Hello Dr Phlox,
The following will not remove the icons,
but it will eliminate the time-wasting action
of repainting the icons.
I Hope this helps.
Please post your findings in this thread,
in this newsgroup, for the benefit of all.
Jan
---CAUSE:-----------
The path to the Icon which Explorer displays for
".EXE" files is found in the registry-key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon].
For the value-name "(default)",
a value-data "%1" will instruct Explorer to
render the icon as the first icon contained in
the ".EXE" file.
---EFFECT:-----------
Irritating frustration, etc., because many
".EXE" files contain an icon different from that
in all the other ".EXE" files in that folder.
Explorer will copy each icon to a cache if
that icon is not already stored in that cache,
as well as paint each unique icon over the
standard icon which had already been painted
in the folder's window.
--- WORK-AROUND: ----------- FOR MOST FILETYPES -
where .GFX = .jpg, .gif, ...etc.
In Explorer,
| Tools | Folder Options | /File Types\
In the box titled "Registered File Types:",
navigate to "GFX."
Click [Advanced].
In the dialog box titled "Edit File Type",
click [Change Icon...].
In the dialog box titled "Change Icon",
click [Browse...].
Locate a file containing an icon of your choice.
--- WORK-AROUND: ------- FOR SPECIAL FILETYPES --
such as .exe, .dll, ...etc., for which the icons
cannot be changed using the procedure outlined
for graphics files.
Change the value in "(default)" from "%1"
to the path to an icon of your choosing, or
to the standard icon for ".DLL" files, namely,
%SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,-154
--- MANUAL REGISTRY EDIT PROCEDURE: -----------
Open a registry editor via,
[Start] | Run... | Regedit [OK]
Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe
(this key will be highlighted when you select it)
Note: In right-hand pane, "(default)" = "exefile"
Now navigate to
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon.
(this key will be highlighted when you select it)
--- Now save this original registry key: ---
On the "Tools" menu, click | File | Export |
In the dialog box titled "Export Registry File",
navigate to a suitable folder,
enter an appropriate fileName, e.g. EXE-OLD.REG,
and click [Save].
( To restore the original icon, just right-click
the "GFX-OLD.REG" file, then click | Merge | )
--- Now modify this registry key: ---
In the right-hand pane,
right-click "(default)" | Modify |
In the dialog box titled "Edit String",
right-click the text box titled "Value Data"
and click | Paste | to replace the value "%1"
with the path to your chosen icon, or
%SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,-154
--- Now save this new registry key: ---
On the "Tools" menu, click | File | Export |
In the dialog box titled "Export Registry File",
navigate to the same suitable folder as above,
enter an appropriate fileName, e.g. EXE-NEW.REG,
and click [Save].
( To restore the chosen icon, just right-click
the "EXE-NEW.REG" file, then click | Merge | )
Exit the registry editor.
You may need to re-boot or logoff/logon
for changes to take effect.
--- END ---
