(( This week’s Tech Tip is for PC Users only. ))
This is part three of a series where we’ve been talking about organizing your PC desktop for greater efficiency in your computer time. In Part I, we talked about creating folders for shortcuts to files and folders. In Part II, we talked about cleaning up and utilizing the efficiency of the Start Menu for quick access to your most used programs. In Part III, I have one last tip to speed up your workflow and this is my favorite!
My screenshots are going to be from Windows XP, since that’s what I have, but Windows Vista isn’t very different so those of you using Vista should be able to follow along with no problem.
This week, I’d like you to meet the Quick Launch menu. It sits right next to the Start button and holds several buttons to your most used programs.
To activate this feature, open your Task Bar menu by selecting Start button > Control Panel > Appearance and Themes > Taskbar and Start menu. If your Control Panel is set to ‘Classic’ display, skip the ‘Appearance and Themes’ step above and go straight to ‘Taskbar and Start menu.’
Once you have the Taskbar menu open, select the ‘Show Quick Launch’ item. Select OK to close the panel.
Now that you have the Quick Launch menu activated, you can customize it to your liking by dragging the various icons to the position you prefer. Don’t miss the double chevrons ‘>>’ which indicates there are more buttons hiding. Again, a simple drag-and-drop will relocate these buttons to the order you prefer. My favorite is the ‘desktop’ button. Placing this in the Quick Launch menu means that no matter how many windows you have open on your desktop, you can always go back to your desktop with one click. How cool is that?!
That’s it for this series. I hope it’s been helpful for you. For comments or suggestions, don’t hesitate to contact Tracy.
Get a printer-friendly download of today’s Tech Tuesday here.
