Windows XP Intermediate

SECTION 2

Customizing the Taskbar and Start Menu

We’ve already learnt about the taskbar in previous lessons. To begin customizing the taskbar, first let’s learn how to move and resize it on your desktop.

To move the taskbar, first make sure the taskbar is not locked. (This option is available in the right click menu of the taskbar and is discussed below.) Then, click on a blank area of the taskbar and drag it to the desired location. Note that the available areas for the taskbar are the bottom, top, left, and right of your screen.

To resize the taskbar, make sure the taskbar is not locked. Then, move your mouse cursor to the top edge of the taskbar so that your mouse turns into a double headed arrow. Next, click and drag the taskbar to the desired length.

To access the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties, right-click on a blank area of the taskbar or the Start menu and select Properties. This will open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window.

There are two tabs available in this window: the Taskbar tab and the Start Menu tab. We will cover the Taskbar tab first.

Under the Taskbar tab you can see two areas: the Taskbar appearance section and the Notification area section. (For the checkbox options in this window, a check in the box indicates the feature is turned on.) You will also see that each of these sections represent the available features on the left and right side of the taskbar. Let’s start with the Taskbar appearance section first.

Lock the taskbar	Used to lock the taskbar in its current location. This prohibits you from resizing or moving the taskbar.
Auto-Hide	Hides the taskbar when not in use. To bring back the taskbar simply move your mouse down to the taskbar’s location.
Keep the taskbar on top of other windows	Keeps the taskbar on top of all other open windows.
Group similar taskbar buttons	This feature will group your programs together into one button on the taskbar. Simply click the button to expand to a menu and select your program.
Show Quick Launch	Enables the quick launch area on the left side of your taskbar. Programs can be added here for quick access.

The Notification Area has these options:

Show the clock	Will show or not show the clock.
Hide inactive icons	Will hide your inactive icons in your notification area. To show the inactive icons, click the arrow in the notification area.
Customize	Lists the items in your system tray/notification area. Here you can choose one of the display options for each system tray application. The available display options are Hide when Inactive, Always Hide, and Always Show. You can also restore all items to default with the Restore Defaults button.

The two options listed under the Start Menu tab will change the basic layout and style of your Start Menu and taskbar area. This also changes the look of default windows, like the control panel and other areas.

The Start Menu option refers to the new Windows XP Start menu style. It is selected by default. You can click the customize button Start Menu option and you will see the Customize Start Menu window will open. This window has two tabs available: the General tab and the Advanced tab. First, let’s deal with the General tab.

In the General tab, you can…	Change the size of the icons in your start menu.
	Change the number of programs in the start menu history (also called Pin List).
	Select which programs you want to show at the top of your start menu.
In the Advanced tab, you can…	Set miscellaneous Start menu settings, such as to open submenus when you pause on them with your mouse or to highlight newly installed programs.
	Choose how to display various Start menu items.
	List or not list your most recently opened documents. A Clear List button is also available to empty the list.

If you prefer, you can choose to use the Classic Start menu.

This is the start menu which was present in older versions of Windows. It best resembles the start menu from Windows 2000. Like the new start menu, you can click the customize button to customize the Classic Start Menu.

Within this Customize Classic Start Menu window you will have the following sections:

Start Menu	Add programs to, or remove programs from, your start menu.
	Advanced: Opens a Windows Explorer window to add, remove, or edit your start menu.
	Sort: Automatically sorts your start menu items by name.
	Clear: Allows you to remove records of recently accessed documents, programs, and Web sites.
Advanced options	Offers checkboxes to: Display Administrative Tools Display Favourites Display Run Enable dragging and dropping Expand Control Panel Expand My Documents Expand My Pictures Expand Network Connections Expand Printers Scroll Programs Show Small Icons in Start Menu Use Personalized Menus