The Quick Launch bar is a great way to start up your programs. You can completely bypass the Start Menu and launch your programs with just one click. By default, the Quick Launch bar is not enabled. This section will show you how you can enable the Quick Launch bar and how you can make it very useful. First, enable the Quick Launch bar and then customize it by doing the following:
1. Right-click an open space on your taskbar and expand Toolbars and then select Quick Launch. This will make the Quick Launch bar appear.
2. By default, there are three icons on it: Internet Explorer, Show Desktop, and Windows Media Player. You can easily add more icons to the Quick Launch bar by just dragging them onto the toolbar. You can even specify where you want the icon to be placed by dragging the icon between two icons. The best way to add programs to your Quick Launch bar is to browse through your Start Menu and drag icons to the bar while holding down the Alt key. Holding down the Alt key will ensure that you create a copy of the shortcut in the Start Menu to be placed on the Quick Launch bar. Otherwise, when you drag a shortcut from the Start Menu, it will be removed from the Start Menu and placed only on the Quick Launch toolbar. I like to add my drives from My Computer to my Quick Launch bar as well for easy access. Just open up My Computer and drag them on down to the toolbar.
3. Once you have all of the icons set up on your Quick Launch bar, have some fun changing the position of the bar. To do this, you will have to unlock your taskbar. Right-click an open part of the taskbar and select Lock the Taskbar only if there is already a check next to it. If there is not a check, then your taskbar is not locked and you are ready to proceed. Now that you made sure that the taskbar is not locked, you are ready to move the bar around. Let's expand the taskbar up so that you can have one row of Quick Launch icons and then your open programs will be listed below. You can do this by placing and holding down the left mouse button on top of the taskbar, and moving the mouse up, while still holding the button down on the mouse, until the taskbar expands upward. Once the taskbar moves up one notch, you can move the Quick Launch bar up. You can do this by grabbing the left side of the menu on the dotted vertical line with the mouse and moving the mouse up while holding down the left mouse button. When you are finished, your taskbar should look like whatÕs shown in Figure 2-13. Notice that when you have expanded your taskbar up one notch, the system clock expands to show the date as well as the day.
4. When you have the taskbar unlocked, you can easily change the size of the icons that are placed on the Quick Launch bar. This can be done by right-clicking somewhere on the bar that is taken up by an icon, and selecting View. You will then see two choices: large and small icons. By default, the Small Icons are shown. The Large Icons look pretty cool because they make your taskbar look very different. I suggest you play around with this feature and get your icons looking the way you like them best.
5. Once you are finished making all of your changes to the taskbar, I suggest that you lock it again so that you won't accidentally move things around the taskbar.
Now you have customized your Quick Launch bar and have greatly improved your navigation by creating your own list of programs. This will speed up the amount of time it takes to start up any program.
1. Right-click an open space on your taskbar and expand Toolbars and then select Quick Launch. This will make the Quick Launch bar appear.
2. By default, there are three icons on it: Internet Explorer, Show Desktop, and Windows Media Player. You can easily add more icons to the Quick Launch bar by just dragging them onto the toolbar. You can even specify where you want the icon to be placed by dragging the icon between two icons. The best way to add programs to your Quick Launch bar is to browse through your Start Menu and drag icons to the bar while holding down the Alt key. Holding down the Alt key will ensure that you create a copy of the shortcut in the Start Menu to be placed on the Quick Launch bar. Otherwise, when you drag a shortcut from the Start Menu, it will be removed from the Start Menu and placed only on the Quick Launch toolbar. I like to add my drives from My Computer to my Quick Launch bar as well for easy access. Just open up My Computer and drag them on down to the toolbar.
3. Once you have all of the icons set up on your Quick Launch bar, have some fun changing the position of the bar. To do this, you will have to unlock your taskbar. Right-click an open part of the taskbar and select Lock the Taskbar only if there is already a check next to it. If there is not a check, then your taskbar is not locked and you are ready to proceed. Now that you made sure that the taskbar is not locked, you are ready to move the bar around. Let's expand the taskbar up so that you can have one row of Quick Launch icons and then your open programs will be listed below. You can do this by placing and holding down the left mouse button on top of the taskbar, and moving the mouse up, while still holding the button down on the mouse, until the taskbar expands upward. Once the taskbar moves up one notch, you can move the Quick Launch bar up. You can do this by grabbing the left side of the menu on the dotted vertical line with the mouse and moving the mouse up while holding down the left mouse button. When you are finished, your taskbar should look like whatÕs shown in Figure 2-13. Notice that when you have expanded your taskbar up one notch, the system clock expands to show the date as well as the day.
4. When you have the taskbar unlocked, you can easily change the size of the icons that are placed on the Quick Launch bar. This can be done by right-clicking somewhere on the bar that is taken up by an icon, and selecting View. You will then see two choices: large and small icons. By default, the Small Icons are shown. The Large Icons look pretty cool because they make your taskbar look very different. I suggest you play around with this feature and get your icons looking the way you like them best.
5. Once you are finished making all of your changes to the taskbar, I suggest that you lock it again so that you won't accidentally move things around the taskbar.
Now you have customized your Quick Launch bar and have greatly improved your navigation by creating your own list of programs. This will speed up the amount of time it takes to start up any program.
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