# Arrgh! How do I kill the "drop list" in Win98? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2002, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152 "2002-03-26T07:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/1 "2002-03-26T07:07:30Z")
My problem is: Say I have been running MS Word, Media Player, etc… When the “File” menu is clicked, inside an open program, there is usually a drop list of “recently accessed files.” I’m using Win98 SE. I am perfectly aware of **Start / Settings / Taskbar & Start Menu / Start Menu Programs / Documents Menu / Clear** This only works for clearing out the Documents menu of the Taskbar Start Button, not the File menu drop-lists _ **inside** _ the other programs. Arrgh! How do I clean out the “File” menu drop-lists inside of programs? ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/2 "2002-03-26T07:27:20Z")
Good and bad news. The good news is that I can tell you how to do it for MS Word etc., the bad news is that I can’t for media player (which is what you really wanted, I suspect). It’s usually handled through the “Options” menu within the application. So in Word’s case, you go to Tools/Options/General and click on the “Recently used file list” checkbox. ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/3 "2002-03-26T07:38:00Z")
Thank you Bromley, that DID help with Word. I disabled that otion in Word, so no more drop list there! Wheeee 🆒 As you suspected, though, Media Player is the nightmare list. Anyone know how to kill the list there? ---
**Author:** ![conchita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@conchita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conchita)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/4 "2002-03-26T08:37:30Z")
All applications store their own lists of opened files, usually in the registry, sometimes in a file. Most do not expose any method of clearing the list. In Media Player 6, it is in the registry under HKEY\_CURRENT\_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentURLList. Newer versions may not use the same key, I don’t know. You can just remove the offending values from that key. If you don’t know what that means, you probably should not edit the registry. ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/5 "2002-03-26T08:53:34Z")
I suppose the low-tech solution to removing an embarrassing entry from the recent list is to open 10 other items. c:\windows\media has a whole load of short items. ---
**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/6 "2002-03-26T09:00:49Z")
**An** embarrasing entry? How about 10? 😃 BTW, thank you, conchita, for answering a question I was meaning to ask for years. \ ---
**Author:** ![emmy66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85f322/32.png) [@emmy66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmy66)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/7 "2002-03-26T09:17:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mikahw \* > \*\ ***An** embarrasing entry? How about 10? 😃 > > \*\* Most (actually, _all_ of them) of the programs I use have less than 10 files stored in the drop-menu. If you simply delete the files, the drop-menu of course refuses to load them. Are the files named something like “fuckmehard.jpg”? If so, then I suggest doing the “low-tech” solution and load more “innocent” files, and remember in the future to rename embarrassing files. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/8 "2002-03-26T09:29:41Z")
The only way I’ve discovered is manually drag 10 or so mp3s into Media Player and overwrite the existing entries. **MagicalSilverKey** : > [@](#): > > I am perfectly aware of Start / Settings / Taskbar & Start Menu / Start Menu Programs / Documents Menu / Clear This can be done much more efficiently. Simply right-click the taskbar and select ‘Properties’. Or, even easier, just hit Start Key + U (ie, trigger the Shutdown dialogue), but rather than turning your computer off, hit Esc or click ‘cancel’. If you run Microsoft’s TweakUI facility (which I can highly recommend), this will clear all manner of embarassing entries (including your documents list) just as if you had in fact restarted your computer. ---
**Author:** ![emmy66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85f322/32.png) [@emmy66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmy66)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/9 "2002-03-26T10:21:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Narrad \* > \*\*The only way I’ve discovered is manually drag 10 or so mp3s into Media Player and overwrite the existing entries. > > **MagicalSilverKey** :This can be done much more efficiently. Simply right-click the taskbar and select ‘Properties’. > > Or, even easier, just hit Start Key + U (ie, trigger the Shutdown dialogue), but rather than turning your computer off, hit Esc or click ‘cancel’. If you run Microsoft’s TweakUI facility (which I can highly recommend), this will clear all manner of embarassing entries (including your documents list) just as if you had in fact restarted your computer. \*\* Uh…I would never suggest adding a program to your computer simply to delete something. Win98 takes up enough space as is, w/o adding more to it. Since your first suggestion told what to do, why should someone add a new program to do the same thing? That’s why Windows is a bloated as it is now…people think they need the “latest and greatest” to do the same thing an old program did. ---
**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/10 "2002-03-26T10:35:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emmy66 \* > \*\* > > Uh…I would never suggest adding a program to your computer simply to delete something. Win98 takes up enough space as is, w/o adding more to it. Since your first suggestion told what to do, why should someone add a new program to do the same thing? That’s why Windows is a bloated as it is now…people think they need the “latest and greatest” to do the same thing an old program did. \*\* And I would suggest knowing what TweakUI does before denouncing it 😉 It does quite a bit more than just delete things. Another plus is for low tech people who don’t know how to do much (say opening up msconfig to stop butts loads of stuff from starting up with your computer) it’s easily accessable and is easy to understand. It lets you customize the settings a bit more which comes in handy. ---
**Author:** ![emmy66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85f322/32.png) [@emmy66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmy66)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/11 "2002-03-26T10:44:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amazing Tiki God \* > \*\* > > And I would suggest knowing what TweakUI does before denouncing it 😉 It does quite a bit more than just delete things. Another plus is for low tech people who don’t know how to do much (say opening up msconfig to stop butts loads of stuff from starting up with your computer) it’s easily accessable and is easy to understand. It lets you customize the settings a bit more which comes in handy. \*\* I wasn’t denouncing it. I happen to know it does quite a bit (but nothing that I need). I was just stating that one should not tell someone else to add a program just to do something a bit easier than a program already on their machine. That’s what adds to bloat. ---
**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/12 "2002-03-26T10:49:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emmy66 \* > \*\* > > I wasn’t denouncing it. I happen to know it does quite a bit (but nothing that I need). I was just stating that one should not tell someone else to add a program just to do something a bit easier than a program already on their machine. That’s what adds to bloat. \*\* I agree it shouldn’t be installed just to delete stuff with. I kinda got sidetracked and should have just stuck to the subject matter, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/13 "2002-03-26T11:05:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emmy66 \* > \*\*Uh…I would never suggest adding a program to your computer simply to delete something. Win98 takes up enough space as is, w/o adding more to it. Since your first suggestion told what to do, why should someone add a new program to do the same thing? That’s why Windows is a bloated as it is now…people think they need the “latest and greatest” to do the same thing an old program did. \*\* The OP asked how to remove the list of recently accessed files under MediaPlayer. I recommended TweakUI not to achieve this specific purpose, but for purposes in a similar vein: if the OPer wants to remove file entries under MediaPlayer, my intuition tells me he or she may wish to remove similarly revealing information in other Win98 programs. The TweakUI utility is one way of doing so; this was the reason for my suggestion, it was not recommended “simply to delete something”. Bloated as Windows may be, TweakUI is not. It is a _tiny_ download. ---
**Author:** ![emmy66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85f322/32.png) [@emmy66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmy66)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/14 "2002-03-26T11:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Narrad \* > \*\*The OP asked how to remove the list of recently accessed files under MediaPlayer. I recommended TweakUI not to achieve this specific purpose, but for purposes in a similar vein: if the OPer wants to remove file entries under MediaPlayer, my intuition tells me he or she may wish to remove similarly revealing information in other Win98 programs. The TweakUI utility is one way of doing so; this was the reason for my suggestion, it was not recommended “simply to delete something”. > > Bloated as Windows may be, TweakUI is not. It is a _tiny_ download. \*\* It doesn’t matter how small a d/l it is, nor does it matter how small the program is when it runs. The fact is it is an extra program, adding to the Windows bloat. Why should someone add a new program to their computer that does the same thing they already can do with an existing program? People that recommend programs that do the same thing that existing programs do, only slighty better, and adding to existing programs, are not solviing problems. I have an “enhanced” 133 MHz 486, with 32 MB memory, and only 7 GB HD space; and can run any equivilant program a 1GHz P4 runs (except many games, and professional scientific programs, of course). ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/15 "2002-03-26T18:57:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emmy66 \* > \*\* > > It doesn’t matter how small a d/l it is, nor does it matter how small the program is when it runs. The fact is it is an extra program, adding to the Windows bloat. Why should someone add a new program to their computer that does the same thing they already can do with an existing program? People that recommend programs that do the same thing that existing programs do, only slighty better, and adding to existing programs, are not solviing problems. > > I have an “enhanced” 133 MHz 486, with 32 MB memory, and only 7 GB HD space; and can run any equivilant program a 1GHz P4 runs (except many games, and professional scientific programs, of course). \*\* If you’re worried about bloat, you really shouldn’t be running Windows. Install Linux or get a Mac. Bloat is the name of the game in Microsoft Land. And TweakUI is pretty much part of the feature set of Windows 98 (first edition)–it’s even included on the disk. As for why one would “add a new program to their computer that does the same thing they already can do with an existing program,” well, that’s something of a silly question. Why buy a word processing program? Notepad does roughly the same thing. Why buy games? Windows comes with solitaire. Photoshop? Microsoft Paint draws pictures, too! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/16 "2002-03-27T02:14:26Z")
**emmy66** : > [@](#): > > People that recommend programs that do the same thing that existing programs do, only slighty better, and adding to existing programs, are not solviing problems. Egads! Pray forgive me for not solving problems, under your unique definition. :rolleyes: I think the GQ here has run its course, mods. ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrgh-how-do-i-kill-the-drop-list-in-win98/100152/17 "2002-03-27T06:08:00Z")
Ummm… wha’ happened? How did we get so off topic? Oh well. If a mod wants to kill this thread, feel free. I know enough now. Thanks, peeps.