Intended For Windows XP Windows 2000 Windows Me Windows 98 Windows 95

• Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
• Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ RunMRU\.
• Delete all of the values in this key (everything in the right pane, except for (Default)).
• Close the Registry Editor when finished. You'll probably have to refresh the Desktop or restart Windows for this change to take effect.

• Note: For a shortcut, use the NOMRU registry patch (1 kb).

• Note: To clear the OtherFolder history, repeat the same process in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ OtherFolder\.

With the new additions in TweakUI, these lists can be cleared automatically at bootup by enabling options under the Paranoia tab.

• Click on the Paranoia tab, and turn on the Clear Run history at logon option.

• Note: The process for clearing Norton Navigator's File Assist History is also the same, except that the registry path is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Symantec\ Navigator\ FileAssist\ History_Lists\ [application name], where [application name] is the name of the appliction for which the history is stored.

To help solve the floppy searching problem, these might help:

• Note: The process for clearing Norton Navigator's Run History is the same, except that the registry path is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Symantec\ Navigator\ SYMFDLG4\ History_List\ Run.

Written by: Annoyances.org
Last updated: Thursday, August 16, 2001

Previous discussions about this article:
(open a message to see applicable responses, if any)

• [Windows 98] Suggestion about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Josh Sanderson: Thursday, March 28, 2002)
• [Windows 2000] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Brian Banister: Friday, April 12, 2002)
• [Windows XP] Run Menu Problem in Windows XP (Edythe Dominy: Monday, April 29, 2002)
• [Windows Me] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Bob Segar: Saturday, August 24, 2002)
• [Windows 2000] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (You itself: Saturday, October 12, 2002)
• [Windows XP] Stop the showing of previous entries after typing one letter (Bel: Saturday, October 26, 2002)
• [Windows 2000] Additional registry key with Start...Run entries (Dudley McFadden: Monday, April 7, 2003)
• [Windows XP] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Justa Hint: Thursday, August 21, 2003)
• [Windows XP] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Roosh: Wednesday, September 3, 2003)
• [Windows XP] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Greg Wujkiw: Saturday, November 29, 2003)
• [Windows 2000] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Roger Wray: Sunday, December 7, 2003)
• [Windows XP] Question about 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Al Arietta: Wednesday, November 8, 2006)
• [Windows XP] Better way to 'Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run Command' (Osher: Friday, December 28, 2007)