How to pin NetBeans to Windows 7 taskbar?

"Problem found, although not exactly solved. Here's the description:

Netbeans.exe is a custom launcher written in C++. It's a 32-bit module. When it loads, it first tries to load Java as a DLL into itself and then start NetBeans. However, if the Java runtime is 64-bit, it cannot do that because a 32-bit module cannot load a 64-bit module and vice-versa. Thus it falls back to starting Java as a separate process (javaw.exe) with the right parameters.

On the machine where ""everything works"" I had installed a 32-bit Java runtime, but on the ""faulty machine"" I had installed the full 64-bit JDK.

So in essence I see three possible solutions:

Uninstall the 64-bit Java and install 32-bit;
Try to compile the launcher as a 64-bit module (who knows if that will work, probably not without modifications);
Make a shortcut directly to javaw.exe with all the right parameters (those can be found in the Task Manager)."

"Problem found and solved.

It depends on which NetBeans executable you run in combination with the Java VM bitsize installed:

Only Java 32-bit installed:

netbeans.exe can be pinned
netbeans64.exe cannot be pinned

Only Java 64-bit installed:

netbeans.exe cannot be pinned
netbeans64.exe can be pinned

N.B. when I switched between VM versions, NetBeans complained (though this time only; I don't remember it complaining in the past). This can be solved by changing the netbeans_jdkhome= line in etc/netbeans.conf"

The JVM startup parameters can be found under \etc\netbeans.conf
The JVM startup parameters can be found under \etc\netbeans.conf

"Here is the full command used to launch the IDE process on my machine (discovered via the excellent Process Explorer). Obviously your own will be slightly different.

""C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17\jre\bin\javaw.exe"" ""-Dnetbeans.importclass=org.netbeans.upgrade.AutoUpgrade"" ""-Dnetbeans.accept_license_class=org.netbeans.license.AcceptLicense"" ""-client"" ""-Xverify:none"" ""-Xss2m"" ""-Xms32m"" ""-XX:PermSize=32m"" ""-XX:MaxPermSize=200m"" ""-Dapple.laf.useScreenMenuBar=true"" ""-Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true"" ""-Xmx512m"" ""-Djdk.home=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17"" ""-Dnetbeans.home=C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11"" ""-Dnetbeans.user=C:\Users\alex\.netbeans\6.8"" ""-XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError"" ""-XX:HeapDumpPath=C:\Users\alex\.netbeans\6.8\var\log\heapdump.hprof"" ""-Dnetbeans.system_http_proxy=DIRECT"" ""-Dsun.awt.keepWorkingSetOnMinimize=true"" ""-Dnetbeans.dirs=C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\nb6.8;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\ergonomics2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\ide12;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\java3;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\xml2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\apisupport1;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\webcommon1;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\websvccommon1;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\enterprise6;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\mobility8;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\profiler3;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\ruby2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\python1;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\php1;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\visualweb2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\soa2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\identity2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\uml6;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\harness;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\cnd3;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\dlight2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\groovy2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\extra;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\javafx2;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\javacard1"" ""-Djava.class.path=C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\boot.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\org-openide-modules.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\org-openide-util.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\boot_ja.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\boot_pt_BR.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\boot_zh_CN.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\org-openide-modules_ja.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\org-openide-modules_pt_BR.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\org-openide-modules_zh_CN.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\org-openide-util_ja.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\org-openide-util_pt_BR.jar;C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\platform11\lib\locale\org-openide-util_zh_CN.jar;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17\lib\dt.jar;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17\lib\tools.jar"" org/netbeans/Main ""--branding"" ""nb""

It turned out shortcuts are limited to a certain number of characters as well, and all that wouldn't fit. I tried creating an environment variable to hold it all instead, but it turned out environment variables were of limited length as well (though not as drastically), so I ended up creating two of them.

I ended up with a shortcut target of ""C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17\jre\bin\javaw.exe"" %NB_PARAMS1% %NB_PARAMS2% starting in ""C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.8\"" and that seems to work just fine.

If you want your shortcut to have the right icon, it can be changed to that of the launcher easily."