Fig 1.0 The Taskbar with three default program icons on it (Internet Explorer, the Libraries folder and Windows Media Player)
| MANAGE THE TASKBAR AND ITS ICONS |
At the beginning of this website's home page (Getting Started / www.yoingco.com) I explained the five areas of the Desktop in general. The Display (main Desktop Icon) Area, the Start Button, the Quick Launch Toolbar, the Taskbar and the Notification Area. In this section I will explain the Taskbar in more detail - How to Re-Size/Re-Position the taskbar, How to emulate the old Quick Launch Toolbar and explain some of the Notification Area settings and general settings.
Windows 7 has changed the way the, now old/obsolete, Quick Launch Toolbar (QLT) works. Despite the documentation stating that the QLT is "not included in Windows 7", the fact is it is hidden only. Anyway, forget about that aspect. The point here is the QLT is, technically, no longer available. In Windows 7 you now PIN software/program icons to the Taskbar to emulate the QLT. In case you wondering what the QLT was; it was a part of the taskbar reserved for software/program icons so that you could easily launch their software/program with one click. Hence its name Quick Launch.
To start off with I am going to show you the way the new Quick Launch Toolbar works, which is now a part of the Taskbar (so refrain from saying Quick Launch Toolbar!). The Taskbar starts from the right-side of the START Menu button and ends just before the Notification Icons (the set of icons before the clock), even though the Taskbar is technically the whole bar from the START Menu button to the Clock. You can ignore this small technicality though.
Windows 7, by default, comes with three program icons on the taskbar. They are: Internet Explorer, the Libraries Folder and Windows Media Player. At the moment they are not active - Internet Explorer has not been launched. I have not opened a Library folder (i.e. the PICTURES folder). And I have not launched Windows Media Player. These icons are basically new Quick Launch icons because they have been Pinned-To the taskbar, which means they are on the taskbar permanently until you unpin them. It also means those programs (Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player) and the Library folders (DOCUMENTS, PICTURES, MUSIC AND VIDEOS) are accessable (can be quickly launched/opened) simply by clicking on their respective taskbar icon.
If you click on the Libraries Folder taskbar icon for example the LIBRARIES FOLDER will open whereby you can then double click on one of the four library
folders. At this point you may be thinking "that's not quick launch - I have to click and then double click". In this case the emphasis is on quickly
launching the LIBRARIES FOLDER - When an actual library folder is opened (i.e. the PICTURES folder) it will be quick launched as well because it will
have its own preview pane (explained later). A click on one of the program (IE or WMP) taskbar icons will launch that program - so it really is quick
launched.
In this next example I have opened three programs - The Calculator, Microsoft WORD 2007 and Windows Live Mail. These programs naturally have an icon
placed on the taskbar so that you can perform tasks such as Minimize Window and Maximize Window. However, these taskbar icons are only temporary. They
are only useable while their program is open. Once the Calculator program is closed for example its taskbar icon is naturally removed, simply because
it will have no tasks to perform - Its tasks died when it was closed.
To make a program's taskbar icon permanent, and therefore Quick Launch-able, right click over its taskbar icon (temporary taskbar icon) and select the PIN THIS PROGRAM TO TASKBAR menu-item from the menu that appears.
In this example I have made the Microsoft WORD 2007 program quick launch-able by pinning it to the taskbar icon. From there I closed down the Calculator program, the Windows Live Mail program and the Microsoft WORD 2007 program. This left the Microsoft WORD 2007 taskbar icon intact, even though I closed down the Microsoft WORD 2007 program. Why? Because in reality taskbar icons are nothing more than Shortcut Icons placed on the taskbar. So the Microsoft WORD 2007 taskbar icon is just a shortcut to the file called WINWORD.exe that lives inside the Office12 folder (within the Program Files system folder).
If you want to remove a taskbar icon simply right click over it and then select the UNPIN THIS PROGRAM FROM TASKBAR menu-item. This applies to the three default programs too.
| MOVE / DRAG A TASKBAR ICON |
If you want to move/rearrange the taskbar icons simply drag them into position. Click on the taskbar icon you want to move and with the click (left mouse
button) still held down begin moving (dragging) the mouse pointer leftwards or rightwards. In this example I have clicked on the Internet Explorer
taskbar icon and started dragging it rightwards (Fig 2.0).
As you drag the mouse pointer (Internet Explorer taskbar icon) over another taskbar icon (Libraries Folder), the taskbar icon you are dragging will move
into the position of the taskbar icon underneath it (Fig 2.1). Therefore, they swap positions (Fig 2.2).
To move one more position to the right, or even to the left, follow the same dragging technique as just exampled above. The good thing about rearranging taskbar icons is that you can rearrange them into groups. For example. You could group Microsoft EXCEL, WORD and POWERPOINT taskbar icons together.
| PREVIEW OPENED PROGRAM WINDOWS |
Although Windows Vista first introduced the Preview Pane to the taskbar, it only allows you to preview a program's Window Content. You cannot close, for
example, the program's actual window from the preview pane. The preview pane has no CLOSE Window button on it. Fortunately, in Windows 7 it does!
See the How To Close A Window section for more information.
This next example shows what happens with the taskbar when you have more than one Internet Explorer program open. The same would apply to folders and
other programs.
In the example above I first opened internet explorer as normal, with the BBC web page displayed inside it. I then clicked on the TAB button of internet
explorer to open a second, tabbed, window to display the Henry VIII Wikipedia web page. The original window of internet explorer now becomes tabbed, so
I have two tabbed windows open now. I clicked on the TAB button again to open the third and final, tabbed, window in order to display the Yahoo web page.
So that is three tabbed windows open within one internet explorer.
The reason I explained the above is because when you hover the mouse pointer over the Internet Explorer taskbar icon the taskbar will display a Preview
Pane for each window of internet explorer; regardless if you opened three separate internet explorer windows or one internet explorer window containing
three tabbed windows. It does not matter to the taskbar because it treats each display (web page) as a separate task. Therefore the above example is
displaying three web pages, which means Windows 7 is managing three separate tasks.
If you click on one of the Preview Panes the actual internet explorer window associated with that preview pane will be made active (displayed as the
front/top most window). So in the above example I have clicked on the middle preview pane to make the second tabbed internet explorer window, that is
displaying the Henry VIII Wikipedia web page, the front/top most window.
If I wanted to close that actual window I could of closed it by clicking on its preview pane CLOSE button, which becomes active when you hover over its
preview pane. If an internet explorer window is in view (i.e. not minimized) you have the choice of closing it with its natural CLOSE button or its preview
pane CLOSE button.
To open a new internet explorer window simply right click over the internet explorer taskbar icon, to bring up its Options menu, and then select (left click on) the INTERNET EXPLORER menu-item. You can also open a frequently used web page from that menu as well as UNPIN THIS PROGRAM FROM TASKBAR, which is ideal if you do not use Internet Explorer. Remember. The above applies to folders and other programs - I have only shown you internet explorer as an example.
| HORIZONTAL TO VERTICAL |
To move the taskbar into a vertical (upright) position you must first right click on an empty area of the taskbar, to bring up the Options menu, and then left click on the PROPERTIES menu-item. This will bring up the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties window.
With the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties window open the next thing to do is click on the TASKBAR LOCATION ON SCREEN drop-down menu and select a new
position for the taskbar. In this example I am selecting the LEFT position so that the taskbar sits on the desktop screen vertically (Fig 4.2 below).
If you then want to make the taskbar wider you can do so by dragging its right-side edge rightwards (Fig 4.3). To do this you first need to unlock the
taskbar - Right click on an empty area of the taskbar, to bring up its Options menu, and then select the LOCK THE TASKBAR menu-item (Fig 4.5). From there
begin dragging the right-side edge of the window rightwards. Once you are happy with the new width release the left mouse button (Fig 4.4). Dragging is
explained in the How To Re-Size A Window section.
Fig 4.2 The taskbar is now on the LEFT-side of the desktop |
Fig 4.3 Dragging the taskbar rightwards |
Fig 4.4 The taskbar is now Wider |
As said above; You need to Unlock The Taskbar in order to make it draggable. This is done by right clicking on an empty area of the taskbar, to bring up the Options menu, and then selecting the LOCK THE TASKBAR menu-item - The taskbar is Locked when there is a tick next to the LOCK THE TASKBAR menu-item.
When the taskbar is Unlocked there is no tick next to the LOCK THE TASKBAR menu-item - It is unticked. So once you have dragged (resized) the taskbar you then need to Lock The Taskbar, so that it is no longer draggable, by clicking on the LOCK THE TASKBAR menu-item again.
| NOTIFICATION AREA ICONS / TASKBAR SETTINGS |
The Notification Area, which is located at the end of the taskbar, is made up of the Clock and the icons to the left it. It is used by Windows 7 and other software to notify you of software changes, hardware changes, available updates and so on. A notification usually comes in the form of a pop-up message requester, as shown below.
If you want to change the main settings of the taskbar right click on an empty area of the taskbar, to bring up its Options menu, and then left click on the PROPERTIES menu-item to bring up the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties window.
When the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties window appears (Fig 5.2 above) it displays the following Taskbar settings.
The same as described in the above examples. When this setting is unticked it unlocks the taskbar, allowing you to resize the taskbar for example.
This setting, when ticked, automatically hides the taskbar (whilst not in use) to give you more desktop space (more height). The taskbar remains hidden, temporarily, until you hover the mouse pointer over the bottom of the desktop. To make the taskbar appear all the time again, permanently, simply untick this setting.
This setting, when ticked, makes the taskbar icons small - too small in my opinion.
This setting is a drop-down menu that allows you to group taskbar buttons (taskbar icons) of the same type together. So you could keep Internet Explorer
taskbar icons (buttons) grouped together for example because they are of the same type. This is the default setting for Windows 7 (ALWAYS COMBINE, HIDE
LABELS) and is ideal if you normally have many web pages (internet explorer windows) open for example. This setting is what was exampled in this section.
If you like the classic Windows XP, or Windows Vista, taskbar whereby each window opened has its own taskbar icon (button) you should select either the
COMBINE WHEN TASKBAR IS FULL option or the NEVER COMBINE option. COMBINE WHEN TASKBAR IS FULL will only group taskbar icons together when there is no
more space available on the taskbar for individual taskbar icons. The NEVER COMBINE setting on the other hand will never group taskbar icons together.
This setting, when ticked, allows you to preview what an application is doing without expanding its window. You simply hover over a taskbar icon with the mouse pointer to make its preview (static/video) window appear. This is what I have been showing examples of in this section. If you do not want to use the Preview Pane feature of Windows 7 simply untick this setting.
This setting is a button called CUSTOMIZE that when clicked on opens up the Notification Area Icons control panel (Fig 5.6). It allows you to show or hide the notification messages and taskbar icon for a certain program.
With the Notification Area Icons control panel (window) open, look through the list of programs and decide which programs need their settings changed.
There are three settings to choose from. SHOW ICONS AND NOTIFICATIONS - It displays a program's icon in the Notification Area of the taskbar and also
allows notifications (pop-up messages) to appear. HIDE ICONS AND NOTIFICATIONS - The reverse of the just said. The program's icon and notifications will
never be displayed. The icon, depending on the program/task type, might be moved into the extended notification area (inside the window that appears
when you click on the UP triangle/arrow, to the left of the notification area). And ONLY SHOW NOTIFICATIONS - The program's icon will not be displayed
but its notifications will be. The icon might be moved into the extended notification area though.
In the above example I have clicked on the VOLUME drop-down menu. If I select the ONLY SHOW NOTIFICATIONS setting (menu-item) the Volume Icon will
disappear from the notification area and into the extended notification area, but its notifications will be displayed.....if the volume (i.e. sound card)
in general has problems. You can also switch off certain System Icons by clicking on the link called TURN SYSTEM ICONS ON OR OFF, on the Notifications
Area Icons control panel. Other options are available on that window too.
When you have finished changing the taskbar settings click on the OK button to apply them, but if you want to apply certain settings as you change them
click on the APPLY button instead. Especially if you do not want to keep closing their windows, with the OK button, each time you change one setting for
example. Saying this. Sometimes it is best to close a window, using the OK button, so that it is not obstructing you and so that you can see the effect
of a changed setting.
I have not explained the Start Menu settings and Toolbars settings here as they do not really need changing and are not of much relevance to this section.
For example. The Start Menu settings are more to do with the Start Menu than the notification area and the Toolbars settings are not normally touched/set.
The Toolbars are to do with what Toolbars you want displayed on the taskbar - the Address Toolbar, the Links toolbar, the Desktop toolbar (allows you to
see the desktop icons on its toolbar) and so on. Experiment if you like, but as said these toolbars are normally left untouched/unticked due to the amount
of space they occupy on the taskbar for example.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
