How to change the default applications pinned to the taskbar?

Question

I am trying to configure a Windows 7 machine on a domain where multiple users will be logging on. By default Windows 7 pins Internet Explorer, the file browser, and Windows Media player to the taskbar.

Is there a way to edit the applications pinned to the taskbar by default with a new user? I need to not only add certain applications to the default list, but remove the shortcuts for IE and WMP.

I have tried pinning applications to my taskbar then going to my profile's

%userprofile%\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar

and copying it to the Default User's profile, to no avail. The shortcuts seem to travel over but they do not show up on the taskbar. They show up in the folder when a new user logs in but not in the taskbar.

Answer 1

If programming is an option, a solution might be to write a program that would run on the first user logon, and which will do the taskbar changes that you want.

For a .Net solution, see the article
Pin and Un-pin items to/from the Windows 7 taskbar
where a .cs file is attached that contains a class that can:

1. Figure out if a given executable is pinned to the taskbar
2. Un-pin it from the taskbar
3. Pin it back to the taskbar

The above article is based on another :
Pin Items to the Start Menu or Windows 7 Taskbar via Script
where a similar approach is described using vbs scripts.

Answer 2

The path to the Taskbar is:

%userprofile%\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar

If you are using roaming profiles, you can fully customise this and delete / add locations.

I just did a quick look to find this and I beleive that you need to log out and back in to see any effect.

I am unsure on how you control multiple pinned items, such as folders within the explorer icon.

If this does not work for you, please say and I will either re do my answer if I can find or delete it.