Customizing the Taskbar


Although most Windows users find no reason to customize the taskbar, a few do. You can move the taskbar around the desktop, control its size , and choose whether it is visible all the time. The taskbar is shown in Figure 11-7.

image from book
Figure 11-7: The parts of the taskbar.

Enabling Taskbar Changes

You can disable and enable changes to the taskbar. Some people find that they drag-and-drop items from the taskbar by accident , and they would rather have Windows prevent these changes. In fact, Windows locks the taskbar (disables changes) by default. To disable or enable editing the taskbar, right-click an unoccupied portion of the taskbar (try clicking next to the clock if you're having trouble finding an unoccupied part) and choose Lock The Taskbar. To enable changes, repeat the same steps. When the taskbar is locked, you can't edit it, move it to another edge of the screen, or change its size. You can still change the toolbars that the taskbar displays, though. (You can also lock and unlock the taskbar from the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box, which you display by right-clicking the taskbar and choosing Properties.)

Moving the Taskbar

Move the taskbar to any edge of the desktop by clicking-and-dragging it to the desired position. You have to click an unoccupied area of the taskbar-not the Start button, or a program button-to drag it. An unoccupied area of the taskbar is always available next to the clock.

When the taskbar appears on the left or right side of the desktop, it looks a little different than it does on the bottom, but it still has the same parts in the same order (the Start button is at the top). The taskbar doesn't cover icons on the desktop when it is moved-the icons shift to slightly new positions . The exception to this "icon shifting" rule is when the Auto-hide option is turned on (see "Hiding the Taskbar," later in the chapter). Then the icons don't move, but the taskbar disappears so that you can see them.

Changing the Size of the Taskbar

You can change the size of the taskbar by clicking-and-dragging its inside edge-that is, the edge that borders the desktop. (Be sure that the taskbar is unlocked before you try this.) If the taskbar appears at the bottom of the screen, then change its size by clicking-and-dragging its top edge. The following illustration shows a taskbar made taller to display two rows of buttons :

image from book

A larger taskbar displays more information on each button; however, it also claims more area of the screen that could be used to display other information.

You can size the taskbar back down by clicking-and-dragging the inside edge back toward the edge of the screen-make sure to release the mouse button when the taskbar is the desired size. You can even decrease your taskbar to a thin stripe along one edge of the screen by clicking-and-dragging the edge of the taskbar to the edge of the screen. If you can't find your taskbar, try moving the mouse pointer to each edge of the screen. When the mouse pointer turns into a double-headed arrow, click-and-drag to increase the size of the taskbar.

Changing Taskbar Properties

You can change some taskbar options by right-clicking an empty part of the taskbar and choosing Properties. You see the Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 11-8.

image from book
Figure 11-8: Changing the properties of the taskbar.

Hiding the Taskbar

You can hide the taskbar in two different ways: by decreasing its size and by using the Auto-hide option. Changing the size of the taskbar is covered in the previous section-click-and-drag the inside edge of the taskbar to the screen's closest edge. The taskbar becomes a thin blue line on one edge of the screen. The other option is to use the Auto-hide feature to hide the taskbar. Auto-hide tries to determine when you need the taskbar and displays the taskbar only when you need it.

To turn on Auto-hide, display the Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box and select the Auto-hide The Taskbar check box. When Auto-hide is on, the taskbar disappears when it isn't being used. To display it, point to the edge of the screen where it last appeared. Or, you can press CTRL-ESC or the WINDOWS key (a key with the Windows symbol that displays the Start menu) to display the taskbar and open the Start menu at the same time.

Tip  

If you can't find your taskbar, move the mouse pointer to each edge of the screen. If Auto-hide is on, the taskbar appears. If the taskbar is shrunk, the mouse pointer turns into a double-headed arrow-click-and-drag to increase the taskbar's size.

Allowing the Taskbar to Be Covered by a Window

You can choose whether you want the taskbar to be covered by other windows by selecting the Keep The Taskbar On Top Of Other Windows check box on the Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box. When this check box is selected, the taskbar always appears over other windows. When the option is off, windows may cover the taskbar. To use the taskbar when the Keep The Taskbar On Top Of Other Windows option is turned off, move or minimize windows until the taskbar is visible, or press CTRL-ESC or the WINDOWS key to both display the taskbar and open the Start menu (press ESC once if you want to use only the taskbar). We recommend that you leave this check box selected.

Grouping Taskbar Buttons

You can group similar task buttons on the taskbar. This option, which is on by default, puts task buttons for files opened in the same program together on the taskbar. If the taskbar becomes crowded, the buttons are collapsed into a single button.

A button for grouped windows has a downward arrow on its right side. Click the button to see the individual windows, and click the window you want. You can turn this option off by deselecting the Group Similar Taskbar Buttons check box on the Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box.

Note  

Some people don't like grouped task buttons, because it takes an extra click to switch from, say, one Word document window to another.

Hiding the Clock on the Taskbar

You can choose to display or hide the system clock that usually appears in the notification area of the taskbar. Display the Notification Area tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box, and then select or deselect the Clock check box in the System Icons area.

Hiding Notification Area Icons

The notification area where the clock appears also holds icons for programs and processes that are running in the background (that is, running without you realizing that they are running). In versions of Windows prior to Windows XP, this area filled up with icons. By default, Windows Vista hides inactive icons (icons that don't require your immediate attention). You can change this setting so that icons are visible all the time by deselecting the Hide Inactive Icons check box in the Notification Area tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box. You can also customize the setting by clicking Customize to see the Customize Icons dialog box, which displays a list of the icons that are currently in the notification area (whether hidden or not). Select an item and then pick from the drop-down list. For each item, you can select Hide When Inactive (the default), Hide, or Show. For your settings to take effect, be sure the Hide Inactive Icons check box on the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box is selected.

Adding Toolbars to the Taskbar

You can configure the taskbar to include toolbars, or you can display toolbars elsewhere on your desktop. Taskbar toolbars give you easy access to frequently used icons: you no longer have to minimize all open programs to display a desktop icon to open a program. Instead you can use a toolbar button. Or, you can use the toolbar button Show Desktop to minimize all open programs with one click. You can even edit the buttons that appear on a toolbar or create a completely new toolbar.

Adding and Removing Toolbars from the Taskbar

Use the Taskbar shortcut menu, shown here, to add and remove toolbars from the taskbar:

image from book

You can display the Taskbar shortcut menu by right-clicking an unoccupied part of the taskbar (even on a full taskbar, an unoccupied part is on either side of the clock).

The Toolbars command on the Taskbar shortcut menu displays a menu with the available toolbars. Toolbars that are already displayed on the taskbar appear with check marks. To display a toolbar, click its name . To remove a displayed toolbar, follow the same procedure to remove the check mark.

Microsoft provides a second way to choose whether to display the Quick Launch toolbar or not. Right-click the taskbar and choose Properties to display the Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menus Properties dialog box, which includes the Show Quick Launch check box. Checking this check box does the same thing as right-clicking the taskbar and choosing Toolbars Quick Launch.

Controlling the Look of a Toolbar

You can control the way a toolbar works by using the Toolbar shortcut menu, shown here:

image from book

Display the Toolbar shortcut menu by right-clicking an unoccupied part of the toolbar (if you have trouble finding an unoccupied part of the toolbar, right-click the toolbar handle).

The following choices on the Toolbar shortcut menu control your toolbar (the rest of the choices that appear affect the whole taskbar):

  • View Allows you to display either large or small icons. The default setting is Small.

  • Open Folder Opens the folder where the toolbar shortcuts are stored, so that you can edit the toolbar. Once the folder is open, you can add and delete shortcuts to change the contents of the toolbar.

  • Show Text Displays text on each button. Choose this option again to display icons with no text. Turning off this option makes a toolbar take up less space.

  • Show Title Turns off or on the display of the name of the toolbar.

  • Close Toolbar Removes the toolbar from the screen.

  • Toolbars Allows you to display a new toolbar, hide a displayed toolbar, or create a new toolbar. This option is the same as the Toolbars option on the Taskbar shortcut menu.

Editing the Quick Launch Toolbar

You can easily add and remove buttons from the Quick Launch toolbar. To remove a button, right-click the button and choose Delete. To add a button, drag a shortcut or an EXE file to the toolbar. If you want to make a copy of a shortcut from the desktop in the Quick Launch toolbar, hold down the CTRL key while you drag the shortcut from the desktop to the toolbar.

Creating a New Toolbar

In addition to the existing toolbars, you can create your own toolbar to display the contents of a drive, folder, or Internet address. Depending on the options you choose for your new toolbar, it may look something like this one, which shows the contents of a folder called Consult:

image from book

In this example, the Consult folder contains four other folders and numerous files. On the toolbar, you can see the four folders-you can display the entire contents of the Consult folder by clicking the arrow at the right end of the toolbar. Notice that the subfolders are displayed as menus, so you can open a file directly from the toolbar. Clicking a folder button opens an Explorer window for that folder; clicking a file button opens the file.

Caution  

If you create a new toolbar and then close it, it's gone. To redisplay it, you need to recreate the toolbar.

To create a new toolbar, right-click the taskbar or a toolbar and choose Toolbars New Toolbar from the shortcut menu that appears. You see the New Toolbar dialog box, shown in Figure 11-9, which enables you to browse available drives and folders. Click the arrow next to a folder name to expand that branch of the folder tree. You can open any folder or drive available to you in Windows Explorer-these may include drives and folders on the Internet. Click New Folder to create a new subfolder in the highlighted folder. Select the folder you want to use to create a toolbar and click OK in the New Toolbar dialog box.

image from book
Figure 11-9: Select a drive or folder to create a toolbar with a button for each folder and file in the drive or folder.



Windows Vista. The Complete Reference
Windows Vista: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series)
ISBN: 0072263768
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 296

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