I like to have as much viewing space on my desktop and in my browser as possible. One of the ways you can maximize your viewing space is by adjusting the size of the taskbar.

The taskbar is a handy little tool at the bottom of your screen. By default it holds icons of a couple of your programs and can be set to hold the icons of all your favorite programs by simply dragging their icons down to the taskbar. The icons on your taskbar are typically arranged in a row which gets longer as you add more icons to it.

If you're not concerned about the size of your viewing area you can make the taskbar bigger by stretching it which will allow you to group your icons together in a bunch as shown below and allow you quicker access to your programs.

In order to adjust the size of your taskbar you have to first unlock your taskbar by right clicking an empty space on it. From the right click menu select lock the taskbar if there is a check beside it (this will un-select it). Scroll your mouse over the top edge of the taskbar until you see the vertical resize cursor (little black arrow pointing up and down) shown in image below.

Left click on an empty space in the taskbar, hold the left click and drag the top of the taskbar up or, if you want to shorten it, pull the taskbar down.

Once it's stretched or reduced to your liking, right click on the taskbar and re-select Lock the Taskbar.

I find it really difficult sometimes to reduce the taskbar to its smallest size. You really have to play around with it. It seems Windows wants it be either bigger or not visible at all.

If you don't want the taskbar to show at all you can do that too. As you resize it you will see that it sometimes disappears. When it does disappear, leave it.

If you do decide to make it disappear you can bring it back by clicking on the bottom of your screen.

You can also set the taskbar to hide behind open windows. Right-click the taskbar, and click Properties. In the Taskbar and Start Menu dialog box, click to select the Lock the taskbar check box and the Keep the taskbar on top of other windows check box and click OK as shown in this image.

Note too that you can make the icons in your taskbar bigger or smaller by right clicking an empty space on the taskbar (You have to really look for it sometimes) and selecting View at the top of the menu and clicking Large Icons.

Choosing large icons increases the size of the taskbar and consequently reduces your viewing area.

If you manage to reduce the taskbar to its smallest size, you can still set the icons for large which will increase the size of the taskbar somewhat.

Interestingly, your taskbar doesn't have to stay on the bottom of your screen. You can move your taskbar to a different location on your screen. This is particularly helpful if your taskbar is crowded, full of open browser windows. Moving your taskbar to the side of your screen will make more room for your browser windows as much as a dozen of them.

To move your taskbar

1. Unlock the taskbar. Right-click your taskbar. If there is a check mark beside Lock the Taskbar on the shortcut menu, click Lock the Taskbar to unlock it.

2. You can now drag your taskbar to the left, right, or top of your screen. To drag the taskbar, left click on the the taskbar and hold the left click down. Holding down the left click mouse button down, drag the taskbar to its new location. When the taskbar is in place, release the mouse button.

3. Move the pointer over an edge of the taskbar until the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow. Click the mouse button, and drag the edge of the taskbar to widen it. Depending on how much viewing area you want release the mouse button when you when you can read the window titles as shown in the image below. You might want a narrower taskbar so play with it a bit until you find the size you want.

4. Now, to make sure your taskbar stays in this position, right click an empty space on it and select Lock the taskbar as shown below.

 

If you're really keen on a large viewing space you can do away with both your taskbar and browser menu bars. Just hit F11 on your keyboard and you will view everything in full screen mode.

You can also view full screen by selecting View on your browser menu at the top and clicking on Full Screen.

 

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Tip #14

Open files with one click

If you could open a file with one click why would you settle for having to do it with two? I'm not sure why Windows is set by default to require two clicks to open files but it's a largely unnecessary setting. For a system supposedly geared to maximizing the production potential of the user, it seems odd that Windows XP is set to require a redundant task.

To set Windows to open folders on one click , click Start, click My Computer. Under the Tools menu, click Folder Options. Click the General tab in the dialog box, click Single-click to open an item (point to select), and then click OK.

Now you can access your files and folders with just one click.

 

Note: If you don't want underlines under icon titles make sure to click the Underline icon titles only when I point at them option (shown in image above).

 

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Tip #15

Change your pointer scheme

I didn't realize there was so much more to the basic features of Windows XP until I started exploring. You can make changes to and modify just about everything you take for granted in Windows XP and really give it your own personal feel and touch. For example, you can change the appearance of your cursor arrow. You don't have to stay with the default arrow. In fact, you can choose from dozens if not hundreds of cursor schemes.

Note: You will have to change from Classic View to Category View in order to make this change. At the top of the solid blue pane on the left of the Control Panel window select Switch to Category View if you're not already in Category View.

To change your pointer scheme, click Start, and then click Control Panel. In Category View (vs. Classic View) click on Printers and Other Hardware, and then click on Mouse. Click the Pointers tab and browse the available themes. Select the one you like, and then click OK.

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Tip #16

Get Windows to Reveal Hidden Files and Folders

This tip is intended more for power users than than every day Windows XP users. But I recommend every day Windows XP users implement this tip on their computers since it gives more control over basic functions such as removing stubborn programs from their computer. When you remove a program through Add/Remove you are still stuck with the remnants of the program scattered about your PC causing potential confusion and problems in your Windows operating system. Setting Windows to reveal hidden files and folders will help you find leftover files and folders from uninstalled programs in Documents and Settings where they typically hide out .

As a security measure and to prevent users from damaging their system, Windows Explorer, by default, does not display files with attribute set to Hidden. To reset Windows Explorer to show all the hidden files:

• Click Start, and then click Control Panel
• Double-click Folder Options
• On the View tab, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders

Hidden files and folders will appear dimmed to indicate they are not intended to be modified or deleted by the Windows user.

You can reveal another layer of hidden files in Windows Explorer known as "Super-hidden" or Protected Operating System files which are even more sensitive to the operating system than the files revealed in the first step above.

To display these "Super-hidden" files, clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.

It's very important to treat these files and folders with the utmost care.

As I mentioned above, they are hidden for a reason. You can harm your system through uninformed modification or deletion of these files.

They are also hidden as a security measure against hackers who try to change your computer's settings to facilitate their nefarious purposes once they've invaded your system.

I recommend the average user enable this function on an "as needed" basis and then resetting the folder options to hidden when they are done.

 

PC Tips 1-6

 

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