Some time ago I created a little application, Opaque Taskbar to make the taskbar in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 non-transparent so that the white text on it becomes more readable. Today, I am proud to introduce a special native code build of Opaque Taskbar which is coded in pure C++ for faster performance and lighter resource consumption than the .NET app. It has some improvements over the .NET-based Opaque Taskbar app.
My friend Sgt.Riggs was interested in making a native port of Opaque Taskbar and he made it really well.
This special build has the following benefits:
- Faster, instant opaque taskbar at startup. There is no more delay after the first boot of Windows 8. When your Desktop loads, the taskbar will already be non-transparent.
- No .NET framework required. This version is created with static C++ compilation and does not depend on .NET Framework libraries. This makes it work faster and lighter, the application is not resource-hungry and consumes less memory.
- Portable application. The application need not be installed.
The native code version of Opaque Taskbar is just an executable file called wincty.exe. It supports the following command line switches:
wincty.exe /resident - tells the application to stay in memory to handle Explorer crashes/theme changes/window frame color changes.
wincty.exe /noupdate - disables the update check.
Many thanks to Sgt.Riggs for creating this port. The application is available from its download page:
Click here to download the Opaque Taskbar application.
Support us
Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:
It could be further improved by fixing the UI since it’s not using command links properly.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa511455.aspx
thank you!!
enjoy
A million THANK YOUs. Worked beautifully and incredibly easy. I’ve been hating the transparent task bar since I bought my new Window laptop. Thought i had to live with it. THANK YOU. Immediately my eyes feel better.
Hello,
I am also using this tool to do opaque the taskbar but how can I do this through registry? Thank you…
There is no Registry method. You need to run a tool in memory or use the Aero Lite theme: https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-disable-transparency-for-the-taskbar-in-windows-8/
I ask here because days of searching has left my mind totally confused. New Windows 8.1 laptop. Installed classic Shell o get it to a machine I had some chance of being able to use. Have reduced eyesight, and like to usually make fonts Black and a bit larger, BUT NOT ZOOM THE WHOLE PAGE (which does not fix the color anyway. I want to simply change the taskbar font from white to black, and make it larger.
Separate problem is fonts in some Windows places, like opening the battery/power icon–font too small. And the few things in COntrolPanel>Display >”change only the text size” do not do it.
‘Change only the text size’ changes the font size for only a limited elements like menus, title bars, message boxes, icons etc. You will need to increase the DPI to make things larger. Set “DPI” into the Classic Shell menu and increase the size from 100% to a Custom size like 110% or 115 % (if 125% is too large for you). As for the color of the Taskbar text, for that you need to find a third party theme for Windows 8.1 which has black text and first install UxStyle before applying that theme. Microsoft doesn’t allow customizing text colors any more in Windows 8 because classic theme is gone.
“Set “DPI” into the Classic Shell menu and increase the size from 100% to a Custom size like 110% or 115 % ”
I cannot find anything about DPI in Classic Shell Menu. Which tab is it on?
And I really did not want to ake EVEERYTHING bigger because I have managed to get lots of thing OK now–just some remaining ones I could not fix.
how to fix the problem after the system recovery program does not run on startup, and even through the executable file that help make
Ask at winreview.ru/forum please :)
Opaque Toolbar does not work on multiple monitors; only makes the primary monitor opaque, leaving the second monitor transparent.