I want to clear the list of projects on the start page...how do I do this? I know I can track it down in the registry, but is there an approved route to go?
Try Recently Used Files: a free addin for Visual Studio that manages MRU files on a per-project basis: Supported for VS 2010, 2012, 2013.
For Visual Studio 2012, 2013: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/a61cbd1d-b5a2-490b-a6bb-f0ea3ecf214a
For Visual Studio 2010: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/45283881-5a62-4dc1-8ffb-4cbc02709947