stargatefan

Is there a reg edit or something that will give us the Quick Launch
bar option back? I'm in a new contract and there is no toolbar option
in the context menu of the taskbar, as there is in Win98SE, Win2K and
even XP. Yet the QL folders are present for all the users on the
system.

I did a quick google yesterday and it seemed like there was a way to
do this in other OSs but didn't see NT listed under the coding I
found. I looked but couldn't see anything NT-related.

Would appreciate any help. I have a minimum of one toolbar besides
the QL one I absolutely must have and would like to know how to get
this type of functionality back even though I'm on NT.

Thanks much!.

calvin

Hi StargateFan ( like this series too btw :-),

Unfortunately, 'QuickLaunch' and the other facilities you are referring to are
Not part of the base NT4 installation. You can get this functionality by adding
the 'Active Desktop' update which comes as part of IE4.0 and above installation
packages.

Have a look at Microsoft knowledgebase articles:

165695 - How to Add or Remove Windows Desktop Update
254919 - How to Install the Windows Desktop Update with Internet Explorer 5.x

for details on how to accomplish this. HOWEVER - fair warning - think carefully
about whether you really need this feautre. Active Desktop has long been
acknowledged as the root cause of 50%+ of stability issues on NT4. You need to
consider whether the added functionality outweighs the potential risk :-(

Hope this info helps.

Calvin.

stargatefan

<sigh> I was afraid of somthing like this. No, a reg edit would have
been one thing, but "installing" something, not a good idea. I'ts not
my home computer, it's one at a work contract, so I don't feel I can
do that.

Do you have any suggestions on trying to get something like this
happening _without_ QL? I tried addinga folder in the Start menu and
labelling it QuickLaunch so that I'd avoid the whole minimize to
desktop everytime I needed to do something, but that doesn't really
work, as you can imagine.

Any tips would be appreciated.

calvin

Hi,

Sorry I can't be of more assistance. I know of no method that could achieve what
you require without the addition of more code, be it from the Active Desktop
Update, or a third party product.

The underlying code is just NOT there in NT4. Personally I'm glad this is the
case, it is one of NT4's greatest selling points - stability through lack of
'bells and whistles' and small footprint through lack of 'bells and whistles'.

Calvin.

john john

If the folder is there chances are that it's installed on the machine.
Are there files named "Show desktop" on the machine?

John

stargatefan

Well, that may be so, but it sure makes life difficult. It might be
bells and whistles to you, and it might mean a less stable
environment, but for a user in the field where they demand so much and
on the double, speed is of the essence. And these "little" things
that to a programmer are not necessary, are vital to us who actually
put heavy duty use on our systems to actually produce and not just
programmatically do things for users. That's the way of things, I
guess. I'm finding that there are a lot of those "limitations" in NT
and it's my lease-favourite. I even like the Mac better, I'm finding,
than NT.

But that's just this user's opinion, of course. I have to do a lot to
overcome these little deficiencies. Ah well, so what else is new.
<g>

Cheers.

stargatefan

No. That's _another_ thing that's missing in this NT! <g>

I went looking for help on the internet one day after work and found
that none of the solutions listed would work.

Seems like they have this NT version even more stripped down than
normal as I've been finding all sort of little (and not so little) things "missing".
Thanks. Appreciate the help. <g>

john john

Well, it's not that hard to install or make work but I imagine that you
will have to have their permission to do it. Search the net for this:

IE5Setup.exe /C:"ie5wzd /e:IE4Shell_NTx86 /I:Y"

It will lead you to different pages teling you how to get the quick
launch on your desktop. You need to know the IE version on the machine
before you use this command... for IE6 the command is:

IE6Setup.exe /C:"ie6wzd /e:IE4Shell_NTx86 /I:Y"

John