Help me with those annoying things in Windows 7

[stduc]

Has anyone worked out how Windows 7 decides to arrange the task bar previews? The order seems to vary randomly. I am talking about the pop up preview windows you get when you hover over an icon on the taskbar, not the order of icons on the taskbar itself.

For example. I may open an explorer window, then later another and later still another until I have perhaps 4 open. The previews may be arranged left to right in the order they were opened one day and yet another day in some random order. I find that very annoying. This seems to happen for all program except excel and internet explorer. They behave differently. IE nearly always shows previews of the tabs in the correct left to right order, except when on occasion only the first tab is displayed, or maybe 2 tabs out of 6 or 7 that actually open! Similarly with excel - either the correct order, or no previews at all, just a generic excel preview!

Any thoughts anyone? Anyone have any idea if there is any logic behind the order they are arranged in.

 

[linney]

I can't say I have ever noticed the problem you describe. What settings do you have via the Taskbar Properties? Among others I have "Lock the Taskbar" and "Never Combine" for the Taskbar Buttons.

Do you see the same behavior if you test from Safe Mode (if the Preview works in that Mode), or if you test in Normal Mode but with another user?

Advanced startup options (including safe mode)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Advanced-startup-options-including-safe-mode

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929135

 

[stduc]

It's not a problem - it's an annoyance. Happens on every machine I have used. I think 7 is just flaky in this area. I have the task bar locked and set to "always combine, hide labels". It just seems logical to me that the second windows should be shown in preview to the right of the first window. Seems this is not always the case though.

 

[linney]

Do you want try "Never Combine"? I can't think of anything else to suggest.

Like you imply, maybe it is a bug that might have slipped through, but in all honesty, you are the first person I know who has raised it.


Have a look at the Appearance and Personalization Troubleshooter via this location, Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting


These are semi related and might be worth a glance?

Windows 7 - Taskbar Preview

http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/29379-taskbar-preview.html

ITaskbarList3 Interface

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd391692(VS.85).aspx

Windows 7 - Taskbar Thumbnail Previews - Enable or Disable

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52265-taskbar-thumbnail-previews-enable-disable.html

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=t...&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=vtvhTa-gAYemvQPs4NGUBw

 

[strongm]

I have to say that I can't replicate this (poor) behaviour on any of my copies of Windows 7 (all Pro). They all work exactly as the OP suggests they ought to - showing the preview windows from left-to-right in the order that they were opened.

 

[stduc]

I'll see if I can figure out a bit more about the circumstances in which it happens and report back if I do. It could be application, hibernation, or boot duration related. I posted in the hopes that someone already had.

I don't like 'never combine' it makes the taskbar too crowded. When I ran XP I had a 3 high taskbar - now I can have a 1 high taskbar again. Yes I know I could use auto hide - but that has its issues - LOL

 

[looslib]

I also see the preview in opened order from left to right.
I run multiple copies of some programs and even with the icons combined, the preview is opened order, left to right.

 

[stduc]

It only effects some programs - Skype is a regular offender. I think it's when a program forces a changes to Basic View and then you end that program and go back to normal view. I'm not 100% sure yet - but I believe that is the reason it happens.