10th September 2001

The MRU is not a Star Trek battle tactic -- it's a "Most Recently Used" list. Usually, it's good to have one. That way, you can open the "X" most recently used files from within the program. Like Word, for example. See how the File menu lists the last four edited documents? Isn't that convenient? Yeah, well... what happens when you've got something in there that you don't want anybody else to know about. Or, what if you don't want anybody to know what you've been working on lately? In Word, select Tools | Options | General. Then, take the checkmark out of the "Recently used file list" field. Follow the same procedure for Excel and PowerPoint. Your Office tracks will now be covered. Now, let's say your wife doesn't want you to use Netmeeting -- but you're strangely addicted to it. The app has an MRU list of IP addresses, so you'd better empty it when she's not looking. Flail to the Registry and navigate to this key: HKEY_USERS \ [Long Number String] \ Software \ Microsoft \ Conferencing \ UI \ CallMRU. Delete each "AddrX" value. Then, double-click on "Count" change it to "00 00 00 00" (sans quotes).