How do I pin a network application to my taskbar?

Question

If I launch an application from my local drive, I can right click on the icon in the task bar and it gives me an option to pin to the taskbar. But an application launched from a network drive does not give me that option.

Answer 1

Pin a local application to the taskbar (eg: Calculator). Change the path and start in to the required values.

In order to get to the Properties to edit them, you need to right click twice. First right click on the taskbar icon and you'll get a little menu with "Programname - shortcut" and "unpin from taskbar". Then right click on the Programname entry in that menu which is the actual copy of the shortcut being held inside the taskbar. Then you can choose "Properties".

(Tested above and verified instructions with Windows 7)

While editing the Properties, if the scratch shortcut was not the same app (e.g. Notepad) you may need to click on the Change Icon button after editing the Path, to ensure it picks up the new icon.

Answer 2

To get the correct icon to display you can do the following:

• Copy the application file locally
• Make a shortcut to the local version of the application
• Drag the shortcut to the task bar to pin it
• Right click, right click to modify the path to the network location
• Delete the local application and shortcut file you created

Answer 3

1. Make a shortcut to run the program including parameters if reqired. For the purpose of this I’ll call the target Q:\mynetwork\thisprogram.exe

2. Edit the properties of the shortcut by adding C:\Windows\explorer.exe at the front of the target Eg. C:\windows\explorer.exe Q:\mynetwork\thisprogram.exe

3. The shortcut changes and gives a folder as an icon – change it back to the program icon by using the Properties>change icon button and browsing to the network program

4. Run the shortcut to make sure it works.

5. Right click on the shortcut - it gives the pin to taksbar option

6. Delete the original shortcut