Chapter 10: Setting Up Your Start Menu and Taskbar

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, and you can control its size and whether it is visible all the time. The taskbar is shown in Figure 10-7.

Figure 10-7: The parts of the taskbar

Enabling Taskbar Changes

You can disable and enable changes to the taskbar. Some people find 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. When the pointer is near an edge of the desktop, you see a gray bar showing where the taskbar will be when you release the mouse button. 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 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. Then the icons don't move, but the taskbar disappears so 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:

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 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 10-8.

Figure 10-8: 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.

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 the 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 display both 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

New in Windows XP is the option to 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, like this (all four open Microsoft Word files appear on one task 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.

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 Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box, and then select or deselect the Show The Clock check box.

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 previous versions of Windows, this area filled up with icons. By default, Windows XP 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 Taskbar tab of the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box. You can also customize the setting by clicking Customize to see the Customize Notification 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), Always Hide, or Always 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:

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. This check box does the same thing as right-clicking the taskbar and choosing Toolbars | Quick Launch.

Moving a Toolbar

You can move the toolbar to a different position on the taskbar, or onto the desktop by clicking and dragging the toolbar handle, which looks like a vertical line of dots on the left end of the toolbar:

Toolbar handles don't appear when the taskbar is locked. Right-click an empty spot on the taskbar and choose Lock The Taskbar to unlock (or lock) it.

To switch the order of the toolbars on the taskbar, move a toolbar by dragging its handle left or right. You may end up with a two- or three-row taskbar by the time you are done, but you can then drag the top edge of the taskbar back down to the position where you want it.

You can also control how the taskbar is partitioned. You can make each toolbar wider or narrower by dragging its handle to the left or right. When many buttons are displayed and the buttons get small, scroll buttons appear, allowing you to view all the buttons for open applications.

To move a toolbar to the desktop, drag-and-drop its handle off the taskbar. Each toolbar looks different on the desktop, but they all appear with a title bar, a Close button, and icons, like this:

Once the toolbar is on the desktop, you can no longer make it disappear by using the Taskbar shortcut menu--instead, you can use its Close button to get rid of it. You can move and change the size of the toolbar by using the same techniques you use on any window.

You can move a toolbar from the desktop back to the taskbar, or to any edge of the desktop, by clicking-and-dragging the title bar--when the toolbar reaches any edge of the desktop, it changes shape to occupy the whole edge. If you move it to the edge with the taskbar, the toolbar is integrated back into the taskbar. If you move it to an empty edge, the toolbar takes up the whole edge of the desktop.

Controlling the Look of a Toolbar

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

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 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.

When the toolbar is attached to an edge of the desktop, but not in the taskbar, you see two additional choices:

• Always On Top The toolbar always appears on top of other windows.
• Auto-hide The toolbar disappears when not in use. Move the pointer to the edge of the screen where the toolbar is located to display it.

These additional two options work the same as the Always On Top and Auto-hide options for the taskbar.

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.

You can also edit the buttons on the Quick Launch toolbar by opening the folder that contains the shortcuts and adding and removing shortcuts. To open the folder, right-click the toolbar handle and choose Open Folder. The shortcuts for the Quick Launch toolbar are buried in the folder structure--you can find them in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch: replace username with your own user name.

Why does Microsoft store this information with Internet Explorer configuration data? Because they consider the whole desktop as a special Internet Explorer window.

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:

In this example, the Consult folder contains three other folders and numerous files. On the toolbar, you can see the three 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.

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 10-9, which enables you to browse available drives and folders. Click the plus box 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.

Figure 10-9: Select a drive or folder to create a toolbar with a button for each folder and file in the drive or folder.