I found this in some other newsgroup. It worked for me and also solved
the problem that you described.
Symptom
When you open the Windows Vista Start menu and right-click Recent
Items, the option Clear Recent Items List may be missing. Also, the
Recent folder may be displayed with a generic folder icon in Windows
Explorer.
Resolution
This happens if the desktop.ini file in the Recent folder is deleted.
Thanks & Credits to dean-dean for posting this solution in the Microsoft
Newsgroup.
* Click Start, type "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows" and press {ENTER}
* Right-click the folder named Recent, and choose Delete. Click Yes
when prompted.
* Now, type the command "shell:recent" in Start - Search box, and press
{ENTER}.
Logoff and login back. You should now see the context menu entry Clear
Recent Items List when you right-click on the Recent Items folder in the
Start menu..
--
Jeroen
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