I have a Gateway laptop shipped with Vista Home Premium.  Gateway has elected to customize Vista so that the Start Menu "recently used programs" panel is plastered with program icons that I don't use, preventing programs that I actually use from getting on the list.  I have tried selecting "Remove From This List" but they all come back on every reboot.  I would like the Start Menu "recently used programs" panel to display the applications that I actually use, not the default applications Gateway thinks I should be using.
 
Anyone know how to remove the OEM customization so that Start Menu displays actually recently used applications, without having to clean install Vista using non-branded/customized install media?  Thanks for any assistance.