What a F**kin' PALAVER!

Treefrog · 26-08-2007, 20:36

It all started with Conor deleting a game that he doesn't play but Bridgit does off the HD on their machine. "Good excuse to get a bigger HD and put my old one in theirs" I thought.

Nice shiny 250Gb drive later (from a shop that has absolutely nothing to do with a certain hardware forum that we all know

) and I'm ready to go. XP disc, motherboard drivers disc, My Documents, etc, backed up on a spare 40Gb drive and off I go. Except that the mobo drivers disc was the one for the kids machine. And XP wouldn't recognise the drive as over 128Gb. Swap the old drive back in and go hunting online for a partitioning utility. Cute Partition Manager is nice and fits onto a floppy btw - no sense burning a CD for 232Kb is there now?

Start again. By this time Conor has found the mobo drivers for mine - I didn't hide it in amongst his games, I know that - format the boot partition and install XP. 0300 by now and I'm knackered. Bed.

Woke up around 0800

still knackered but there's stuff to be done. Create the other partitions and format them; while that's going on I had a bath and did the dishes. Watching paint dry is edge-of-the-seat stuff compared to formatting

Woke up (again) in freezing cold bathwater and looking like a prune - oh joy!

Getting fed up by this stage, so I just dumped everything from the smaller drives into the spare partitions so that it's available without having to keep swapping cables, then realise that I have absolutely no idea where Thunderbird stores all the received e-mails, addresses, etc. So now I have to put the 80Gb back in to use the bookmarks, etc to go and try to find out where it does hide everything, create a new profile, save all the data as accessible to that, then copy it to the new drive and cross fingers. And to my vast surprise and relief it worked. So fairly functional again atm but ...

..it's been ages since I set up this PC originally and I've forgotten a few things:

1 - where do I find the option to change the quicklaunch icons to 'big icons' ?
2 - how do I change the scrolling up and down a window to just scrolling smoothly rather than in ripples. It's making me feel seasick

Help!

Flibster · 26-08-2007, 20:57

1) Right click on a blank part of the quicklaunch bar - view - large icons.

Should do it....

2) Pass.

Simon/~Flibster

Mark · 26-08-2007, 20:59

OK, assuming XP, Large icons (if you don't have Quicklaunch, which most don't):

Right Click on Desktop, select Properties.
Appearance Tab.
Effects button.
Tick 'use large icons'

I'll go see if I can find t'other one.

Mark · 26-08-2007, 21:02

Smooth scrolling in Internet Exploder (Explorer):

Tools -> Options
Advanced Tab
Tick 'Use smooth scrolling' (it's at the bottom of the 'Browsing' section).

If you mean somewhere else, then it may be a driver thing, or it may be somewhere else. Specify where and I'm sure someone will find it.

Edit :- I think there might be a mouse option related to scrolling too. Maybe it's that one.

LeperousDust · 26-08-2007, 21:04

The smooth scrolling may be graphics driver issues, got the latest? Or per chance still got the default XP ones running? If your drivers are good to go, smooth scrolling is hidden in the advance IE options if i remember correctly, but i thought its turned on automatically, so i may have to pass too...

Stan_Lite · 27-08-2007, 05:04

The scrolling thing definitely sounds like windows drivers. If you haven't installed the drivers for your graphics card yet, doing so should fix that.

Treefrog · 27-08-2007, 12:29

Si - no 'view' item on the menu when I right click the bar

Mark - tried that, it only works on the desktop icons

I did break the cardinal rule and make several changes before noticing that it now scrolls nicely - I'm guessing it was the graphics drivers though so ty for the suggestions

Flibster · 27-08-2007, 20:20

Sounds like the taskbar is set to be locked then.

Remove that, view menu should appear.

Simon/~Flibster

Darrin · 27-08-2007, 20:27

Must be an XP Home thing, because mine isn't showing any "view" either. And my taskbar is not locked.

Mark · 27-08-2007, 20:48

There's a Large Icons option for the Start Menu. Is it that one you want?

Right-click Start
Click Properties
Click Start Menu
Click Customize (the enabled one)

To get the one for Quick Launch (and indeed any other toolbar):

Turn on the toolbar you want.
On that toolbar, but not on any button (this is important - at the left or right end of the toolbar seems to work best), right click and select 'Lock the toolbar' to remove the check mark.
In the same place as step #2, right click again and select 'View', 'Large Icons'.
Repeat step 2 to lock the toolbars.

26-08-2007, 20:36	#1
Treefrog Survivor Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Chell Heath, Stoke-on-Trent Posts: 1,761	What a Fkin' PALAVER!** It all started with Conor deleting a game that he doesn't play but Bridgit does off the HD on their machine. "Good excuse to get a bigger HD and put my old one in theirs" I thought. Nice shiny 250Gb drive later (from a shop that has absolutely nothing to do with a certain hardware forum that we all know ) and I'm ready to go. XP disc, motherboard drivers disc, My Documents, etc, backed up on a spare 40Gb drive and off I go. Except that the mobo drivers disc was the one for the kids machine. And XP wouldn't recognise the drive as over 128Gb. Swap the old drive back in and go hunting online for a partitioning utility. Cute Partition Manager is nice and fits onto a floppy btw - no sense burning a CD for 232Kb is there now? Start again. By this time Conor has found the mobo drivers for mine - I didn't hide it in amongst his games, I know that - format the boot partition and install XP. 0300 by now and I'm knackered. Bed. Woke up around 0800 still knackered but there's stuff to be done. Create the other partitions and format them; while that's going on I had a bath and did the dishes. Watching paint dry is edge-of-the-seat stuff compared to formatting Woke up (again) in freezing cold bathwater and looking like a prune - oh joy! Getting fed up by this stage, so I just dumped everything from the smaller drives into the spare partitions so that it's available without having to keep swapping cables, then realise that I have absolutely no idea where Thunderbird stores all the received e-mails, addresses, etc. So now I have to put the 80Gb back in to use the bookmarks, etc to go and try to find out where it does hide everything, create a new profile, save all the data as accessible to that, then copy it to the new drive and cross fingers. And to my vast surprise and relief it worked. So fairly functional again atm but ... ..it's been ages since I set up this PC originally and I've forgotten a few things: 1 - where do I find the option to change the quicklaunch icons to 'big icons' ? 2 - how do I change the scrolling up and down a window to just scrolling smoothly rather than in ripples. It's making me feel seasick Help! __________________ Commit random kindness and senseless acts of beauty

26-08-2007, 20:59	#3
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	OK, assuming XP, Large icons (if you don't have Quicklaunch, which most don't): Right Click on Desktop, select Properties. Appearance Tab. Effects button. Tick 'use large icons' I'll go see if I can find t'other one.

26-08-2007, 21:02	#4
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Smooth scrolling in Internet Exploder (Explorer): Tools -> Options Advanced Tab Tick 'Use smooth scrolling' (it's at the bottom of the 'Browsing' section). If you mean somewhere else, then it may be a driver thing, or it may be somewhere else. Specify where and I'm sure someone will find it. Edit :- I think there might be a mouse option related to scrolling too. Maybe it's that one.

26-08-2007, 21:04	#5
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	The smooth scrolling may be graphics driver issues, got the latest? Or per chance still got the default XP ones running? If your drivers are good to go, smooth scrolling is hidden in the advance IE options if i remember correctly, but i thought its turned on automatically, so i may have to pass too... __________________

27-08-2007, 05:04	#6
Stan_Lite Stan, Stan the FLASHER MAN! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: In bed with your sister Posts: 5,483	The scrolling thing definitely sounds like windows drivers. If you haven't installed the drivers for your graphics card yet, doing so should fix that. __________________ Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean I...

26-08-2007, 20:57	#2
Flibster Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 3,388	1) Right click on a blank part of the quicklaunch bar - view - large icons. Should do it.... 2) Pass. Simon/~Flibster __________________

27-08-2007, 12:29	#7
Treefrog Survivor Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Chell Heath, Stoke-on-Trent Posts: 1,761	Si - no 'view' item on the menu when I right click the bar Mark - tried that, it only works on the desktop icons I did break the cardinal rule and make several changes before noticing that it now scrolls nicely - I'm guessing it was the graphics drivers though so ty for the suggestions __________________ Commit random kindness and senseless acts of beauty

27-08-2007, 20:20	#8
Flibster Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 3,388	Sounds like the taskbar is set to be locked then. Remove that, view menu should appear. Simon/~Flibster __________________

27-08-2007, 20:27	#9
Darrin Dirteh Kitteh Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hiding out in Mormon Country Posts: 1,629	Must be an XP Home thing, because mine isn't showing any "view" either. And my taskbar is not locked. __________________ A bullet may have your name on it, but shrapnel is addressed "to whom it may concern".

27-08-2007, 20:48	#10
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	There's a Large Icons option for the Start Menu. Is it that one you want? Right-click Start Click Properties Click Start Menu Click Customize (the enabled one) To get the one for Quick Launch (and indeed any other toolbar): Turn on the toolbar you want. On that toolbar, but not on any button (this is important - at the left or right end of the toolbar seems to work best), right click and select 'Lock the toolbar' to remove the check mark. In the same place as step #2, right click again and select 'View', 'Large Icons'. Repeat step 2 to lock the toolbars. Last edited by Mark; 27-08-2007 at 20:50.