To view the Advanced Settings menu, right click on the dock and select "Advanced
settings". You will be presented with the following menu of options.
The Advanced Settings menu allows you to change the following features (off by default,
unless noted) categorized as:
Dock options (menu expanded by default): Run at startup (on by default), Lock dock
settings, Use touch-mode (for touch screens), and Switch to 'grow' effect
or Switch to 'glow' effect or Switch to 'swing' effect.
Settings data (collapsed by default): Move desktop shortcuts into dock, Backup /
restore settings, Restore factory settings, and Reset all questions / warnings.
Unloading the dock options (collapsed by default): Close dock, and Turn off dock
and switch back to desktop icons.
To expand a collospsed menu, click the section title (i.e. Settings data) or arrow
and that section will expand, displaying the list of options and close the other
section that was expanded.
Dock Options
These options are related to how the dock works, such as: run when Windows starts
(run at startup), lock dock settings so they can not be changed, work with a touch
screen computer (touch-mode), and three choices of how the icons appear when you
move the mouse over them.
Run at Startup (on by default) loads Dell Dock during Windows startup or after a
restart. If you don't want the dock to load at startup, uncheck the "Run
at startup" box. After disabling this feature, if you want to run the Dock
you will need to launch it from the Start Menu (under All Programs, Dell, Dell Dock).
To re-enable the option, check the box, and a message box will appear to notify
you the dock will start when Windows loads.
Once you have finished your customizations and have the dock the way you want it,
this feature will keep it from being changed or moved to a different location.
To enable it, check the "Lock dock settings" box, then click on the desktop to close
the menu.
Then if you try to drag a shortcut onto the dock, you will see the no
symbol preventing you from doing so. It will also prevent you from adding, deleting
or moving any category, shortcut icons or separators. Also, if you right click on
the dock, the menu will not have the options to change the dock.
To make changes again, uncheck the “Lock dock settings” box.
Use Touch-Mode
Touch-mode is for use with computers that have touch sensitive screens (i.e. tablet
system). This allows the person to physically touch the screen with their finger
or a stylus to activate & run an application. Enabling Touch-mode makes the
Dell Dock larger than normal and makes the text description always visible (as opposed
to when a mouse would move over the icon to make it appear) so icons are easier
to locate & touch. When in this mode, the dock will still operate as normal
with a mouse.
Dell Dock in Touch-mode - larger icons and titles always visible.
Switch to 'Grow' Effect
(default)
The Switch to 'grow' effect is how the icons on the dock react when you move the
mouse cursor over it or select it in touch-mode. The grow effect is the default
(factory setting), but can be changed to either the Glow or Swing effects. Only
one effect can be used at a time.
|
Normal icon size.
|
Icon grows larger when
mouse moves over it.
|
Switch to 'Glow' Effect
The Glow effect lightens up the icon when the mouse cursor moves over it.
|
Normal icon.
|
Icon appears brighter.
|
Switch to 'Swing' Effect
The Swing effect animates the icon so it swings left & right (like the pendulum
on a clock) until it slows down and stops, moving. As the cursor moves across
the other icons on the dock, they will swing side to side as well.
|
Normal icon.
|
Icon swings to the left.
|
Settings Data
These options allow you to move a large number of shortcuts to the dock, backup/restore
how you configured the dock, restore how the dock looked when it was new from Dell
(restore factory settings) and reset all questions / warnings.
Move Desktop
Shortcuts into Dock
With this option you can move some or all of your desktop icons into your dock to
reduce desktop clutter and organize shortcut icons. Selecting "Move desktop
shortcuts into dock" will display a dialog box listing the current shortcut
icons on the desktop. You may notice that some icons (i.e. Computer, Network, Recycle
Bin, ...) are not included. This is because these icons are not shortcuts and can
not be moved off the desktop into the dock. Shortcut icons have a curved arrow
on the icon, otherwise it is not a shortcut.
To move shortcuts into the dock, check the box next to the shortcuts you want moved.
If you want all of them moved into the dock, click the "check / uncheck all"
box at the bottom and it will check all of the boxes for you. Likewise, clicking
the box again will uncheck all boxes. If you want most of the shortcuts moved, you
can check the box to select all of them, then uncheck the shortcuts you do not want
moved.
When ready for the shortcuts to be moved from the desktop onto the dock, click the
button. (Click
or
to cancel.)
The shortcuts will be placed on the dock in the Shortcuts section, to the right
of the separator. From here if you would like to organize the shortcuts into drawers,
drag & drop each icon on the desired category.
Backup / Restore
Settings
The Dock has its own backup and restore feature. When you would like to save your
settings and content, click on "Backup / restore settings". A small window will
open asking for a name to save your settings. Type a name or description and click
,
then click
to close the dialog box. (Click
to cancel.)
|
Type in a description for the backup file.
|
After clicking Save, this message will
tell you it was saved successfully.
|
To restore settings, open the Advanced settings menu and click on "Backup/restore
settings". Select the appropriate backup file from the "Load from backup"
pull-down menu. Click
and your dock will be updated to reflect those settings.
This can be helpful if multiple people use your computer because each person can
configure the dock the way they want and then save the settings. Then the person
can load their dock settings when they use the computer.
If you ever want to revert back to the way the dock was originally configured when
your computer was new, click "Restore factory settings". Click on "Yes"
to complete this step. (Click "No" (Do not completely reset my dock) or
to abort.) If you are not sure you want to reset your dock, you can backup your
settings first, using the "Backup/restore settings" option.
Please note that when you restore to factory settings the categories, shortcuts
or separators you added will be lost. Any customization changes you made including:
location of dock, coloring, renamed icons, and any changes under Advanced Settings
will also be lost. There is no way to undo this command unless you used the Backup/restore
option.
While changing the dock, you may see dialog boxes (i.e. asking you "Don't
ask me this question again" or "Always use this answer"). If you
checked any of those boxes, this option will in effect, uncheck all of them.
To reset this feature, click "Reset all questions / warnings" and you
will see a message box confirm the questions have been reset. Click
or
.
Unloading the Dock
Clicking "Close dock" will stop the program, just like the
button on other programs. A confirmation window will ask you to confirm your decision.
Click "Yes" to close the dock.
After closing the dock, if you had "Run at startup" checked, then the
next time you restart Windows, Dell Dock will run. Otherwise, you will have to locate
Dell Dock on the Start Menu & click on it (Start > All Programs > Dell
> Dell Dock).
If you don't want to use the dock anymore and want the icons moved back to your
desktop, click on "Turn off dock and switch back to desktop icons". Please
note that there is no undo command for this option. A confirmation will display
asking you to confirm your decision. Click "Yes" to turn off the dock
& export all shortcuts to desktop. Click "No" (or
to cancel) to keep the dock running.
