The interface elements that you most often have to deal with in the process of work are - Task bar and Main menu... To make your work as comfortable as possible, you need to set them up.
To open the preferences dialog Taskbars and Main menu(Fig. 5.1), you need to right-click on any free area Taskbars and in the context menu that appears, select the item Properties.
Rice. 5.1. Taskbar Settings Dialog Box
There are four tabs in the dialog that appears, and the first, active by default, is called Task bar... The following checkboxes are located on this tab.
Dock the taskbar... When this checkbox is checked Task bar will always be visible on the screen. It cannot be moved or resized. If you uncheck this box, you can increase the width Taskbars or move it to the top, left or right border Desktop.
Automatically hide the taskbar... If you check this box, Task bar will automatically hide - when the mouse pointer is outside of it, and reappear - when it is at the bottom Desktop(or at another border if Task bar moved).
MULTIMEDIA COURSE
The material in this chapter corresponds to chapterTaskbar and Start Menu multimedia course - in video lectures and interactive tasks you will see all the practical actions.
Show the taskbar on top of other windows... If this checkbox is unchecked, when moving a window down Task bar will be overlapped by this window. Otherwise, it is always on top of all windows, regardless of their location.
Group similar buttons on the taskbar... This function allows you to save space on Taskbars... If you work with several duplicates of one program, for example, you are viewing several pages in a browser, the buttons of these programs' windows are grouped and turn into a menu (Fig. 5.2), that is, one button corresponds to all open windows of the same type. If you click this button, a menu opens in which you can select a window to activate. In this case, you can close the entire window group at once by clicking on the group button on Taskbars right click and execute the command Close group.
Rice. 5.2. Grouped windows in the taskbar
Show Quick Launch Bar... The Quick Launch bar is located to the right of the button Start... This panel contains several buttons. You can also place program shortcuts on the Quick Launch bar yourself. It is convenient to place shortcuts to applications that you use most often on the Quick Launch bar. This will allow you to quickly launch the desired program without minimizing open windows and without accessing Main menu... To add a shortcut to the Quick Launch panel, you need to drag it to this panel with Desktop or from an open window Conductor.
Do you remember that if the window button located on Taskbars, hover the mouse pointer, a thumbnail of that window will be displayed. If the checkbox Show window samples (thumbnails) off, then when you hover the pointer over the window button, the thumbnail will not be displayed. A tooltip with the name of the window will appear instead. Remember that the thumbnail of the window will not display anyway if the computer does not support the Aero theme.
Let's go to the tab Notification area... The notification area is on the right side Taskbars(fig. 5.3).
Rice. 5.3. Notification area tab
The notification area contains icons that are used to manage system services and running applications. This area may contain icons for the volume control, keyboard layout indicator, network connections, Windows Sidebar, clock, and so on. If you have a large number of programs installing their icons in the notification area, the latter may become overloaded.
You can hide rarely used icons to free up space in the notification area. To do this, you need to check the box Hide unused icons(installed by default).
The notification area can be fine-tuned using the button Tune... After clicking it, a window for configuring notification icons will open (Fig. 5.4).
Rice. 5.4. Notification area icon customization window
It displays all the icons in the notification area. To the right of each icon is a link with which you can customize its status - Hide inactive, Hide or Display... For example, a selection for a specific status icon Hide means that it will be hidden regardless of whether the corresponding program or service is active.
In the tab Notification area you can enable or disable the display of system icons Volume, Watch and Network... There is a checkbox for mobile computers Nutrition.
Let's go to the tab Toolbars(fig.5.5). Besides the standard Taskbars in the lower part Desktop Windows Vista has several built-in toolbars that can be located on Taskbars or anywhere Desktop... To enable the display of a particular panel, you must select the checkbox next to its name. Here you can also enable or disable the display of the Quick Launch.
Rice. 5.5. Toolbars tab
Address... This panel is a regular address bar, but is located on Taskbars(fig. 5.6). In the address window, you can enter the path to a folder on disk or the address of a web page - a window will open Conductor with the specified folder or browser window in which the download of the specified web page will start. This is convenient as it eliminates the need to open windows. Conductor and Internet Explorer.
Rice. 5.6. Panel Address
Windows Media Player... If this panel is activated, then when minimizing the program window Windows Media Player on Taskbars a small panel with player controls will appear (Figure 5.7). You will be able to control the playback of media files from Taskbars without maximizing the player window.
Rice. 5.7. Windows Media Player panel
Connections... On Taskbars this panel is called Links... If you right click on the panel Links and in the menu that appears, execute the command Open folder, a window will open Links... There are no links yet, so the folder is empty.
Tablet PC - Input Panel... This panel is usually installed using the input tools implemented in tablet PCs. personal computers.
Desktop... When you click on this panel, a list opens showing all the items (icons) set to Desktop... Any icon can be accessed from this panel Desktop without minimizing windows (fig. 5.8).
Rice. 5.8. Panel and menu Desktop
Main menu triggered by pressing a button Start, in the operating system Windows Vista has changed, although it has a lot in common with a similar menu in previous versions (Fig. 5.9). In the title Main menu the icon of the registered user is located. You can change it - click on it with the mouse button and in the window that opens account users select an item Change your pattern... In this window, you are asked to choose one of several standard images, as well as upload your own (for example, your photo).
Rice. 5.9. Main menu
On the left side Main menu contains a list of the most frequently used programs. The operating system keeps track of which applications you use most often and puts their shortcuts on the left side Main menu.
On the right side Main menu links to system folders are located - A computer, Network, Music, Images, The documents, Control Panel etc. Innovation Main menu in Vista is that the list of installed applications ( All programs) does not expand as nested menus, but is built into the main menu. Programs and program groups are now organized into folders. To open the list installed programs, you need to click on the item All programs(fig. 5.10). If you see in the list of programs, for example, the folder Standard, which means there are several programs in it. To expand a folder, you need to click on it with the mouse button. To return to the list of pinned and most frequently launched programs, click on the button Back.
Rice. 5.10. Expanded group All programs
Another difference Main menu Windows Vista is the ability to quickly find the program you want. To do this, enter the name of its executable file in the field To start searching... The operating system will find the specified file and display it in Main menu... You just have to click on it with the mouse button. This method of launching programs is convenient because it allows you to quickly find them: entering calc in the search field will take much less time than searching for a program. Calculator v Main menu(fig. 5.11). In some cases, you can specify multiple initial letters of the file name.
Rice. 5.11. Search result for calculator
Consider the settings Main menu... To do this, right-click on Taskbars and select the item in the drop-down menu Properties... The dialog box that you have already seen before will appear - with the exception of the tab Start Menu(fig. 5.12).
Rice. 5.12. Main Menu Settings Tab
Here you can choose a style Main menu... Two options are offered: the option that has already been discussed above, and the classic style. The classic menu was in Windows 2000 and earlier (Figure 5.13). For some users, the classic menu is convenient.
Rice. 5.13. Classic Main Menu
In the area of Confidentiality checkboxes are located Store and display a list of recently opened files and Store and display a list of recently opened programs... If you clear these check boxes, the operating system will not add to Main menu shortcuts to frequently used programs and recently opened documents.
To the right of the main menu style switch are two buttons Tune... One of them is active - near the selected switch position. These buttons open dialog boxes in which you can configure some parameters Main menu(fig. 5.14).
Rice. 5.14. Customize Start Menu Dialog Box
In the window that appears, you can hide or show some elements Main menu... Here you can set other parameters, for example, when activating the function Highlight recently installed programs when installing new program the latter will be highlighted in the menu so you can quickly find it. You can enable the function Display as menu for some system folders. For example, if you enable this feature for the folder Control Panel, then all elements Control panels will be displayed not in a separate window, but as a submenu, and to select an item, you do not have to open an extra window (Fig. 5.15).
Rice. 5.15. Group menu Control panel
If you uncheck the box Large icons, icons of frequently used programs in Main menu become much smaller.
You can enable or disable dragging and dropping objects into Main menu, use the context menu and sort programs by name (alphabetically). The latter function is convenient because programs are often installed during the course of work, and if you do not use sorting by name, it is difficult to find the desired application.
By default in Main menu nine frequently used programs are displayed. This figure can be changed in the area Start Menu Size.
In the area of Show on Start Menu checkboxes are located Internet link and Email link mail... If the boxes are checked, at the top Main menu will always display shortcuts to your Internet browser and email client programs. By default it is Internet Explorer and Windows Mail... If you install alternative programs such as Opera and The Bat !, and register them with Windows as the default browser and mail client, links in Main menu will launch exactly them.
One more feature of working with shortcuts of frequently used programs should be noted. As new programs are launched, these shortcuts move through the list. If you haven't started the program for a while, its shortcut will disappear from the list. To fix a shortcut in the list of frequently used programs, you need to right-click on it and, in the context menu that appears, run the command Pin to Start Menu, and this shortcut will always be present in the list. Using the command Remove from this list you can remove the shortcut from the list of frequently used programs.
Thus, Main menu can be customized to your liking. This is an important point, because it is with the help of Main menu you will often run programs and open system folders, and your performance depends on it.
26 February 2:34
A.E. Marychev Category: 2 comments
Customizing the Windows7 Toolbar
Hello, friends! Glad we meet again in this lesson, I want to continue to acquaint you with the device and tricks. And today we will talk about the toolbar, and in particular about the quick launch bar and the language bar. We will learn how to customize and change everything for yourself, as well as how you can return the language bar if it suddenly disappeared from your desktop.
So let's get to know and understand what a toolbar is? As a rule, it is located at the bottom of the desktop and is a long panel, conventionally divided into three parts. The start menu icon is located in the lower left corner. It is an intermediary between programs and computer folders. Here you can easily open any folder or launch a program. This menu is opened simply by left-clicking on the Windows icon or the key with the Windows logo.
The "Start" menu is used to perform the following tasks: launch programs, open the most frequently used folders;
search for files, folders and programs;
configuring computer parameters;
getting help on working with the Windows operating system;
shutting down the computer;
logging out of a user's Windows session or switching to another user's account;
The Start menu is a fairly large topic, so we'll devote a separate lesson to it and look at it later.
In the meantime, we continue our lesson. In the middle of the taskbar there are buttons for all running ones. at the moment, programs and applications. Thanks to this, we can quickly switch between them. It is enough to press the left mouse button on the program icon and it will open. You can launch several programs, and then only switch between them.
And finally, the notification area (sometimes also called the tray). Here, first of all, there is a panel for switching the input language (language panel). Its presence allows you to control the keyboard layout. Here - the clock, the indicator of the Internet connection and the current volume of the speakers are located. Clicking on the small triangle will open up an area of hidden icons. In the very corner there is a button (Indicated by an arrow), which serves to quickly close all active windows, and press it again to open it again.
All three areas have their own settings. To open the settings menu, in the area of the start button, right-click, select the tab "Properties"... A window will open "Property of the taskbar and start menu", in which you can perform actions to customize and change the toolbar.
There are three tabs at the top. Taskbar, Start Menu and Toolbars
... There is an instruction at the bottom of the window, how to customize the taskbar... You can use it or read the article to the end (h then I advise you).
How do I customize the taskbar?
Dock the taskbar
... By checking this box, you can fix the taskbar on the monitor screen in the place where it is currently located. In this case, it will be impossible to stretch, displace or collapse. As a rule, this item is checked by default. If you want to increase the height of the taskbar (when located at the top or bottom of the screen) or its width (when located on the left or right of the screen), as well as change the size of the notification area and toolbar, then uncheck this item, click the "Apply "And" OK ". After that, you can do all the above operations by dragging the borders of the desired areas with the mouse.
Automatically hide the taskbar
... Activating this parameter will allow you to use the maximum desktop area during work, since the control panel will be hidden and will cease to be displayed on the screen all the time in front of all windows. To open the panel in this mode, move the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen along which it is located.
Use small icons ... This option allows you to reduce the icons for programs and open applications located on the taskbar. Thus, it is possible to achieve an expansion of the workspace and an increase in the number of displayed elements on the panel itself.
The position of the taskbar on the screen.
Allows you to select from the drop-down menu where the panel will be placed on the screen. You have four options: Bottom, Top, Right, or Left.
Taskbar buttons.
At this point, you can choose how the icons will be displayed on the taskbar. running programs and open windows:
Always group, hide labels
... This mode is activated by default and allows you to expand the free space on the taskbar due to the fact that icons of similar open applications are grouped, and the icons themselves do not have their names. For example, if you have opened several explorer windows at once, they will be grouped into one icon on the taskbar, which will be displayed as several rectangles superimposed on each other.
Group when filling the taskbar.
Unlike the previous version, this mode is more informative for the user. All icons of open applications are located on the taskbar separately and are labeled with the names of the windows in which they are launched. Icons are grouped only when the taskbar is full and there is no free space to accommodate new icons.
Do not group.
Grouping icons open programs does not occur under any circumstances.
In the middle of the Taskbar tab is the Notification area item, which is responsible for configuring the display of system icons and icons of background programs, as well as their messages in the notification area (tray).
The notification area is customizable. After pressing the button Customization, a window will open in front of you with a list of all the icons of background and system applications, next to which you can select their behavior in the tray from the three available options: 
Below the general list of all icons are the items Turning on and off the system icons (Clock, Volume, Network, Power and Action Center, and so on), as well as Restoring the default behavior of the icons. You can also activate the option Always display icons and notifications on the taskbar.
And finally, in the lower area of the bookmark we are considering, there is a setting for the Preview desktop option using AeroPeek. AeroPeek features are not supported by all versions of Windows7, but only from Home Premium. Activation of this function allows, when you hover the mouse cursor over the Minimize all windows button, to quickly temporarily view the contents of the Desktop. In this case, open windows are not minimized, as is the case when this button is pressed, but become transparent.
The next tab is "Start Menu". Here are the options that are responsible for setting the parameters. Windows systems... When you click on the "Customize" tab, you will see a huge number of settings. I will not describe everything. As I said above, we'll take a closer look at this element later.
And finally "Toolbar" .
Initially, the system includes only a few standard toolbars: Address, Links, Tablet PC Input Panel, and Desktop. But as new applications are installed, the list of these panels will expand.
You can also create your own toolbars yourself. To do this, right-click on the free space on the Taskbar and in the context menu that opens, select Panels, and then the Create toolbar command.
Next, in the window that opens, you must specify the folder, the elements of which should be displayed by the created panel.
Controlling the display of toolbars is intuitive. To do this, simply uncheck or check the box next to the desired panel and click the Apply button.
And one more nuance. Sometimes, for some of your actions, the icon for switching the "language" disappears. In such cases, do not panic, call someone for help, but try to solve the problem yourself. There are at least several ways to solve the problem.
The simplest one is in an empty space, in the toolbar area, right-click. In the menu that opens, select "Panels" and here you find the "Language bar". Check that there is a checkmark against it. If not, then put it on. The icon in the language bar should appear. If it doesn't, do the following. Start Menu ---> Control Panel ---> Regional and Language Options ---> Languages tab ---> More ---> Advanced and uncheck the box next to Turn off additional text services. Everything should fall into place.
This is where we will end this lesson. Of course, all the secrets of Windows7 do not end there, and we will return to this topic more than once. Write down if the lesson was helpful and if everything is clear. If you have any questions - ask. And in our next meeting, we will talk about difficult things - about the correct removal of programs and files from your computer. In order not to miss the release of the article, subscribe to the news of my blog. See you!
Sometimes it can take a few minutes to find where to turn on the display of the bookmark bar in some browsers. Let this short instruction help users in this matter. After all, we sometimes need to quickly find a link to the desired website and quickly open it. Sometimes a lot depends on it. Below is how it is done in different browsers- from more popular to less common.
Google chrome
Click the button Menu.
Select item Bookmarks.
Check the box Show bookmarks bar:
Opera
Click the button Opera.
Go to the menu Bookmarks.
Check the box Show panel:
Mozilla Firefox
Right-click the empty field next to the tab title.
Check the box Bookmarks bar:
Yandex browser
Click the button Menu.
Go to the menu Bookmarks.
Please select Show bookmarks bar:
Internet Explorer 11
Right-click on the title bar of the window.
Check the box Favorites bar
What is the taskbar and how do I customize it? The taskbar is a small horizontal panel usually located at the bottom of the desktop. windows desktop... Although, with a certain setting the taskbar can be easily positioned on either side of the monitor.
It usually contains the Start menu, icons for accessing programs, the language bar, the clock, and so on. During operation, icons of running applications are also displayed there, open folders and files.
In the default settings, the taskbar is always visible. But if you want, you can easily hide it. How to do it in Windows 7, XP or Vista:
Find a place on the panel that is less free from icons and buttons. Right-click on it and go to "Properties".
Check the box next to "automatically hide the taskbar". Accept the changes "OK".
The taskbar will disappear, and in the future it will be displayed only if you hover over this area with the mouse pointer.
If you just need it to be visible all the time, do the same, but uncheck this box.
How to pin a program to the taskbar.
Usually, after installing a new operating system After a while, the desktop of any user is simply "littered" with icons of different applications. Some icons are used frequently, others less frequently, and some very rarely. So it is reasonable to pin the icons of constantly used applications to the taskbar. At least to have quick access to them.
For Windows 7.
With the application running, right-click on its icon and click on the "pin the program to the taskbar" item.
For Windows XP and Vista.
Find the program to be pinned. Click on its icon and, while holding the mouse, move it to the taskbar (by all means to the right of the Start menu).
You can always change the order of the pinned programs by clicking on them and moving them to another place on the panel. In Windows 7, you can reorder program and document buttons in the same way.
Remove the program from the taskbar.
To remove a program from the taskbar:
In Windows 7.
In the complete opposite of pinning, right-click on the desired icon and check the "remove the program from the taskbar" item.
In Windows XP and Vista.
Also click on the icon with the right mouse button, mark the "delete" item and confirm the action.
How to group or ungroup buttons on the taskbar.
The more pinned programs you have on the taskbar, the harder it is to figure them out. And eventually there will come a point where you get completely confused in them.
Remember that the buttons on the panel are easy to group. For example, several simultaneously open web pages or documents. Which will undoubtedly free up space on the panel.
Windows 7
Having found a free space on the panel, click on it with the right mouse button and go to "properties". In the "taskbar buttons" section, select the option you need from the drop-down list. Three options are available: group when filling the taskbar; always group hide labels and do not group. Click OK.
Windows XP and Vista
Also open the "Properties" window. Here you can check the box "group similar taskbar buttons" or remove. In the first case, similar buttons will be grouped, in the second they will not. Click OK.
How to customize the taskbar.
Move
By default, the taskbar is located at the bottom of the desktop. But it can also be placed on either side of the monitor. To do this, also on the panel, open the properties window and in the item "position of the taskbar ...", select the item you need.
How to resize the taskbar.
Move the mouse cursor to the uppermost edge of the panel and, when a double-sided arrow appears, stretch the panel to the width you need. Then release the mouse button.
Note: If you can't move or change the taskbar, just click on it context button mouse and remove the check mark from the "dock the taskbar" option.
As you can see, customizing the taskbar is not difficult. But, a certain user setting will make it much more convenient.
