Pin any file or folder directly to the windows 7 taskbar

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  1. Posts : 24
    Windows Vista
       #1

    Pin any file or folder directly to the windows 7 taskbar


    READ THIS FIRST!: Before reading any further you must do this or everything below will be impossible. Open Windows Explorer > Organize > Folder and Search Options > View Tab > Scroll down until you see "Hide extensions for known filetypes". Uncheck the box next to it. This will make the file extensions show in Windows Explorer. If they aren't showing you cannot rename them in special circumstances like this one. File extensions look like this ".txt", ".exe", ".pdf" etc.

    You can only pin execution files (.exe) directly to the Windows 7 Taskbar. But there is an easy way to fool Windows 7 into thinking other files and folders are execution files too. Like photos, text files, PDFs, file folders etc. I wanted to pin the God Mode to the Taskbar but Windows wouldn't allow me to do that. So I decided to experiment and look what I found. Read below to make your own God Mode.

    Right-click the God Mode icon on your desktop and click on Create Shortcut. Right-click the shortcut > Properties > Shortcut Tab > in the "Target" text box copy the URL. You can delete the shortcut now since you won't need it anymore. Now right-click your Desktop > New > Text Document. Name it "God Mode.exe". Do not leave the ".txt" extension in there. Now drag that icon to the Taskbar to pin it. Right-click that icon on the Taskbar and right-click "God Mode" and click on Properties > Shortcut Tab > delete all text in the "Start In" text box. In the "Target" text box replace the URL in there with the one you copied from the God Mode shortcut you deleted before. Click on Apply then OK to save it. Now before you leave the dialog box click on Change Icon button to select the icon you want to use. Double Click it > click on Apply and then OK. The icon should change the next time you start Windows or log off and back on again.

    On the Desktop you will see the "God Mode.exe" icon. Delete that since you will no longer need it.

    The URL you copied above should look similar to the following.

    "C:\Users\[Your User Account]\Desktop\God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}"

    If you don't have a God Mode icon on your Desktop you can easily create one. Right-click on the Desktop > New > Folder > Rename it to the following and press enter. If you were successful the folder icon will disappear and the God Mode icon will replace it. If not then you will have to start over. You can use God Mode with Windows Vista 32-bit but not 64-bit. You can use God Mode with Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit.

    God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

    If your name is Jerry and you don't like God Mode rename it to.

    Jerry Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

    Let's say you want a photo pinned directly to the Windows 7 Taskbar. Open Windows Explorer > find the photo you are looking for. Right-click the photo's filename and click on Create Shortcut. Right-click the shortcut and click on "Cut" to move it. Go to your Desktop and right-click it and click on "Paste". Now that the shortcut is on your Desktop right-click it and click on Properties > Shortcut Tab > copy the URL from the "Target" text box. You can delete that shortcut since you won't need it anymore. Right-click the Desktop > New > Text Document. Rename it to what you want and replace ".txt" with ".exe". For example "My Photo.exe". Drag that icon to the Taskbar to pin it. Right-click that icon on the Taskbar > right-click "My Photo" and click Properties > Shortcut Tab > delete all text in the "Start In" text box > Replace the URL in the "Target" text box with the URL you copied from the shortcut you made of your photo. Before leaving the dialog box click on the Change Icon button. Double-click the icon you want. Then click on Apply and then on OK.

    On the Desktop you will see the "My Photo.exe" icon. Delete that since you will no longer need it.

    The URL you copied above should look similar to the following.

    "C:\Users\[Your User Account]\My Pictures\myphoto.jpg"

    Basically, all you are doing here, is making a shortcut to your file > copying the URL to that file > creating and execution file with the URL you copied in it to the file you want pinned. In other words, you have fooled the Taskbar into thinking your photo etc. is actually an execution file. You can do this with any file or folder on your hard drive. I have my Mother's photo pinned directly to my Windows 7 Taskbar.

    You can also pin any folder on your hard drive to the Windows 7 Task Bar. Open the folder in Windows Explorer. Click the address bar and the URL will be revealed. Copy that and then right-click your Desktop > New > Text Document. Let's say that it is the Program Files folder you want to pin. The URL would be "C:\Program Files" Rename the new text document you just created on the Desktop to "Program Files.exe". Do not leave ".txt" in there. Now drag that to the Taskbar to be pinned. Right-click the icon on the Taskbar and click Properties > Shortcut Tab > delete all text in the "Start In" text box. In the "Target" text box replace the URL with the URL you copied from Windows Explorer. Click OK to exit. Before you leave the dialog box click on the Change Icon button. Doubleclick the icon you want then click on Apply and OK to exit and save your settings.

    WARNING: So far I have noticed there are two words (maybe more) that you cannot use in the names of files you want to pin to the Taskbar. These are "installer" and "uninstaller". I wanted to pin Revo Uninstaller but I had to rename the shortcut to "revo.exe".
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  2. Lee
    Posts : 1,796
    Win 7 Pro x64, VM Win XP, Win7 Pro Sandbox, Kubuntu 11
       #2

    Way to much work. . .but some great information for those who need to improve their skills in Windows 7.

    Great bit of work, you should think about putting a tutorial together and placing it in the tutorial forum here on the Sevens. . .:)
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6,285
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #3

    As Lee said, that's a lot of (very interesting) work.

    Any idea if GodMode could be added to Control Panel? That's where it would be useful to me.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 71,977
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #4

    You could use the Control Panel All Tasks List (God Mode) shortcut below, and be able to easily pin it to the Start Menu and Taskbar normally.

    Control Panel All Tasks List Shortcut

    Hope this helps,
    Shawn
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 24
    Windows Vista
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Unfortunately I made a slight omission in the following paragraph. Read this one instead.

    You can also pin any folder on your hard drive to the Windows 7 Task Bar. Open the folder in Windows Explorer. Click the address bar and the URL will be revealed. Copy that and then right-click your Desktop > New > Text Document. Let's say that it is the Program Files folder you want to pin. The URL would be "C:\Program Files" Rename the new text document you just created on the Desktop to "Program Files.exe". Do not leave ".txt" in there. Now drag that to the Taskbar to be pinned. Right-click the icon on the Taskbar and then right-click "Program Files" then click Properties > Shortcut Tab > delete all text in the "Start In" text box. In the "Target" text box replace the URL with the URL you copied from Windows Explorer. Click OK to exit. Before you leave the dialog box click on the Change Icon button. Doubleclick the icon you want then click on Apply and OK to exit and save your settings.

    "Any idea if GodMode could be added to Control Panel? That's where it would be useful to me." Read it again, it shows you exactly how to do that.

    Lee says too much work. I would agree with that but the Taskbar is just so big and because of that you can only add a few icons on it without stretching it upwards. So total time would be about 2 minutes per icon (if you are a slow typist).

    Still this is better than no way.

    If you want to add this to the tutorial section feel free to do that. I tried and couldn't understand the method for doing so. You can even say you created it and I stole it from you. In other words, credit is not important to me. I just like helping others.

    Thanks Brink, I figured there must be more than one way of pinning the God Mode to the Taskbar. But I'm not a guru so I had no clue how to do that. Thanks for the info.
    Last edited by Brink; 13 Oct 2010 at 09:42.
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  6. Posts : 24
    Windows Vista
    Thread Starter
       #6

    There are 41 God Modes


    GodModes are shortcuts used by developers to services and settings on your Windows Vista and Windows 7 (and later) hard drives. Do not use these on Vista 64-bit computers or they will crash. But it works great on Windows 7 64-bit. You may use these on your Desktop or in Windows Explorer. There are 41 GodModes in this list. If there are more, I couldn't find them.

    How To Use Them: Right-click your Desktop and make a New Folder. Paste one of the long lines of text below into the folder name and press enter. If it works on your system the folder will become an icon. If not, then it will be an empty folder. Just delete it and try another one.

    I created a New Folder on my desktop called "GodModes" and dragged all of the icons into it to keep them out of the way until I need them.

    =========================================
    GOD MODES FOR WINDOWS VISTA AND WINDOWS 7
    =========================================

    Administrative Tools.{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}

    All .NET Frameworks and COM Libraries.{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}

    All Tasks (Control Panel).{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

    AutoPlay.{9C60DE1E-E5FC-40f4-A487-460851A8D915}

    BitLocker Drive Encryption (Ultimate edition only).{D9EF8727-CAC2-4e60-809E-86F80A666C91}

    Computer Folder.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

    Default Programs.{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}

    Ease of Access Center.{D555645E-D4F8-4c29-A827-D93C859C4F2A}

    Font Settings.{93412589-74D4-4E4E-AD0E-E0CB621440FD}

    Microsoft Games.{ED228FDF-9EA8-4870-83b1-96b02CFE0D52}

    Get Programs.{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}

    GodMode (Lots Of Settings).{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

    Manage Wireless Networks.{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}

    Network and Sharing Center.{8E908FC9-BECC-40f6-915B-F4CA0E70D03D}

    Network Connections.{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}

    Network Folder.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

    Parental Controls.{96AE8D84-A250-4520-95A5-A47A7E3C548B}

    Performance Information and Tools.{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

    Personalization.{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}

    Power Options.{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}

    Programs and Features.{7b81be6a-ce2b-4676-a29e-eb907a5126c5}

    Sync Center.{9C73F5E5-7AE7-4E32-A8E8-8D23B85255BF}

    System.{BB06C0E4-D293-4f75-8A90-CB05B6477EEE}

    User Accounts.{60632754-c523-4b62-b45c-4172da012619}

    Windows Firewall.{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}

    Windows SlideShow.{E95A4861-D57A-4be1-AD0F-35267E261739}

    Windows Update.{36eef7db-88ad-4e81-ad49-0e313f0c35f8}

    ============================
    GOD MODES FOR WINDOWS 7 ONLY
    ============================

    Action Center.{BB64F8A7-BEE7-4E1A-AB8D-7D8273F7FDB6}

    Backup and Restore.{B98A2BEA-7D42-4558-8BD1-832F41BAC6FD}

    Biometric Devices.{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}

    Credential Manager.{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}

    Default Location.{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}

    Devices and Printers.{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}

    Display.{C555438B-3C23-4769-A71F-B6D3D9B6053A}

    HomeGroup.{67CA7650-96E6-4FDD-BB43-A8E774F73A57}

    Location and Other Sensors.{E9950154-C418-419e-A90A-20C5287AE24B}

    Notification Area Icons.{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}

    Recovery.{9FE63AFD-59CF-4419-9775-ABCC3849F861}

    RemoteApp and Desktop Connections.{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}

    Speech Recognition.{58E3C745-D971-4081-9034-86E34B30836A}

    Troubleshooting.{C58C4893-3BE0-4B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651}
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  7. Posts : 6,285
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #7

    Hi Shawn. No, not what I wanted. I'd like to be able to add GodMode to the Control Panel so I could click on it when I wanted to use it from there, not from the Start Menu or Taskbar.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 4,772
    Windows 7 Ultimate - 64-bit | Windows 8 Pro - 64-bit
       #8

    Hello,

    Maybe this software might help to do it more easily ?
    Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner : Pin Files, Folders & Webpages To Your Windows 7 Taskbar | door2windows

    Hope this helps,
    Captain
      My Computer


  9. Lee
    Posts : 1,796
    Win 7 Pro x64, VM Win XP, Win7 Pro Sandbox, Kubuntu 11
       #9

    Thanks Jack. . .
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 4,772
    Windows 7 Ultimate - 64-bit | Windows 8 Pro - 64-bit
       #10

    Lee said:
    Thanks Jack. . .
    No problem :)
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