Windows Taskbar Mod

[kwchristensen]

I want to mod the windows taskbar to NOT show any running programs - similar to removing the "window list" in Gnome. I not looking to remove items from the system tray, only active windows (ie firefox, notepad, etc). I have found ways of repairing this if it occurs accidently, but no way of making it happen intentionally. It seems like it should be a simply registry change, but I cannot find any documentation about it. Does anyone know how to do this?

[dos_centavos]

Just so I understand exactly what it is you are trying do. You have 3 applications running and they appear in the task bar (A, B, C). If C is the active application you want the task bar to display only A and B?

[kwchristensen]

No, sorry if my post was confusing. Basically I use another application (Object Dock) as my toolbar. It shows what programs are running just like the windows taskbar but with more features so I prefer to use Object Dock instead of the windows taskbar. However I keep the windows taskbar at the top of the screen so I still have access to shortcuts, the system tray, and the start menu if needed. The problem is the windows taskbar gets cluttered because all of the open programs appear in the taskbar - what I am trying to accomplish is remove all open windows, programs, etc from the windows taskbar because I have access to them from my Object Dock toolbar. I don't want any programs to show up in the windows taskbar ever (unless they are running in the system tray). I only want to keep the windows taskbar around for shortcut and system tray access. I hope this clears up the confusion. Thanks, please let me know if anyone finds a fix!

[dos_centavos]

No, sorry if my post was confusing. Basically I use another application (Object Dock) as my toolbar. It shows what programs are running just like the windows taskbar but with more features so I prefer to use Object Dock instead of the windows taskbar. However I keep the windows taskbar at the top of the screen so I still have access to shortcuts, the system tray, and the start menu if needed. The problem is the windows taskbar gets cluttered because all of the open programs appear in the taskbar - what I am trying to accomplish is remove all open windows, programs, etc from the windows taskbar because I have access to them from my Object Dock toolbar. I don't want any programs to show up in the windows taskbar ever (unless they are running in the system tray). I only want to keep the windows taskbar around for shortcut and system tray access. I hope this clears up the confusion. Thanks, please let me know if anyone finds a fix!

I'm not aware of any tweak that will remove the applications from the task bar but this tweak may help.

Since you mention a simple registry change I assume you are comfortable using REGEDIT. As with any manual registry change care should be taken when making this change. I have made this change on both Win2K and WindowsXP. The string had to be added in both cases. If you find a MinWidth entry already present simply change its' value.

Add the following new string entry and value:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowsMetrics

MinWidth REG_SZ -285

The value is (minus) -285

Setting MinWidth to -285 will reduce the size of the application names in the task bar to the approximate size of an ICON. This may be a bit confusing with shortcuts but at least it should cut down on the clutter. You can play with value if you like to find one that is suitable for your needs. To get the original settings back either blank out the value or delete the MinWidth entry. You will need to re-boot or logoff of the account and log back on for the setting to take effect.

Sorry I can't do much more than that for you. I'm not sure how your Object Dock application will react to this change. You are changing the desktop and I'm not sure where Object Dock gets it's values from.

[dos_centavos]

kwchristensen
I found a product you may be interested in
http://www.actualtools.com/articles/detail.php?ID=888

[kwchristensen]

Thanks. The resize is at least better than normal. I will check out that software.