Help please!

[swilks]

Can someone please help me. I am not getting any answers and it is so frustrating.....Thank you.



My task bar items are moving around by themselves and it is becoming annoying. I have locked the task bar but that does not stop them moving around for no reason. PLEASE can someone help me solve this. I have a set order and a few files I keep open that I work from every day and I really need it to stop. Thank you

 

[huron]

Can you be more specific in how things are moving around? You have all these programs pinned to your taskbar, but they are changing positions? I've never had that happen on mine, but programs that I do launch that aren't pinned do show up in different orders.

 

[swilks]

Can you be more specific in how things are moving around? You have all these programs pinned to your taskbar, but they are changing positions? I've never had that happen on mine, but programs that I do launch that aren't pinned do show up in different orders.

I open quite a few programs every morning in a certain order. Because I live on the computer it makes it so much easier and quicker for me to work. I know exactly where everything is. But during the day as I click in the tool bar (that is locked) to bring up my open programs they move around in the tool bar on their own changing the order in which I open them up in the morning. Therefore if I have a few spreadsheets open in the morning I know the order they are in but then during the day they all switch around. For instance if I have my email open in the tool bar, then my accounting program, then windows excel, then windows and more as I pull them up on the screen one by one during the day then shift order in the tool bar.

I know this may sound like a silly issue sorry. I read somewhere that other people are having the same issue with Windows7 that they dont know how to resolve it either.

Any help what so ever would be so appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[americanbrian]

I can only assume that they all have different file/application names. i.e. you open zebra.xml at the end of your list. Then you open another excel spreadsheet call aardvark.xml for example.

I imagine that as you open these different files/apps, they may sort themselves in alphabetical order or similar. (check what setting your desktop has for arranging files and folders)

Also, after you open a number of files in one program, again for example excel, they will "stack" after 3,4 or 5 usually. It is likely that when the OS stacks them up they will move to the end of the taskbar as the taskbar has "updated" the tab.

There are probably settings somewhere you can access these and change for example to prohibit stacking.

I however would say that you just need to get used to alt-tabbing and not care about it....

 

[swilks]

Thank you so much. I will take a look.

And by the way I am a women with OCD who likes things in a set way and hate changes. Maybe this is my first challange to let go and not care as you say

 

[hang-the-9]

Are you talking about the taskbar on the bottom where the programs show up as you open them? Those are grouped by the order you open them in, then by type.

If not, what toolbar are you talking about?

A toolbar is an area in an application where icons or menus to tools are stored, the area at the bottom of the Windows screen where the clock, Start button is is called the taskbar. In that taskbar you can have Toolbars open, but that does not sound like what you are talking about.

 

[swilks]

Yes the one at the bottom. They just dont stay in the order you open them thats the problem. Its very wiered.

 

[hang-the-9]

The only time they move around is if you open others from the same group. If you open 4 programs, keep them open, they will stay in the same location on the taskbar. If you open them in a different order than you did before, they will come up in that order.

It's not really an issue, just how it works. There is no way to lock programs there in a specific order.

Locking the taskbar just locks it from being dragged around the screen and stops the ability to change width of the toolbars you open.

 

[slhpss]

if you pin the apps to the taskbar they will stay where they are pinned and any time you open that app it will stack the window in that spot... that might help you... after you open your apps how you like them right click on it on the taskbar and click pin to taskbar on each one

 

[hang-the-9]

if you pin the apps to the taskbar they will stay where they are pinned and any time you open that app it will stack the window in that spot... that might help you... after you open your apps how you like them right click on it on the taskbar and click pin to taskbar on each one

That will work, did not even think of this as I spend almost all my time working with XP. You can move those pins around the taskbar also.

 

[swilks]

Best answer selected by swilks.