Windows – Some Programs can’t be pinned to the Window 7 taskbar

taskbarwindows 7

I noticed the other day when running eclipse that I can't pin the Eclipse exe directly (I can pin the shortcut to start it, however once started, it seems to open another application that uses the Java SDK, and that can't be pinned).

It got me thinking: Why can't you pin everything to the taskbar? What are the restrictions on programs? In the case of my Eclipse example, I believe that it could be because its running the Java program in the background, but the same thing happens for programs such as Starcraft 2.

Best Answer

Those apps are actually a multi process app. A tiny launcher (in the case of Starcraft) or a runtime (Java for Eclipse and Minecraft) are started by your shortcut, which in turn load your application main process. If those starter don't assign a correct AppUserModelIDs, which essentially just an identifier for the taskbar, they can't be pinned.

Reason 1

I believe it something about do with the program not taking advantage of Windows 7 features (or APIs). Since this may be the case, Windows thinks it is two different programs. You will have to wait until VMware Player updates its software to take advantage of this new feature. This is the same problem I once had with Google Chrome. After a Google Chrome update, it was resolved.

Reason 2

Another reason, you could have pinned the shortcut of the file instead of the actual program. Find actual program, then right click it and select Pin to taskbar.

Temporary Solution

If the first reason is the case then here is a temporary solution. Open up the program, so that you have duplicate icons. Then right click the duplicate icon (the new one) and click Pin this program to taskbar. Next, right click the original and select Unpin this program from taskbar.

Windows – Can you change the icon of a pinned IE 9 web application? And how do you do it

Start with the site already pinned and no instances of IE running.

Open the folder:

%appdata%\microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\Taskbar

Launch notepad and drag the pinned icon from the folder into notepad.

The InternetShortcut section should have two entries (IconFile and IconIndex). If they do not exist they can be added. A DLL or ICO file can have multiple embedded icons. The IconIndex number is used to determine which embedded icon to use.

[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://www.superuser.com
IconFile=c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=12

Save the changes and close Notepad. At this point the icon change is done, however, the taskbar won't refresh automatically.

To refresh the taskbar:

Cut and paste the shortcut to the desktop. If the icon does not remove from the taskbar, right click and select "unpin..."

Double click the shortcut on the desktop (this forces IE to read the .website format and refresh the icon).

Drag the desktop shortcut to the taskbar and delete the desktop shortcut. The new icon should be shown.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows 7 Taskbar – Fixing Duplicated Pinned Icons

Reason 1

Reason 2

Temporary Solution

Windows – Can you change the icon of a pinned IE 9 web application? And how do you do it

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