How to change default settings for taskbar grouping

Windows XP will, by default, group open program windows on the taskbar if you have three or more from the same program. This saves space on the taskbar and makes for a more organized look. Some folks, though, want to see each program instance as an individual taskbar icon. You can accomplish that by changing the default setting to a higher number. Here's how:

1. Open the registry editor and navigate to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced
2. In the right pane, double click or create (if it doesn't exist) a DWORD value called TaskbarGroupSize
3. The default setting for the data value is 3. You can change this to whatever number you wish. For example, if you change it to 8, items will not group until you have 8 or more of the same program open.

As always, make a backup of the registry before editing.

Don't display program in Frequently Used Programs list

Don't display program in Frequently Used Programs list (Windows XP)

There's a registry edit you can use to permanently exclude a specific program from appearing on the list. Here's how to do that:

1. Open your favorite registry editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ FileAssocation
2. In the right pane, double click AddRemoveApps
3. Add the program you want to exclude to the Value Data box by typing a semicolon followed by the name of the program's executable file (for example: type ;sol.exe for Solitaire)
4. Close the registry editor and reboot. Remember, always make a backup of the registry key before you make changes to it.

If you're super secretive and don't want any of the programs you use to be displayed, you can edit the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. There you can set the number of entries allowed to populate this section. If you change the setting to zero, this prevents any programs from being displayed.