Reduce height of taskbar

[Peter Kinross]

My laptop's task bar has doubled in height all on its own.
I can't drag it back to its original height (yes I did unlock the task bar first).
Anyone know how I can get it back to its original height?

[HansV]

Does it make a difference if you right-click an empty part of the taskbar, select Properties from the popup menu and tick the check box "Use small icons"?

[JohnH]

Does it make a difference if you right-click an empty part of the taskbar, select Properties from the popup menu and tick the check box "Use small icons"?

What Version of Windows has this? I don't get that option with Vista.

taskbar.gif

[HansV]

This thread is in the Windows 7 forum. The taskbar in Windows 7 is different from that in previous versions. By default, there's no Quick Launch toolbar, for example.

z.png

[JohnH]

Sorry...my mistake. (I am moving to Win 7 soon! It is on its way.)

[HansV]

I hope you'll enjoy it - Windows 7 works very well for me.

[Peter Kinross]

Thanks for that but small icons was already selected.

[HansV]

Could you post a screenshot of part of your taskbar, for example the right hand part?

[Peter Kinross]

Here are the screenshots.

TaskBar_1.jpg

TaskBar_2.jpg

I think I see teh culprit. The blue Lenovo icon.

[HansV]

Could be - it's strange that it doesn't show a small icon. What happens if you close the Lenovo icon?

[Peter Kinross]

I went into the Lenovo toolbox and unchecked the 'show icon' checkbox. Lo and behold I have my sleek slim taskbar back.
I was in the process of doing this when you made your post.
The icon was a result of a Lenovo update. I just didn't connect the two. Looking at the screenshots made me open my eyes.
Thanks Hans.

[JohnH]

I hope you'll enjoy it - Windows 7 works very well for me.

I don't expect to enjoy it at all. I am moving to Win 7 and starting to look at Office 2010 at the same time. I expect to find in both that things work perfectly well at the moment are no longer available or just a bit more complicated. In time I will get used to what is new, and if I am lucky I will get back to where I am now.

Peter Kinross's next post about the Start Menu is an example of what I expect.
I use the Quick Launch Menu all the time and that has gone. I assume there is something to replace it, but I can't see how it will be an improvement.

But of course I might get a pleasant surprise with all of this.

[DaveA]

The Quick Launch in included within the Taskbar. You can add your programs and now when have that program open you will not have 2 icons.

[JohnH]

I haven't used Win 7 at all yet, but Hans said earlier that there is no Quick Launch ( well that is what I understood him to say.)

What do you mean by:

now when have that program open you will not have 2 icons

[DaveA]

You will not have the icon that is in the Quick launch and the one in their Taskbar like one does in XP and before.

See the attachment, the three icons on the left are open on the desk top, and all of the others a just waiting to be opened when needed.

[JohnH]

I am not really asking here for a 'tutorial in advance" here about something I haven't got yet, and so can't look at.

But my reaction to your post is that it confirms my view that I will probably have to relearn things that, in my view, were not broken in the first place.

[Peter Kinross]

Not a big problem John.
Win 7 now gives you a bigger quick launch bar. All programs tethered (probably the wrong term) to the task bar, stay there and act just as they did before, one click opens the program. The exception is, if say, 'Word' is tethered and you start 'Word', to open another Word doc you have to right click the icon on the task bar and select the icon there to open another instance. So for opening a second instance there is one more mouse click, but the whole thing is seamless and the learning curve for this part of Win7 is pretty much zero.
Bet you're not wearing your tee shirt outside up the Mountain today.

[JohnH]

Thanks Peter

Yes I have just lit the fire..it feels like it might snow.

I am not particularly fussed about quick launch, and I will learn how it works soon enough. But your description does not make it sound any better, and like lots of things in Access 2007 two or three clicks are now needed where 1 did the job before.

I work in Vista and Access 2007 most of the time, and I would have trouble naming anything about either of them that I prefer to XP and 2003. And I expect the same to be true of the next lot.

[Peter Kinross]

This discussion should probably be on anther forum, but oh well.
Some time back, I purchased Office 2007. But:
The shortcuts that I had on Word's menu were no longer there and could not be replaced. That alone would cause me to reject 2007.
Heaps of examples of stuff ups in Access. Here's just one example. Interoperability; From Access I call Word that has an Excel generated calendar based on data on the form I call Word from. None of this worked. If by some miracle, I did get it to work, I would have to click on so many security dialogs that the whole thing would be unworkable.
So I uninstalled 2007 and re-installed 2003. Anyone want to buy a cheap version of Office 2007 Pro?

[HansV]

I generally prefer Office 2002/2003 over Office 2007; I think the ribbon interface is a disastrous design decision.

But although I liked Windows XP, I am not nostalgic for it. Of course Windows 7 has a few points to quibble about, but all in all it's easy to use. When I got a new PC with Windows 7 in January, I felt comfortable with it within hours.