Custom toolbar location XP

A few years ago Umber Ferrule wrote that the toolbars in the taskbar are defined in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams.

This looks very plausible but cannot be the entire story. Deleting this key will in no way affect the taskbar and on rebooting the system the key magically reappears.

Why do I want to know? Simple. I would like to export the key to a reg. file as a convenient backup.

Solution 1:

There are 2 locations that make up the whole of the toolbars for XP.
One is the positional data for the locations of the toolbars, and the icons order in the toolbars, which is in the location of the registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\ The other location is the folder itself that stores the icon items, actual file items, the desktop quick bar location, or the user created toobar folder location.

For making multiple Toolbars and interleaved toolbars, I always create a folder celled "toolbars" in the root of the system disk. Inside there I make sub-folders that hold the icons that will be displayed in the multiple toolbars.

Exporting the registry data will save the positional data, saving the folders is done with a regular system backup/imaging/cloneing operation.
If the problem is manually removing a Toolbar Icon item, your manually removing the file from the folder itself. If the problem is losing a whole toolbar, it comes from removing the folder itself.

The reason for saving the registry seperate is: If you or the system closes the toolbars, or ruins the position, you can get that back. If your changing the icon items in there (and therefore the files themselves), that is assumed to be a desired operation to keep.

Pablo678s problem was importing the registry , the registry is overwritten when the system saves the registry out. Because Toolbars in XP are integrated into the explorer. A person can taskend the explorer insert the key and re-start the explorer. instead of booting the machine, and having the registry overwritten again.

Notes: This is similar to any regular folders, you have the real folder locations, and the position data for the folders opening is stored in the "Bags" in the registry.

Solution 2:

Assume that you already have a custom toolbar which you wish to transfer to another computer or simply back up in case it gets damaged.

The following batch script line will save the settings in a reg file which can be executed when the toolbar has to be restored. The /E parameter directs REGEDIT to export.

REGEDIT /E D:\TBSettings.reg "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop"

To restore the toolbar you need TASKILL, a freeware portable program.

It is similar to the windows program TASKKILL but less drastic and it is needed to kill explorer.exe which restores the taskbar when the computer is turned off.

• Set TASKILL on the windows path

  XCOPY "D:\taskill.exe"   C:\WINDOWS
  

• Kill explorer

  Taskill explorer.exe
  

• Restore toolbar settings with the reg file saved in the backup

  D:\TBSettings.reg