Windows 7 - Taskbar Thumbnail Previews - Change Delay Time

   Information

This will show you how to change the delay time for how long it takes to display taskbar thumbnail previews when you hover the mouse point over a pinned item or open window icon or button on the Windows 7 taskbar.

   Tip

If you set the ExtendedUIHoverTime value in step 4C of Method Two below to a long millisecond value (ex: 10000) for the delay time, then it would effectively be the same as disabling the taskbar thumbnail previews.

   Note

Having the visual effects setting Animations in the taskbar and Start Menu checked will cause a slight delay since is causes the taskbar thumbnail preview to fade open and close.

   Warning

Taskbar thumbnail previews will only work if you are using a Aero Theme. This feature is not available in the Windows 7 Starter edition.

1. To Restore the Default Taskbar Thumbnail Preview Delay Time

A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.

Default_Taskbar_Thumbnail_Delay_Time.zip

B) Go to step 3.

2. To Have a 100 Millisecond Taskbar Thumbnail Preview Delay Time

A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.

100ms_Taskbar_Live_Preview_Delay_Time.zip

3. Click on Save, and save the .zip file to the desktop.

4. Open the downloaded .zip file and extract (drag and drop) the .reg file to the desktop.

5. Right click on the extracted .reg file and click on Merge.

6. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.

7. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply the changes.

8. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg and .zip files on the desktop if you like.

1. Open the Start Menu, then type regedit in the search boxand press Enter.

2. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below step 3A)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

3. To Change the Default Taskbar Thumbnail Preview Delay Time

A) In the right pane, right click on a empty space and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type ExtendedUIHoverTime and press enter. (see screenshot below)

B) In the right pane, right click on ExtendedUIHoverTime and click on Modify. (see screenshot below)

C) Select (dot) Decimal,then type in how many milliseconds (1000 milliseconds = 1 second) you want the delay time to be and click on OK. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: 100 milliseconds may be a good delay time, but adjust the delay time to meet your needs though.

D) You will now see the time changed now in the registry. (see screenshot below)

E) Go to step 5.

4. To Restore the Default Taskbar Thumbnail Preview Delay Time

A) In the right pane, right click on ExtendedUIHoverTime and click on Delete. (see screenshot below step 3D)

B) Click on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

5. Close regedit.

6. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply the changes.