|
HOME TOPICS SEARCH ABOUT ME |
technofile Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983 Dr. Gizmo: The secret of making program windows retain their placementDec. 19, 2001 By Al Fasoldt Copyright © 2001, Al Fasoldt Copyright © 2001, The Post Standard I have a problem with Internet Explorer. Whenever I go to a page to read, it opens in a minimized state. Is there a way to get it back where it was so that when I go to a page it opens at its maximized size? This actually happens with both Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. -- Shep, address unknown The doctor wondered what was going on also when he first discovered this oddity many years ago. The problem is not related to Internet Explorer or Outlook Express. They're simply behaving the way Windows forces them to. The doc has learned how to get around this, and he'll explain the secret shortly. First, the doctor would like to explain how this misbehavior started. Windows tries to remember the settings of program windows so that they come back on screen the way they appeared the last time you ran them. These settings include the size, location and state of the window. ("State" is my way of describing whether a window had large icons or small icons visible and so on.) So if you make a program window just the right size, position it a little bit down from the top and slightly off from the left edge of the screen, then close it, the next time you run the program Windows is supposed to place the program window in the same spot, at the same size. In Windows 95 and Windows 98, this worked poorly. Windows tended to forget the settings. The doctor is not aware of any improvement in Windows Me. (A tip: Hold down the Ctrl key when closing a window to prompt Windows to remember the settings. This might help in Windows 95 and 98.) In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, this works well. But there's a hitch. Windows does not remember the "Maximized" state of a program window. When you maximize a window (by double clicking on the title bar or by clicking on the tiny, square icon at the upper right of the window), Windows figures you would rather have it remember the previous size and position -- the size and position the window was just before you maximized it. But sometimes it can't store that setting and ends up minimizing the window the next time you run the program in question. This behavior shows up most often in Internet Explorer because we tend to open more windows under IE than under any other program in Windows. This means we tend to notice when they don't seem to behave. What's the solution? There's an easy one. If you want Windows to remember the size and location of a program Window, don't maximize it. Instead, drag the edges (or use the bottom right corner as a pull-gadget) to make the Window the same size as a maximized window. In other words, you make the Window as big as possible the "normal" way, by sizing it manually. Windows has a much better chance of remembering the settings that way. Dr. Gizmo resizes the windows on Al Fasoldt's PC. You can send an Anderson casement window or a question about any technological subject to the doctor or his pal at Technology, Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221. Or send e-mail to afasoldt@twcny.rr.com. |