Windows xp taskbar

[Paul]

Somehow, on my shared computer at home, the Windows
taskbar has grown to double its "normal" height. Icons
remain their default size. No amount of clicking and
dragging horizontally or vertically seems able to bring
the taskbar back to its normal, one-icon high size.
Neither does anything in Properties. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.

-- Paul

 

[neil]

Have you made sure the "lock taskbar" is not set when you try to drag the
top of the taskbar down.

 

[Guest]

Neil,

No, I haven't, although I will just as soon as I get home
tonight. Thing of it is, I can click and drag the task
bar to triple size, quadruple size, etc. as well as make
it disappear completely. The only format that I can't
seem to click and drag it into is its "normal" one-icon
high size. If locking is indeed the problem, it sure is
an unusual use of that term. "Locked out" would be more
like it.

-- Paul

 

[The Stare]

Somehow, on my shared computer at home, the Windows
taskbar has grown to double its "normal" height. Icons
remain their default size. No amount of clicking and
dragging horizontally or vertically seems able to bring
the taskbar back to its normal, one-icon high size.
Neither does anything in Properties. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.

"unlock' the taskbar and then you should be able to resize it with the
mouse.

 

[Danno]

Paul, when I first got my new (and first) computer with XP Pro, I got myself
into the same trouble. I understand what your problem is. I did find the
correction here on this newsgroup thanks to a guy who just jumped into the
conversation out of the blue. I can't remember exactly how to correct it,
but I will fool around with it and see if I can get into the same trouble
again. Then, I'll have to remember, won't I? I do remember that it wasn't
very hard to fix, more or less just kind of "depends how you hold your
mouth" kind of thing. If I can replicate it, then fix it, I'll let you know
how.

Danno

 

[Danno]

OK Paul,

Let's try this. First of all, I have XP Pro and I have never even seen
Windows 2000 or any of the others, so I'm going to assume you have XP Home
or XP Pro.

This is kind of a situation where the blind is leading the blind, but until
someone else has a better solution, you can hardly get it any worse than it
is right now.

I have my taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Do you know how to move your
task bar from the bottom of the screen to either side, or to the top of the
screen?

If you have your taskbar 'unlocked', it can be dragged and dropped. So
unlock your taskbar.

Then grab it with the mouse and drag it to where you want it. OK, put it at
the bottom. You will now have the START button at the bottom left! Now,
right beside the Start button, but between the start button and the first
icon available, you should see a series of dots that run vertically within
the taskbar.

For some reason, if you grab the taskbar just there...between the start
button and the little group of vertical dots, you can do different things
with it. I'm not even sure how I did it, but I just did it right now. It's
not dangerous...it's just a configuration thing. Customizing the taskbar
the way you like it. The key is there, but I'm not sure exactly what to do.
I just did it.

Once you get your taskbar back to the size you like (only one level
high)...lock it!

I wish I could offer better advice, but at least, I know for sure where you
should start.

Good Luck,

Danno

 

[Chuck]

Somehow, on my shared computer at home, the Windows
taskbar has grown to double its "normal" height. Icons
remain their default size. No amount of clicking and
dragging horizontally or vertically seems able to bring
the taskbar back to its normal, one-icon high size.
Neither does anything in Properties. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.

-- Paul

Paul,

Check in Taskbar Properties, and make sure to uncheck "Lock the
Taskbar".

Cheers,

Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Chuck]

OK Paul,

Let's try this. First of all, I have XP Pro and I have never even seen
Windows 2000 or any of the others, so I'm going to assume you have XP Home
or XP Pro.

This is kind of a situation where the blind is leading the blind, but until
someone else has a better solution, you can hardly get it any worse than it
is right now.

I have my taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Do you know how to move your
task bar from the bottom of the screen to either side, or to the top of the
screen?

If you have your taskbar 'unlocked', it can be dragged and dropped. So
unlock your taskbar.

Then grab it with the mouse and drag it to where you want it. OK, put it at
the bottom. You will now have the START button at the bottom left! Now,
right beside the Start button, but between the start button and the first
icon available, you should see a series of dots that run vertically within
the taskbar.

For some reason, if you grab the taskbar just there...between the start
button and the little group of vertical dots, you can do different things
with it. I'm not even sure how I did it, but I just did it right now. It's
not dangerous...it's just a configuration thing. Customizing the taskbar
the way you like it. The key is there, but I'm not sure exactly what to do.
I just did it.

Once you get your taskbar back to the size you like (only one level
high)...lock it!

I wish I could offer better advice, but at least, I know for sure where you
should start.

Good Luck,

Danno

Danno,

What you're doing is moving the Quick Launch bar from the side to the
top of the taskbar. If you move the Quick Launch bar to the top of
the taskbar, the taskbar will now be 2 rows high (QL bar always
occupies a whole row of taskbar, if it's on top). Or, if you move the
Quick Launch bar to the side of the taskbar, the taskbar will be what
ever height you wish (but less wide).

Put some icons into Quick Launch, and you will see it easier. I'd bet
Paul has an empty Quick Launch bar, sitting on top of the taskbar.

Or disable Quick Launch altogether (Taskbar Properties - "Show Quick
Launch").

Cheers,

Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.