Make Windows XP/Vista Taskbar look like Windows 7 Taskbar(Iconized Taskbar)
by Bimal Roy on September 12, 2009
in Windows Vista, Windows XP
Windows 7 only show the icons of apps and not their names/text. But Windows XP/Vista also show the text along with the icons that are not as big as Windows 7’s. The Windows 7’s new iconized taskbar feature shows the thumbnail of the app and saves space in the taskbar. Moreover it looks pretty too. So if you want this iconized taskbar feature in Windows 7, just follow the simple registry hack.
1. Type ‘regedit’ in ‘Run’ hit Enter. Now the Registry Editor will be opened.
2. Navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics’.
3. Click on ‘Edit’ and select ‘String Value’ from the ‘New’ menu.
4. Create a new String Value named ‘MinWidth’.
5. Double-click on it and set its value to -255.
6. Now log off or restart your computer for the effect to take place.
NOTE: To get the old taskbar look, just delete ‘MinWidth’ string value.
Now you could attain the Windows 7 taskbar appearence in Windows XP/Vista. But you won’t be able to get the thumbnail feature in Windows XP but you could get the iconized taskbar feature. But in Vista you could get both.
How to get the large taskbar icons in WindowsXP/Vista as in Windows 7
Windows 7 taskbar only show the icons of apps and not their names/text. But Windows XP/Vista show the text along with the icons and are not as big as Windows 7’s. The Windows 7’s new iconized taskbar feature shows the thumbnail of the app and saves space in the taskbar. Moreover it looks pretty too. So if you want this iconized taskbar feature in Windows 7, just follow the simple registry hack.
1. Type ‘regedit’ in ‘Run’ and hit Enter. Now the Registry Editor will be opened.
2. Navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics’.
3. Click on ‘Edit’ and select ‘String Value’ from the ‘New’ menu.
4. Create a new String Value named ‘MinWidth’.
5. Double-click on it and set its value to -255.
6. Now log off or restart your computer for the effect to take place.
NOTE: To get the old taskbar look, just delete the ‘MinWidth’ string value.
Now you could attain the Windows 7 taskbar appearence in Windows XP/Vista. But you won’t be able to get the thumbnail feature in Windows XP but you could get the iconized taskbar feature. But in Vista you could get both.
How to get the large taskbar icons in Windows XP/Vista as in Windows 7
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Tagged as:
Windows Vista,
Windows XP