TECH TIPS
Volume 2 | Issue 7
2 Stubborn PC problems you can fix
1. Your windows slide off the desktop - and you can’t grab them
We’re all familiar with moving program windows around the desktop. You can click-and-hold the window’s title bar to
move it around. But what do you do when you accidentally move a window off the desktop and you can no longer grab
the title bar? The window is stuck in that inconvenient position.
Solution: Use your keyboard to help move your window
The trick to moving these stubborn program windows is to use your keyboard.
Use your keyboard to move a window:
1. Select the program from the taskbar that you are trying to move, and then press ALT+SPACEBAR on your
keyboard. The program’s
shortcut menu is displayed.
2. Click Move.
3. Use your LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW, UP ARROW, or DOWN
ARROW keys to move the window so you can see its title bar on
your screen.
4. After you move the window where you want it, press ENTER.
Accessing shortcut menu
2. Your taskbar has disappeared
The taskbar is that horizontal bar at the bottom of your computer screen that displays open programs on your desktop.
The taskbar also contains the Start menu, which allows you to navigate to various programs installed on your computer.
In many ways, it’s your command central.
Thus, there’s nothing more frustrating than going to start a program, only to find the taskbar gone. A computer without
a taskbar will bring you to a grinding halt.
The good news is that the taskbar never disappears - it just hides. It may be hiding behind other open windows, or at
the top or side of your screen. You can also (unintentionally) make the taskbar so thin that it seems invisible.
The following are possible reasons why your taskbar has vanished, as well as solutions to keep your taskbar from ever
running away again.
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AAMGA 2010 / 2011 Automation Committee
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TECH TIPS
Solution 1: Find your taskbar behind other windows
•If you don’t see your taskbar, minimize all windows on your desktop. See if your taskbar is hiding
behind your open windows.
Finding your taskbar behind maximized windows
•Set your taskbar so it’s always on top of all desktop windows:
1. Right-click the taskbar, and click Properties.
2. Select the Lock the taskbar check box.
3. Make sure the Auto-hide the taskbar check box
is not selected.
Now your taskbar will always be visible, no matter how many
windows you have open. Locking your taskbar also keeps you
from accidentally moving it around.
Locking and keeping the taskbar on top
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AAMGA 2010 / 2011 Automation Committee
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TECH TIPS
Solution 2: Find your taskbar elsewhere on your screen
If you have tried minimizing all windows on your desktop and you still don’t see your taskbar—perhaps it has been
moved. Maybe you’ve moved it yourself by accident. Or, perhaps someone’s playing a practical joke on you.
Regardless, the following will help you get your taskbar back to its proper size.
1. As you did in the previous steps, minimize all windows on your desktop.
If you don’t see your taskbar at the bottom of the screen, perhaps it’s
hanging out to the side or at the top of your desktop.
2. Click-and-drag your taskbar back to the bottom of your screen.
3. Right-click the taskbar, and then click Properties.
4. Click to select the Lock the taskbar check box.
Finding a hidden taskbar
Solution 3: Thicken your taskbar
You can make your taskbar a thin line - so skinny it’s hard to see. To see if you’ve done this unintentionally,
perform the following:
1. Minimize all windows on your desktop. Look at each side of
your screen. If you see a thin strip, that’s the taskbar.
2. Point your mouse at the strip. It changes into a
double-sided arrow
3. Click-and-drag the mouse toward the center of the screen
to thicken your taskbar.
4. After you thicken the taskbar, you can drag it back to the
bottom of the screen by following the steps in “Solution 2”
above.
Finding a thin taskbar
Brought to you by the
AAMGA 2010 / 2011 Automation Committee
>> click here for more tech tips <<