Certain icons have changed

[danielmanis]

Not only on my desktop, but everywhere, except for the executable file
itself in the program folder. Certain icons have changed to a default
kind of icon, the one Windows uses if it doesn't know the extension.
The programs will start fine, the problem seems to be only with the
icons. The entire Office suite has changed as well as Windows Media
Player and several non Microsoft programs.

I have tried TweakUI without success. I have tried deleting
iconcache.db and rebooting, several times, without success. I have
increased the icon cace using regedit without success. I am tired and
upset.

 

[Michael]

All,

I noticed the post below, and I'm having a similar problem. With my
computer, though, the problem is restricted just to .html and .htm files.
Internet shortcuts still show the IE icon, but any actual .html files have
the generic icon that Windows using when it doesn't recognize the extension.
The files still work fine, though.

Any clues as to what the problem is? I installed demo versions of some
Macromedia products around the time the icons changed, so that's a possible
cause, but it seems strange. I did a system restore to a few days ago, and
everything was fine afterward, until I rebooted the system again, and the
problem was still there.

I seem to remember experiencing a problem like this in the distant past, but
I can't remember how I solved it. Any thoughts?

Thanks much,
Mike

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Incorrect or generic Windows icon displayed for HTM and HTML files:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/htmicon.htm

 

[Michael]

Cool, thanks much.

Incorrect or generic Windows icon displayed for HTM and HTML files:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/htmicon.htm

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

You're welcome.

 

[Michael]

Um...OK, what if that doesn't work? I followed the procedures and removed
the appropriate key, reset web settings, etc., but no good. Any other
suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Mike,

Type this in Start-Run:

CMD /K ASSOC .HTM
CMD /K ASSOC .HTML

What's shown in the output?


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

Um...OK, what if that doesn't work? I followed the procedures and removed
the appropriate key, reset web settings, etc., but no good. Any other
suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

 

[Michael]

I get the following:

..HTM=htmlfile
..HTML=htmlfile

Mike

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Double-check if you have the IconHandler key under "htmlfile" in both these
locations:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Classes \ htmlfile \ ShellEx \ IconHandler
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Classes \ htmlfile \ ShellEx \ IconHandler

The 1st one may not exist by default, but application would add entries
there.

If that does not help, try a Icon repair using Tweak UI.

 

[Michael]

The first one didn't have an htmlfile folder, but I found the second one and
deleted it. No good, though, unfortunately.

Also, I noticed that the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE both had a
"defaulticon" entry under htmlfile. I deleted both as a test, but that just
served to change the icon to the ones used for Notepad.

I'll try the Tweak UI strategy. Thanks much for the help.

Mike

 

[Michael]

Actually, Tweak UI didn't work, either. Argh. I did a system restore back to
last week, though, and that seems to have worked, at least for the time
being...

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

You're welcome Mike. Deleting the "IconHandler" was already suggested by me
(in htmicon.htm link that I posted).