ShellIconCache folder missing

M

Marty

I recently noticed the ShellIconCache folder is missing from my
%systemroot% folder even after computer restart.

The reason I checked it out is because I am having trouble with HTM/HTML
file icons, they display as the plain old white icon - the type you get
in Windows when there is no related program even though I have Firefox
set as the default browser and default program for HTM/HTML files.

I have tried reinstalling Firefox but that makes no difference.

Re-registering the file type under Folder Options>File Types with either
IE or Firefox doesn't change the icon even after computer restart.

Also strange that in IE under Internet Options>Programs there is nothing
listed as HTML Editor and no programs available in the drop-down box.

Any ideas?

Thanking you,

Marty
 
T

Tom Che [MSFT]

Hi Marty,

Thanks for your posting. Also thanks for our MVP Ramesh's kindly reply.

I agree with Ramesh, please note in XP, Icons Cache is a file but not a
folder used in Windows 98.

The html icon issue please refer to the web site Ramesh provided.

Regarding the HTML Editor, please note it is not related to IE or Firefox.
It should be a Editor, such as Notepad or Word or FrontPage. The list is
blank maybe due to corrupted registry entries. If you found this issue
recently, you may consider using System Restore. For more information,
please see:

HOW TO: Restore Windows XP to a Previous State
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

If the issues persists, you may refer to the following Microsoft Web site
to repair IE:

How to reinstall or repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378

Hope this helps!

Have a nice day!

Sincerely,
Tom Che
Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--------------------
 
M

Marty

Hi Ramesh and Tom thanks for your reply.

Yes I am mistaken ShellIconCache is a file not a folder in XP. I looked
for ICONCACHE.DB on my system and in specified folder but it does not exist.

Also I followed instructions from Ramesh' website:

----------------------
* Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ htmlfile \ ShellEx \ IconHandler

* Backup the key. See Method 2 here
* Delete the IconHandler key from the registry.
* Close Regedit
* Open Internet Explorer
* From Tools menu, choose Internet Options
* Select the Programs tab.
* Click Reset Web Settings button and complete the process.
----------------------

The key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ htmlfile \ ShellEx \ IconHandler does not
exist (no ShellEx key).

Don't know what's going on!

Cheers,

Marty
 
R

Ramesh, MS-MVP

Marty,

Are you using Firefox as the default browser? If not, and you want to switch
to Internet Explorer as the default, try this command:

From Start, Run - Type:

CMD /C ASSOC .htm=htmlfile

This might fix the html icon as well.

OTOH, if you want to have Mozilla firefox as the default HTM file handler,
and want to rectify the HTM icons, try downloading FileExtInfo utility from
http://www.winhelponline.com/fileextinfo.htm. Download/unzip the tool.
Select .HTM and generate a report. Post the entire information here.
 
M

Marty

Hi Ramesh here is the report for .HTM:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FileExtInfo v1.0 - Log file
28/09/2005 8:17:53 PM

Complete File association information for ---> .HTM
Useful for troubleshooting File association and other problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM]
@="FirefoxHTML"
"Content Type"="text/html"
"PerceivedType"="text"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\firefox.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\Notepad.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8\shell\edit]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Sun\\StarOffice 8\\program\\soffice.exe\" -o \"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithProgIDs]
"opendocument.WriterDocument.1"=" "
"opendocument.CalcDocument.1"=" "

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\PersistentHandler]
@="{eec97550-47a9-11cf-b952-00aa0051fe20}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML]
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\DefaultIcon]
@="\"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\shell]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\ShellEx]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\ShellEx\IconHandler]
@="{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,35,\
00,32,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\OpenWithList]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\OpenWithList\Notepad.exe]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\OpenWithList\WordPad.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\shell\edit]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\shell\edit\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,4f,00,\
54,00,45,00,50,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,45,00,58,00,45,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,\
00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,4f,00,\
54,00,45,00,50,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,45,00,58,00,45,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,\
00


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.HTM]
"Application"="firefox.exe"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.HTM\OpenWithList]
"MRUList"="ab"
"a"="firefox.exe"
"b"="NOTEPAD.EXE"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.HTM\OpenWithProgids]
"FirefoxHTML"=hex(0):
Click to expand...
 
R

Ramesh, MS-MVP

Marty,

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML]

Backup the key to a REG file.

Navigate to:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\DefaultIcon]

Set the (default) value to the following:
"C:\PROGRA~1\MOZILL~1\FIREFOX.EXE,1"

Then, delete the following key:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\ShellEx\IconHandler]

Close Regedit.exe


--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Marty said:
Hi Ramesh here is the report for .HTM:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FileExtInfo v1.0 - Log file
28/09/2005 8:17:53 PM Complete File association information for --->
.HTM
Useful for troubleshooting File association and other problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM]
@="FirefoxHTML"
"Content Type"="text/html"
"PerceivedType"="text"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\firefox.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\Notepad.exe]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8\shell\edit]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithList\StarOffice 8\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Sun\\StarOffice 8\\program\\soffice.exe\" -o
\"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\OpenWithProgIDs]
"opendocument.WriterDocument.1"=" "
"opendocument.CalcDocument.1"=" "

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM\PersistentHandler]
@="{eec97550-47a9-11cf-b952-00aa0051fe20}"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML]
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\DefaultIcon]
@="\"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\shell]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\ShellEx]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\ShellEx\IconHandler]
@="{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}"
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
M

Marty

Oh yeah to answer your question I want to use Firefox as default browser.

Who in their right mind would choose IE over Firefox ;).

Thanks for your help,

Marty
 
M

Marty

Hi Ramesh,

I completed all your instructions as per below.

Still the icons aren't displaying correctly. Has it something to do with
the ICONCACHE.DB file that's not on my system?

Thank you,

Marty
 
R

Ramesh, MS-MVP

Marty,

ICONCACHE.DB is a hidden file. If you can't find the file, or if deleting
the file does not help, you may try repairing the icons using Tweak UI
PowerToy for Windows XP.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Marty said:
Hi Ramesh,

I completed all your instructions as per below.

Still the icons aren't displaying correctly. Has it something to do with
the ICONCACHE.DB file that's not on my system?

Thank you,

Marty



Ramesh said:
Marty,

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML]

Backup the key to a REG file.

Navigate to:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\DefaultIcon]

Set the (default) value to the following:
"C:\PROGRA~1\MOZILL~1\FIREFOX.EXE,1"

Then, delete the following key:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\ShellEx\IconHandler]

Close Regedit.exe
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
M

Marty

Hi Ramesh!

Ok after nearly a whole day of non-stop problem solving in regards to a
simple problem and what I thought had a simple solution I have finally
fixed the .HTM and .HTML icon problem.

I tried everything including reinstalling Firefox, using the Rebuild
Icons feature of Tweak UI Powertoy for Windows XP, running System File
Checker, removing Internet Explorer component and then adding back to
XP, changing settings in Folder Options > File Types.

I also tried several changes to the registry that Ramesh kindly offered.

After exhausting all avenues I decided to really get stuck into the
registry and after backing up I deleted completely the following keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7

I also deleted these values:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.htm\OpenWithList
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.html\OpenWithList

There were some others that I can't recall as well.

(I'm definitely no Windows expert and so it was a bit of trial and error
but most of the deleted keys seem to be replaced with fresh values on
computer restart).

Restarted the computer, reinstalled Firefox and set it as default
browser. Problem finally resolved.

And note the IconCache.db file was definitely not on my system at least
when my problems started but it is now :).

Oh Mr Gates why do you create such feeble OS's!

Cheers,

Marty
 

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