Windows 10: Windows 10.1903 Broke PowerShell Automatic Pining to Task Bar... Again... Please make it an...

NOTE: This is mostly a feature request for Microsoft (unless somone else knows of a work around).

Hey,

Well, it seems like deja vu again... for every release of windows, someone inside Microsoft is removing the ability to automatically pin icons to the user's Task Bar. For security reasons this could be considered fair enough, but you really should enable a mode via group policy that allows the pin verb to be enabled again at the discretion of the IT department (if this is possible, please tell me where). Or allow some other way of automatically pinning taskbar icons via PowerShell (and document it properly). It's highly useful for onboarding users with applications that don't fit the standard installation models. As in a movie VFX pipeline that utilises a whole bunch of python utilities and bootstrap processes launched via scripts (not an executable directly).

Essentially give us the option. I'm fine if the default is restricted, but like scripts, we should be able to choose if we enable the potential vulnerability.


Thanks,
Mark



Oh, and this is the broken hacky PowerShell way after the verb was removed from the older updates (kudos to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31720595/pin-program-to-taskbar-using-ps-in-windows-10).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
param (
[parameter(Mandatory=$True, HelpMessage="Target item to pin")]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[string] $Target
)
if (!(Test-Path $Target)) {
Write-Warning "$Target does not exist"
break
}

$KeyPath1 = "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Classes"
$KeyPath2 = "*"
$KeyPath3 = "shell"
$KeyPath4 = "{:}"
$ValueName = "ExplorerCommandHandler"
$ValueData =
(Get-ItemProperty `
("HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\" + `
"CommandStore\shell\Windows.taskbarpin")
).ExplorerCommandHandler

$Key2 = (Get-Item $KeyPath1).OpenSubKey($KeyPath2, $true)
$Key3 = $Key2.CreateSubKey($KeyPath3, $true)
$Key4 = $Key3.CreateSubKey($KeyPath4, $true)
$Key4.SetValue($ValueName, $ValueData)

$Shell = New-Object -ComObject "Shell.Application"
$Folder = $Shell.Namespace((Get-Item $Target).DirectoryName)
$Item = $Folder.ParseName((Get-Item $Target).Name)
$Item.InvokeVerb("{:}")

$Key3.DeleteSubKey($KeyPath4)
if ($Key3.SubKeyCount -eq 0 -and $Key3.ValueCount -eq 0) {
$Key2.DeleteSubKey($KeyPath3)
}


:)

 

PowerShell randomly poping-up in tool bar

Hello,

Just to verify, do you have any scheduled tasks that uses Powershell? Scheduled tasks makes Powershell window appear periodically on your computer, therefore we suggest that you check the Task Scheduler. Here are the steps:

• Click on Start.
• In the search bar, type Task Scheduler and click on
  
  Task Scheduler in the results.
• Under Active Tasks, check for any tasks that use Powershell and the scheduled time.

If the issue still persist, we suggest that you run a Windows Defender scan to see if it will pick up any malware that the first scan missed.

Let us know the outcome.

 

Windows 10 Defender - How to make it default to task bar?

Using Windows 10 and currently I am using Defender for anti virus. For whatever reason Windows Defender does not show up in the task bar unless I search for the program or right click and scan a file/folder. Is there a way to force Defender to show up in the task bar at start up?

 

Unable to access Start menu, Search bar, notification buttons on Task bar after install the Update KB3139907 on Windows 10

Hi John,

Thank you for responding.

We are glad to know that you are able to access Search bar and notification center after performing the above troubleshooting steps.

For the issues with Start menu, try the below steps.

Step 1: I suggest you to run the below PowerShell command to re-register Start menu and check if it helps.

Follow:

• 
  Right click on the Taskbar and select
  Task Manager from the context menu.
  
• 
  In the Task Manager window, click on
  File and on Run new task.
  
• 
  Type powershell, place a check mark on
  Create this task with administrative privileges and click Ok.
  
• 
  In the administrative Windows PowerShell window, carefully type the below command and hit Enter key from the keyboard.
  

• 
  Get-appxpackage -all *shellexperience* -packagetype bundle |% {add-appxpackage -register -disabledevelopmentmode ($_.installlocation + “\appxmetadata\appxbundlemanifest.xml”)}
  

5. Once the command execution is completed successfully, close the PowerShell window and reboot/ restart the computer.

NOTE: When you are running the PowerShell command, I recommend you to close all the apps on your system and try.

If the issue still persists,

Step 2: I suggest you to try the troubleshooting steps mentioned in the below Microsoft article and check if it helps.

Get help with the Windows 10 Start menu

Hope it helps. Kindly update the status of this issue for further assistance.