Microsoft’s re-engineering of the task bar to more closely resemble the form and features found in OS X is a general hit with most users who come into the situation with an open mind. Pinning applications, whether currently running or not, and organizing their default placement locations within the task bar is a huge boon for power users alike. However, there exists an odd limitation by Microsoft – you can only pin applications to the task bar. If I wanted to pin a particular drive letter or folder location it isn’t possible, not logically at least. You are left traversing Explorer after launching it from it’s pinned location or creating shortcuts back onto your desktop that can be used to get you where you’re going quickly. Somehow I don’t foresee a desktop littered with icons being an image Microsoft would want attached to their latest operating system.

With a little bit of ingenuity it’s possible to implement what Microsoft forgot to provide.

Right-click on the desktop and select New->Text Document.

Rename the document to something description of the location you are pathing to. I’m creating a quick access point to my storage drive D by titling the document Storage D.txt

Drag the file to your taskbar, placing it in the location of your choice. Once placed, you can delete the original file off your desktop.

Hover over the icon on the taskbar until the mouse-over appears, then right-click on Notepad and select Properties.

In the Shortcut tab change the Target and Start in fields to represent the location or folder you need quick access to; in our instance I simply put d:\

Using the Change Icon button on the same screen select a visually identifying icon to display on the task bar – you might have to log off and on in order for the change to be reflected though.