Custom quick launch pop-up menu for XP

I wanted to have a pop-up menu on my taskbar for accessing my Wizmo shortcuts. Rather than use an add-on program I wanted it to use just the standard OS supplied resources. When not activated it looks like the first image. All you see of it is a – and a >>, clicking the >> pops up a menu like the second image.

When not activated it looks like this. All you see of it is a – and a >>,

clicking the >> pops up a menu like this.

Here’s how I created it:

1. Create a directory to hold all the shortcut’s you want in the menu (e.g. C:Utilities-). The name of the directory will be seen on the taskbar, in this example the name is “-“.
2. Place all your shortcuts in the directory.
3. Left click on the taskbar, choose “Toolbars – New Toolbar…”
4. In the dialog that comes up, select the directory and select OK.

I’ve skipped over the basics of locking/unlocking the toolbar and setting it’s options, some instructions from Microsoft are here: Windows XP: Unlock Toolbars to Customize Them. One key option you need set for the custom toolbar to function as a pop-up menu is to have the “Show Title” option selected for the toolbar. You also need to shrink the toolbar size as much as possible to avoid seeing the toolbar’s icons in the taskbar.

Here are some links to sites with more info on customizing the taskbar and its toolbars:
Customize the Windows Taskbar
Create Your Own Custom Taskbar Toolbar
Customize Toolbars And Taskbar > Add New Toolbar
Windows XP: Customize the Taskbar

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