Bottom of serveral windows are below taskbar

I have my taskbar at the bottom of the screen. I don't seem to recall this always happening. However, lately I can open Chrome browser or Notepad, the bottom of the window may be behind the taskbar. When I drag a small window, it will stop at the taskbar. But when I open a window, e.g. notepad, sometimes the bottom is below the taskbar, like this:

There are other times, when whatever goes below the taskbar is cut off by the taskbar. Am I missing a setting somewhere?

Thanks in advance.

Phil,

You seem to be describing normal behaviour. Notepad and many other applications open their windows wherever they were the last time the applications ran [but some are real pigs, IE is/was]..

It is possible to reset Notepad by just moving & resizing it and it will open there next time. The same is generally true for other applications
- Don't use the WinKey-RightArrowKey etc key combinations as they do not affect how it opens next time.

I have a batch file that 'resets' Notepad to the right-hand half of the screen [as if it had been WinKey-RightArrowKeyed] but figuring out the numbers you need to put in takes a lot of tedious experimenting.
- move Notepad where you want it
- check the values of the Registry key referred to in the batch file
- Close Notepad
- Insert those values in the batch file in place of mine
- Open Notepad
- Notice that is it not quite where you wanted and repeat these steps until you decide that it is near enough.
- My batch file has a section for each of my computers so I can just maintain a single batch file to use on all of them. If you only want to set a single computer then you can delete all the other sections to leave just

Code:

:: This sets the Notepad window to the right-hand half of the screen as if it had been WinKey-Righted
:: No test has been made for Display scaling
:: No allowance has been made for the use of external monitors [the TV]
prompt $g
Title Reset Notepad window
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "fWrap" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "StatusBar" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosX" /t REG_DWORD /d 954 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosY" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosDX" /t REG_DWORD /d 973 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosDY" /t REG_DWORD /d 1055 /f
Pause at EndResetNotepadWindow during testing

This is the full batch file with multiple computer sections
ResetNotepadWindow.bat

Denis

Try3 said:

Phil,

You seem to be describing normal behaviour. Notepad and many other applications open their windows wherever they were the last time the applications ran [but some are real pigs, IE is/was]..

It is possible to reset Notepad by just moving & resizing it and it will open there next time. The same is generally true for other applications
- Don't use the WinKey-RightArrowKey etc key combinations as they do not affect how it opens next time.

I have a batch file that 'resets' Notepad to the right-hand half of the screen [as if it had been WinKey-RightArrowKeyed] but figuring out the numbers you need to put in takes a lot of tedious experimenting.
- move Notepad where you want it
- check the values of the Registry key referred to in the batch file
- Close Notepad
- Insert those values in the batch file in place of mine
- Open Notepad
- Notice that is it not quite where you wanted and repeat these steps until you decide that it is near enough.
- My batch file has a section for each of my computers so I can just maintain a single batch file to use on all of them. If you only want to set a single computer then you can delete all the other sections to leave just

Code:

:: This sets the Notepad window to the right-hand half of the screen as if it had been WinKey-Righted
:: No test has been made for Display scaling
:: No allowance has been made for the use of external monitors [the TV]
prompt $g
Title Reset Notepad window
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "fWrap" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "StatusBar" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosX" /t REG_DWORD /d 954 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosY" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosDX" /t REG_DWORD /d 973 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad" /v "iWindowPosDY" /t REG_DWORD /d 1055 /f
Pause at EndResetNotepadWindow during testing

This is the full batch file with multiple computer sections
ResetNotepadWindow.bat

Denis

Thanks, Denis!! This works wonderful for Notepad. I looked at Google Chrome & Metapad (a Notepad substitute). They don't have any i values. Do you know if I could create those values in the registry for those apps? Since I don't know how to read their position in the registry, I didn't want to do anything that would screw things up.

phrab said:

Thanks, Denis!! This works wonderful for Notepad. I looked at Google Chrome & Metapad (a Notepad substitute). They don't have any i values. Do you know if I could create those values in the registry for those apps? Since I don't know how to read their position in the registry, I didn't want to do anything that would screw things up.

Phil,

The method only works for something that sets Registry values for its size.
- I had to discover for myself how to do it for Notepad and I did not know it would work until I saw it working.
- I was inspired to try by Reset Notepad Default Open Position and Size - TenForumsTutorials

You can find out for yourself what an application uses in the Registry but it's just trial and error finding out whether deliberately manipulating those values yourself works.
- Just by way of example, Control panel, Indexing options sets entries in the Registry. As you change Indexing options, those Registry entries change.
- - But manually changing those Registry values does not change the entries shown in Indexing options.
- - I have never tried manually changing those Registry values then just leaving it to see if those settings are used during indexing after all i.e. despite what the Indexing options dialog says it's going to do
- I have found at least one case in which I can change a Registry value myself and my change is not shown in the user interface despite which the behaviour changes to what I wanted.

If you want to investigate then a good tool is NirSoft's RegFromApp
It is always worth making a new system image before starting so you are protected from making a complete mess of everything.
- Start the application under test
- Start RegFromApp [x86/x64] and select the application under test. If the application is not shown then try the other version [x64/x86].
- Change the relevant property of the application [in this case manually dragging its corners where you want them]
- See if RegFromApp indicates that any Registry entries have changed. If so, go to those Registry keys and have a look.
- Close the application
- See if RegFromApp indicates that any Registry entries have changed. If so, go to those Registry keys and have a look.
- Figure out what you are going to try manipulating and Export their Registry keys as a backup [AppKey1-BeforeChanges.reg].

- - Never bother with .txt format backups. They are useless.
- - .Reg backups can be dropped into Notepad windows to read them anyway. Their layout is much easier to follow than .txt backups. .txt backups have really got nothing going for them at all.
- - When I file .reg files away after finishing with them I add .txt to the end of their name AppKey1-BeforeChanges.reg.txt so I cannot accidentally do anything with them but am reminded by their name of what they are [.reg.txt.

- Mess about trying to change things directly in the Registry keys.
- Re-open the application and see if it has changed in the way you want.
- If you succeed or decide to give up then you can sometimes just stop fiddling but sometimes you need to restore the original values by double-clicking on AppKey1-BeforeChanges.reg [this is referred to as 'merging' rather than 'running' the .reg file].

- - You would not be able to restore Registry entries by using a .txt backup of a Registry key. .txt backups have really got nothing going for them at all.

Denis

Phil,

It's only just occurred to me to tell you that I have an equivalent batch file for setting File explorer opening position-size.

ResetFEwindow.bat

Code:

: This sets the File explorer window to the left-hand half of the screen as if it had been WinKey-Lefted
:: No test has been made for Display scaling
prompt $g
Title Reset File explorer window

REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).left" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).top" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).right" /t REG_DWORD /d 967 /f
REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).bottom" /t REG_DWORD /d 1080 /f

Pause at EndResetNotepadWindow during testing

Denis

Try3 said:

Phil,

It's only just occurred to me to tell you that I have an equivalent batch file for setting File explorer opening position-size.

ResetFEwindow.bat

Code:

: This sets the File explorer window to the left-hand half of the screen as if it had been WinKey-Lefted
:: No test has been made for Display scaling
prompt $g
Title Reset File explorer window

REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).left" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).top" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).right" /t REG_DWORD /d 967 /f
REG ADD "HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "WinPos1920x1080x96(1).bottom" /t REG_DWORD /d 1080 /f

Pause at EndResetNotepadWindow during testing

Denis

Thank you again, Denis. I will check this out.

Try3 said:

Phil,

The method only works for something that sets Registry values for its size.
- I had to discover for myself how to do it for Notepad and I did not know it would work until I saw it working.
You can find out for yourself what an application uses in the Registry but it's just trial and error finding out whether deliberately manipulating those values yourself works.
- Just by way of example, Control panel, Indexing options sets entries in the Registry. As you change Indexing options, those Registry entries change.
- - But manually changing those Registry values does not change the entries shown in Indexing options.
- - I have never tried manually changing those Registry values then just leaving it to see if those settings are used during indexing after all i.e. despite what the Indexing options dialog says it's going to do
- I have found at least one case in which I can change a Registry value myself and my change is not shown in the user interface despite which the behaviour changes to what I wanted.

If you want to investigate then a good tool is NirSoft's RegFromApp

Thanks for the link. I will try it out. I have an old utility (that still works in Win10) called InCtrl5. I downloaded it from PC Magazines website years ago. It takes a snapshot of files, folders, .ini files, & the registry, then quits. After you make changes (such as installing an app), it notes any changes & gives a report. I've used it before to locate areas of the registry that are affected by a change. Sometimes, the registry entries are too confusing.

Try3 said:

It is always worth making a new system image before starting so you are protected from making a complete mess of everything.

Good point!

Try3 said:

- Start the application under test
- Start RegFromApp [x86/x64] and select the application under test. If the application is not shown then try the other version [x64/x86].
- Change the relevant property of the application [in this case manually dragging its corners where you want them]
- See if RegFromApp indicates that any Registry entries have changed. If so, go to those Registry keys and have a look.
- Close the application
- See if RegFromApp indicates that any Registry entries have changed. If so, go to those Registry keys and have a look.
- Figure out what you are going to try manipulating and Export their Registry keys as a backup [AppKey1-BeforeChanges.reg].

- - Never bother with .txt format backups. They are useless.
- - .Reg backups can be dropped into Notepad windows to read them anyway. Their layout is much easier to follow than .txt backups. .txt backups have really got nothing going for them at all.
- - When I file .reg files away after finishing with them I add .txt to the end of their name AppKey1-BeforeChanges.reg.txt so I cannot accidentally do anything with them but am reminded by their name of what they are [.reg.txt.

- Mess about trying to change things directly in the Registry keys.
- Re-open the application and see if it has changed in the way you want.
- If you succeed or decide to give up then you can sometimes just stop fiddling but sometimes you need to restore the original values by double-clicking on AppKey1-BeforeChanges.reg [this is referred to as 'merging' rather than 'running' the .reg file].

- - You would not be able to restore Registry entries by using a .txt backup of a Registry key. .txt backups have really got nothing going for them at all.

Denis

Thanks for the detailed instructions!

phrab said:

I have an old utility (that still works in Win10) called InCtrl5. I downloaded it from PC Magazines website years ago. It takes a snapshot of files, folders, .ini files, & the registry, then quits. After you make changes (such as installing an app), it notes any changes & gives a report. I've used it before to locate areas of the registry that are affected by a change. Sometimes, the registry entries are too confusing.

Phil,

An equivalent is RegShot [from 2013]
regshot download SourceForge.net
regshot - Discussion - Open DiscussionANSI or Unicode
How to Use Regshot To Monitor Your Registry - HTG

I prefer NirSoft's RegFromApp because I can export identified Registry keys several times to capture a blow by blow account of what I'm doing.

I tend to use RegShot if I cannot figure out what is [or is not] going on when trying RegFromApp.

When I downloaded RegShot I also noted a similar tool but have never done anything about it
Download Program Installation Monitor from SourceForge.net

Denis

Wow. I will definitely check these out. Thank you again.

Smilies - TenForums

Denis