Resolved Can't move the taskbar

Hi all,

My sister is completely computer illiterate.

That's the first problem.

The second problem is that when I gave her the computer it was as Windows XP should be OOTB. The taskbar was at the bottom and I installed the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar at the top for easy access.

She insists she didn't do anything, however, in the "2shared" link below, her taskbar is on the right and the MS Shortcut Bar is at the bottom. I told her to do the standard drag-'n-drop, but she says it doesn't work "” nothing moves.

So I'm wondering if I'm missing something? Here's the link:

http://www.2shared.com/photo/HbsPInyy/dt2.html

 

You've not missed anything, the taskbar isn't locked. I'm fairly certain it's a user error Chris. It's curious how a beginner can't use drag'n'drop but is capable of grabbing a screenshot and posting the result online.

Do you have access to the computer?

 

Hi wildfire,

How do I say "That's the understatement of the millennium!" without sounding sarcastic?

As far as grabbing a screenshot goes, it took her four tries to do it. You and I know it's a simple matter of hitting the "PrntScn" key, clicking Paint, Edit, Paste and saving it as a .jpg to the DeskTop. And no matter how slowly I gave her one-thing-at-a-time instructions, it still took four tries. She really would try the patience of Job.

Unfortunately, no; she lives about a hundred miles away.

 

It's been over seven years since I've done a "remote desktop" and I've quite forgotten how to do it.

I checked out "TeamViewer" and I'll have to do a FAQ for setting it up. If I remember correctly (highly doubtful) we both went to the same website and I was able to control from there.

XP has Remote Desktop Connection, but I don't know how to use it. Can you guide me, please?

 

Get started using Remote Desktop with Windows XP Professional

 

@ Steve,

That's what I spent the better part of an hour trying to get her to do last night! The only accomplishment was to get the Start button on top and the Clock on the bottom.

@ wildfire,

Thanks for the link, but as I said, she really is computer illiterate. It would take at least an hour to get her end set up. Really.

For instance, she "lost" a .doc file. I walked her through Search and when I told her to click on "Name" to sort the list, she insisted there was no "Name" anywhere. It took just forever (and to the nth degree of patience on my part) before she finally said, "Oh, you mean Name at the top? "

Seriously.

Do you see what I'm dealing with here?

 

Been there, done that.

Problem is if you can't help her, what makes you think we can?

 

A down-'n-dirty Remote Desktop or something I haven't thought of.

 

Any kind of consensual remote control will require your sister to participate. Any chance she has a neighbour who could help?

 

Sheer joy, isn't it?

Anyway, yes, she does have a neighbour who's pretty good, although he calls me sometimes.

I'll spend 15 minutes, tops, next time I speak to her; and if no joy — call the neighbor. I've already got enough gray hair as it is.

Thanks, wildfire and Steve, for trying to help me teach the unteachable.

 

You really should give TonyT's suggestion a try. I use TeamViewer with newbies quite a bit.

One suggestion I would add is that if you expect to be helping her in the future, when you have control of her computer, go ahead and download and install the full version. Once installed, you don't have to go back to the TeamViewer site to get started - simply have her double click the TeamViewer desktop icon and then give you the password shown on the screen.

Added Thought - Download and install the full version on your computer first.

 

@ Tony & Robert,

Thanks for the info, but Team Viewer is $750 to $2,690 for the full version.

 

TeamViewer is free for non commercial use. I have been using it in that manner for several years. http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx

The link didn't work for me. Try pasting this in: http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx

 

Commercial users are welcome to use these downloads for trial purposes. TeamViewer is free for all non-commercial users!


Tie post Virginia:
Pinch, you owe me a coke!

JpChris,
Give it a shot. It really is extremely simple to install and use. As advertised ready to use in minutes if not sooner. Just follow Tonys direction in thread #12. Nothing ventured nothing gained but I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

Hi all,

I apologize for not answering sooner, but, I didn't receive any e-mail notices that anyone had responded! I re-checked everything on my end and I'm set to get replies. However, it wasn't until I came here that I saw the replies. And, no, the notices weren't going to the SPAM folder.

Anyway, I spent about 10 minutes getting her to do a 1 second job of dragging the MSShortcut Bar to the top. YAY!!!

However, when I had her try to drag the Taskbar again, all the programs that were in the original pic I posted all went away but the Taskbar is still
on the right.

I've got a new pic of her Desktop, but if you'll check it out, there's "Desktop" just peeking out of the bottom. Does that mean anything? As in does it need to be Xed out of? Or, is there a setting somewhere that needs to be checked our unchecked? Like "Show Desktop ", or something?

Really, I'm looking at her DT pic and I'm telling her to hold down the left mouse button and drag to the bottom but it just won't do it. It doesn't make any difference what she grabs onto, it just won't move. That's why I'm thinking there's something that's checked that should be unchecked or vice-versa.

http://www.2shared.com/photo/dIU5_pS_/2nddt.html

 

Hi Arie,

The site was going through an "upgrade\remodel" or something and I got, like, almost two dozen e-mails with dates going back two weeks. Thanks for letting me know it went through.

Anyway, I'm going to have to mark this a Resolved for now because I can't sync up with my sister to do a remote. I really do appreciate the links and tips you all have given. I'll keep the info handy so when we both have the time I can "fix" it.

Thanks!