How to resurrect the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7
The Quick Launch toolbar is absent by default in Windows 7, but we'll be damned if we're going to live without it. Here we reveal how to reinstate this useful feature
Microsoft has redesigned the taskbar for Windows 7, hoping to make it less cluttered and easier to use than Vista's. It features larger icons and the ability to pin new applications to it, but the Quick Launch toolbar has been banished. Keen to get people using its new taskbar, Microsoft hasn't exactly made it easy to resurrect the Quick Launch toolbar. It's not impossible, though, and here's how to do it.
1. The first step to getting the old Quick Launch toolbar back is to hover your mouse over an empty portion of the Windows 7 taskbar and right-click. From the pop-up menu that appears, select the 'New Toolbar' option. The New Toolbar window should now appear.
2. Click the address bar at the top of the window and enter the following text: %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch. You may find it easiest to cut and paste this text. Now click the 'Select Folder' button at the bottom.
3. You should now see a new Quick Launch section on the right side of the Windows 7 taskbar. In order to move it to the standard Vista position, right-click the taskbar and remove the tick from 'lock the taskbar'. Now hover the mouse over the Quick Launch label and drag it to the very left of the taskbar.
4. The toolbar should now be in the correct position, but it needs further tweaking to get it looking like Vista's. Right-click the Quick Launch label and, from the list that appears, remove the tick from the 'Show text' entry. Now repeat the process, but this time remove the tick from 'Show title'.
5. The final step is to right click an empty portion of the taskbar and select 'Lock the taskbar'. The Quick Launch toolbar will now appear just as it does in Vista. If you decide you want to remove it, simply right-click the taskbar, select Toolbars and click on the Quick Launch entry.
