# Windows 7 question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 2, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369 "2010-01-02T04:03:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/1 "2010-01-02T04:03:11Z")
Upgraded from Vista to Windows 7. All seems great except for one really annoying thing.
In Vista, XP, 98 etc., if I wanted to open a new Internet Explorer window, all I had to do was mouse over and click (w/ touchpad) over the quick launch explorer button on my taskbar. Now I can’t do that. I have to right click and scroll down to open a new window.
Not combining the taskbar buttons doesn’t work and I can’t think of anything else that will do the trick. Anyone know how to fix this?
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### Author:  [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/2 "2010-01-02T04:06:48Z")
Try using tabbed browsing?
IE certainly was late to the show but it does tabbed browsing just fine. CTRL-T, IIRC.
/I use firefox mostly but I think IE does this just as well at this point.
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### Author:  [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/3 "2010-01-02T04:16:56Z")
> [@GameHat](#):
>
> Try using tabbed browsing?
>
> IE certainly was late to the show but it does tabbed browsing just fine. CTRL-T, IIRC.
>
> /I use firefox mostly but I think IE does this just as well at this point.
Thanks but I hate tab browsing.
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### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/4 "2010-01-02T06:07:50Z")
Open the first IE window by clicking on the IE icon on the new-style taskbar. Then, to open a second window, keep shift pressed while you click on the IE icon. If your mouse has a middle-click button, try that.
Other great Windows 7 tips and tricks:
> **[18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn't](https://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/18-cool-things-windows-7-does-that-vista-doesn-t-628892)**
>
> The stuff that makes the upgrade worthwhile
> **[Tim Sneath](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/tims/)**
> **[Best 7 Reviews - Technology, Product Reviews, Tutorials & Tips](https://www.bestsevenreviews.com/)**
>
> \[vc\_row full\_width=”stretch\_row\_content td-stretch-content”\]\[vc\_column\]\[/vc\_column\]\[/vc\_row\]\[vc\_row tdc\_css=”eyJhbGwiOnsibWFyZ2luLXRvcCI6IjEwIiwibWFyZ2luLWJvdHRvbSI6IjEwIn19″\]\[vc\_column\]\[/vc\_column\]\[/vc\_row\]\[vc\_row\]\[vc\_column\]\[/vc\_column\]\[/vc\_row\]
> **[52 Windows problems and solutions](https://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/52-windows-problems-and-solutions-716020)**
>
> Quick fixes for problems in XP, Vista and Windows 7
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### Author:  [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/5 "2010-01-02T07:15:37Z")
> [@xash](#):
>
> Open the first IE window by clicking on the IE icon on the new-style taskbar. Then, to open a second window, keep shift pressed while you click on the IE icon. If your mouse has a middle-click button, try that.
Thanks. This is as helpful as the tab browsing suggestion.
What I want to know is if there is any way to fix the quick launch explorer button to open multiple windows by clicking on it with a mouse or a touchpad. Anything else is irrelevant.
If anyone knows, that would be awesome. If not, c’est la vie.
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### Author:  [@mecaenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mecaenas)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/6 "2010-01-02T08:21:44Z")
Windows and IE have evolved as have most users I’m afraid, you’ll have to adapt to tabbed browsing or use SHIFT+click to create 1 IE window at a time.
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### Author:  [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/7 "2010-01-02T08:56:08Z")
> [@mecaenas](#):
>
> Windows and IE have evolved as have most users I’m afraid, you’ll have to adapt to tabbed browsing or use SHIFT+click to create 1 IE window at a time.
This is all I wanted to know, thank you. Btw, if evolving means I need a billion little gimmicks to keep multiple windows organized, I’ll take a pass.
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### Author:  [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/8 "2010-01-02T09:40:18Z")
You could maybe use a batch or VB script to start a new window for you, then pin the batch/script to the task bar. Ask nicely and someone around here may write it for you 🙂
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### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/9 "2010-01-02T10:12:35Z")
> [@valleyofthedolls](#):
>
> This is all I wanted to know, thank you.
In addition, you could also drag the IE icon upwards to reveal the context menu, and then click on Internet Explorer from the menu that pops up. Each time you do this opens a new instance. This won’t require you to use the keyboard at all, and can be done with one drag and one click.
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### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/10 "2010-01-02T10:32:57Z")
Re-reading your OP, I realize that you’re already doing that with the right-click. The drag will just replace the right-click (I find dragging much more convenient on my tablet), but it won’t do away with the need to scroll up to click Internet Explorer.
If you really want a single-click only option, you could try re-enabling the old-style Quick Launch bar. It should work exactly like it used to in Vista, but I haven’t tested it with the IE icon.
From [**The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets**](http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/01/12/the-bumper-list-of-windows-7-secrets.aspx) #13
> [@](#):
>
> To re-enable it, do the following:
>
> Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars / New Toolbar
> In the folder selection dialog, enter the following string and hit OK:
> %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
> Turn off the “lock the taskbar” setting, and right-click on the divider. Make sure that “Show text” and “Show title” are disabled and the view is set to “small icons”.
> Use the dividers to rearrange the toolbar ordering to choice, and then lock the taskbar again.
That said, I’d encourage you to embrace tabbed browsing using one of the better browsers, such as [Opera](http://www.opera.com) (my favorite), [Firefox](http://www.firefox.com) (everyone else’s favorite) or [Chrome](http://www.google.com/chrome) (simple, quick, light).
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/11 "2010-01-02T11:19:09Z")
Probably not quite the solution you’re looking for, but if you put a shortcut for internet explorer on the desktop, every time you double click it it will launch a new window.
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### Author:  [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/12 "2010-01-02T13:29:38Z")
> [@xash](#):
>
> That said, I’d encourage you to embrace tabbed browsing using one of the better browsers, such as [Opera](http://www.opera.com) (my favorite), [Firefox](http://www.firefox.com) (everyone else’s favorite) or [Chrome](http://www.google.com/chrome) (simple, quick, light).
Or Safari.
In Chrome, a second iteration can be created by taking a second tab and dragging it away from the original iteration.
I don’t think the OP can be satisfied, and c’est la vie is, in fact, a good answer. Tabbed browsing was created to avoid the annoyance of a second iteration, so preserving that function is going backward for the majority of people. With so many browsers, there should be at least one that has a reasonable combo to satisfy.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/13 "2010-01-02T13:34:33Z")
Tabbed browsing if you only use tabs so that you hit control tab and alt tab is no real upgrade, so using multiple instances of a browser isn’t “going backwards”, you’re just trading the taskbar for the tab bar. In fact just throwing everything onto one tabbed bar is probably a step back in terms of interface, since Win7’s alt-tab is far more robust than just hitting control tab. It’s more useful when you can run multiple instances of a browser and group relate pages together by tabs.
In any case, shift-clicking the icon has the functionality that the user desires. Barring very unusual circumstances to throw up your hands and give up over the prospect of holding shift is very strange to me.
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### Author:  [@DCTrekkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCTrekkie)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/14 "2010-01-02T16:09:40Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#):
>
> In Chrome, a second iteration can be created by taking a second tab and dragging it away from the original iteration.
Firefox can also do this but Internet explorer can’t, however IE does show the tabs on the taskbar as if they were separate windows. It doesn’t help if you want to view things side by side but for navigation it’s just as good as having multiple instances.
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### Author:  [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/15 "2010-01-02T16:23:12Z")
If you’re reasonably fast at typing, you could also just do WinKey+R, then type “iexplore” (without the quotes).
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### Author:  [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/16 "2010-01-02T16:49:59Z")
\>so using multiple instances of a browser isn’t “going backwards”, you’re just trading the taskbar for the tab bar.
No, it is going backwards. In the past you would have dozens of iexplore.exe process running instead of just one. The duplication is less efficient than having just one process running the show. The IE8 development team works with the assumption that the user will be running one process of IE8 and they built their performance model around that assumption. It will handle process and tabs and cpu scheduling on its own.
> **[IEBlog](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/ie/)**
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/17 "2010-01-02T16:55:26Z")
From a technical perspective, it can be an improvement - I was talking more about user interface. IE used to use a pooled resources model for seperate windows (which in theory aside from differently getting resources from the GDI would have similar effects to tabbed browsing), I guess they got away from that.
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/18 "2010-01-02T17:09:28Z")
> [@valleyofthedolls](#):
>
> Upgraded from Vista to Windows 7. All seems great except for one really annoying thing.
>
> In Vista, XP, 98 etc., if I wanted to open a new Internet Explorer window, all I had to do was mouse over and click (w/ touchpad) over the quick launch explorer button on my taskbar. Now I can’t do that. I have to right click and scroll down to open a new window.
>
> Not combining the taskbar buttons doesn’t work and I can’t think of anything else that will do the trick. Anyone know how to fix this?
I made my own quicklaunch folder for this purpose. I like w7 but the new start bar feature is stupid. I don’t use tabbed browsing so I want all my web pages to be in their own firefox instance.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/19 "2010-01-02T17:12:47Z")
I think I want what the OP wants but for _File_ Explorer (and a few other programs). My XP task bar was elegant, and they’ve “fixed” it for me. At the top (I have it on the right side of my monitor) I had all the quicklaunch icons, so I can bring up instances of whatever program I want with one click. No shift, no extra keys, just a shortcut. Very helpful. I hope **xash’s** suggestion puts things back.
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### Author:  [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-question/523369/20 "2010-01-02T18:03:21Z")
> [@xash](#):
>
> If you really want a single-click only option, you could try re-enabling the old-style Quick Launch bar. It should work exactly like it used to in Vista, but I haven’t tested it with the IE icon.
From [**The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets**](http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/01/12/the-bumper-list-of-windows-7-secrets.aspx) #13
Perfect! You’ve made me a very happy camper, thank you.
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