windows xp - How do I move the task bar?

07
2014-07
  • L.B.

    My mother was moving some things around on her desktop the other day and somehow moved her task bar. It went from horizontal along the bottom of the screen to vertical along the left edge of the screen. Usually it is my job to be the tech support at my house; but I'm stumped! How do I move the task at back the way it was? Oh and it's Windows XP:)

    • Answers
  • 743

    Just drag it to any side of the screen. (if it's locked it wouldn't have moved.)

  • gartenzaun

    I found this in the related section to the right. Windows XP Task Bar stuck on right side of screen

    The gist: A Microsoft support article states that you can set the task bar back to default by booting into safe mode. And the problem might be an empty toolbar using the space.


    • Related Question

    taskbar - Windows XP Start Button is ugly if the Task Bar is on the right-hand edge of the screen
  • Thomas L Holaday

    Windows XP: After moving the Task Bar to the righ-hand edge of the screen, everything looks good except the Start button:

    • It is not centered.
    • It is big.
    • The left hand curve of the button is cut off.
    • 95 of 100 clicks are to invoke "run cmd" from force of habit.
    • 4 of 100 clicks are to invoke "logout."

    It's really not earning its keep.

    Is there a way to either make it less ugly (smaller, centered) or vanish altogether?

    Non-Microsoft solutions are forbidden by policy.


    • Related Answers
  • quack quixote

    Disable the desktop eyecandy. right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Performance settings > on the Visual Effects tab, either select "Adjust for best performance" (clears all checkboxes) or select "Custom" and uncheck "Use visual styles on windows and buttons". You won't get the bubblegum Window-dressings or the shiny round Start button, but it may be more "smaller, centered".

    You could also try finding other themes, but it sounds like your non-MS policy will prohibit most of your options there.

  • Robert Cartaino

    I have my task bar on the right edge and it looks fine to me, but I am using the Microsoft Zune theme.

    You can try downloading the Zune theme (it's a Microsoft product) to see if that is more pleasing. It's quick and painless.

    Download Zune Desktop Theme 1.0 - Worldwide

  • Adnan

    You could try changing the theme to Windows Classic or something. Sorry, I have better solutions, but they're all Non-Microsoft solutions

  • GAThrawn

    Similar to @~quack's answer you could try stopping the Windows Theme service by going to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services, find Themes in the list Stop it and then go into its properties and set it to Manual start (or Disabled).

    This will switch you back to the original Windows 2000 style theme (including a Start button that is a real button rather than a picture), but still keep the XP's Start menu (albeit in grey). All the advantages of switching to the Classic theme and you're not running a background service that you don't need.

  • EvilChookie

    You can disable it, but it is quite tricky. Please note that I haven't tested these solutions, so try them at your own risk.

    This forum post talks about using a VBScript with a switch to hide the start button.

    The same post points to this tool from Petri.co.li, which is a pretty reputable Windows knowledge site - I would hazard a guess and say this is safe.

    Edit: While the tool is probably not permissable by your policy the VB script should be fine.