By default,the Start Menu in Windows 7 doesn’t have the Run option from where you can execute command line tasks or open applications.
Here is how to enable it :
Right click on Start Menu button (the round Windows button) and select Properties.
Go to Start Menu tab and hit Customize.
Scroll down and check the Run Command option.
Save the changes by clicking Ok.
Next time when you bring up the Start menu,there will be the Run feature available just like previous Windows version.
The same procedure can be used to either hide/show other stuff in Start menu like Control Panel,Documents,Administrative Tools etc.
Feel free to try those out.
Cheers.