeding Up The Start Menu

Important note: These registry changes are provided as examples of how these parameters might be changed. Be sure you have a complete backup of your registry and an up-to-date ERD (Emergency Repair Disk) before you make any changes. The Registry editor can make your system unusable, so be careful! We take no responsibility for these registry changes - do them at your own risk!

If you have have been using Windows XP for a while, you may have noticed that the "Start" menu seems to take a little bit too long to display. In fact, there is a built-in delay which is intentionally used. Why? I really don't know, except that it's probably to make the operating system "look better".

If you are anything like me, you don't need the Start menu to be intentionally slowed down. You can change this speed with a simple registry edit.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Right-click "MenuShowDelay" and select Modify. The value is the delay in milliseconds. Now, you might think you should change this to "0". However, that makes things a little too fast for comfort.

You should experiment with the value. Perhaps start with 100, then change it a little less or more depending upon how the start menu feels to you. No reboot is required for this value.