Taskbar Slinning or Customisation?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chuck
  • Start date Start date
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Chuck

I have several computers, and I switch back and forth between them fairly
erratically (KVM switch and VNC). It would sure be nice to have a label
somewhere on the desktop of each, not on the wallpaper (which is always covered
when computer being used), so I can look at the screen easily and verify which
one I am connected to at any time.

I keep a lot of running tasks, and my taskbar is generally 3 or 4 rows high,
which gives me a lot of wasted space under the Start button. Does anybody know
of a product, preferably freeware, that lets you skin or customise the taskbar?
It would sure be nice to use the space under the Start button for something.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,

Chuck
 
Chuck said:
I have several computers, and I switch back and forth between them fairly
erratically (KVM switch and VNC). It would sure be nice to have a label
somewhere on the desktop of each, not on the wallpaper (which is always covered
when computer being used), so I can look at the screen easily and verify which
one I am connected to at any time.

I keep a lot of running tasks, and my taskbar is generally 3 or 4 rows high,
which gives me a lot of wasted space under the Start button. Does anybody know
of a product, preferably freeware, that lets you skin or customise the taskbar?
It would sure be nice to use the space under the Start button for something.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,

Chuck
Click to expand...

The easiest way would be to use a different theme/color scheme to identify
which system is active.

There are many products on the market for creating custom skins for XP.
Try here:

http://www.tgtsoft.com

http://www.wincustomize.com

http://www.windowsblinds.nat

http://www.stardock.com
 
You didn't say what OS(s). Win2k and XP have the advantage of
supporting transparency. You didn't say whether you keep the task bar
always on top (and displayed). If so, this increases the options for
using the wasted space. The answers affect some specific details in
the suggestions below.

You can change the start button to identify the PC, make the start
button very narrow, remove it, or add text near the clock. TClock2
will do the first 3 (all?) and TClockEX will do the last. Numerous
other desktop customization utilities provide skinning options. Shell
City and Virtual Plastic are good places to start.
TClockEx - see Desktop on Pricelessware.org or PricelesswareHome.org
Tclock2 - http://shii.org/tclock

As for identifying the PC, just read a few posts after yours in ACF (at
least on Google Groups) for an application to place the PC label on top
and translucent (at least for some Windows versions) -- Desktoptext 1.0
by Donnie Russell. (I would have to be convinced of the need for such
a separate program, however.)

Use almost any post-it notes type program (e.g., AT Notes mentioned on
Pricelessware sites). Most support transparency and OnTop (i.e., Pin).
You may not be able to place a note under the Start button if you keep
the task bar always on top and displayed.

Define your own text file and use a utility that provides OnTop (or
Pin) functionality. This is a feature of numerous utilities (just
search ACF). If you only need a name, then ....

Start a task (e.g., open a text file) with the PC label as the name
during startup. The first task button on the task bar would then
identify the PC.

Customize your cursor on each PC. Either choose a different style
(e.g., black or grey instead of white or a themed cursor fro each PC)
or create your own, such as a cursor with a text label. Or add a
custom mouse trail. Freeware open source programs abound. You need
only change text if you don't find one that lets you define the text
string as a parameter.

If you usually have an IE window open, change the default window label
(actually label suffix) from "Microsoft Internet Explorer" to "My PC
Label X". This is a feature of numerous Windows tweakers such as
X-Setup Pro and MS TweakUI (IIRC). See System Tweaker at Pricelessware
sites.

Change the default color or icon for folders on each PC. Then most
Explorer windows would differ obviously from PC to PC.

PowerPro can be used to identify each PC but PowerPro only makes sense
if you want some of the other (very nice) features as well.

I'm sure this creative group will suggest even more alternatives.
 
I "changed" explorer.exe so the start button displays what I want. Wouldn't
"recommend" it though.
 
Because I don't want to directly tell someone to change (hack) explorer.exe
with hex editor (unless he knows what he's doing or just doesn't care what
happens) and then have him blame Kelly for telling Homer to recommend it.
 
Chuck said:
I have several computers, and I switch back and forth between them
fairly erratically (KVM switch and VNC). It would sure be nice to
have a label somewhere on the desktop of each, not on the wallpaper
(which is always covered when computer being used), so I can look at
the screen easily and verify which one I am connected to at any time.

I keep a lot of running tasks, and my taskbar is generally 3 or 4
rows high, which gives me a lot of wasted space under the Start
button. Does anybody know of a product, preferably freeware, that
lets you skin or customise the taskbar? It would sure be nice to use
the space under the Start button for something.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,

Chuck
Click to expand...

TClock (http://homepage1.nifty.com/kazubon/tclock/) allows you to change the
text and the logo on the taskbar.

--
Kendall F. Stratton III
Fort Fairfield, Maine USA
k3@(86_THE_SPAM)maine.rr.com
http://home.maine.rr.com/k3

"Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!"
 
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