Shortcuts, Pinning and Jump Lists - how do they work?

[LucianH]

I have Win 7 64 and I have created a vbscript file to launch Windows Media Centre - the script tweaks the registry settings for WMC window size and position (so it always opens in the same position and size on my second montor) before shelling to WMC (which also includes command line swtches to open in the TV Guide).

The trouble is that I have created a shortcut to the vbscript file and put it into the start menu - but when I right click on it, it doesn't give me the option to pin it to the task bar. If, however, I edit target for the original WMC shortcut to point to the vbscript then I can pin it. Interestingly, when I do it this way, the Jump List on the pinned shortcut on the taskbar still retains the WMC Jump List which is great(although the Jump List doesn't appear to work on the Start Menu shortcut).

So the question is - is there any detailed information that someone can point me at to help me understand how the shortcuts, pinning and jump lists work? Specific questions are:

- How does Win 7 tell the difference between the short cut I created for the vbscript file and the "standard" shortcut for WMC?
- Why does the pin-to option not appear on the vbscript shortcut?
- Can I programmatically, or manually, add shortcuts to the "pinned" area on the task bar?
- What controls the Jump List and can it be customised?

 

[LucianH]

I've drawn a blank with these questions and not have any response to my post - does anybody think that I'll get more luck if I post it on one of the other forums?.