Adding the QuickLaunch Toolbar to the Windows 7 Beta Taskbar

As many users will discover when W7B is installed, the Quick Launch toolbar is not on by default. There are plenty of sites around to show you how to enable it but the best ones I found were BlogsDNA for the Global Policy setting and Tim Sneath’s blog for the divider hint. Here are the steps in summary:

To turn on the Quick Launch toolbar, run the Global Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and navigate to User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Start Menu and Taskbar. In the panel on the right side, double-click Show Quick Launch on Taskbar and then select the Enable radio button. Click OK to close the settings dialog box and then close the policy editor.

To add the Quick Launch Toolbar to the Taskbar, right-click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars. If Quick Launch is listed simply click on it. If it’s not there, click on New Toolbar and navigate to %UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer in the folder selection dialog. Select Quick Launch and click the Select Folder button.

I found when the toolbar was added, it appeared all the way to the right and the toolbar title and icon text was turned on.

You can adjust the location by again right-clicking on the Taskbar and disabling the Lock the taskbar property, clicking on the divider (or grip) and dragging the toolbar to the left

To remove the toolbar title and icon text, right-click on the Quick Launch toolbar divider and disable Show Text and Show Title.

After you’ve finished, lock the taskbar. Quick Launch is back!

~ by bwsd on February 22, 2009.