UNLEASING THE POWER OF THE TASKBAR
Beginners’ SIG -- April 28, 2005
Usually located along the bottom of the screen, the Taskbar has four major sections: 1) the Start button; 2) Quick Launch; 3) buttons that refer to all open windows; and 4) the System Tray (now called the Notification Area). In addition, there are other Toolbars (Address Bar, Links, Desktop, and New Toolbar) that many people find to be indispensable.
The Taskbar is a convenient tool that assists the user in quickly and easily navigating the Windows operating system. It gives you rapid access to the programs and tools you frequently use. Take some time to customize your Taskbar to create a computing environment that fits your personal needs.
The default location for the Taskbar is along the bottom of your Desktop, but you can position it on either side or even the top of your Desktop. Click an empty area of the Taskbar and drag it (using your left mouse button) to the new position. (If the Taskbar will not move, it might mean that it is “locked.” To unlock it so that it can be moved, right click on the Taskbar itself and verify that “Lock the Taskbar” has been unchecked.)
To restore the Taskbar to the bottom of the display, simply drag and drop it to its original default position.
You can resize the Taskbar by clicking and expanding or collapsing the edge that faces into the Desktop. Position your cursor over the inside edge of the Taskbar until you see a two-headed arrow. Then drag (using your left mouse button) its edge to make it larger or smaller.
You can change the Taskbar’s settings by right-clicking on a blank space on the taskbar and then left-clicking on “Properties.”
If you always want to see the Taskbar, click the Always On Top checkbox.
On the other hand, select the Auto Hide checkbox to hide it. Quicken or Excel users, for example, will find it advantageous to use Auto Hide. (If you choose Auto Hide, the Taskbar reappears when you move your mouse near the bottom of the screen.)
Rather than have a program that you use regularly positioned on the desktop as a shortcut and taking up desktop space, many users prefer to place their frequently used files on the Quick Launch Bar. This bar is that part of the Taskbar that is generally located immediately to the right of the Start button.
Your Quick Launch toolbar will probably already have some shortcuts, but you can add as many web sites, program and document shortcuts as you want.
The Quick Launch Toolbar gives you single-click access to frequently used features, programs, commands and the desktop.
o Place a shortcut to an item on the desktop. If it is not already there:
§ Click on the START button.
§ Point to PROGRAMS.
§ Find the target program the right-click on it.
§ At the drop-down menu, point to SEND TO.
§ Click on DESKTOP (CREATE SHORTCUT)
o Right-drag and drop the shortcut icon to the Quick Launch Toolbar
o At the special popup (contents) menu, click on Move.
o Drag and drop the icon
o While dragging, a black line will indicate where the icon will display after it is moved
o Right-click the shortcut icon
o Click Delete
o Right-click a blank area on the taskbar
o The Quick Launch Toolbar will now no longer be displayed on the taskbar
How to Use the Open Windows Buttons that Appear on the Taskbar
The Taskbar displays the windows (folders and files) that are open on your computer. For example, if you have a program open, you will see a Taskbar button that displays the program’s icon and the name of the file that is open. Folders will also appear on the Taskbar as buttons. To switch from one open item to another, just click its Taskbar button.
When you have multiple items open, the Taskbar will adjust the size of all of the buttons based on the amount of available room on the Taskbar. The “active” window will appear as a dark blue button. All other open windows will appear as lighter blue buttons. [In previous editions of Windows (called the Classic View), the taskbar buttons appear as light gray and dark gray.]
Windows XP has a special feature that was not available in Windows 98 and Me. This feature is described below.
In previous versions of Windows, users who liked to keep many windows open simultaneously had to figure out which tiny taskbar button represented which window. As new windows opened, each taskbar button was reduced to fit, leaving no room for the windows’ titles.
Windows XP offers a better way: taskbar grouping. With this feature, when the taskbar fills up, Windows consolidates taskbar buttons from a single application (for example, several Internet Explorer windows) under one taskbar button. A number on the button indicates how many application instances it contains. Clicking the button displays a list of windows. Right-clicking an item in the list displays the same shortcut menu that you'd see if the window had its own button. With this menu, you can move, resize, or close the window.
In addition to reducing taskbar clutter, task grouping offers some other benefits that aren't immediately apparent. The menu that appears when you right-click the group button provides several useful commands. With a single click, you can: 1) Display all windows in the group without affecting any other open windows; 2) Minimize all windows in the group; and 3) Close all windows in the group.
To enable taskbar grouping, right-click an unoccupied area of the taskbar and choosing Properties. Select Group Similar Taskbar Buttons.
By default, taskbar grouping comes into play only when the taskbar fills up. Even if you have multiple windows open from the same application, if there's room for a separate button for each window, that's what appears.
You can also increase button space by removing the clock from the taskbar. If you don't need Windows to display the time of day, you can probably squeeze at least one more button onto the bar by unloading the clock. Right-click an unoccupied area of the taskbar and choose Properties, then clear Show The Clock.
How to Access a Web Address from the Taskbar
The Address toolbar will add an Address bar that is similar to the one in your Web browser, e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. This bar makes it possible for you to quickly get to a specific Web address without first launching your Web browser. Just type in the address of the Web site you want to access and then press the ENTER key to have your Web browser automatically launch that Web page.
The Links toolbar will list your special selection of hyperlinked Web sites you have stored from your Favorites list.
a. Go online to access the web page that you wish to store
b. Click Favorites
c. Click Add to Favorites
d. Click Create in
e. Click on Links (folder)
f. Click OK.
a. Go online to access the Web page that you wish to store
b. Right-click on any blank area of the Web page itself
c. Click on Create Shortcut
d. Click on OK.
e. The shortcut will now appear on your Desktop.
f. Right-drag the shortcut to the Links Toolbar.
g. Click on Move.
b. Go to the Resizing Tools located at the upper right hand corner of the page.
c. If the page is maximized, click on the middle (restore) button.
d. You must be able to see the Desktop in the background
e. Find the E icon in the extreme upper left-hand corner of the window.
f. Right drag the E icon over to the Desktop and let up on the mouse button
g. Click on Create Shortcut Here.
h. The shortcut will now appear on your Desktop.
i. Right drag the shortcut to the Links Toolbar.
j. Click on Move.
If you use all of these features, your Taskbar may begin to become cluttered. One solution is to drag and drop icons and buttons from your Taskbar to the Desktop. Another solution is to hide most of each toolbar’s contents by dragging the vertical separator (two vertical sets of dots*) back and forth to allocate your total available space between the Quick Launch area and the active application buttons/selected toolbars. Note that if you have a toolbar with hidden contents, a double “lazy” chevron will appear immediately to the right of the toolbar in question. Simply click on the chevron and the hidden contents will appear in a popup menu. If you want all of the features to be visable on your Taskbar, you can increase the size of the Taskbar by dragging its inside border toward the center of the window.
*If the Lock the Taskbar option is activated, the vertical dots will not appear. To unlock the Taskbar, right-click on the Taskbar and left-click on Lock the Taskbar to deselect this function.