If you’re anything like me, you hate to wait for anything – especially your computer. The computer should be waiting for me, not the other way around!

The menu delays in Windows have always aggravated me. I want the menu to pop up almost as soon as the cursor is over it. Now I must admit that the delay is VERY HELPFUL to older and younger peoples. If I tried to teach my grandmother using my preferences, she’d wiggle the cursor all over the screen and never be able to select what she wanted. The same goes for my 6 year old niece – the young and old don’t have the fine control over motor functions at the same level as the middle aged.

You may argue with me saying “I’m not middle-aged and I can run circles around you with my mouse!” That’s all besides the point. Point is, here’s how to do it:

Reminder: Any actions you take in the registry could adversely affect your system. I am not responsible for you breaking your system. The following directions worked for me, and if you follow them correctly they should also work for you.

Open up the registry editor
Start > Run > regedit
Navigate to HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Find the MenuShowDelay key
Set the Value data to be any number you want. The numbers are measured in MS (milliseconds) and the default is 400. I set mine to 1.