Windows 7's taskbar lets you pin any running program to the taskbar for easy future access, but it treats folders like second-class sub-items of the Explorer icon. Create a fake "program" to pin individual folder shortcuts to your taskbar.
A UNAWAVE blog post notes that trying to pin a specific folder to your taskbar results in it being pinned instead to the Windows Explorer folder icon as an item you can access from a right-click. Not that jump lists can't be productive and helpful, but that's just not as convenient as just popping open your pictures, is it?
To get around Windows 7's shortcut shield, you can create a new pseudo-app linked to your destination by creating a dummy text file and giving it a recognizable icon. It's the kind of old-school Explorer and desktop hack Windows users have been relying on for years, and it's almost nostalgia-inducing to see it do something good on Windows 7—not that we wouldn't like to have seen some smarter taskbar behavior, instead.
Hit the link for a full run-down of the shortcut process, and tell us your own similar taskbar tweaks in the comments. Thanks Andy!
