fixing my taskbar

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

Hello gnomies,

When I had a small monitor I used to hide my taskbar. Now I have a bigger monitor and don't need to hide it.

I have tried to change this but it won't remember my changes. Auto-hide is NOT checked and Keep the taskbar on top of the other windows IS but it keeps hiding anyway. I have tried various combinations to no avail.

I use Windows XP home.

Can someone tell me how to fix this. It's really annoying Very Happy

PeekabooCanada · Joined: Jun 14, 2006 Posts: 12

You can try tip # 117 from Kelleys Korner.

It resets all the settings for the taskbar to XP defaults.
Instructions are at the top of the page on how to use the reg file.

kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

PeekabooCanada · Joined: Jun 14, 2006 Posts: 12

It's a reg file.
Save it to your desktop and double click on it then answer yes to merge it into your registry.

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

PeekabooCanada · Joined: Jun 14, 2006 Posts: 12

If you click on the text that says "Restore Taskbar and Start Menu"
you get the option to save or run the file "nodesktop.reg".

Save it to your desktop and double click on that file.

The second column on the right side is for different problems that are not numbered like the left column is.

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

PeekabooCanada · Joined: Jun 14, 2006 Posts: 12

When saving it put the filename as "nodesktop.reg"

include the double quotes and the .reg extension

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

PhotoCarp · Joined: Sep 06, 2007 Posts: 207 Location: New Jersey

Whoa! Calm down there bucko! Here are the fool-resistant instructions:
1- Go to http://kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
2- Scroll down to #117.
3- Hover your pointer over the words "Restore Taskbar and Start Menu".
4- Right click and from the context menu select "Select Target As..." or "Save Link As..."
5- Save the file to your desktop.
6- Minimize or close all windows so that you can see your desktop.
7- Hover your pointer over the file that you just saved (should be named nodesktop.reg).
8- Double click. Or right click and select "Merge".
9- Click OK in all the warning boxes that follow.

Voila! You just tweaked your registry!

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2240 Location: Central FL, USA

I can't begin to tell you the HOURS, that I spent tweaking my own registry and the registries of my customers, before I got onto just using registry scripts.
It can take several minutes to do a manual tweak, and make sure you get it right, but, it only takes about two seconds to run a script.

Yes, a registry script is just a text file, that is until you change the three letter extension from .txt to .reg

I write all my batch files (.bat) and registry files (.reg) as text files first, then after doing a very thorough edit and proof, I change the extension to what I want it to be and I'm off and running.

Above, the entire registry tweak is printed out on the screen, so all I have to do is strike over it with my left mouse button down to 'block' it.
(select the text and turn it blue)
Then I can place my mouse cursor in the blue text and right click and select "Copy". That puts it on the Windows Clipboard.
Then I open Notepad and paste the text into Notepad.
Then I click on File in the upper toolbar and select "Save As" and then give it any name you like as long as the extension is .reg and not .txt or something else.

Wenbo, you said above that it's NOT AN APP...... it becomes an APP when you give it an APP extension.
( .reg is just as much an APP to Windows as .exe or .com. or .bat )

You can fight with these simple procedures or you can just do it, and move on.
Joining this forum and posting to this forum is a heck of a lot more complicated than just running a registry script. Ya think? Rolling Eyes

Cheers Mates and Happy Holidays!
The Doctor Cool

rovingcowboy · Joined: Jan 26, 2003 Posts: 1515

wenbo did you ever get the sp3 update for your xp.

its over 333 mb's it will take awhile to download on broadband and too long on dial up.

but it is now about 3 years old it's self. it did lots of fix's to the sp2 systems if you don't have it then that could be the cause of your system messing up.

Sad

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

I think your confusion comes in, in the fact that it WILL appear as a text file if you open it [like for edit] much like a batch file [.bat].

As already pointed out, there are files (*especially in the M$ world) that the ONLY difference as to what the file actually is, is the extension. As an example, the batch file is a text file written in notepad with the TXT extension & IS a text file until the BAT extension is added. Once added, the OS(actually a program associated with it) sees it as an executable file & reads THE TEXT from it & acts upon it as it is designed to.

The same happens with the REG, it is nothing more than a TEXT file with a changed extension. BUT once that extension is changed, the OS(see * above) sees it as a different file & runs it as such. Reading that TEXT into the registry the same as if you were typing it in yourself.

Hope this clears things up.

BTW: just don't worry about the fact that is has text in it, it is SUPPOSED TO.
Just run it [as already stated] & it should read the contents into the reg.

BTW-2: you can actually copy & paste the listing that is here into notepad & then save it as REG-FIXER.TXT(or whatever text file you like) then rename it REG-FIXER.REG & it will work.

Why you use NOTEPAD [for this & batch files] is so there isn't any hidden formatting stuff like what WORD would put in.

goretsky

Hello,

Try opening the file again using Notepad. Once it is open, select File → Save As from the main menu. If you need to, navigate to wherever you want to save the file, like your Desktop, and in the File name: field, give it the following filename:

"RUNME.REG"

Note that you must type the quotation marks arround the file name. This is the key to saving the file with a .REG extension instead of a .TXT extension.

If you now take a look at wherever the file is saved, you should see a RUNME file with an icon for the Registry Editor instead of Notepad.

Double-click on the file, and when prompted to do so, merge its contents into the registry.

After you are done, restart your computer for the changes to take effect, and you should now see the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

Okay, I finally got around to trying this fix and it didn't work. My taskbar still hides.

Any other ideas?

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

You wouldn't by any chance have POWERTOYS - TWEEKUI on there, & maybe have a setting in there set to hide?

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if there IS a setting in it for this. Been a while since I looked but it MAY be worth checking into. I think there may be info on the web where you wouldn't have to download & install it. But the "add-on" IS worth it if you so decide to do so. - the only other thing I can come up with, & this is a last resort thing, is a repair install or maybe a full install?

BTW: in my (experienced) opinion, adding a bunch of stuff to fix an OS can actually add "fuel to the fire" at times. So I'd proceed with caution.

wenbo · Joined: Sep 15, 2003 Posts: 410 Location: Ontario, Canada

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to how I get my taskbar to stop hidding???

Don't understand why windows just won't obey me.....lol