To make the Quick Launch bar more useful, delete icons for applications you don't use. If there is a double > symbol, that means there are more icons on the menu.
Resize the Quick Launch area by clicking and dragging the divider line after the small icons.
Notice you can also delete menu items if you don't use them. One other thing you can do to make Programs easier to find in the Start menu is to open the 'All Programs' menu. Check this out to see all the ways you can customize the Start menu. Click on Properties, and you will see a tab for the Start Menu. Right click on an empty area of the main Taskbar section, and a menu will pop up. If you don't use it, you can remove it (see #2 below). Use this to avoid cluttering up your desktop with application shortcuts.
The Taskbar usually consists of 4 distinct parts:
