It is currently March 28th, 2024, 4:47 pm

Total Taskbar Control

Post reviews, recommendations and questions about other software.
Post Reply
User avatar
eclectic-tech
Rainmeter Sage
Posts: 5382
Joined: April 12th, 2012, 9:40 pm
Location: Cedar Point, Ohio, USA
Contact:

Total Taskbar Control

Post by eclectic-tech »

For users who want a great way to hide their taskbar completely, but still have easy access to it and the system tray (no tray popup for XP)...

I recommend Total Taskbar Control from Rocket Dock (you don't need to install Rocket Dock).

This has been around for a while (2011), but I feel it is worth sharing with the forum. It includes 4 executables; taskbar fade-in/fade-out, start, taskbartrigger, and traypopup.

From the author:
There are four exe files in this zip.

The main one is TaskbarController.exe. It shows the taskbar with a fade in, and fades it out when it's not wanted. It has many options (see below).

Then there is TriggerTaskbar.exe. It complements TaskbarController.exe. You put a shortcut to it on your dock (if you have one) to trigger the taskbar from your dock. (You must have TaskbarController.exe running first for this to work.)

And then there is TrayPopup.exe. It triggers the Windows 7 Tray Overflow Window which lets you have tray access even if you've killed your taskbar.

The last is Start.exe. It's for putting a Start orb on your taskbar if you decide to kill the inbuilt Windows Start orb (and there are good reasons to do this - see below)


Here's what they all do:


1. TaskbarController.exe
========================

Features
========
It fades the taskbar in and out and kills it when the taskbar loses focus ie when you click anywhere else other than the taskbar or when another window becomes active;
You can set the fade smoothness and speed;
You can set a delay before it is triggered;
You can limit the trigger area to just the corners of the side the taskbar is on;
You can set a hotkey to trigger it;
You can put a shortcut on your dock to trigger it.


Installation
============
Unzip and move the folder to where you will want to keep it - probably in your Program Files directory, but it will work from anywhere.

The only necessary file is the one called TaskbarFader.exe. The others are for you to use if you want to do any of the suggested things below.


Settings
========

DON'T EDIT THE SETTINGS FILE DIRECTLY. YOU CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS BY RIGHT CLICKING OR DOUBLE CLICKING THE ICON IN THE SYSTEM TRAY, CHANGING SETTINGS IN THE SETTINGS MODULE WHICH WILL APPEAR, AND THEN HITTING THE OK BUTTON.


General settings tab
====================

Start with windows
------------------
Check this box to autostart with Windows. This places a shortcut in the current user's Startup folder in the Start menu. The shortcut is deleted if you deselect it and hit OK again.


Autohide when toggle on
-----------------------
When you hit your hotkey (if you have set one), or a shortcut on your dock (if you have one), the taskbar fades in, and stays in until you hit the hotkey or the dock shortcut again. While it is toggled on, it can either be in fixed mode or in Windows autohide mode. Because I really dislike the normal Windows taskbar autohide mode, I have this selected as OFF. But by all means, turn it on if you want.

Don't Show the Start orb
----------------------------
Check this if you are using StartKiller (see beow).

Also check it if you are using XP.


Use corners only to trigger the taskbar
---------------------------------------
Select one or more of the corners to be your trigger. If you do this, the side that the taskbar is on is disabled. Now, the side is disabled; only the corners you select will trigger it, as well as your hotkey and dock shortcut.


Use a hotkey to trigger the taskbar
-----------------------------------
F12 is set by default, but you can change it to suit yourself or you can disable the hotkey functionality totally.

If you set a hotkey, the hotkey is a toggler. Hit it, taskbar on; hit it again, taskbar off.

If you wish, you can check the Winkey modifier box. If you do this, and your hotkey is F12, then your trigger will be Winkey + F12.

All of this sounds much more complex than it is. Just play with the settings and you will very quickly get used to what they do.

If in any doubt, hit the 'Defaults' button. The program works VERY well with its defaults! Just remember to reselect 'Start with Windows' if you want it to be there next time you start your machine.


Use your hotkey or a dock shortcut ONLY
---------------------------------------
If you select this, then your mouse becomes inactive as a trigger for the taskbar.

If you have set a hotkey, the hotkey will toggle it, which means that if you hit the hotkey once it will show the taskbar; hit it again and it will kill it, but the sides or corners (as triggers) are disabled.

If you have put a shortcut on your dock (using the TriggerTaskbar.exe file), the effect is similar. Hit the shortcut once, taskbar shows. Hit it again, taskbar hides, but the sides and corners are disabled.


Fade settings tab
=================

Tolerance
---------
This is the number of pixels that defines the trigger area. for exampe, if you have set your top left corner as your trigger, if the tolerance was zero, then you would have to hit EXACTLY the corner point. If the tolerance is 4, then anywhere with 4 pixels of that point will work. I actually make it 50 which makes it about the height of the taskbar when it's on the bottom of the screen (so the hot corner is a square in the bottom left corner about the size of the Start orb). But change it to suit yourself.


Smoothness
----------
This controls the number of increments in the fade-in sequence. 70 (the default) seems about right but set it to suit yourself.


Fade in delay
-------------
This is the delay before the taskbar fades in if you move your mouse to the side (or corner) it is on. 300ms is the default. Make it longer or shorter to suit yourself. Zero will make make it trigger virtually immediately. I find this annoying because it's too easy to trigger it accidentally.

=======================================================================






2. TriggerTaskbar.exe
=====================

The file called TriggerTaskbar.exe is for use on your dock. Put a shortcut to it on your dock to trigger the taskbar via TaskbarController.exe. It works similarly to the hotkey function (above) ie once triggered, the taskbar shows and the autokill function is disabled until you hit the trigger again.

If you do not wish to use this functionality, then TriggerTaskbar.exe is totally unused and you can safely delete it if you wish.


Defaults
--------
Hit this button if you want to revert to the defaults it came with.


Remove
------
If you have had it starting with Windows, deselect 'Start with windows' in its Settings first. This will remove the 'Start with Windows' shortcut from your Start menu's Startup folder. Or you can do this manually yourself if you want.

Now, just remove the program's folder. Log off and on and everything will be normal Windows.

Explanation
This program makes no changes to your computer, EXCEPT, a shortcut in your Start menu's startup folder if you select 'Start with Windows'. This is an easy thing to delete at any time. And if you deselect 'Start with Windows' while the program is running, and then you delete its folder, there will be NOTHING left of the program on your machine. It doesn't write anything to your registry.


=======================================================================





3. Start.exe
============

Because the Start orb can't be faded, you might like to try the following:


1. Kill the Start orb
---------------------
Controlling the Start button has become an issue ever since Microsoft unlinked it from the taskbar. (Since Vista, it's been a separate process in its own 'window'.)

Solution: Kill it!

Download a nifty little thing called StartKiller and have it run at Startup. To get it, go to:

http://www.tordex.com/startkiller/

Store it where you want, and in its Settings, have it Start with Windows so it kills the Start menu every time your computer starts.



2. Change the appropriate TaskbarController Setting
---------------------------------------------------
Open TaskbarController Settings via the System tray, Select 'Don't show the Start orb' and hit OK.


3. Use Start.exe
-----------------
Pin Start.exe to your taskbar and put it where the start orb would normally be.

Now you have a Start orb that's part of the taskbar instead of being a separate process that needs controlling.


=======================================================================





4. TrayPopup.exe
================

This pops up the Win7 Tray popup from your dock. It will work only in Win7 since that little popup Window is a Win7 function.

Put a shortcut to it on your dock, or anywhere you want. It will pop up the little Tray Overflow Window wherever your mouse is when you click it, or a shortcut to it.


3. Put a new Start orb on your taskbar
---------------------------------------
If you want a Start orb on your taskbar, pin Start.exe (included in the program folder) to your taskbar. Drag it on the taskbar to where the Start orb would normally be and you have a Start orb that's part of the taskbar instead of being a separate process.

Now, the taskbar will behave as one entity instead of two and it will look much cooler!
fath0m
Posts: 7
Joined: November 28th, 2014, 10:27 pm
Location: Honolulu, HI

Re: Total Taskbar Control

Post by fath0m »

This is so much better than Taskbar Eliminator. I was getting so frustrated.
Kruskal
Posts: 1
Joined: August 4th, 2018, 8:35 pm

Re: Total Taskbar Control

Post by Kruskal »

I love TTC, but I do miss the ability of using the middle mouse to close an app. I tried running TTC and 7 Taskbar Tweaker, which provides this middle mouse function. But then I lose the TTC feature of having the app window back off to avoid getting getting covered by the taskbar.

Any idea how I can get the middle mouse close function when running TTC?

Many thanks -- Vincent
Post Reply