Unable to dock toolbars ?

[Blue Max]

For some reason, we are unable to drag custom toolbars off of the Windows
Vista Taskbar and dock them on the edges of our display. This is a feature
of Windows XP and was performed under XP as follows:

1. Create a folder with shortcut program icons.
2. Right-click on the Windows taskbar, unlock the taskbar, and choose
Toolbars > New Toolbar.
3. Select the folder created in step one (it will appear as a toolbar on
the Windows Taskbar).
4. Grab the divider left of the toolbar title (folder name) and drag the
toolbar to the desktop (a floating toolbar).
5. Drag the toolbar title bar and dock it to any side of the monitor.

Ironically, we have also been able to perform this task on under Windows
Vista, but cannot duplicate it anymore. We suspect that there is some
setting that is preventing us from performing this action or the steps for
doing so may have changed. The problem is that in Vista we are unable to
drag the toolbar from off the taskbar in step #4. As such, we cannot
continue to reposition the custom toolbars and dock them on the edges of the
screen. Since we have performed this operation under Vista, at some point,
we assume that there is another procedure for performing this chore under
Vista. Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on why we cannot drag
our custom toolbars off of the Vista Taskbar?

 

[Blue Max]

Fortunately, I have partially solved the problem and post my findings as a
help to those who may have had a similar question.

FIRST, we apparently cannot drag the toolbars off of the Windows Vista
Taskbar as we did in Windows XP. Furthermore, we cannot drag toolbars from
any edge of the display once they are docked.

SECOND, the new procedure is to right-click on the desktop, create a new
folder, and then drag that folder to an extreme edge of the display to dock
it on that side. Now hide the original folder on the desktop (right-click >
properties > general tab > set the hidden attribute). Note that the desktop
folder may dim, but not fully disappear, if you have changed your folder
option to 'hide folders and files'.

Unfortunately, there are still some disadvantages to Vista versus XP. For
instance, once the toolbar is docked, you cannot drag the toolbar to the
desktop as a floating toolbar or dock it on another side of the screen.
Likewise, funny things happen when you delete the original folder created on
the desktop. Help indicates that you should hide the folder, but under XP
we could delete the original floating desktop folder and the docked folder
would remain and could be modified or docked in other locations. Under
Vista, if the original is deleted, the docked folder remains, but if you
ever add anything to the docked folder, it will recreate the folder on the
desktop with just the items you have added and will eventually delete all
other program shortcuts that were part of the original folder. Interesting
.... All-in-all the XP method provided more flexibility.


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[Jume]

i too would like to have the ability to drag the toolbars (though i dont use
them a lot really)

either way, ms decided to drop that ability off (for now i hope) because the
typical user would drag the toolbars without knowing what are they doing,
thus getting scared about "i moved something out of the taskbar and i dont
know how to put it in it again", yes i know it does not make much sense
(drag out, drag in...), but i assure you that the case is absolutely REAL,
it happened already to a couple of persons i know

it would be good if they put an option about draggable toolbars though

 

[Blue Max]

Thank you for the explanation. However, it would have been much better for
Microsoft to simply provide a feature to 'LOCK' the toolbar, like they have
done with the taskbar. This would have solved the problem you illustrated,
but would also have preserved the feature for dragging a toolbar to a new
location as many have requested.

Thanks for the information.

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