Grouping Windows cmd windows together

[paleseptember]

So, using the .bat files described here generates 8, 16, or heaven's forbid, 32 of those little Windows cmd windows. Which don't group themselves together.

Is there someway, some programs, something(!) that allows you to group those windows together, un-cluttering my Taskbar?

I'm sure I'm not the only Windoze-user with this issue.

Cheers,
PS

[IronBits]

If you are using XP, right click on the Start Button, Properties, select the TaskBar TAB, put a check mark in Group similar taskbar buttons, click OK.

OR, you can edit the Registry (be careful)
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
Value Name: TaskbarGlomming
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = not grouped, 1 = grouped)

OR/And Change the Taskbar Group size
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
Value Name: TaskbarGroupSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: Number of windows (default = 3)

The value 0 causes buttons to be grouped by age (with the oldest group first),
The value 1 groups buttons by size (largest group first),
The value 2 groups two or more windows,
The value 3 groups three or more windows, and so on

and Google is your friend to. :)

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.

[IronBits]

You can also watch a video on how to get this done.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/vid...r_buttons.html

It can also be controlled by group policies which may prevent you from grouping taskbar items.
To correct that problem, use the following steps:

================
1. Click on the "Start" button.
2. Select the "Run..." option.
3. Type "GPEDIT.MSC" and hit Enter.
4. Navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start Menu and Taskbar.
5. In the right pane, double-click on the "Prevent grouping of taskbar items" option.
6. Change the setting to "Not Configured".
7. Click the "Apply" button, followed by the "OK" button.
================

If those suggestions don't work, the registry keys that pertain to this group policy are:

================
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
================
Check both of these keys for the existence of a value named "NoTaskGrouping". If it exists in either place, delete the value. Make sure to take a backup of the "Explorer" keys before you delete the value, in case something goes wrong.

You may have to reboot for setting to take affect.

[paleseptember]

I have the "Group Similar Items" checkbox check in the Taskbar Properties (works fine for browser windows, but not Eon clients)

I don't have a "TaskbarGlomming" Value in the System Key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced] only in the User Key location.

And I don't have TaskbarGroupSize key in either location.

Silly Microsoft :P

And I did try the solve with Google, but quickly ran into a brick wall.

[IronBits]

If you can't seem to get the grouping they way you like it, you can always try Hideit. Been around for a long time and works great, so say many other crunchers. Me, I just make the task bar twice as high, or thrice even, depending on what I'm doing.

http://www.expocenter.com/hideit/ and download it from ,
http://www.expocenter.com/hideit/hideit11.zip

Here is different version that you might take a look at and see if it's more to your preferences.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...35/hideit.html

[jasong]

If you don't mind not being able to precisely track how much each instance is accomplishing, you can do away with the GUI and run the raw program. Then it'll just be a bunch of DOS windows, which should clump very well.

There aren't that many files that eon uses for each instance, so it's just a matter of going to one of the directories and doing some detective work. And then of course, you need to edit the batch file so it starts up multiple instances of the file, rather than multiple instances of the GUI, which then start up multiple instances of EON.

What I want to know is why the people who run the project haven't tweaked the GUI to track multiple instances. Heck, when you get right down to it, why don't they just use one GUI that farms out tasks. Then it has the potential of stopping jobs which are running but not needed anymore.