I just downloaded Bryce 5 about 4 days ago. But whenever I open it, it's workspace overlaps my taskbar (not physically, I can see the taskbar but it becomes dead and non-respondent) making following tutorials a bit harder. I keep having to hit the WINDOWS key to activate the taskbar so I can click the IE window or ANY window again. Can someone confirm if this is supposed to happen or offer me a suggestion on how to rememedy this annoyance? I need to use my taskbar to do tutorials and for other projects. Thanks in advance.

If I understand this properly, your problem is the windows taskbar at the bottom of your screen... right click on the taskbar, select properties, click 'always on top', ( at least for Win2K ) unclick 'autohide', click 'apply', click 'ok', when you reopen Bryce, the Bryce window will fill down to the Windows taskbar, but not overlap it. BabaLouie

Not sure that will work. I've never been able to access the windows taskbar and have to Alt-Tab through Windows. This is XP, but pretty sure it happened on 98 too.

Just hit your windows start key

I think what the problem is, is that they have their Windows Taskbar options as this : 'always on top' - unchecked 'auto hide ' - checked in this configuration, when Bryce is full screen, you can not see the Win Taskbar nor can the taskbar be raised by dropping the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen. By checking 'always on top' and unchecking 'auto hide', the taskbar has a permanant presence at the bottom of the screen. This way when Bryce is full windowed, the task bar is visible. Also, it the keyboard has a key with the Windows logo on it, that can be struck, and the taskbar and start menu will then appear. Hope this helps, BabaLouie

Actually that is the default settings for the taskbar on all Windows versions. Mine is setup for ALWAYS ON TOP and I don't use the AUTO HIDE as that creates more system crashes. Even still, when I open Bryce I can see the taskbar as a whole but I can't click it. It's the only program I have that's ever done that. I have PSP, PS, Poser, Cinema 4D, etc and this has never happened before. It is something inside the program else it's a bug for Windows XP users.

eeeeewwwwwww..... now that problem I don't know about and I have never had the taskbar crash my system so I am a little suprise to hear that. Are you running a tablet/pen along with a mouse ? If so, perhaps there is a conflict there? BabaLouie

Don't know if this is what you want to do or not: Alt+tab will allow you to switch to other open applications in windows . keep your left thumb on alt and press tab with your index finger as many times as you need to to get to the other app - when you've selected the right one, release your hand from the keyboard. bear in mind the other app must be open as well and under certain circumstances it might not work or jam up Bryce. - TJ

Actually, there are reports that 2 options can setup your system for more frequent crashes. 1) Autohiding the taskbar and 2) Making the desktop as a webpage using one-clicking to access files. This is a problem with how Bryce operates on my machine, it seems like atleast one other user here is experiencing the same problem on WinXP as I am. I don't use a tablet, just a mouse. I know you can ALT+TAB just like clicking the WINDOWS key, but I have chat programs open that I can't see blink when an incoming message is sent because the taskbar isn't active..it pretends to be an image.

I have Bryce5 and don't bother any more with the task bar, I've never been able to access anything on it while Bryce is open, if you're doing tutorials, minimize Bryce, max the tut, then reverse, or print the tutorial out and keep it in front of you while you work in Bryce. Bryce seems to disable the bar as long as Bryce is open, at least for me, I have XP....

You will not be able to access anything on your task bar unless you minimize Bryce first. :-)

I just alt+tab back and forth. Kind of inconvenient.... but for a tutorial I figure that it is just a temporary thing to deal with. When I understand what I need to from a tutorial.... I find no need to see anything other than my Bryce screen anyway. Yep Zhann... I have Windows XP and my task bar is disabled as well.

... you know, the flying window... and then click on the taksbar session you want to go to - forget tabbing around...

As long as Bryce is open, you can't get anything to work even in another open window, I tried, Bryce has to be minimized first...

Exactly Zhann! :-)

Huh? What do you mean, Zhann? I can leave Bryce rendering in the background and work on something else in Word, Rhino or even Photoshop, just alt-tabbing around.

If I have Bryce5 open, that is on screen, even if I'm not working in it, nothing else works, no tabbing, no other apps, if I minimize the Bryce5 window, I can go ahead and work in other apps, and let Bryce render in the background, but as long as that Bryce workspace is on screen, that's it, Bryce shuts out everything else...as for alt-tabbing, what a pain in the neck that is, it's just easier to minimize Bryce to the task bar and go do things normally ....

Can Bryce 5 be purchased/downloaded these days or is that the trial version? If it's the last one then I would love to have it too. A friend of mine is bugging me for a year already that he wants to copy my original.

If you put your taskbar at the top or on the left side of the screen it will be accessible when bryce is open.

I've noticed the same problem since I upgraded to XP - the task bar is inactive. This is particularly annoying when you're working in the terrain editor, because you have to OK or cancel and get back to the main Bryce window before you can minimize Bryce. I've been gnashing my teeth over it for months! Thanks for the Alt+Tab tip, though :)

You youngsters with your Windows mouse habits... :-) In my days, we had to know ooodles of commands by heart and then had to type them. Type them, mind you. :-)))) BTW, Ctrl+Esc displays Start Menu. Alt+Esc cycles through opened programs in the order they were opened. Windows key + M should minimize (and restore) all the opened programs, but it doesn't work exactly like that on my Windows 2000.

XP is a different kinda cat....

Are you guys on the current service pack? Did everybody who is experienceing upgrade to XP as opposed to doing a clean install? I'm on XP, from a clean install, with an admin level account, task bar on bottom, task bar locked in task bar properties, and I go and do whatever I want as long as I tap the start buttom first. If Erlik wants to hit two keys when one will suffice then I simply salute his work ethic.

Hmmnnnn.....this was a new machine with XP Home installed when I bought it. Having read ddruckenmiller's post I checked, everything on my m/c is set up the way he describes, but nothing happens when I hit Start. What I found does work is to hit the Windows key (never thought of doing that before), ignore the start menu that pops up, and hit the icon on the taskbar for the program wot you want to work with. Hurray for that :)

If the common thread is having upgraded a machine with Bryce previuosly installed under another operating system then the situation is very likely tied to how the upgrade process inferred and populated the XP registry. Simply put, where you came from and how you got there makes a difference. It was precisely for this reason that we'd abandoned 'upgrading' within a distributed multinational - just too many variables that cost support and end-user productivity (read:$$$) - adopting instead a processes of saving/retaining the data and ghosting on a standard build of the new os and apps onto a clean machine.

I tried to be clear that I was referring the key on your keyboard... "REALLY - just hit your windows Start key on your keyboard by ddruckenmiller on 3/28/04 22:45 [Delete]"

It's always a nice idea to do a clean install, get rid of the old rubbish. This is not aimed at anyone here, but we use a term at work known as a BCAK error, i.e. the error is somewhere 'Between Chair And Keyboard'. Still makes me snigger when I see it entered into some of the log files :-)

dd, suppose you don't have a windows keyboard? Or have disabled the Windows key because it interferes with games and such? Or want to utilise a different bug ... er, a feature ... that Microsoft coded into Windows. Windows XP have issues with Bryce. I have cleanly installed Bryce on a clean install of XP and still there were bugs with taskbar. You know, the remnant of the "select" menu in Bryce over the Windows taskbar. Such things are the reason why I still have Win 2000 and will have for a foreseeable future. The best OS Microsoft produced up to date.

We could have lots of fun going off-topic and arguing tech points. Which I'm NOT going to do with Erlik - I've heard rumors his W2K weapon of choice is a 32 processor 32G W2000 Datacenter server 'desktop' and that he's modified his lazer printer to include settings for 'stun' & 'kill'...

Nope. I've got a tame Langford's fractal basilisk. :-)

I have the exact same problem, i either alt-esc or alt-tab...or minimize Bryce.

On Windows '98 running Bryce 4, this is not a problem. The taskbar responds exactly as it's supposed to. On XP with Bryce 5, it's true, the taskbar remains idiotic, and we're all forced to use the Windows key. Much like the Apple key they had, back in the day when Apples were still around. I can't remember, but I know that I didn't use XP when Bryce 5 came out. Perhaps they just didn't program Bryce to really work with XP? I believe it was programmed for OS-10, for the Mac, originally... As for having the Auto-hide or Make Desktop Web Page functions making your system unstable, it's an unrelated issue, reports or not! If your system is unstable due to these, then you probably just need more RAM. My main creation rig only uses 256MB DDR RAM, and hasn't crashed for over a month, now...! (Of course, it could be unrelated, there are many reasons why a system might be unstable.) And, last but not least, not to alienate you directly, Sulferic, but did you say you downloaded Bryce? As in, you didn't pay for it? If so, please let us know, and I will personally boycott all of your artwork. If it is a legitimate copy, forgive me for bringing it up.

i accidently removed the icon, show desktop, from my task bar in xp. does any windows guru know how to get it back, or make a new short cut? It isnt to bad but kinda irritating :(

Attached Link: how to recreate show desktop shortcut

Bryce 5 predates XP and was never updated to work properly with it.