Please Explain Pin to Taskbar

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I am using Win Vista and my wife is using WinXP and we are both moving to Win8.1. I know that one feature that has been available in Win7 and is in Win 8.1 is “Pin to Taskbar”. I have very actively used the Quick Launch toolbar and it looks like Pin to Taskbar is a substitute for that. Is that true? One thing that really surprised me on my new Win8.1 machine: I was doing something that wanted to reboot the PC and I indicated OK and it popped up a list of running applications that I was not aware of! It seemed like everything that I had used in the previous hour or so was still running but I hadn’t seen any indication of that! I would have expected to see a separate item in the tastbar for each of those running applications. Does Pin to Taskbar cause an application to run all the time? Does it not show it’s running state in the taskbar if it is pinned to the taskbar? Obviously, I need a little tutorial on what Pin to Taskbar does and how it should be used.

Thanks,
Bill

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Pin to taskbar is just like putting shortcuts to programs in the good old quick launch or pinning them in the start menu, they are not running. The difference being they can be anywhere on the taskbar, mixed in with the tasks that are actively running.

The list of things that need to close yet can also come from tray apps that are active (some of which may not be visible in the tray), it’s not a big deal, they should all close by themselves in short order unless one of them has unsaved documents pending or is linked to the system reboot itself.

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Pin to Task Bar in Windows Vista and above can be a little confusing. As FUN said, it is similar to the Quick Launch bar in Windows XP in that it will place an icon shortcut on the Task Bar that can be single click to run the program. Instead of a new icon on the Task Bar to represent the running program, the icon will be surrounded by a box and lightly shaded while its running. It can be a little difficult distinguishing between running program and shortcuts on the taskbar until you get used to it. In the snapshot below, the circled icons are running programs while the other icons are Quick Launch like short cuts.

36468-Taskbar

Jerry

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Thanks, FUN and Jerry. Those comments help clarify the situation.

By the way, do ‘metro’ apps that are running show up on the taskbar if you switch to the desktop?

Bill

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By the way, do ‘metro’ apps that are running show up on the taskbar if you switch to the desktop?

Not in Win 8 and 8.1. They will in Windows 8.1 Update 1 scheduled for release in early April.

Jerry

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Thanks, Jerry. I’ll watch for that update.

Bill

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Bill, As an old WinXP user, the Quick Launch toolbar was one thing I was determined to get back in Windows 7 and it looks like there is a way to add it back in Windows 8 as well. Getting it moved to the left hand side of the taskbar was a feat in and of itself, but I was persistent and followed the instructions on the website that I found and I finally got it moved over where I wanted it!

In doing a quick search I found that the Quick Launch toolbar could be added to Win 8, so you may want to check out this website http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5069-quick-launch-add-taskbar-windows-8-a.html or try googling and find some others. But the steps required looked very similar to the ones I did in Windows 7.

Pam

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Pam,

Thanks for the info on adding the Quick Launch toolbar. I’m currrently setting up my wife’s new PC and she doesn’t use the quick launch bar so I’ll probably just use the Pin idea right now but I’ll certainly keep the Quick Launch bar in mind for when I get a new Laptop of my own.

Bill

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