Windows 7 Windows 7 Custom Icons Problem! Black Squares!

clashed

New Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2011
Messages
10
Hello, I've been playing a bit with my Windows 7 PC for some time now, and I'm pretty skilled with computers in general, but I must admit, I do need help this time!

So, I was adding some custom icons to most of my desktop icons and all was well until I turned off my PC and opened it again today when I got home from work.

The problem as you can see in the picture below is that although some of my icons (custom ones included) do appear, the majority of them do not! Instead, a black block appears. I have tried re-adding each icon but although the custom icon appears to look correct in properties file, it appears as a black square on the actual desktop.

When I hit F5 to refresh my desktop, ALL the custom icons appear for a split second, then they turn into black squares.

Can someone please try to help me?

Link Removed
 


Solution
Have you removed the shortcut arrow overlay? A lot of the methods I came across when I first got Win 7, would, after a short while, turn into a black square. This was because they were using a blank icon, when really you need a replacement for the arrow which has something there, even if you can't see it. I made a replacement a while ago which you can just replace the current blank.ico with or use the included .reg file and instructions. I stuck that up on MediaFire.

Do your icon replacements contain the correct sizes? At a minimum there should be 256x256, 64x64, 48x48, 32x32, 24x24 and 16x16.

Have you moved your customised icons since assigning them? Are the paths still correct? (Think you've already answered that and the...
I'd first off delete the iconcache in your user name/app data/local folder. Then using disk clean up, delete the thumbs caches and then reboot. See if that does anything first.

Oh, and Welcome to the Forum clashed!!
 


I'd first off delete the iconcache in your user name/app data/local folder. Then using disk clean up, delete the thumbs caches and then reboot. See if that does anything first.

Oh, and Welcome to the Forum clashed!!

I'm running the disk cleanup right now! I'll let you know if it works!
 


Have you removed the shortcut arrow overlay? A lot of the methods I came across when I first got Win 7, would, after a short while, turn into a black square. This was because they were using a blank icon, when really you need a replacement for the arrow which has something there, even if you can't see it. I made a replacement a while ago which you can just replace the current blank.ico with or use the included .reg file and instructions. I stuck that up on MediaFire.

Do your icon replacements contain the correct sizes? At a minimum there should be 256x256, 64x64, 48x48, 32x32, 24x24 and 16x16.

Have you moved your customised icons since assigning them? Are the paths still correct? (Think you've already answered that and the answer is yes).

Is this only happening on your desktop? If so that would suggest there is something not quite right with the larger (png image) icons in the icon group.

Every time you change something, do the clean ups as above.
 


Last edited:
Solution
I removed the little arrows at the bottom left corner of the shortcut icons. This might have been the problem because all the folders still have their custom icons. How would I fix this? Do I just restore the arrows back? (I used your program and nothing happened)
 


Good to hear! Was it the shortcut arrow or a.n.other problem?

Always remember when changing "system" icons you should delete iconcache, delete thumbnails caches and re-boot. That re-sets all your icon settings back to zero.
 


Back
Top