win7 question about toolbars

[aedipuss]

i'm trying to migrate to win7 from xp but it's making it difficult. i'm a 2 toolbar kinda guy and i can't find a way to get a toolbar at the top along with the standard one at the bottom. not happy about no quicklaunch tools either...

anyway i found how to move the main bar to top, sides, or bottom. and i found how to make the "my computer toolbar" i normally use at the top but only as part of the main toolbar at the bottom. it's unlocked but i can't drag it anywhere??? the old method of dragging the "my computer" icon to the top of the screen doesn't work either. what am i missing?

old habits are not dying easily.

[lordsmurf]

http://rocketdock.com/

[aedipuss]

i had looked at it but as far as i could tell you could put the "my computer" icon up in the rocketdock but not it's contents. what i'm looking for is a list of my drives and document folders up there as in - drive a: drive c: drive d: "my documents" "shared documents" etc... can you copy the individual items up in a rocketdock?

[aedipuss]

here's a screenshot of the type of toolbar i use, can win7/rocketdock have something similar?

also, i couldn't find the repair command for the local area connection. winXP it was right click on the connection and repair was in the list, it's gone in win7. do i have to use the dos ipconfig commands like back in the win98 era again? i use it to flush the dns cache quite a bit and it would be nice to find. anyone know where it went?

[Jim44]

not happy about no quicklaunch tools either...

Does this not give you back Quick Launch?:
http://gizmodo.com/5143200/win-7-tip-miss-vistas-quick-launch-heres-how-you-get-it-back

(I haven't fully migrated to Win 7 yet, so haven't verified it, but I found it with Google, so it must be true. )

[redwudz]

They apparently moved the 'repair' option. If you have the 'Network and Sharing Center' open, click on the 'Troubleshoot problems", then on 'Network Adapter', then 'Advanced' and a checkbox will appear, 'Apply repairs automatically'. It looks like that's the default. No idea if it works as I don't have a network problems at present. I believe the one in Vista just reset the adapter to DHCP and deleted all your fixed address settings.

I used the same method as linked to create something that resembles the quick launch. I use it to list my HDDs for quick access. The regular bar just takes you to a library browser. And if you have a folder open, it disappears. Either you have to add the Quick Launch or use shortcuts on the screen to get to your HDDs quickly.

JMO, but I'm always amazed how MS can fix one 'problem' and create two new ones. At least they fixed the trashcan so it's not so easy to delete and made shutdown only a one step operation.

[aedipuss]

thanks red. have you tried to move a toolbar from the bottom to the side or top? i made new toolbars at the bottom but couldn't drag them anywhere. i was running out of room at the bottom

i didn't have network "problems" either, just needed to flush the dns cache. it's like 3 clicks in winxp. going to be a hassle in win7.

i do like win7 though. boot and shutdown times are amazing compared to the same computer running an old winxp install. also, i like having the programs in the add/remove control panel already loaded, in winxp it takes these 3ghz quads 3 minutes to fetch them.

so far everything i need to work has, so i might make the transitions at the end of the month. i did this test install on an old hard drive with the 4 main drives unplugged.

[redwudz]

I'm from a Apple background, so I always put the taskbar at the top of the screen. The bottom seems unnatural to me. That seems to work the same with W7 as Vista or XP. Just unlock it first, grab and drag it.

I do like W7, but I do dislike IE8, but managed to 'repair' it well enough that I can tolerate it. I wish that when they 'improve' something that they would still let you downgrade some features to the way they were before. I refuse to use sidebars, tabs and a few other new changes, and I don't want my 'favorites' taking up screen space on the side.

[aedipuss]

what i was trying was unlocking the toolbar, right clicking on it and making a new toolbar, and then dragging "my computer" to it". i now had a "my computer" toolbar in the middle of the main bar. what i wanted to do was then drag the "my computer" part of the bar to a different section of the screen, i.e. leave the main part at the bottom and put the "my computer" at the top. didn't seem to be able to drag a portion out of the main.

i don't use i.e at all and haven't for years. firefox with add-ons like "all-in-one toobar" does everything i need and more. thunderbird for email.

[redwudz]

I don't think you can separate the toolbars. You may be aware of this site, but they always seem to have good ideas about improvements to Windows OS's: http://www.annoyances.org/