Windows Quick Launch Bar Troubleshooting Tips
By Binary Head at 20 November, 2008, 9:10 am
Most of us work on more than one program and the Quick Launch bar makes it easy to access frequently used programs like Windows Media Player and your e-mail, and to open an Internet Explorer window. Windows XP and Vista loads many programs in the Quick Launch, including Show Desktop. One click on Show Desktop minimizes all the programs on your desktop. Another click restores them.
How to show Quick Launch on the taskbar
1. If the Quick Launch bar is not visible, right-click an empty area on the taskbar and click Properties.
2. On the Taskbar tab, under Taskbar appearance, select the Show Quick Launch check box and click OK.
3. After Quick Launch is displayed, click Show Desktop to minimize all open programs. Another click will restore you back.
How to restore Quick Launch shortcuts
If the task bar is not locked then it may land you in trouble. Sometimes while moving the Quick launch icons the quick Launch shortcuts gets displaced .Follow simple steps below to restore them back.
1. Navigate to Start -> Run-> enter command -> click OK. This will invoke command prompt of your PC.
2. Write below command and hit enter -
regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32.dll
How to recreate and restore “Show Desktop” icon in Quick Launch Toolbar
Sometimes while moving the Quick launch icons the “Show Desktop” gets displaced or deleted. Alternatively, you can press Windows Key + D to show and hide the desktop. It works similar to the Show Desktop icon. But still the icon can be created again and you can easily add it in Quick Launch Bar. Follow the simple steps below to do so-
1. Open Notepad and Type or copy following text:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
2. Now go to File –> Save As… and select Save as Type “All files”
3. Browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32 (for Windows XP)
4. Name the file “Show Desktop.scf” (Make sure that the file is not saved as “Show Desktop.scf.txt”)
5. Create a shortcut of this file. To do so right click the file at the location you just saved it to, and select create shortcut)
6. Move this new shortcut to your Quick Launch bar by drag and drop.
7. If the drag and drop does not suits to you follow the method listed below-
Navigate to following path
For Windows 95/98-> Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
For Windows NT/ 2000/ XP -> C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Note- Username refers to the account name where you want to put the icon. If Login account is admin then the path would be-
C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Copy the Show Desktop.scf file to the Quick Launch folder.
Note By default, the Application Data folder for Windows NT/2000/XP is a hidden folder. You may have to unhide this folder by using the Advanced Settings in Internet Explorer. Click the Show hidden files and folders option.
How to Re-create the View Channels Icon on Quick Launch Toolbar
If you accidentally delete the View Channels icon from the Quick Launch toolbar follow the steps below to recreate it.
1. Open Notepad and Type or copy following text:
[Shell]
Command=3
IconFile=shdocvw.dll,-118
[IE]
Command=Channels
2. Save the new file as a file named View Channels.scf in the following folder, and then quit the text editor.
Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
The View Channels icon automatically appears on the Quick Launch toolbar.
Troubleshooting Tips-
# You try to add the desktop icon to the quick launch bar and you are prompted with an error message ‘This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on the computer. Please contact system administrator.’
Solution- If the user account has been locked before, Quick Launch icons are stored in the following folder. Please check if the icons you required can be copied to this folder.
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>.orig\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
By default the Application Data folder is hidden. Follow the steps below to show the hidden files:
· Click Start -> Control Panel -> Folder Options.
· Click the View tab. Under Hidden files and folders, click “Show hidden files and folders.”
· Click the “Hide extensions for known file type”.
· Click OK.
If you refer to the Show Desktop icon, you can copy it from another user account’s Quick Launch folder. You can also refer to the above method to create a new one.
# When you attempt to add the Quick Launch Bar to the Task Bar, you may receive the following error message- Cannot create toolbar for “
Solution- This behavior generally occurs if the Quick Launch folder has been deleted. You are required to recreate the Quick Launch folder to resolve the issue. Follow one of the simple step below-
Create a folder named “Quick Launch” (without the quotes) at the following location:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
Or,
If you are currently using Windows Profiles, then create the Quick Launch folder at the following location:
C:\Windows\Profiles\profile name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
Where “profile name” is the name of the currently logged on user name.
regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32.dll
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
2. Now go to File –> Save As… and select Save as Type “All files”
3. Browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32 (for Windows XP)
4. Name the file “Show Desktop.scf” (Make sure that the file is not saved as “Show Desktop.scf.txt”)
5. Create a shortcut of this file. To do so right click the file at the location you just saved it to, and select create shortcut)
6. Move this new shortcut to your Quick Launch bar by drag and drop.
7. If the drag and drop does not suits to you follow the method listed below-
Navigate to following path
For Windows 95/98-> Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
For Windows NT/ 2000/ XP -> C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Note- Username refers to the account name where you want to put the icon. If Login account is admin then the path would be-
C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Copy the Show Desktop.scf file to the Quick Launch folder.
Note By default, the Application Data folder for Windows NT/2000/XP is a hidden folder. You may have to unhide this folder by using the Advanced Settings in Internet Explorer. Click the Show hidden files and folders option.
How to Re-create the View Channels Icon on Quick Launch Toolbar
If you accidentally delete the View Channels icon from the Quick Launch toolbar follow the steps below to recreate it.
1. Open Notepad and Type or copy following text:
[Shell]
Command=3
IconFile=shdocvw.dll,-118
[IE]
Command=Channels
2. Save the new file as a file named View Channels.scf in the following folder, and then quit the text editor.
Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
The View Channels icon automatically appears on the Quick Launch toolbar.
Troubleshooting Tips-
# You try to add the desktop icon to the quick launch bar and you are prompted with an error message ‘This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on the computer. Please contact system administrator.’
Solution- If the user account has been locked before, Quick Launch icons are stored in the following folder. Please check if the icons you required can be copied to this folder.
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>.orig\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
By default the Application Data folder is hidden. Follow the steps below to show the hidden files:
· Click Start -> Control Panel -> Folder Options.
· Click the View tab. Under Hidden files and folders, click “Show hidden files and folders.”
· Click the “Hide extensions for known file type”.
· Click OK.
If you refer to the Show Desktop icon, you can copy it from another user account’s Quick Launch folder. You can also refer to the above method to create a new one.
# When you attempt to add the Quick Launch Bar to the Task Bar, you may receive the following error message- Cannot create toolbar for “
Solution- This behavior generally occurs if the Quick Launch folder has been deleted. You are required to recreate the Quick Launch folder to resolve the issue. Follow one of the simple step below-
Create a folder named “Quick Launch” (without the quotes) at the following location:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
Or,
If you are currently using Windows Profiles, then create the Quick Launch folder at the following location:
C:\Windows\Profiles\profile name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
Where “profile name” is the name of the currently logged on user name.
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