I don't pin programs to the start menu or display any recent programs in the start menu. I just want to see all my programs automatically without having to click "All Programs".

This may give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.
http://www.windows7taskforce.com/view/2251

Any registry fix for this?

here are a couple places I think it may be
CODE
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2655764865-3007224258-3837550340-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

CODE
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2655764865-3007224258-3837550340-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage