Solved Taskbar thumbnail preview disappears quickly

[tchimev]

Hello there,

I have windows 7 RC on my laptop, Dell 1501.

When I start one or more programs from the taskbar and hover my mouse pointer on them I can see thumbnail previews.
The problem is that thumbnail previews disappear too quickly even though my mouse pointer is still on the opened program in taskbar.
I have to move my mouse so I can get another quick preview.
I notice that if I click on an empty space on the taskbar with the left mouse button, and then point to an opened program the thumbnail preview stays for as long as my mouse pointer is on the program.

Does anybody have that problem?

 

[Airbot]

Hi tchimev,

No, I can't say I've ever had that problem. If I have a program open and hover over it on the taskbar, it will stay for as long as I have the mouse over it. Maybe changing the time it takes for the preview window to pop up might help.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1884-mouse-hover-time-change.html?ltr=M

 

[tchimev]

Thank you Airbot,

I try that but no effect on my problem.

 

[Airbot]

Sorry tchimev, I don't know of any solutions to fix that then. Maybe someone else will have a solution.

 

[tchimev]

I notice something else,
if I open regedit or computer management and one of them is active, all other opened programs on the taskbar have long thumbnail preview.
But if for example windows explorer is the active window on taskbar, thumbnail previews stay for a short time.

I do not get it, may be something hooked on explorer.exe process.

 

[db7fan]

Hi tchimev,

I also get that problem. Where is appears to be totally inconsistent when the thumbnail previews actually stay on screen without disappearing, even when hovering the mouse over them. I'm also running the RC on a Dell 1501 and am wondering whether this is molel specific since I haven't heard of anyone else either having the same problem.

 

[tchimev]

Hi db7fan,

I hope it is not, even though I searched the 'Net' and did not find anyone with the same problem.

 

[db7fan]

I haven't found anyone else either. I was wondering whether it might be related to the graphics card, because the one I've got with my laptop is awful - ATI Radeon Xpress 128. Or it could be something else, since you said that clicking on an empty bit of the taskbar makes the previews work properly, perhaps its to do with the taskbar becoming in effect the active window, but its not going in just with hovering the mouse over the relevant programme. Tbh I'm at a bit of loss to.

 

[tchimev]

I found a solution, it is so Dell 1501 specific, and my be bios version.

To summarize:
1. shut down the laptop
2. remove the power supply and the battery
3. press and hold the power button (I pressed it 2-3 times and kept it pressed for about 1 second) --- obviously the laptop will not start.
4. plug in the battery and the power supply, start the laptop and check if the problem is gone. Good luck!

It worked!

Thank you db7fan I could not find it without your help("model specific")!

 

[db7fan]

Yay, it worked ! . Thanks a lot, that's been bugging the hell out of me ever since I installed the RC, and slightly been denting my Windows 7 experience.

 

[DobroDoug]

I'm experiencing the same issue with the thumbnail preview disappearing too quickly. I also have the same problem if I try and use Alt-tab to switch to a different window. The display of the preview is very quick and I can just barely make a selection in time.

I'm running Windows 7 RC Build 7100 on a Dell Studio 1735 laptop. I didn't always have this issue, it seems to have started up a couple of weeks ago. I tried the battery removal trick noted above but it didn't help.

I'm not having much luck finding others with this same problem. This was the only thread I found so far. Hopefully it is just a rare problem with the RC and won't be an issue when Windows 7 is released. Any other suggestions on how to fix this problem would be appreciated.

 

[anachronax]

No such luck

Unfortunately, the problem persists in the RTM version that I just installed. I thought it was a problem that existed only in the RC, so I was pretty excited about installing the RTM. But the fix worked!!

At least we have a fix. This is a very annoying glitch.

 

[mjs]

Wow! This is so lame. This is obviously a problem with a LOT of _DELL_ computers! I have an Alienware m17x (Alienware is owned by Dell now), and I was having the same problem. tchimev's found solution, quoted below, worked for me also.

For the record (in case someone else has the same problems I did) I had the following symptoms:

1. Couldn't move/rearrange shortcuts on the taskbar, even when the taskbar was NOT locked.

2. Left-click & Drag-up for Jump Lists did not work properly. The jump list appears, but as soon as I move the cursor off the shortcut, the jump list disappears. (Right-click on short cut does make jump list work)

3. When more than one instance of a program is running (ie. Windows Explorer), and I hover over the shortcut on the taskbar to see the open window thumbnails, Ican not move the cursor to select the window I want. Instead, like with jump lists, as soon as I move the cursor off the shortcut, the thumbnails disappear.

It's pretty bad. I wonder if Dell knows about this? I can imagine a lot of new Dell computer users calling to complain, and if the Dell support doesn't know about this, those people are screwed unless they find this.

I found a solution, it is so Dell 1501 specific, and my be bios version.

To summarize:
1. shut down the laptop
2. remove the power supply and the battery
3. press and hold the power button (I pressed it 2-3 times and kept it pressed for about 1 second) --- obviously the laptop will not start.
4. plug in the battery and the power supply, start the laptop and check if the problem is gone. Good luck!

It worked!

Thank you db7fan I could not find it without your help("model specific")!

 

[maringuy]

My problem was being unable to select a taskbar preview thumbnail or any item from a jump list because they would all "disappear" as soon as I tried to select something. The solution to the problem came via:

• Control Panel
• Ease Of Access Center
• Make the Mouse Easier to Use
• Make it Easier to Manage Windows
• Unselect "Activate a Window by Hovering Over it".

 

[jscolt45]

Well I had this problem until today. I have been searching for a solution to this for almost a month. While I was on another computer waiting for my Dell Vostro 1000 to start up I found this post. While I was reading this post I looked over and my screen saver was working for the Dell that has been having these problems, so I opened a few programs and my thumbnail preview was working correct again. I was having all the same problems everyone else was having plus my screen saver wouldn't work.

I tried everything from a clean install to updating and changing drivers for my video card. None of this worked, even when a changed to classic view it wouldn't work properly or the screen saver. I'm not sure what I did but it works now and it had been working for a month before it all of a sudden went bad.

If it happens again I will have to try the fix everyone else has been trying.

Thanks.

 

[chrisj]

"MJS" solution worked. Removing battery, etc..

Thanks a million "mjs". This fix worked for me. I had the issues exactly the same as mjs:

1) taskbar previews were dissappearing after 1/2 second or so.
2) Dragging A taskbar icon only displayed the jump lists for a second. Right clicking worked fine to show the jump lists.
3) The preview would only last 1/2 second also.

However, sometimes it did work but more often it didn't. The jump list issue never worked.


Exactly as you said and instructed I did. I have a DELL INSPIRON 1501 laptop. So it does seem to be suited to this model at least. I had this issue for a few days but it wasnt an issue at all for the past few months after getting Windows 7 installed.


I am not sure if it is relevant but I got a boot error a few days ago mentioning that "the ac adaptor is not recognised..." and some more info but I am not sure if it happened before or after the issue. Also my touch pad started acting up in the past few days so maybe there is something in that too. Also, perhaps it is something to do with an update from windows, although this issue seems to be some few months old now.

Thanks again.
Chris

 

[Hartley001]

just done what MJS posted a worked fine for me... thanks alot pal...

 

[chrisj]

Oh no not again...

Ok so the solution, although it worked, is not a complete fix. Occurred again the evening that it was fixed with MJS's solution.

Tried the fix again and it has worked for the last few days at least. Me thinks I will have the same problem again though. At least there's a temporary fix I suppose..

Chris

 

[chrisj]

Back again and the fix ain't workin' no more

Hi all,

The same problem has come up for a third time. Now the fix won't work as it did before. All the same problems of previews dissappearing etc. Again, its on a 1501 dell laptop. Boo..............


What to do?

 

[chrisj]

Okay, i felt compelled to update the thread.

The fix as mentioned already, ceased to work for me. However, now I have just run the WEI (windows experience index) and increased the virtual memory to twice the recommended.

I shut down the laptop and tried the "MJS" fix and it is working for now.

I should say that I am having an issue with a crappy battery that wont charge and its coming up with an error that the "..ac adaptor is not recognised.." and that "..optimal system performance maybe affected.." on boot up. I didn't get that error this time.

Also, the ATI Radeon 1150 card keeps recovering if I play a full-screen flash swf on the web with "allow hardware accelleration" enabled.

Laters...