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Why are my new toolbar choices grayed out?

Posted By : Josephine of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on February 25, 2001

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When right clicking the mouse on the desktop a window opens that would allow me to create a new toolbar, the problem is that all the choices for toolbars especially the "Quick Launch" are grayed out. What should I do to get this function back?

Thanks for your assistance.

This question was answered on February 25, 2001. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.


Hi: I found a couple of possibilities in the Microsoft knowledge base Do you have Internet Explorer 4 or 5, and is the Windows Desktop Update component installed on your computer? It should be, since you have Windows 98 Another possibility is that the "Quick Launch" folder has been deleted To resolve this, recreate the folder by either;

1 creating a folder named "Quick Launch" (without the quotes) at the following location: C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ or

2 if you are currently using Windows Profiles, create the Quick Launch folder at the following location: C:\Windows\Profiles\[profile name]\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\

([profile name] is the name of the currently logged on user name; don't use the brackets.)

Since, as I understand, you are getting to the "New Toolbar" box OK (just that your choices are grayed out), here might be a way to get the customized items you want:

Create a folder to contain the contents of your new toolbar Copy items you want from the desktop to the folder Right-click the taskbar, point to toolbars, click new toolbar, browse to the folder you created, click the folder, then click OK Restart your computer to complete the process.

Another question for you - when you open a specific window, like My Computer or My Documents, there is also an opportunity to customize a toolbar at the top of the window On the View menu, you point to toolbars, then click the one you want Does this work for you, or are the choices grayed out here too?

Here are some resources in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: (Go to www.microsoft.com, and click support, then knowledge base.)

Q171206: How to Customize the Quick Launch Toolbar

Q165695: How to Add or Remove Windows Desktop Update

Q216663: How to Create and Customize a User-Defined Toolbar in Windows 98

Good luck!

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Posted by Josephine of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on February 25, 2001

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