Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
    • First Things First
    • Shut Down Before Leaving
    • I Do Windows!
    • Manually Changing Window Sizes
    • Moving Windows
    • Closing a Window
    • A Window's Menu
    • A Window's Toolbar
    • One Last Note About Windows
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

A Window's Toolbar

A toolbar is a ribbon of buttons across the top of a window. Some programs have multiple toolbars. The toolbar you see atop the My Computer window is fairly common and appears throughout most windows that appear in Windows. Toolbar buttons give you push-button access to common actions you perform with the window.

As you work within a window, the toolbar changes to reflect actions that become available. For example, if you open a folder icon located in a window, not only does the clicked folder's contents replace the window's original contents, but the toolbar changes, as well.

Many toolbar buttons are standard across applications and windows, so you will learn to recognize them quickly.

Simple toolbar management is easy, as you will learn in the next To Do item.

To Do: Managing the Toolbar

1. Maximize the My Computer window. Notice that the Back toolbar button (the button with the left-pointing arrow) is grayed out.
2. Select the Control Panel from the Other Places area then click the Printers and Other Hardware option found in the Control Panel's window. A new folder appears containing, among other items, an icon that enables you to set up a new printer that you might add to your system, as well as icons for existing printers you've already designated. Notice that the Back toolbar button is now available, enabling you to return to the previous window contents.
3. Click the Back button and the original My Computer contents return. (Forward takes you to the Printers folder.) No matter how many windows and subfolders you open within a window, you always can retrace your steps backward and forward with the Back and Forward buttons.
4. Modify the way the toolbar looks. Right-click over the right end of the toolbar (an area in which no buttons appear) and click Customize. Click the down arrow next to Text Options and click on No text labels to select that option (assuming that it was not already selected). Click Close. Your toolbar buttons now display in less space without text descriptions. (You also can control the toolbar's appearance from the View, Toolbar menu bar option.) If your toolbar already displayed the text labels, the labels will now be gone. Select Show text labels from this same dialog box to show labels once again.

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