Task Bar oddity 2.66

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by MerlinMama

Yes, but on my notes, from when I fixed my browser icon problem, I specified desktop shortcuts (I bolded and underlined, so I'm guessing that was an important distinction). To be safe, perhaps best to go from program folder

Yeah it's a weird one, it seems some solutions work for some folks, but not for others, see ==>> Some taskbar pinned icons are duplicated... And it seems the problem has manifested with some programs under Windows 7!

All we can do is tell one another what worked for us. I went to the .exe because its easier to reach from within my file manager.

All my calibre shortcuts - Start Menu, Send To, TaskBar, and the one I just created on the Desktop - target "C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre.exe". There must be some undercover skullduggery going on with whatever the 'fixed identifiers' are.

BR

[BetterRed]

It used to be that when I ran portable it would get a transient icon in my task bar, hence I could tell at a glance I was running a portable instance



But with the latest portable it makes use of the 'permanent' taskbar icon, so I can't tell at a glance what flavour of calibre I'm running



I use portable a lot to test things, and to preparing screen shots when responding to queries here.

BR

[kovidgoyal]

That's a feature, not a bug The idea is that regardless of how you start calibre, it is always identified as calibre to the OS. Assumin your normal calibre install is 64 bit you can still tell at a glance that you are runnign portable by looking at the statusbar in the main calibre window.

[BetterRed]

@Kovid - What is key phrase MS uses for this idea - apart from 'daft'. Maybe the guy who does 7+TT can add a setting - he knows more about the Windows taskbar than anyone else - period. I'll ask him.

Meantime I'll use pre-2.66 portables.

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

The idea is that regardless of how you start calibre, it is always identified as calibre to the OS.

Whose daft idea was that - some idiot on the Far Eastern Shore I assume

Originally Posted by BR rant

It's me the user - the one who owns the computer, pays the ISP, utility bills, pays MS for the OS license etc - who needs to know what's running, and the task bar has long been my primary source of such information. They already made the highlighting of active tasks almost invisible, especially if there's more than one instance.

Since when did the whims of the OS take precedence over the needs of the user?

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Assumin your normal calibre install is 64 bit you can still tell at a glance that you are runnign portable by looking at the statusbar in the main calibre window.

Can't tell at a glance if calibre is minimised, which for me is more often true than its false.

Before, if I saw portable was running and I wanted to run my 'normal' 64bit install, I would press Winkey+T, Up, Menu key, Down, Down, Enter (portable dies), Winkey+4 (64bit springs to life). And while I did that I could continue with whatever lead me to want the 64 bit version.

Now I have to tap Winkey+4, Enter to restore, read the version number, deduce its not the 64bit installed version, Alt+space, C to close (portable dies), Winkey+4 (64bit springs to life).

It's not a keystroke counting issue, as an efficiency measure that's about as useful $%# on a bull . It's the fact that I have to change what's on my screen and read text in order to determine what's running - hardly a glance, and certainly not information at your fingertips Ψ²

Originally Posted by BR rant

Guess I'll have to have to live with it. Why don't they do something useful like conjure up a way to allow Windows to take advantage the long path name capabilities of NTFS rather than dreaming up daft ideas to rob users of functionality they have come to depend upon over almost a decade - for no apparent good reason.

It's another brick in the dumbing down of society conspiracy wall.

BR

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Just unpin it, run it and pin it again.

This fixed the issue for me. If I deleted the icon from the TB, then chose Calibre from my program list and tried to pin it from that list, I would still get the double icon in the TB. But running Calibre, then choosing the pin to Taskbar option from a right click worked for me.