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).

You can pin NetBeans to the taskbar and take advantage of other Windows 7 features by using free SevenBeans module.


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