If you download software without an installer and decide to keep it, you might want to add a link to the software to the pop-up menu that comes up in Windows when you press the Windows Start button (the Windows Start Menu where you click on icons inside folders to launch your programs). You might also want to organize the items on your start menu so that the list is not a mile long, but rather has the folders, and icon links neatly arranged. The following Windows tips will explain how to do this...
Short description : An installer can add as much as 700 KB to a file size, and for many of the programs on this site that would mean doubling the size of the download. Since these programs make no changes to Windows system files or the registry they can be 'uninstalled' by using the recycle bin. An installer in this case would be 'Bloat-ware'. To put a link onto the windows start menu yourself do the following. Find the icon you click to start the program. Using the right side mouse button (not the usual left button which starts the program) click on the program file icon (the little picture of the program). From the pop up menu that appears choose 'Create Shortcut'. When the shortcut appears it will look just like the program picture with the difference that it has a small curved arrow in the corner (and is just a tiny file, as compared to a large file, such as the actual program). You can then right click on this Shortcut to the program and choose 'Copy' from the pop up menu (or highlight the file and press the copy button at the top of the screen). Next go the pop up Start menu and place your mouse over a folder. Let us suppose that the shortcut on the Start Menu was going to be placed into the folder called 'Accessories'. Place your mouse over 'Accesories' and then right click and from the pop up menu choose Paste. The shortcut will now be on the Windows Start menu in the folder you have chosen. If you move the program to a new folder or new location on the disk you must first right click on the Start meny shortcut to the program and choose Delete, and then repeat the process described above, since when the program moves the shortcut is no longer valid.
A long discussion of doing things with the start meny follows...
There are three ways to go about this. Click on My Computer, and then click on the 'c:' drive icon (assuming that Windows was installed to your c: drive which is most often the case). Click on the Windows folder. If you are using Windows 98 then you will see a blank screen and on the left you will have to click the link to show the folders to make them visible. Find the folder named 'Start Menu' and click on it to open it. You will see a funny looking folder named Programs. This is just a typical Windows type folder with a different looking icon, simply because it has been placed into the Windows Start Menu folder.
Click on the Programs folder to open it. Now let us assume that your Start Menu is a mile long and you have about twenty different programs to make HTML files. Using your right mouse button Right Click on white space in the Programs folder and from the pop-up menu choose 'New' and then from the second pop-up menu choose 'folder'. Give your new folder a meaningful name, such as 'Create HTML'. (If you make a mistake, right click on the new folder and choose 'Rename' from the pop-up menu, and correct the folder name.) Next begin dragging the various folders having to do with making HTML files and drop them on top of this new folder. In this example you would now access your links to start up your HTML create programs inside of this new folder you just made on the Windows Start menu. (Note: because you moved the folders when you uninstall one of these programs it will not be able to find and remove the links, and thus you will get the message 'you must manually remove the files' message from the uninstaller. Navigate to the Windows Start Menu as mentioned above, open the folder, highlight the folder for the program you just removed, and hit the delete button (or right click on choose delete) to manually remove the links to the program files. Next time you install a new create HTML program when the installer asks you for 'program group' you can tell it to install its folder links in the new folder you just made as described above, thus keeping your start menu organized from install time (this does not affect the folder in which your program will be installed only the 'Program group' under which the links to start up the program will be installed on your Windows Start Menu.
You can also organize your Start Menu using the drag and drop technique (or the copy and paste technique - same results) by pressing the Start Button, choosing the Settings pop up menu, and then choosing 'Task Bar and Start Menu' option. On the pop up window choose the Start Menu tab and then pressing the 'Advanced' button. This will bring up an 'Explorer' style interface and you can arrange, add, or delete shortcuts and folders from the Start Menu using this alternate interface.
There is also a third option you can use to add or remove shortcuts and folders from the Start Menu. Once folders have been created in the Start Menu in this way, you can also manipulate items on the Start Menu without using either the Explorer or Windows interfaces described above. Right Click on any folder or item in the Start Menu and from the pop-up menu that comes up choose the action you want to perform (delete, cut, copy, paste, etc). If you want to place a folder into another folder, cut the folder and then move to the folder where you want to place the item and then right click on the Start Menu and choose paste, etc. until the Start Menu is organized. (You cannot create folders in the Start Menu in this way. You must Navigate to the Start Menu using one of the two options described above.)
If you want to include a link to a software program on the Start Menu, right click on the Program File and choose 'Create Shortcut' and the right click on the shortcut and choose 'copy' and then paste the shortcut to the program in the appropriate folder on the Startup Menu. The Folder you right click on will be the folder that will contain the shortcut to the program you are adding. (Note only the shortcut should be pasted to the start menu, rather the program itself, although this will also work, but your program will now be saved in the Windows Start Menu folder if you copy the program rather than creating a shortcut to the program and then pasting this shortcut.) Note that if you move the program to a new folder the shortcut will become invalid and will no longer work.