Thanks. John in Durham, NH

Dear John,

The taskbar, which contains not only the start button, but also the notification area (including the time) and often a quick launch toolbar, can be moved to any side of your desktop. It sounds like your has been moved to the top of your desktop.

Here are the steps you need to take to get it back to the bottom of your desktop.

1. First, we need to make sure the taskbar is not locked.
a. right click on a blank spot on the taskbar and in the context menu find the setting, “Lock the Taskbar”.
b. If there is not a check mark in front of, Lock The taskbar, you are ready to proceed to the next step.
c. If there is a checkmark in front of, Lock the taskbar, you will need to click on that check mark to remove it.

2. Now that you know the taskbar is not locked, point your mouse to a blank spot in the middle of your taskbar, and drag it all the way to the bottom of your screen.

3. Don’t worry if it does not look like the taskbar is following your mouse, it will not move until your pointer reaches the very bottom of your screen.

4. To make sure your taskbar stays at the bottom of your screen from now on, you might want to right click again, and click on “Lock the Taskbar” to lock it in place.

Elizabeth

It’s awkward at first, but doesn’t take long to get used to. Joan

Dear Joan,

This is a great idea! You are right, it is awkward at first. As soon as I moved my taskbar, I was at a loss for a moment when I wanted to get back to my running programs. *grin*

If you are running Windows 7 on a wide screen, here is how to move the taskbar to the side of your screen.

1. First, you need to make sure your taskbar is unlocked (when it is locked, you can’t move it around on your screen).

2. Right click on a blank spot on the taskbar, and in the context menu that appears, locate the item that says, “Lock the Taskbar”. If there is a check mark in front of, Lock the Taskbar, click on it to remove the check mark. If there is no check mark, just click on your desktop to close the contest menu.

3. Now that your taskbar is unlocked, point your cursor to a blank spot in the middle of the taskbar, hold down the left mouse button and drag to one side of your screen. The taskbar will move to the side all at once when your mouse is more than halfway there. Don’t release the mouse button until your cursor has reached the side of the screen.

4. Once you have the taskbar in the desired location, you can lock it there by right-clicking on a blank spot, and then click on “Lock the Taskbar”.

Elizabeth

Lori

Dear Lori,

You are correct, the bar that you are describing is the taskbar.

You used to have it set to auto hide, but somewhere along the line, someone must have changed the setting.

Here is how to change it back.

In Windows XP, Vista and 7:

1. Right click on a blank spot of the taskbar.
2. In the context menu that appears, click on, “Properties”.
3. In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click to put a check mark in front of “Auto-hide the taskbar.
4. Click the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box to close the window and save your changes.

Elizabeth

Anyway, thanks so much for your help.
You are wonderful. Sandy

Dear Sandy,

Windows 7 is indeed different from all previous versions of Windows, and there are things that I like, as well as things that I don’t like about it as well. I am going to have lessons for Windows 7 just like I have for Vista. The reason that I am re-sending the Vista lessons is to give me time to study and prepare for the upcoming Windows 7 series of Lessons.

In the meantime, you can easily turn off the grouping of similar items on the taskbar by following these directions:

1. Right click on a blank spot on the Windows 7 taskbar, and click on “Properties” in the context menu that appears.
2. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box will open. Make sure you are on the “Taskbar” page.
3. In the “Taskbar appearance” section of the window, find the section that starts with, “Taskbar buttons”, and click on the drop down list to the right .
4. Click to select either, “Combine when taskbar is full”, or “Never Combine”. The selection is up to you.
5. Click the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box to close the window and save your changes.

Elizabeth

PS: I had to chuckle when I read your email, because in the past few days I have read messages from people telling me that I should stop answering questions about older operating systems now and only talk about Windows 7, along with messages from people who were disappointed that I did not focus only on Windows XP. Anyone can find answers about their specific computer on my website at www.computerlady.org

–Fred

Dear Fred,

This is something that can happen quite easily when the computer user has shaky hands.

The good news is that it is fairly easy to move your task bar back to the bottom of your screen. Here is what you do:

Point your cursor to a blank spot in the middle of the taskbar. Make sure you are not on the edge of the taskbar, or pointing to a button on the taskbar.

When you are pointing to a blank spot on the taskbar, hold down your left mouse button and drag it to the middle of the bottom of your screen. When your cursor touches the bottom of the screen, release the mouse button and the taskbar should jump to the bottom of your desktop.

Elizabeth