Vista Start menu problem for Office Applications

[Office Junkie]

Over the past few days, I've noticed something odd about my Vista start menu.
I can't seem to use the shortcuts for "most recently used programs." For
office apps I use Word 2007 quite often However, when I click on its icon in
the Frequently Accessed Programs list in the Start Menu, I get no response
from the computer. The only way to get the EXE to open is to go to All
Programs->Microsoft Office->Word 2007.. this goes for all office applications.

any solutions?

 

[CSC435]

Over the past few days, I've noticed something odd about my Vista start menu.
I can't seem to use the shortcuts for "most recently used programs." For
office apps I use Word 2007 quite often However, when I click on its icon in
the Frequently Accessed Programs list in the Start Menu, I get no response
from the computer. The only way to get the EXE to open is to go to All
Programs->Microsoft Office->Word 2007.. this goes for all office applications.

any solutions?

I am experiencing the VERY EXACT SAME THING!!! There must be somethign
wrong with Vista or Office.... what to do???

 

[Office Junkie]

my gut feeling is there is something wrong when u do a vista upgrade from xp.
my full version of vista doesnt do this, only my copy of upgrade does.

 

[I R J]

Me too. Clean install of Vista not upgrade.

my gut feeling is there is something wrong when u do a vista upgrade from xp.
my full version of vista doesnt do this, only my copy of upgrade does.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Recent program shortcuts not working is symptom #2 listed here:

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/slowrightclick.htm

12. Unable to launch applications from the recent programs list in the
Windows Vista Start menu.

Take a look and see if Method 2 (in that article) fixes the problem.

 

[arsenalamie]

It's Sympton #5, not #2, right?
Also, is it normal that posted answers contain software downloads as the
answer? It would seem against MS's mantra.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Um... the OP said "I can't seem to use the shortcuts for "most recently used
programs" seems to match symptom 12 ("Unable to launch applications from the
recent programs list") perfectly.

Note that MS' mantra (limit liability) and MVPs' mantra (solve the problem)
aren't always in lockstep.

If you're squeamish about downloads (I am), then take a look at Method 1.

My own solution to the problem (when it occurred here on one of my
computers) was to create a new Windows user... it's not a simple solution,
however, since it involves re-customizing and getting things set up just so.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

 

[another.reality]

Um... the OP said "I can't seem to use the shortcuts for "most recently used
programs" seems to match symptom 12 ("Unable to launch applications from the
recent programs list") perfectly.

Note that MS' mantra (limit liability) and MVPs' mantra (solve the problem)
aren't always in lockstep.

If you're squeamish about downloads (I am), then take a look at Method 1.

My own solution to the problem (when it occurred here on one of my
computers) was to create a new Windows user... it's not a simple solution,
however, since it involves re-customizing and getting things set up just so.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog:http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web:http://www.herbtyson.com

for me it was STEGANOS SECURITY SUITE v9.0.7 which caused the
problem. ...I didnt want to go through the whole process of
identifying the culprit due to the many restarts required but I did it
at the end. The best way is to disable ALL context meny handlers and
enable them 1 by 1 (or more if you are lucky and can keep count) and
then reenable them 1 by 1 since there could be more than one
"culprits"...