anyone know if there's module or something that can help me start winamp up using the taskbar buttons instead of using a shortcut through the menu.

taskbar buttons??
you mean like shortcuts? like usual buttons? like umm... buttons to control winamp? like stop, play, pause, just like that???

shortcut2.dll will do that, of course :)
and if you want to control winamp, dynamp.dll is the best (WA2 & 3 both) ;)

aahh okok i see :) thanks a lot!

ive got the same question although i am a noob and dont quite understand the answer. the austerity theme seems to load winamp when one of the taskbar controls is pressed but most other skins dont.
for instance: the winamp buttons in the hellfire theme control winamp just fine but they dont automatically load winamp when its not already.

how can i set up these themes so that they auto-load it like that?

thx

the modules have to be configured to load wa when play/next/etc are pressed. check the wa module docs for the exact command to use.