N.B. This page was probably correct as of 2009, but is not being updated.

Help when the "list my most recently opened documents" tickbox is ignored by Windows


Another Windows bug? ...

If you look hard enough in Microsoft Windows XP you can find a tickbox which says "list my most recently opened documents". This applies to the "Documents" sub-menu available on the Start Menu. But in my case the tickbox wasn't working. I.e. the documents would always be listed, irrespective of whether there was a tick in that box or not.

More Bad Support From Microsoft? ...

I searched Microsoft's help site and the Web for any explanation or solution, but without success.
But fortunately, I came across this (non-MS) page which tells how this setting is handled in the registry.

I noticed that my registry didn't have the "NoRecentDocsHistory" value, so I created it. And that seems to have worked. I can now use the tickbox to choose whether recent documents will be displayed or not. Now that that registry value exists, Windows seems to update its data when I tick or untick the box.

I created this page because I didn't find any description of the issue from Microsoft, or on the Web. Hopefully it will help other people who encounter the same problem as me.

Regards,
Peter Ford