How to lock down the Windows 7 Start Menu

Windows 7 Start Menu

Windows 7 has build-in Start Menu option but not have any way to put it down. But it can be done by editing Windows registry. CCM Benchmark Group's Kioskea site describes a Registry tweak that promises to prevent users from adding, removing, or changing the items on the Win7 Start Menu.

But keep that in mind that these system changes may be more trouble than they're worth. So the best way is before you make any changes to the Registry, create a system restore point so you can revert your PC to its previous state if anything goes awry. To create a restore point in Win7, click Start > Control Panel > System > System protection, and choose Create. (Or press the Windows key, type "system protection," select "Create a restore point," and click Create.) You may be prompted to enter an administrator password at some point.
Once the restore point is created, press the Windows key, type "regedit.exe," and press Enter. Navigate in the left pane to this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies

If there's an Explorer key under Policies, select it. If there's no Explorer key, choose the Policies key in the left pane and click Edit > New > Key. Type "Explorer" and press Enter. Highlight the Explorer key and select Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) value. Name the new value "NoChangeStartMenu" and set its value to 1.
The change will take effect after you close the Registry Editor and restart the PC. To undo the Start Menu lock, return to the Explorer key and set the NoChangeStartMenu value to 0.

Users of the Ultimate version of Windows 7 have another option:

Press the Windows key, type "gpedit.msc," and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor. Navigate in the left pane to this location:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar

In the right pane, navigate to "Prevent changes to Taskbar and Start Menu Settings.
To enable the "prevent changes" option, double-click the entry in the right pane and select Enable in the resulting dialog box.