ShoveIt

Phil Hord
phord@msn.com

"I don't use Macs.  I just happen to 
like my taskbar docked at the top of the screen!"

Purpose

This little utility fixes a "bug" in Windows 95 that has bothered me and some friends since the early beta.  The bug appears when the taskbar is docked on the top of the screen (like a Mac) instead of the bottom.  I've never used a Mac, but I like having my menus drop down instead of pop up (that way the taskbar is near the caption bars and all my system functions are close to each other.)  The problem is that new application windows sometimes appear underneath the taskbar so you can't click their caption bar. Since you can't click their caption bar, you can't easily move the window to correct this bug yourself.

The problem seems to vex some applications more than others (something about how they remember their location, I guess.)  Microsoft Word is one.  LView is another.

ShoveIt fixes the problem by watching for windows that are created with obscured captions and moving them so they're visible.  It can be set to automatically do this (every 5 seconds) or only on command.  The tolerance can also be adjusted so that ShoveIt either moves all windows which slip under the taskbar or only those windows whose captions are mostly obscured.

Installing ShoveIt

Unzip all the files in the ShoveIt ZIP file.  Right-click on the ShoveIt.INF file in the directory you unzipped to and select "Install" from the popup context menu.  ShoveIt will be added to your startup group and accessories group, and copied to appropriate directories.  You can delete the extracted files after installing it.

Uninstalling ShoveIt

In the control panel (Start->Settings->Control panel) click on Add/Remove programs.  Then select ShoveIt in the programs list and click the Add/Remove button.

Using ShoveIt

You can manually adjust all windows positions by left-clicking the ShoveIt icon in the taskbar notification tray (next to your clock).

You can change program settings by right-clicking the icon.  This brings up a dialog (the same as the start-up dialog) that lets you change two settings:

Auto-adjust:	When checked, windows will be adjusted every 5 seconds
Zero tolerance:	Controls what windows ShoveIt thinks need adjusting (try it)

If you click on Ok, the dialog will go away.
If you click on Quit, the program will exit.

Notes

ShoveIt won't do ANYTHING if the taskbar is not at the top of the screen.  (There's nothing to do, right?)

ShoveIt won't affect windows which are AlwaysOnTop, Maximized or Hidden.

Release History

Nov 29, 1995 - Version 1.0
Nov 15, 1995 - Beta release

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Known bugs:
  ShoveIt doesn't affect misaligned maximized windows (see Office95 bug).

ToDo:
  Try to have auto-adjust key off of window create/moves instead of timer (HookProc)
  Fix the explosion of similar bugs caused by MS Office 95 (Yikes!)