Date as well as time on the Status bar

[ChrisGreaves]

Please and Thank You, How can I get the date to lie alongside (to the left, or to the right of) the time in the status bar?

The first image shows the current situation, small icons, which I like because it reduces the amount of fluff on my screen.
I would however like to see the date as well as the time, and I figure I have enough space to the left of the lower right-hand corner to accommodate the date.

The second image shows the only way I've been able to conjure up the date so far - it involves doubling the height of the status bar, and whereas I had a bit of spare space before, now I have in effect an entire (second line of) status bar to spare, and that cuts into my useful display area.

The third image is a very crude mock-up of what I'd like to see.

Am I missing a setting somewhere?

1.png

2.png

3.png

[StoneChucker]

I used a program called Tclock (or was it T-Clock) on WindowsXP, to do just this. I don't know if the program still exists in the wild, or if it works with Windows7.

[HansV]

As far as I know, there is no "native" Windows 7 setting to do that, but perhaps there's a third party utility as mentioned by StoneChucker.

[ChrisGreaves]

I used a program called Tclock (or was it T-Clock) on WindowsXP, to do just this. I don't know if the program still exists in the wild, or if it works with Windows7.

(later) P.S. I should add that ThroughClock has one of the most exhaustive (but fun!) options settings I've met; one can customize everything e.g. "Show the date inside the dial but opposite the hour hand" (!!!)

Thanks Christopher. And Hans.
Yes, I used TClock and also ThroughClock under WinXP, but I've not been able to get TClock to work under Win7/64.
I suspect that a great many 32-bit developers don't see the point in upgrading their code.
Thanks anyway.

From the Readme of TClockEx.exe (08/04/2005): When the installation is complete, there will be a new icon in your Start menu called "TClockEx", that starts the program. TClockEx is pre-configured to load automatically every time Windows boots up.But nothing appears!

ThroughClock (image below) still loads, but of course it occupies a square inch or two lower-right. I can live with it, but a plain-text date from Windows7 would have been nice had it been included in the purchase price of Windows (snarky!)

4.png

[ChrisGreaves]

[quote="ChrisGreaves"]From the Readme of TClockEx.exe (08/04/2005): When the installation is complete, there will be a new icon in your Start menu called "TClockEx", that starts the program. TClockEx is pre-configured to load automatically every time Windows boots up.But nothing appears!


(10 minutes later)
No! I tell a lie:-

5.png

[Sundog]

If you change your Taskbar to large icons, you get the image below. Yes, it's a little more real estate (but the larger icons help out aging eyes).

(right-click an empty area on the Taskbar => Properties => uncheck the Use small icons checkbox)

DateTime.PNG

[ChrisGreaves]

If you change your Taskbar to large icons,

Thnaks Sundog, that's what I've got in one of the screen shots above - Large Icons - but I'm using a Classic View.
End result is the same. Win7 doubles the height of the area instead of using some of the available space to the left.
It's a stupid design, you ask me ......

[JoeP]

Not a stupid design if you use the Aero interface and the new Taskbar as released. The icons used are clear and easy to see. The taskbar can be highly functional once you get used to it. I can't stand "the classic look" any more. For me, it appears very dated, angular, & more difficult to use.

Joe

[Argus]

If you change your Taskbar to large icons,

Thnaks Sundog, that's what I've got in one of the screen shots above - Large Icons - but I'm using a Classic View.
End result is the same. Win7 doubles the height of the area instead of using some of the available space to the left.
It's a stupid design, you ask me ......

No, Chris, I don't think you are using large icons. It looks like you are using small icons and have dragged the Taskbar to double height.

In, for example, Windows XP it was possible to use large icons in the Taskbar, but you wouldn't find that setting in Taskbar properties, but instead in the obscure QLB properties. It could look something like this:

QLB2.JPG

But in Windows 7 the setting for icon size is found on the Taskbar tab in Taskbar properties, as Sundog said.

Compare with these images from Windows 7, in Classic View; small icons and double height Taskbar vs. large icons.

W7iA.PNG

W7iB.png

Not a major difference, perhaps even worse, depending on what one would like to achieve; you'll miss one row of icons.
(Notice that Windows 7 has a slightly larger Start button, compared to Windows XP, when using large icons.)

Then it's completely different matter if that is how one wants it to be. I can understand that one would like to have the date in a single line Taskbar; I think I've used some software in the early days of XP, or before that, to achieve that. Perhaps you can find something that works.

[HansV]

I agree with Joe. The taskbar in the Aero interface works very well - I immediately preferred it over the XP taskbar.

Here is my desktop (reduced to 1/3 its real size):

x468.jpg

As you see, the taskbar doesn't take up a lot of real estate. But the date/time are quite clear when viewed at real size:

x469.png

And the taskbar icons are very clear too. The highlighted ones are for running programs, the others are pinned to the taskbar:

x470.png

[Hey Jude]

Thanks for the window to your world :-)

[tedshemyers]

HansV,

I also much prefer the Win 7 Taskbar and the Aero interface. I use the Slideshow for my desktop background with dozens of lanscapes that scroll every 10 minutes. This way I will never get bored with my desktop. I can also just add more to the mix for even more enjoyment. With Aero the Taskbar can be made more transparent to not block the desktop as follows: Click on an empty space on the desktop and choose personalize, Windows Color. Slide the scroll bar to select your Color intensity. Be sure to check Enable transparency

DesktopTransparency.jpg

[HansV]

Thanks, I have transparency enabled indeed. You can see that in the first screenshot in my previous reply.

[tedshemyers]

Thanks, I have transparency enabled indeed. You can see that in the first screenshot in my previous reply.

That was more for others that read these posts. I did notice that you do use transparency but figured that many that might read here do not and might like it so this seemed like a good place to bring that up.

[Hey Jude]

I've had transparency enabled since day one. It's great! Such a huge improvement over XP!

[Argus]

Please and Thank You, How can I get the date to lie alongside (to the left, or to the right of) the time in the status bar? [...]

I used a program called Tclock (or was it T-Clock) on WindowsXP, to do just this. I don't know if the program still exists in the wild, or if it works with Windows7.

[...]
Thanks Christopher. And Hans.
Yes, I used TClock and also ThroughClock under WinXP, but I've not been able to get TClock to work under Win7/64. [...]

Chris,
As you no doubt have noticed there is plenty of different time and date software out there. I guess some people have wanted this since the dawn of Windows. And as in many other cases there are several with similar names.

With this kind of software one has to be careful, there can be “malware related” things, such as with some weather forecast software, or simply old, outdated, software. That has nothing to do with these, mentioned here, even if some are old and may have problems with the latest OS versions, it's just an observation, and I'm sure you know this.

I think I’ve used an earlier version of the one I mention below, T-Clock by Stoic Joker, and I notice that Christopher mentioned: “Tclock (or was it T-Clock)”, so it could be this version he used, or an older, since this one has developed a bit as we shall see. So, TClockEx, TClock, T-Clock, there you go.

I have stumbled on this now and it seems to work quite well. I've tested it on 32-bit Windows 7, using both Classic Theme and the default theme. As you noticed with some of those you tested there often is a plethora of settings; font, size, colour, alarm, not to mention date and time format; choose if on one line or two etc. This one is no exception; there are many settings, even quick command shortcuts for OS tasks. So the screenshot below is only an example.

First it seemed like there was no recent version around. It seems like the developer’s site has been down and then up again, from time to time. A long time user then created a page with information and a link to a copy at his server, and he had been in contact with the programmer.

You can read all the background information on that page, also as an introduction to the software, but there is probably more info in the forum mentioned below, since I think this software might work for you, here:
The Extremely Temporary and Unoffical T-Clock by Stoic Joker Web Page

Then we have the issue with 32-bit and 64-bit. As I understand it you use 64-bit. T-Clock includes two versions, in separate folders. Apparently some had problems running some versions on 64-bit Vista and perhaps 7. But the old version, on the page above, should work with 64-bit Vista, even if it is from 2006.

That was the history. His site is now up again, and there has been some work on a new version: T-Clock 2010. He links to the Donation Coder forum for downloads; there is a thread for the software there. I’ve tried this version as well, but again only on 32-bit 7.

Stoic Joker's T-Clock Page
The Donation Coder forum; Topic: T-Clock 2010 (download)
You can also read his forum post from 23 December, when he released build 90.

So, that’s all. It can look like this, in Windows 7 Classic Theme:

T-Clock.png

You can even get some transparency, as the other guys are talking about, in the Classic Theme.

T-Clock2.png

Oh yes, installation, it’s simple; it’s a zip file. Create a folder, move the extracted folders (3 plus one help file) to the folder you created. Run the version you want, 32-bit, 64-bit.
If you want to add it to your start-up folder: In the right-click menu, in the clock, select T-Clock Properties, on the “About” tab check the box “Start T-Clock 2010 When Windows Starts”.

T-Clock menu.PNG

[Argus]

Here is my desktop (reduced to 1/3 its real size):

Thank you for mentioning that, otherwise I might have guessed that you use a 8-inch monitor.