More Quick Launch Woes

[SPX]

While applying skins in UberSkin, my Quick Launch bar was suddenly relocated to the center of my taskbar. I then dragged it back over next to my Start Button and assumed all was well. Then I opened a window and it opened on the right side next to my system tray. I opened another and it crammed that one next to the other in a litle spot next to the system tray.

It seems that Windows has decided to reserve most of the system tray as future space for Quick Launch icons and I can't fix it. Hopefully someone can help!

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

While applying skins in UberSkin, my Quick Launch bar was suddenly relocated to the center of my taskbar. I then dragged it back over next to my Start Button and assumed all was well. Then I opened a window and it opened on the right side next to my system tray. I opened another and it crammed that one next to the other in a litle spot next to the system tray.

It seems that Windows has decided to reserve most of the system tray as future space for Quick Launch icons and I can't fix it. Hopefully someone can help!

I can tell you a few things about QuickLaunch but nothing about UberSkin. Like many others, I've had QuickLaunch disappear at inconvenient times and set out to figure out the mechanism. I didn't get too far however, so maybe others can fill in the blanks. This is how I currently save QuickLaunch ...

RAR or ZIP up the contents of this folder: C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch which contains the actual shortcuts that you place into QuickLaunch. It may be a good idea to save the file called: Desktop.htt that lives one folder up from here. Note that if you are not the default user this location will certainly be different (don't ask me where though, I only use a single user on Win9x!).

Export the contents of this registry key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop]

Theoretically you should be able to walk up to any Win9x computer and restore that folder (delete the existing one first), install that registry key, restart the shell and get pretty close to having your original QuickLaunch, but it never seems to be exactly as you had it before with respect to order of the icons and where the divider is and whether it is enabled and locked. This gets stranger if you have added a 2nd (or more) toolbar(s). I believe I may need to save a few more registry settings.

For your immediate problem you might try this: Arrange all the QuickLaunch icons like you want them, save that registry key, screw around with UberSkin, if QuickLaunch gets corrupted then restore that saved registry key and restart the shell and see what happens. You'll need NirSoft ExploRestart to easily restart the shell at will.

One more thing about that registry key, it has at least three values. But that is not say that some other program may stash data in there, perhaps even UberSkin. So When restoring that registry key you saved, it should be preceded by a deleter like this:

REGEDIT4

;;; this deletes the current values only:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop]
"Taskbar"=-
"Toolbars"=-
"ViewView2"=-

;;; this would insert your exported data (...etc... would be real bytes!)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop]
"Taskbar"=hex:...etc...
"Toolbars"=hex:...etc...
"ViewView2"=hex:...etc...

This way, if there are some other values in there from another program, the above registry file would leave them safe and sound. This procedure is a bit awkward to be sure. I had intended to write an InnoScript that would delete the QuickLaunch and then re-construct it entirely from scratch one icon at a time. Then it could be compiled to a single EXE to make QuickLaunch repair a simple affair. Never had the time though, but the next time QuickLaunch gets blasted away I will no doubt do it.

Final note: this post is subject to change in the event that some other helpful members correct any of this!

Edited October 18, 2008 by CharlotteTheHarlot