Changing or disappearing icons or folder view options

[Kurt]

I use Win XP Pro. I keep encountering the following two
issues, which I suspect are somehow related. First,
regarding Folder Options in Windows Explorer. My
preferred view is List/Details. I can set that to be the
view for all folders, but after awhile, I'll navigate to
a folder and get small folder icons instead of the list
with details. So, I reset the view options, select the
option to apply it to all folders, and a few days or
weeks later, I'll get one with folder icons again.

The other issue has to do with the specialized icons some
web sites have available. One in particular has been
troublesome, but now I've encountered the same issue with
some others. Westlaw.com is a research facility I use on
the web. It has a logo available as an icon for the web
site. I can add it to my favorites in IE6, and that
specialized logo icon is on my favorites list. I can
then put a shortcut on my desktop, and it is the generic
IE6 shortcut type of icon; but after a while, if I can
force my desktop to "refresh", say after using Windows
Explorer or searching for a file, it will update itself
to the fancy logo. But when I restart the computer, it
reverts to the generic icon.

What can cause these settings to change?

 

[Hilary Karp]

Windows will only remember settings for 400 folders. To increase this
to 8000 go to this site and run the tweak on line 2 left side:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

 

[Kelly]

Hi Kurt,

For your second issue:

These are generally known as favicons.ico (Favorite Icons) and they normally
will only last until your Internet Explorer Temp files are cleared.

This program will allow you to save the favicons.ico (Favorite Icons)
permanently in a different folder and re-associate your favorites with the
stored icons.

FavOrg - Restore and Save Favorite Icons (Line 108)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Tip:

FavesToGo - Save Favorites Quickly (Line 108)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Workaround:

Navigate to the Temporary Internet Files, and drag the icons to the desktop
and rename them to whatever name you like.

Create a folder called Icon Selection. Move all of the renamed favicons to
this folder placed in the root directory of C. Right click on the Icon,
select Browse and navigate to your Icon Selection folder. Choose the
renamed favicon and click ok. These icons will be permanent.

When you right click on an icon, select browse and navigate to the Icon
Selection folder. Choose the renamed favicon you want and click ok. Your
customized icons will be permanent.

Troubleshooting Favorites
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_favorites.htm