August 05, 2005

Curious George: Toolbar Trouble Does anyone out there know how to get the toolbar to STAY HIDDEN?

I'm using Windows ME and every time I boot up the darn toolbar wants to be on top. I hate it! can it be forced to bootup as hidden? While I've got your attention any thoughts on forcing the icons NOT to auto arrange? Any hints would be very much appeciated.

posted by Dr_Evil 18 years ago
  • For the second part: I assume you're talking about the icons on the desktop? At the risk of sounding flippant, have you tried right-clicking on the desktop, then selecting "arrange icons" and de-selecting "Auto arrange"?
  • What do you mean it "wants" to be on top? Does it "want" to tie you to the bed too? Are we referring to the bar with the start button? And you have it on auto-hide, but when you boot up, it's there and doesn't go away until you click the desktop, or launch something, at which point auto-hide kicks in and it disappears. If this is actually your problem, watching your toolbar pop up, mocking you every time you boot your pc, I'd suggest medication. If you really hate your toolbar and never want to see it, resize it down to nothing.
  • BB - yep tried that. But Auto arranges on startup. Small Bear - Yep have to beat the bar off with a stick ;) seriously I know that but must be a way to have it auto hide from startup
  • Oh, I see you're using WinME. Is it possible that you keep adjusting these settings to get the toolbar and icons where you want them, but they never get saved because ME crashes before you get a chance to properly shut down (when settings are saved for the next time you boot up)? If I remember correctly, when I was running WinME (or was it win98?), shutting down actually caused the machine to crash, and all sorts of settings would be reset the next time I turned it on. I would suggest turning the PC on, changing the settings, then rebooting to save the settings before you do anything to shake things up installing a better operating system.
  • Small bear - you gonna buy the OS for me? *waits for OS - not a sausage* The OS is pretty stable (I defrag/error & virus check regularlly) & doesn't seem to crash during power down. However I will try just adjusting and powering down and see what happens.
  • Dr. Evil - this is one of those times you really need to consider switching to Linux. While the more modern versions of Windows are quite acceptable (depending on who you ask), Windows ME is not called Mistaken Edition for nothing. If you're mostly doing the basics, then Linux has you covered - word processing, email, browser, media players - it's all in there (in fact, that's one of the major problems: the Linux distributions aren't selective enough by half). So please consider switching. It won't cost you anything except some time doing the conversion and some time learning the new system and you'll be far better off in the end than working with the single worst edition of Windows ever.
  • Run DOS, or a *nix. No toolbars there. Wait, though: Windows doesn't have a toolbar, either.
  • I am very good at hiding tools. Email me for more info.
  • I'm still trying to get a better description of exactly what the problem is. First, please confirm that by toolbar, you mean the bar with the start button on it, just to make sure we're all on the same page. Now, when you right-click that, and go into properties, there's a checkbox labelled auto-hide. Are you saying that you check this box, but it keeps resetting to un-checked every time you reboot? The auto-hide option will hide the toolbar unless A) the mouse is over the toolbar, or B) the toolbar has focus. Having focus means it's the active thing on the desktop- like when a window is in front of all the others, and the title bar is darker. If you click on the toolbar, it'll have focus, and even if you move your mouse off it, autohide will not kick in. When you boot windows, the toolbar has focus, and will not autohide until you click somewhere else, taking focus off the toolbar. Nothing you can do about it, and it's not a bug. Does this accurately describe the problem you are experiencing?
  • The "change your OS" suggestions are usually unhelpful, but in this case an upgrade may be in your near future. ME's got some mighty big bugs in it, and if I were a bettin' man, I'd say that's your problem. My wife had a similar problem with her sound settings getting changed every time she rebooted her computer. Pain in the ass, and I've only known it to happen to ME. So, if you can get the scratch together, I'd definitely recommend an upgrade to 2000 or XP.
  • Your master hard drive is too full. ME's response to this is to create a new profile when booting. You then adjust the setting in this new profile, but then when you reboot, ME creates a new profile again. Clear some space on your hard drive.
  • ME is "characterized by a number of features, the most common and notable one being severe fatigue, usually made worse by even modest exertion." They named it wisely.
  • Yeah, ME is the worst Windows ever. Still worlds better than a Mac, but the worst Windows ever.