Windows 7 Corrupt icons? help please..

toddwilson

New Member
Capture.PNGHow can I make my icons appear as they should be on desktop in Win7 Pro?
For some unknown reason after reboot they disapeared and I am left with icons as per attached image
Thankyou in advance :)
 
Thankyou, but unfortunately neither of these instructions were of help in repairing these icons
Any other suggestions?
 
As well as clearing your icon cache, I suggest you clear your thumbnails cache(s) as well.
Do this through Disk Cleanup (Press Start, (My) Computer, Right click C: Drive (your Main or System Drive), Properties, Click on the Disk Clean Up button). It will now do a search and then show you what it has found that you can clean up. Thumbnails is an option in there**. Then re-boot.
On your desktop you are, as a rule, viewing the png images of the icons, not the icons.

** And if that sounds like I'm trying to teach your Granny how to suck eggs, I apologise. It's often easier to assume the person asking the original question is a total beginner.
 
Last edited:
Thankyou, I did cleanup as instructed, but those pesky corrupt icons remain..Note it is only application icons affected
Any other suggestions?
 
Also a note..the correct icons are under the offending icons as you will see in the image I posted originally?
I am confused as to why it happened at all, I did however install a Windows update, but this should not have made any changes I would think??
Its just annoying, they work fine just looks terrible
Thanks again for your responses :)
 
I noticed the correct icons hiding after my first post here. Suggests an overlay gone wrong.
Are you using Norton Antivirus?
Are you using something to hide the shortcut arrow? Although if this goes wrong it overlays a (usually) black square.
I see you have a TuneUp Utilities shortcut. Have you customised icons using the (don't know what it's called bit) that?
 
Have you considered trying a system restore to a restore point prior to the Windows Update, which you seem to suggest coincides with the time the problem first occurred? Not the most elegant of solutions but a possible option.
 
I noticed the correct icons hiding after my first post here. Suggests an overlay gone wrong.
Are you using Norton Antivirus?
Are you using something to hide the shortcut arrow? Although if this goes wrong it overlays a (usually) black square.
I see you have a TuneUp Utilities shortcut. Have you customised icons using the (don't know what it's called bit) that?

I have Nortons 360 installed, and I have not customised icons using TuneUp Utilities, I did remove shortcut arrows previously, eg: 3 months ago using some instructions I found on this site, and they have appeared well until yesterday.
Would Nortons have anything to do with this? As I have always used this AV without problems
 
Have you considered trying a system restore to a restore point prior to the Windows Update, which you seem to suggest coincides with the time the problem first occurred? Not the most elegant of solutions but a possible option.

Yes, I have tried system restore, to 2 different dates previous to the errors, but even with Nortons shut down it will not revert to a set date, It seems it never has worked for me, in any version of Windows, be it XP Vista or now 7
 
If system restore is not working for you from within the operating system, then perhaps you might try booting from the Install Media (windows 7 dvd) and invoking the system restore option from within the System Recovery Options. See this link and it's related links at the bottom of the page.
What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?
 
Norton 360 adds an overlay icon that says whether files are due for backing up/been backed up etc.

See Link Removed - Invalid URL

You need to turn the Norton overlay option off. This may be your cure (fingers crossed!!)
 
Last edited:
If system restore is not working for you from within the operating system, then perhaps you might try booting from the Install Media (windows 7 dvd) and invoking the system restore option from within the System Recovery Options. See this link and it's related links at the bottom of the page.
What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?

I don't have a dvd to boot from, My laptop was delivered installed and registered with Win7 but I have made recovery discs on delivery, Would these discs enable this function?
Thankyou again :)
 
Last edited:
Norton 360 adds an overlay icon that says whether files are due for backing up/been backed up etc.

See Link Removed - Invalid URL

You need to turn the Norton overlay option off. This may be your cure (fingers crossed!!)

Wow! This looks above my head, I do appreciate your reccomendation and advice, but what confuses me is I have ran happily N360 for 2 years without this problem ever occuring just out of the blue
I will read it and see what I can make of it, Thankyou again :)
 
I don't have a dvd to boot from, My laptop was delivered installed and registered with Win7 but I have made recovery discs on delivery, Would these discs enable this function?
Thankyou again :)
If you take a closer look at the link and expand the information links at the bottom of the page, there are suggested options for alternative methods to get to the System Recovery Options that include the System Restore Utility. Among these are using the F8 key to load the advanced boot options as well as using alternate media including a System Repair Disk which you may or may not have but you can reference this article regarding how to create one
Create a system repair disc
 
If you take a closer look at the link and expand the information links at the bottom of the page, there are suggested options for alternative methods to get to the System Recovery Options that include the System Restore Utility. Among these are using the F8 key to load the advanced boot options as well as using alternate media including a System Repair Disk which you may or may not have but you can reference this article regarding how to create one
Create a system repair disc

Thankyou, I will do this now
 
Wow! This looks above my head, I do appreciate your reccomendation and advice, but what confuses me is I have ran happily N360 for 2 years without this problem ever occuring just out of the blue
I will read it and see what I can make of it, Thankyou again :)
Norton360Settings.png

I can understand your frustration!! Don't forget to clear iconcache.db and thumbnails everytime, and re-boot, clears any "lag". Once the overlay issue is resolved you can re-activate the Norton overlays if you need them.
 
Thankyou so much for the advice and instructions, now for some unbeknown reason, they are showing again, but with the shortcut arrow, I can live with this small annoyance
I appreciate your help guys, truly
:)
 
There are plenty of apps. to hide the shortcut arrow. But if you want a nice simple way I've uploaded a Blank.ico, a .reg file and instructions HERE. Just drop the Blank.ico in your C:\Windows folder and run the .reg file.

For your info the .reg file reads:-
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons]
"29"="C:\\WINDOWS\\BLANK.ICO,0"
 
Last edited:
Back
Top