Add A Toolbar To Your Desktop

Windows XP

1. Right click an empty area on the taskbar.
2. Point to "Toolbars", then click the toolbar you want to add.
3. The new Toolbar lets you place a shortcut to a folder on the taskbar.

Note:
You can resize the toolbar or move it to another location on the taskbar by pointing to the vertical bar on the left side of the toolbar and dragging it to the left or right.

You can create a floating toolbar by dragging it from the taskbar to the desktop.

To remove a toolbar, right click on an empty area of the taskbar, Point to "Toolbars" and then remove the check mark from the toolbar you want to remove

Windows Vista

The trick in Vista is to go to the desktop and create a plain folder, then, when you drag it to the top of the desktop, it turns into a toolbar. Here's how you do it: click on the yellow folder on the desktop and now, with the left mouse, drag the folder to the very top border, then let go. Dragging the folder to the side of the desktop did not work for me. A promising sign was when the mouse displayed a plus sign(+). At that point I let go and the toolbar magically appeared.
Once the toolbar is created you can drag shortcuts into it just like any other toolbar.

What a handy way to clean up some of the extra stuff on your desktop!