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MANAGING THE TASKBAR - SIMPLIFIED Note: By default the taskbar is along the bottom of the screen. The Start button is on the left side. You click the Start button to see your programs and to stop the computer! [OK we are off to a good start.] Right click on a open part of the Taskbar Slide the Pointer up to “Lock the Taskbar” and click to remove the check mark. Right click again on an open part of the Taskbar and slide Pointer up to “Toolbars” (*) and click on Address. [You can use Address to go directly to a website without first bringing up Internet Explorer.] Double click on Address, type in “ask.com”. Click on Go. [This is a search engine like Google.] Try the Links Toolbar as above. The Links are from your Internet Explorer. You can start IE, go to a website you wish to have as a Favorite, Click on Favorites, then Add to favorites, and put in “Links” folder. Try the Desktop toolbar, as above. (*) [Now you can see all the icons you have on your desktop.] Try the New Toolbar, as above (*). [Click on My Computer and see if that is useful.] Media Player toolbar does not seem to work and I could not find any help on it. You may remove the toolbars by above (*) and clicking on their check marks. The Quick Launch bar is next. By default it is not there, here is how you get it. (As above) Right click on the taskbar, click on “Lock the Taskbar” to uncheck it. Right click the taskbar again, push the pointer up to “Toolbars” and click on “Quick Launch”. [You get a new icon in the Quick Launch area, Show Desktop. One click is all you need to start a program you have in the Quick Launch area.] You can add icons into the Quick Launch area. Drag and Drop from Desktop and Start Menu. Left click and hold the mouse button on the icon and drag it into the Quick Launch area. It has a dark vertical line. Release the left mouse button when the dark vertical line is where you want it in the Quick Launch area. Start some programs. Start several programs. [Notice that soon you will not be able to read which windows you have running.] The Windows Tabs are in the middle of the taskbar. Place the pointer on the Taskbar where it joins the desktop until you see the Up and Down arrows, click and hold the left mouse button down and drag it into the desktop. If you lose the taskbar, place the pointer on the edge of your screen until you see the Up and Down arrows, click and hold the left mouse button down and drag it into the desktop. Making the taskbar larger will allow you to see the windows better, the day of the week and the date. Click on one of the windows. [The sunken tab is the active window.] Place the pointer on the bar between the windows and the Quick Launch icons. Click and hold left mouse button down and drag to the left and release to stack the icons. We have lost a lot of the screen viewing area. To get it back there is an option. Right click on a open part of the Taskbar Slide the Pointer up to “Properties” and click Click in the box beside “Auto-hide the taskbar”. Click “Apply” and “OK”. To see the Taskbar, slide the Pointer to the edge of the screen where the Taskbar was. To see your entire screen, move the Pointer away from the Taskbar. You can move the Taskbar. Click and Drag the taskbar from the bottom, to any side or to the top. Members asked for the taskbar to be on the top for better viewing. Hold down the left button of your mouse and drag it to the top. A member asked if we could change the colour of the taskbar from grey to a colour that was more easily viewed. A member showed us how to do this. Go to your desktop screen Right click, and choose “Properties”. Click on “Appearance”. Under “Color scheme” the members chose “Pumpkin”. Under “Windows and buttons” choose “Windows classic style”. This gives a large font size and an easily-read Taskbar. The desktop icons also were also large. The Notification Area is on the right. Don't be intimidated by all the names associated with it. Microsoft has given it three names. The Status Area, the System Tray and the Notification Area. Vista uses Notification Area, so let’s use that. You see icons of programs that are running in the background. Only the active ones are shown. To see the others, place the pointer on the arrow and click. To see all the notification icons, all the time Right click on an open part of the taskbar. Choose “Properties”. Uncheck “Hide inactive icons”. Click “Apply” Click “OK”. They are called Notification icons because some of them give you a message. For example if AVG turns grey, you should click on it and see what the problem is. You can tailor this area to your liking. Right click in unused area of the Taskbar, Click on “Properties”. Put a check mark in “Hide Inactive Icons”. Click “Customize”. Under “Behavior”, Click on an icon’s “Hide when inactive”, Click on the “V” to see your options. Choose “Hide when inactive”, “Always hide” or “Always show”. Click “OK”, Click “Apply” Click “OK”. To easily copy photos from your hard drive to a memory stick Insert your memory stick into the USB slot, Click on “My Computer”, Click on your memory stick drive, [usually found just after your CD drives] Open another window by navigating to your photos. Right click in Taskbar. Click on “Tile Windows Vertically” You should see two windows on your screen. [If not, move the Pointer to the other window in the Taskbar and click on it. Then try again... Right click in Taskbar, Click on “Tile Windows Vertically”.] Drag and drop the photos from their window over to the memory stick window. Closing Note Have a try at customizing your Taskbar. Make a note of the options before you change them. The only problem you can have is losing your Taskbar and you an easily get it back as mentioned above. Charlie Le Ber