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.