Adding Programs to MS Office Shortcut Bar

[Mike950]

I'm not sure if this question should be posted here or in an MS Office Forum
but since it's a Windows Desktop function, I hope it's ok to post here.

I use the MS Office Shortcut Bar (displayed at the top of my desktop) often.
I like to add several freqently used programs (Paint Shop Pro and Wordpad )
to the Shortcut Bar by creating a shortcut on my desktop and dragging and
dropping them into the Toolbar. I got to thinking that this could cause some
problems for the computer on startup.

So, my question is: Is it harmful to the computer to add program shortcuts
to the MS Office Shortcut Bar by dragging and dropping the shortcut from my
desktop to the Shortcut Bar?

I like having certain programs in the Shortcut Bar because when I have other
programs open, the Shortcut Bar remains on top so I can launch the programs
without having to minimize the sceen/s I am currently on.

Thanks for the help. Mike

 

[DL]

Doesnt make any difference to startup as they are only shortcuts, and its
the Office Tool bar only that starts
PS The office toolbar is not a win desktop function, but an Office one
Alternatively you could add shortcuts to the win quick launch tool bar
(bottom left of win task bar)

 

[Mike950]

Thanks for the quick reply DL. I like the idea of putting the two shortcuts
to the win quick launch bar but I have heard that having too many items in
the win systems tray is not a good idea. Does that hold true for the win
quick launch bar?

Thanks for the help. Mike

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have heard that having too many items in
the win systems tray is not a good idea.

You heard wrong. Here's my standard message on the subject:

First, note that you should be concerned with *all* programs that
start automatically, not just with those that go into the system tray.
Not all autostarting programs manifest themselves by an icon in the
tray.

On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its
Options to see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you
actually choose the option not to run it, not just a "don't show icon"
option). Many can easily and best be stopped that way. If that doesn't
work, run MSCONFIG from the Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab,
uncheck the programs you don't want to start automatically.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't do this just for the purpose of
running the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell
you, you should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs
you run, but *which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but
others have no effect on performance.

Don't just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do
is determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what
the cost in performance is of its running all the time. You can try
google searches and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

Does that hold true for the win
quick launch bar?

No! The Quick Launch bar is nothing but shortcuts, and, unlike the
System Tray, doesn't represent programs that are running. It doesn't
matter at all how many you have there, or even which programs they
are.

 

[Mike950]

Thank you so much Ken. This is a question I've had for a long time and your
detailed answer was just what I was looking for.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you so much Ken. This is a question I've had for a long time and your
detailed answer was just what I was looking for.

You're welcome. Glad to help.