Q. How can I open a file with an application pinned to my Windows 7 taskbar instead of the default application? When I drag the file onto the taskbar icon, the document is pinned to the application's jump list instead of opening.

A. If you drag a program to the taskbar in Windows 7, the application will be pinned to the taskbar. If you drag a data file to the taskbar, the application used to manipulate the data file is pinned to the taskbar and the document is pinned to the application's jump list. If you want to open a data file with a non-default application by dragging to the taskbar and not have the data file pinned to the application's jump list, you need to press the Shift key before releasing the left mouse button, which will change the text from "Pin to " to "Open with ," as shown here. This feature is present in the Windows 7 release candidate and later versions.

Related Videos:

Related Reading:

Check out hundreds more useful Q&As like this in John Savill's FAQ for Windows. Also, watch instructional videos made by John at ITTV.net.