If you use the smae programs over and over and are getting tired of having to go to start > programs > and then finding the program. Chances are you are going to have shortcuts to those programs that you use all of the time. The best way to accomplish this is to create shortcuts to these programs and placing these shortcuts in the quick launchg bar. The quick launch bar makes it easy to access frequently used programs like Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.
To show Quick Launch on the taskbar right-click an empty area on the taskbar and click Properties.

On the Taskbar tab, under Taskbar appearance, select the Show Quick Launch check box and then click OK.
