Windows Vista or Server 2008 - Quick Launch large icons

LargeIcons

I get asked pretty frequently about the icon size I use for my task bar.  I typically run pretty high resolutions (1680x1050 or 1920x1200).  When you run at those high resolutions, the default icon size for the Windows quick launch toolbar is pretty tiny.  Heck, not only are they hard to see, but they are hard to click.  I like the OS X and KDE approach to this problem (hover zoom).

Since we don't have zooming of icons in the explorer shell that is the host to the quick launch toolbar, I do the next best thing.  I change the setting for the icon size.  It isn't real tricky but most people never see the option because they lock the quick launch bar.  Here's how to make the change:

  1. Right mouse click the taskbar and unlock it if it isn't already.
  2. Find a space on the Quick Launch toolbar and right mouse click it.
  3. You should see the menu popup as depicted in the screenshot.  Click the View menu and select Large Icons.

This works on most of the Windows versions out.  I do this on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista.