Windows 7 Unable to Pin to Start Menu

In Windows 7, there is a little know registry that limits the names of items that you can pin to the taskbar and Start menu. Any item that contains one of the listed keywords cannot be pinned. However, you can modify the list if you desire.

The default list contains:

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

The registry key that contains these names is:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileAssociation\AddRemoveNames

There is an additional registry key with a list of  application names that cannot be pinned. The default list of application names is:

• SETUP.EXE
• INSTALL.EXE
• ISUNINST.EXE
• UNWISE.EXE
• UNWISE32.EXE
• ST5UNST.EXE
• MSOOBE.EXE
• LNKSTUB.EXE
• CONTROL.EXE
• WERFAULT.EXE
• WLRMDR.EXE
• GUESTMODEMSG.EXE
• MSIEXEC.EXE
• DFSVC.EXE
• WUAPP.EXE

The registry key that contains the application names is:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileAssociation\AddRemoveApps