| 1. | QLT has never been enabled. QLT has disappeared accidentally. |
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| 2. | QLT fails to appear after being enabled. | |
| 3. | QLT disappears after rebooting. | |
| 4. | QLT cannot be enabled. | |
| 5. | QLT's handles/chevrons missing. | |
| 6+ | QLT is normal except for its height or position or icons. | |
| 9. | QLT is normal but help needed with icons. | |
| - | About the Quick Launch toolbar. |
Quick Launch Basics - section 1
1. Quick Launch toolbar has never been enabled or has accidentally disappeared
This first section explains (i) how to display the Quick Launch toolbar for the very first time (for those who have not been using it before) or (ii) how to re-enable it (for those who have been using it but have lost it accidentally). To make the QLT appear, right-click on an empty area of the Windows' Taskbar > at the context menu, move the mouse over the word 'Toolbars' > at the submenu which appears, you should see there is no tick against the item 'Quick Launch', so click on it. This will cause the menu to close but it will also have put a tick against Quick Launch and, all being well, the Quick Launch area will duly appear on the Taskbar next to the Start button. If the toolbar fails to appear, go to section 2 below. If the toolbar appears but you find it always disappears whenever you reboot the computer, go to section 3. If the terms 'Toolbars' or 'Quick Launch' on the pull-up menu are missing or greyed out, preventing you from enabling the QLT, go to section 4. If you cannot add any new icons because the toolbar is permanently locked, go to section 5. If the QLT is basically functioning normally but is devoid of icons, go to section 6, or is double the height it should be, go to section 7, or is next to the clock, go to section 8. If you need some general help with the icons on the toolbar, check out items 9a to 9e.
Main troubleshooting sections 2, 3 & 4
2. Quick Launch toolbar can be enabled on the Taskbar's right-click menu but fails to appear on the Taskbar
If you can enable the Quick Launch toolbar (as per section 1 above) but the bar does not appear, not even an empty one, go through each of the steps below...
(a) If you are using Windows XP, this problem may happen if you have set the Windows' interface back to a 'classic' mode. This can sometimes have the undesirable effect of disabling the Quick Launch toolbar. To overcome this, reset Windows XP's appearance scheme back to its default (the Teletubbies landscape) and apply section 1 again. If this puts the Quick Launch area back in residence on the Taskbar, you may possibly be able to return to the classic mode, if you prefer it, without losing the Quick Launch toolbar. Try it to find out.
(b) Another possibility with XP is that some other person (or administrator) with access to your machine might have deliberately restricted the Quick Launch toolbar in the Windows' registry without you knowing it. Run Regedit to inspect the following Key... HKey_Current_User\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer. If the Key contains an item 'NoToolbarsOnTaskbar', change its value from a one (1) to a zero (0). Restart Windows to make sure the change takes effect. If there was no such key, or the key was already set to zero, that is obviously not the problem either, so go to (c). Before editing the registry, check out tip T3 in the RH column.
(c) Still with XP, especially if using it with the default NTFS file system, another method that has been known to restore a recalcitrant Quick Launch toolbar is by running Error-checking (aka Check Disk). Error-checking can take one or more hours to complete, depending on the size of your C: partition, and the amount of stuff on it. That's a long time to wait if it doesn't fix the problem. But hey - it's something you're supposed to do periodically anyhow! If you don't know how to run the tool, click Start > 'Help and Support' > in the Search box, type error-checking - and read what it says.
(d) If you still haven't succeeded in restoring the Quick Launch toolbar, whether on XP or an older system, it's time to do some hands-on tweaking in the system folder that normally contains the Quick Launch folder. The aim of this is to try to kick Windows' brain back into sync. It's completely safe to do, there's no risk - and it might even work. Open Windows Explorer (or My Computer) > Tools > 'Folder Options...' > View tab > at 'Hidden files and folders', choose 'Show hidden files and folders' > just below that item, untick 'Hide extensions to known file types' > Apply > OK. Next, disable Quick Launch (as per section 1 above) by checking there is either NO tick against 'Quick Launch' or that 'Quick Launch' is greyed out. Then, staying with Windows Explorer (or My Computer), browse to the folder called Internet Explorer which, normally, would contain the folder called Quick Launch. If there are multiple user accounts on the machine there could be multiple QL folders, so be careful to go to the correct (troublesome) one. The path will be something like (i) in Windows 98: C:\ WINDOWS\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\ or (ii) in XP: C:\ Documents and Settings\ [UserName]\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\ or (iii) in Vista: C:\ Users\ [UserName]\ AppData\ Roaming\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\. Open the 'Internet Explorer' folder and, if you can see a folder called Quick Launch, right-click on it, choose Rename, and rename it, say, 'xxxQuick Launch'. Now, whether there was a folder called Quick Launch or not, create a new one: to do that, right-click on the open window containing 'xxxQuick Launch' > choose New > Folder > right-click on the newly created folder and name it Quick Launch. Open that folder and then use the right-hand mouse button to right-drag a My Computer shortcut (or any other shortcut) from the desktop onto the window of the newly created Quick Launch folder > choose 'Copy here' (this copied shortcut will now serve as specimen content for the QLT). Close all open windows. Do a normal shut down of the computer. Wait a short while (10 seconds is good) before switching a computer back on. When booted back to the desktop, if there is no QLT showing, enable it (section 1 above). And, with any luck, you will find a Quick Launch toolbar appears on the Taskbar with just the My Computer icon in it. If it does, reboot the computer again to ascertain the toolbar stays in situ permanently. If the toolbar did appear but disappeared after a reboot, go to section 3.. If the toolbar did not appear at all, go to section 4(b). (disregard the heading to section 4). If the toolbar did appear, and successfully stayed there after a reboot, but is lacking some icons, go to section 5 for details on how to repopulate the restored toolbar, or to section 12 for help on the best kind of icons to put on the QLT.
3. Quick Launch toolbar can be enabled on the Taskbar's right-click menu but disappears each time the computer is rebooted
If you can successfully enable a Quick Launch toolbar as per section 1 above only to find it disappears again any time you reboot the computer, this is a phenomenon which has a number of different possible causes and fixes...
(a) This rare problem of a disappearing Quick Launch toolbar has been known to happen after installing some software downloaded off the internet. If that is what happened in your case, try uninstalling the program, ideally before using or configuring the said program. Carry out the uninstall in Safe Mode, using the program's own uninstaller if it has one (that will be found, in Safe Mode, via the Start menu > (All) Programs, in the program's own folder group). If the tool has not provided an uninstaller, then open the Control Panel, in Safe Mode, and use Windows' program remover. After the attempted uninstall, shut down the computer, wait 10 seconds, then switch back on. If Windows refused to allow the uninstall in Safe Mode, uninstall the program in normal mode. If the uninstall does not cure the disappearing QLT, or this paragraph did not apply to you, go to (b) next.
(b) If you are using Windows XP, try this fix. Click Start > Control Panel > 'Appearance and Themes' > 'Taskbar & Start Menu' > untick the box at 'Show Quick Launch' (or tick it if it was already unticked) > Apply > OK > close Control Panel. Restart the PC for the changed settings to take effect. After the computer has rebooted, repeat the foregoing sequence but, this time, ensure the box by Quick Launch either receives a tick or is still ticked. Restart the computer again and, when it reboots, you should find the Quick Launch toolbar is present and correct on the Taskbar. If it isn't, right-click on the Taskbar > Toolbars > if there is no tick by Quick Launch, click on it. If there is a tick against it already, the problem is obviously still there. Proceed to step 3(c) next.
(c) If you are using Windows XP, run Regedit to inspect the following Key... Hkey_Local_Machine \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsNT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon. In the RH pane, the value of Userinit should be "C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe," complete with comma, and where 'C:' is the drive containing Windows XP. If the key is correct, go to step 3(d) just below. If the value is different, use Regedit to Export (back up) a copy of the registry branch to the desktop. Then enter the value shown above, close Regedit, and anything else which is open, and do a normal Restart of the computer. After the reboot, enable the QLT and do another reboot to see if Windows is now remembering the settings. If the QLT still disappears, right-click on the Export file on the desktop and choose Merge. This will put the value back to how it was before. Then go to step (d) next.
(d) If you have not previously worked through section 2(d) above, do so now, to the exact letter (disregard the heading to section 2). If that does not prove successful, come back here and continue to step 3(e) immediately below.
(e) This problem of a disappearing Quick Launch toolbar has been known to occur after running a registry cleaner. If this does not apply to you, go to step (f) below. If it could apply to you, when a registry has been inadvertently corrupted by a registry cleaner, the only way to undo the damage is to revert to a backup of the registry which was made either by the registry cleaner before it was run or by a separate registry backup utility. If you do not have a backup of the registry, read on...
A valued reader, in June 2008, told us his QLT started disappearing after running a registry cleaner. He managed to create a new, stable Quick Launch toolbar by opening up a new user account for himself. So, if none of the preceding steps have brought back your own QLT, try creating a new log-in. Log in to the new user, enable the QLT and reboot. Log in as the new user again and, hopefully, the QLT will still be there. If it is, you will be left with the 'small' matter of configuring your new log-in to make it the same as your old one (i.e. desktop, documents and settings, app settings etc.). But that is something you can do steadily over a period of time. Eventually, when everything is transferred over to your new log-in, you can delete your old user log-in from the Control Panel and remove the redundant data files from the old user's 'Documents and Settings'. We are obliged to our reader for the feedback. If this did not work for you, go to section 4(c) (disregard the heading to section 4).
(f) This problem of a disappearing Quick Launch toolbar has been known to occur after removing a virus. That would imply the problem is because the virus, or the removing of the virus, has corrupted part of the registry or the operating system. Go to section 4(c) (disregard the heading to section 4).
(g) We have seen a few other suggested fixes in online forums for the problem of a disappearing QLT but there was never any feedback to confirm they had worked. In fact, it is a fairly safe bet none of them would ever work if the underlying cause was a flawed registry or a flawed OS - so go to section 4(c) (disregard the heading to section 4).
4. Quick Launch toolbar cannot be enabled on the Taskbar's right-click menu e.g. because the 'Toolbars' or 'Quick Launch' option is missing or greyed out
(a) If you have a problem that, when you right-click on the Taskbar to select Toolbars > Quick Launch, you find the 'Toolbars' option or the 'Quick Launch' option is greyed-out or missing, so cannot be selected, and you are certain this is not a formal administrative restriction which has been placed on the machine, work through all possible parts of sections 2 and 3 above, especially 2(d) (but not just 2(d)), to see if any of those steps will happen to fix your problem. When doing so, disregard the headings of section 2 and section 3. If no joy, come back here and continue with 4(b) immediately below.
(b) If none of the steps in sections 2 & 3 above have worked for you, try this... boot into Safe Mode > when there, right-click on the Taskbar > Toolbars > Quick Launch. Irrespective of whether 'Toolbars' is available or not, even in Safe Mode, boot straight back to normal mode and right-click on the Taskbar again to see if the QL toolbar can now be enabled. Switching to Safe Mode, and back from it, is sometimes an effective way of resetting a wayward Taskbar so, with any luck, it might kick the Quick Launch menu component into behaving as well. If still no luck, proceed to (c).
(c) If, despite all of the above, you have still not managed to satisfactorily resurrect the Quick Launch toolbar, there must be some inexplicable fault within either the registry or the Windows operating system itself. The only way to fix a faulty registry in isolation is to restore a recent backup of the registry which was made prior to the Quick Launch problem developing. If you have not been keeping backups of the registry, go to step (d) below. For general info on backing up a registry in the future, see tip T3 in the RH column.
(d) If you were not in a position to restore a registry backup, but you have been using drive-imaging software periodically to make restorable backups of your entire C: drive or C: partition, you can repair the Quick Launch toolbar simply by restoring the most recent disk image that was made at a time when the Quick Launch toolbar was present and correct. If you have not been imaging your C: drive, go to (e) below. For general info on disk imaging, see tip T4 in the RH column.
(e) If you are still without success, after reaching this far down, you may have to give up on getting the Quick Launch toolbar back. But all is not necessarily totally lost. For a workaround, see tip T5 on the right.
The remaining sections on this page, below, are only for people who have a functional Quick Launch toolbar but are experiencing some incidental problem with it.
5. Quick Launch toolbar's handles/chevrons missing
In November 2008 a reader informed us he had successfully restored a missing QLT, to a pre-owned machine, using the registry hack in 2(b) above. But, although the Quick Launch folder contained more than three shortcuts, only the default number of three could be seen on the toolbar, there were no chevrons to access the others, and there were no handles for stretching out the toolbar whether or not the taskbar was locked or unlocked.
This sounded as though the past owner had applied some other policy edit affecting toolbar settings but, not knowing what it was, we do not know the registry hack needed to reverse it. We have not been able to find an answer anywhere on the web. If you are a reader with experience of using the policy editor and know the cure we would be pleased to hear from you so we can add it here for the benefit of others.
Minor problems, sections 6 to 9
6. Quick Launch toolbar can be enabled but there are no icons on it
If there are no icons on your Quick Launch toolbar, just a couple of empty, vertical, divider lines (called handles) on the Taskbar, it means somebody has inadvertently or deliberately dragged off or deleted all the shortcuts that were once on there or were in the Quick Launch folder. To reinstate an icon like 'Internet Explorer', use the right-hand mouse button to right-drag any existing blue Internet Explorer icon from your desktop or Start menu until it is between the Quick Launch toolbar's handles on the Taskbar > when a dark, vertical insertion bar appears between the handles, release the right mouse button > choose 'Copy Here'. Repeat for any other desired icons, for example Windows Media Player or Outlook Express. To display the most important default icon 'Show Desktop', look to see if the lost icon is anywhere on the desktop or in the Recycle Bin. If it isn't, you can download a replacement Show Desktop icon using the first of the five blue links at the very bottom of the RH column.
7. Quick Launch icons make the Taskbar too high
If enabling the Quick Launch toolbar causes the Taskbar to increase to double its normal height (a Windows XP problem, see Fig 3 in the RH col.), and you find you cannot drag it back down to its normal height, here is an original sequence of
©(a) Close all open programs so that there are no buttons showing in the central part of the Taskbar > right-click on an empty area of the Taskbar > if an option to Lock The Taskbar is available, and there is a tick against it, click on it to remove the tick (if there was already no tick, click on the desktop to clear the menu) > hover the mouse over the top edge of the Taskbar till the cursor changes to a vertical double-headed arrow > left-click and drag the Taskbar down to its normal height.
(b) If, after step (a) the Taskbar still refuses to collapse back to single-row height, and you can see this is because the icons are double stacked in the Quick Launch toolbar and/or in the Notification Area (aka System Tray), click on the Quick Launch toolbar's right-hand side grab-handle (the dotted lines that appear after you unlock the Taskbar) and drag the handle sideways to the right, to stretch out the toolbar, until all the icons are visible in a single, horizontal row > click on the top edge of the Taskbar again and drag it down to single-height size.
(c) If, after step (b) the Taskbar still refuses to collapse, right-click on an empty area of the Taskbar > Toolbars > remove the tick against Quick Launch (and all other ticks, if any, that are showing). The Quick Launch toolbar will have disappeared. Now drag the Taskbar down to size > right-click on an empty area of the Taskbar > Toolbars > Quick Launch. The Quick Launch toolbar will have reappeared. In the unlikely event that the Taskbar is still double its proper height, try dragging any surplus icons off the Quick Launch toolbar, onto the desktop, so that there are no more than three icons left on the Quick Launch toolbar. Close any open programs (including any open internet connection) > disable the Quick Launch toolbar again, and restart the PC. After the computer has restarted, enable the Quick Launch toolbar again and, assuming it is still at double-height, work through the whole of the above procedure again, including the restart step, until the problem goes. One way or another, the above procedure will definitely resize a double-height XP Taskbar, no matter how obstinate it appears to be. So, if at first it fails, just keep trying until it finally does work for you.
Once your XP Taskbar is restored to single-row height, right-click on it and relock it.
8. Quick Launch toolbar is on RHS of Taskbar
If your Quick Launch toolbar is in the wrong place, i.e. next to the clock instead of the Start button, and resists all logical attempts to drag it back to the LHS using the toolbar's handle, then here is a
©Minor Icon-Miscellany, sections 9a to 9e
9a. Tool tips hidden behind icons
Occasionally you may notice, when you hover over an icon on the Taskbar, be it in the Quick Launch area or the clock tray, that the icon's tool tip, instead of floating in front of the icon, is hiding behind the Taskbar, so the label cannot be read (see Fig 5). This is an obscure Windows' bug that will seem to come and go of its own accord. The bug has never been fixed, not even in Vista. There had been no documented cause for it prior to this small note first posted here Dec 2007. We can reveal that the behaviour is most likely to be triggered by the simple act of connecting the computer to the internet, but instances of it resulting are unpredictable. One way of fixing it is to disconnect from the internet and then restart Windows. This will cure the tool tips, but for how long is anybody's guess - possibly only until the next time you reconnect to the internet. Another fix is to right click on an empty area of the Taskbar > choose Properties > untick the box next to 'Always on top' > OK > right-click on the Desktop > choose Refresh. Now go back to Taskbar Properties and retick the item 'Always on top'. This will fix the problem but, again, possibly only until the next time you have disconnected from the internet and then reconnected to it. However, we have known instances where a computer has been shut down a hundred times or more before the tool tips misbehave again. It is a fairly rare glitch but, if it ever occurs on your own machine, at least you will now know why it has happened and what you can or cannot do about it. One other thing one can do, of course, is what all the people at MS have been doing for the past ten years which is, instead of fixing the bug, to ignore it. Cont. to 9b in RH col.
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| Fig. 3 (above) When you first enable the Quick Launch toolbar on a Windows XP machine, or you subsequently add a new icon to it, you may well get a horrible double-depth effect like the one above. It can also prove exasperatingly difficult to fix sometimes. How to get it back to normal, like Fig 4 below, is dealt with in section 6. |
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| Fig. 4 (above) When you install new software, the programs concerned will, invariably, want to put their icons all over the place, including on the Quick Launch toolbar. Such icons, like the three on the right in the above example, are often irrelevant to the everyday use of the QLT in which case they should never be left in there as that just ruins the efficiency of the QLT. Hiding or removing superfluous icons is dealt with in section 9c and section 9d respectively. |
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| Fig. 5 (above) A fairly common occurrence, affecting all versions of Windows including Vista, is for an icon's tool tip to be partly hidden behind the Taskbar as in the above example. Resolving this issue is dealt with in section 9a. |
Cont. from 9a in LH col.
9b. Office icons won't work on Vista's Quick Launch toolbar
Some people using Vista have not been able to get icons for Office programs like Word 2007 or Excel 2007 to work from Vista's Quick Launch toolbar. Some have even had problems launching them from the Start menu. This is possibly caused by a conflict with the new UAC 'security' arrangement in Vista whereby it does not like system folders and files to be altered or programs to be run from shortcuts if it has not specifically been granted permission by an authorised user. Whatever the actual cause, the solution is simple - do not put Word or Excel on the Quick Launch toolbar! Not even if they do work properly from there. When the Quick Launch toolbar was originally conceived in 1998, it was never envisaged as a repository for general purpose icons like Word or Excel. The Desktop is the ideal place for shortcuts to apps like Word and Excel.
9c. Hiding icons on the Quick Launch toolbar
If there are lots of icons on your Quick Launch toolbar, you can hide some of them so as to free up horizontal space on the Taskbar. To do this, first, drag the icons that are of most use to you, such as Show Desktop and Internet Explorer, closest to the Start button (see the example in Fig 2) > once your icons are suitably sorted, click on the grab-handle at the RHS of the Quick Launch toolbar and drag the handle to the left until all the less important icons are hidden. You can hide all but three icons by this method. You will be left with a visible, clickable double-chevron to gain access to any hidden icons (see Fig 2).
9d. Removing icons from the Quick Launch toolbar
Be ruthless with each unwanted icon on the Quick Launch toolbar and remove it. Either (i) drag the icon with the right mouse button onto the desktop > Move Here (where the icon will be out of the way) or, (ii) right-click on the icon > choose Delete while holding down the Shift key > Yes (to zap it for good). If you encounter any icons that resist direct removal like this, or can be removed only to irritatingly reappear after a reboot, refer to tip T2 on the right.
9e. Good icons to go on the Quick Launch toolbar
The Quick Launch toolbar takes up valuable real estate on the Taskbar - so keep the visible icons on it to a minimum, just to those you will use a lot or will need quick access to when other windows are maximised and, hence, obscuring the usual desktop icons. We do not think the QLT should be cluttered up with shortcuts to ordinary everyday programs like Word or Excel. Such icons are best deployed just on the desktop or, perhaps, on an Office shortcut sidebar. Things which are ideal for the QLT are shortcuts to any frequently used tools or utilities, removable drives, or the odd folder (see Fig 2 for ideas). See tip T1 in the RH col for help on how to add some useful shortcuts.
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About the Quick Launch toolbar
It was with Windows 98 that the Quick Launch toolbar first appeared, next to the Start button. That brilliant stroke of genius, by some unknown brightspark at Microsoft - to give over a small, flexible, customisable area of the Taskbar to users, so their most frequently used icons could always be seen, even when windows are maximised, and would require only a single click - immediately established itself as one of the best efficiency aids in personal computing.
The term "Quick Launch" is merely a name given to a yellow system folder somewhere on your hard disk, in much the same way that "Desktop" is also just a name given to another yellow system folder. The Quick Launch toolbar is, therefore, like the desktop, just a clever way of displaying the contents of an open folder other than in a normal floating window. Because the Quick Launch toolbar is just a folder in disguise, that is why you can drag shortcut files on or off the toolbar in the same way as you can drag them on or off any other open folder window. The nice touch, though, is that icons on the Quick Launch toolbar will open with one click instead of the normal double-click for icons on the desktop or in folder windows.