Ligh7 said:
k, just posted in another thread but it is this the only way i know of changes the red , close window and maximize minimize buttons

If you want to change the size of the taskbar icons themselves and make the taskbar smaller it is the same option as changing the red x for closing windows size, in win 7. thats control panel>personalization>window color>advanced or something like that(my themes are turned off the selection changes) or start(windows circle)>run > C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,Advanced,@Advanced
use: Caption Buttons , default-cutoff is 18 for normal size at 17 all the icons become tiny

Window Color and Appearance - Change

im not sure of the default but 18 looks correct.
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This quoted post by Ligh7 is a June 2012 post but I have to thank him/her for this info. I changed to a 27", 2560 x 1440 monitor and the taskbar icons at the small setting were too tiny, while set to large were too huge. I Googled for a fix for a couple of hours. Then found this thread. Using Ligh7's tip and changing the "Caption buttons" setting to 38, my taskbar icons are just the right size for me now.

Thanks Ligh7 !!!
Skyzoomer