The Quick Launch toolbar includes buttons that provide quick access to the Windows desktop and the default Web browser, usually Internet Explorer. If your organization has custom applications or a preferred suite of applications, you can add buttons for these applications on the Quick Launch toolbar. If applications are no longer used, you can later remove the additional buttons.

You can add a button to the Quick Launch toolbar by clicking the item or existing shortcut that you want to place on the toolbar, holding the mouse button, and dragging the item or shortcut onto the Quick Launch toolbar. When you are in the location where you want to place the item or shortcut, release the mouse button. To remove a button from the Quick Launch toolbar, right-click the button on the toolbar, and then choose Delete from the shortcut menu. When prompted to confirm the action, click Yes.

Inside Out: Restoring the Show Desktop button

Show Desktop is the most useful button on the Quick Launch toolbar. The first time you click this button, the operating system brings the Windows desktop to the foreground in front of all open windows. The second time you click this button, the operating system restores the original view, sending the desktop to the background. If this button is accidentally deleted, you can re-create it, but the process is not like creating a regular shortcut. This is because Show Desktop is a special button that is created by using a Windows Explorer command file, and to re-create the button, you must re-create this file, called Show Desktop.scf.

As with other aspects of the menu system, the Quick Launch toolbar options have a representation in the file system. You'll find Quick Launch options in the %UserProfile%Application DataMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick Launch folder. Thus, the full file path to the Show Desktop file is %UserProfile%Application DataMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick LaunchShow Desktop.scf. To restore the button to the toolbar, you have several options. You can copy Show Desktop.scf from another user's profile, or you can re-create the file. To re-create the file, follow these steps:

1. Start Notepad, and then add the following lines of text:

   [Shell]

   Command=2

   IconFile=explorer.exe,3

   [Taskbar]

   Command=ToggleDesktop

2. Select Save from the File menu, and then save the file in the %UserProfile%Application DataMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick Launch folder. Use the file name Show Desktop.scf.

If you don't know the actual value for the %UserProfile% environment variable, open a command prompt, and type set userprofile. The command prompt then displays the variable value, such as D:Documents and SettingsAdministrator.CORPSVR01.

In addition to the Quick Launch toolbar discussed previously, three other customizable toolbars are available for the taskbar:

You can display or hide individual toolbars by right-clicking the taskbar to display the shortcut menu, pointing to Toolbars, and then selecting the toolbar you want to use. This toggles the toolbar on and off.

In addition to the custom toolbars that are available, you can create personal toolbars as well. Personal toolbars are based on existing folders, and their buttons are based on the folder contents. The most common toolbars you might create are ones that point to folders on the computer or shared folders on the network. For example, if you routinely access the C:Windist, C:WindowsSystem32LogFiles, and C:WindowsSystem32Inersvr folders, you could add to the taskbar a toolbar that provides quick access buttons to these resources. Then you could access one of the folders simply by clicking the corresponding toolbar button.

You can create personal toolbars by right-clicking the taskbar to display the shortcut menu, pointing to Toolbars, and then clicking New Toolbar. This displays the New Toolbar dialog box, as shown in the following screen:

Next use the Choose A Folder list box to choose the folder you want to make into a toolbar. When you click OK, the folder is displayed as a new toolbar on the taskbar. If you add shortcuts to the folder, the shortcuts automatically appear on the toolbar as buttons that can be selected. Keep in mind that if you decide that you don't want to use the toolbar anymore and close it, you must reselect the folder before it can be viewed on the taskbar again.