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AaronM
Level 6

Unable to pin InstallShield 2011 to Windows 7 taskbar

Is anyone else having difficulties pinning InstallShield 2011 to the Windows 7 taskbar?

I am referring to the InstallShield 2011 product itself and not any installation created from it.

For some reason I am unable to do so. It doesn't matter if I create a shortcut first or directly try to drag isdev.exe to the taskbar. I do not have the taskbar locked and I am able to drag other shortcuts and applications without any issues.
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(7) Replies
ericpaul
Level 6

Yes, I am facing the same problem.
Also in the context menu of Start Menu programs both Pin to Taskbar and Pin to Start Menu are missing.
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joshstechnij
Level 10 Flexeran
Level 10 Flexeran

Windows does not allow pinning shortcuts/programs to the taskbar that contain certain words. From the MSDN article Application User Model IDs (AppUserModelIDs):


If any of the following strings, regardless of case, are included in the shortcut name, the program is not pinnable and is not displayed in the most frequently used list:

Documentation
Help
Install
More Info
Read me
Read First
Readme
Remove
Setup
Support
What's New


You can work around this by first creating a shortcut to isdev.exe (do not include any of the above words in the shortcut name). This shortcut can then be pinned to the taskbar.
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AaronM
Level 6

Thank you for the feedback, including the link to Microsoft's documentation for further understanding.

I named my shortcut "IS 2011" and it works great. Thanks again.
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PilotBob
Level 5

I had the same problem... resolved it with a shortcut rename... however, I don't get the InstallShield icon, just a generic windows form icon.

Anyone resolve this?

BOb
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SteveLovell
Level 5

I right clicked the shorcut, and selected icon then browsed to C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield\2011\System\isdev.exe and used that icon.

Hope this helps.
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BrHartmann
Level 7

This one bugged me for awhile, until I happened to create a new shortcut directly to isdev.exe. Nice to finally get the official explanation.

On a related note, the Recents list that Windows 7 builds up for the taskbar icon does not seem to sync up correctly with the actual list of recently-accessed projects maintained by IS. Probably more of a Win7 issue than an IS issue, but I was curious if anyone knows of a way to fix this?
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kaneohe
Level 6

If you browse to "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\InstallShield" and delete the "InstallShield 20xx" shortcut, create a shortcut directly to isdev.exe, pin it, then rename the shortcut to the original shortcut's name you will still have the new shortcut pinned despite the presence of the word "install". Looks like Microsoft only checks for that at the time when the shortcut gets pinned. Works perfectly with 2009.
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