Desktop System Icons Change

[Sandman]

XP Pro running StyleXP customized GUI for the last few years with no such
problem; suddenly System icons for My Computer and My Documents on Desktop
change, reverting to default Microsoft icons, sometime after I access
Outlook Express or any other Microsoft program. It is a real annoyance to
have to go back to re-assign my custom icons for several of these items
several times during any session. This is new behavior and i have found no
answer; XP always saved all these customized items before, so i was at a
loss.
I am posting my simple solution to this annoyance in case anyone else has
this problem. I created a shortcut to my Documents and placed that on the
desktop and did the same with the Recycle Bin even though i cannot utilize
the 'full' or "mt' options r.e.Recyle Bin doing it this way, as they change
to system default again..
Such a simple gui problem that an otherwise great OS can't leave
alone.....can't imagine what happened to cause this as it always worked o.k.
without this...Unbelievably, there is nothing on the 'net that solves this
very simple problem and I have tried many.... Save settings etc, registry
changes do not work..

 

[a nonymous]

| XP Pro running StyleXP customized GUI for the last few years with no such
| problem; suddenly System icons for My Computer and My Documents on Desktop
| change, reverting to default Microsoft icons, sometime after I access
| Outlook Express or any other Microsoft program. It is a real annoyance to
| have to go back to re-assign my custom icons for several of these items
| several times during any session. This is new behavior and i have found no
| answer; XP always saved all these customized items before, so i was at a
| loss.
| I am posting my simple solution to this annoyance in case anyone else has
| this problem. I created a shortcut to my Documents and placed that on the
| desktop and did the same with the Recycle Bin even though i cannot utilize
| the 'full' or "mt' options r.e.Recyle Bin doing it this way, as they change
| to system default again..
| Such a simple gui problem that an otherwise great OS can't leave
| alone.....can't imagine what happened to cause this as it always worked o.k.
| without this...Unbelievably, there is nothing on the 'net that solves this
| very simple problem and I have tried many.... Save settings etc, registry
| changes do not work..

Had you updated your video driver prior to this happening?
Perhaps it would help if you did a driver rollback.

 

[Sandman]

Now that interests me because I think you may be on to something that i
never thought of....I did buy a newer video card with DVI input for my new
Dell LCD.... I can't imagine why it would affect this but I think you know
more than I do. Will rolling back the driver change the DVI support within
XP?.....
And thanks for this great tip, no one else has had a clue....

 

[Sandman]

To Anonymous, Please.. Since installing the basic (only) drivers for the new
card, I wound-up with the nvidia driver helper in 'Services" an add-on that
a tech, named BlackViper sez is totally unecessary for the card to work
under most circumstances...This shows up when i cahnged from the WDm drivers
to theNvidia of course.. I usually don't automatically install stuff from a
'hardware install cd' but i may have overlooked this and installed it
causing this problem(?)....... Appreciate your advice and insight...

 

[a nonymous]

XP Pro running StyleXP customized GUI for the last few years with no
such problem; suddenly System icons for My Computer and My Documents on
Desktop change, reverting to default Microsoft icons, sometime after I
access Outlook Express or any other Microsoft program. It is a real
annoyance to have to go back to re-assign my custom icons for several
of these items several times during any session. This is new behavior
and i have found no answer; XP always saved all these customized items
before, so i was at a loss.

I am posting my simple solution to this annoyance in case anyone else
has this problem. I created a shortcut to my Documents and placed that
on the desktop and did the same with the Recycle Bin even though i
cannot utilize the 'full' or "mt' options r.e.Recyle Bin doing it this
way, as they change to system default again.

Such a simple gui problem that an otherwise great OS can't leave alone.
can't imagine what happened to cause this as it always worked o.k.
without this. Unbelievably, there is nothing on the 'net that solves
this very simple problem and I have tried many.... Save settings etc,
registry changes do not work..



Had you updated your video driver prior to this happening?
Perhaps it would help if you did a driver rollback.



Now that interests me because I think you may be on to something that i
never thought of. I did buy a newer video card with DVI input for my new
Dell LCD. I can't imagine why it would affect this but I think you know
more than I do. Will rolling back the driver change the DVI support within
XP? And thanks for this great tip, no one else has had a clue.


To Anonymous, Please
Since installing the basic (only) drivers for the new
card, I wound-up with the nvidia driver helper in 'Services" an add-on that
a tech, named BlackViper sez is totally unecessary for the card to work
under most circumstances. This shows up when i cahnged from the WDm drivers
to theNvidia of course. I usually don't automatically install stuff from a
'hardware install cd' but i may have overlooked this and installed it
causing this problem(?). Appreciate your advice and insight.


Hi Sandman,

Double whammy! (nVidia + Dell)

Many months ago, Dell shipped a batch of high-end portables which had been
sysprepped from a bad image CD - and there was a batch of calls for help in
this newsgroup. Contact Dell about this.

As for nVidia video drivers: There was at least one version of driver which
affected icons and the ability to display an item while it was being dragged
across the desktop.


| Will rolling back the driver change the DVI support within XP?

It might. If the driver came bundled with that video card, contact the
manufacturer of that video card (they might tell you to contact nVidia).
Read the fine print in the warranty for the card, and also check your local
laws regarding "merchantibility" or "fitness for intended use" or related
legal jargon.


| And thanks for this great tip, no one else has had a clue.

Actually, it was other people who diagnosed these problems.


| nvidia driver helper in 'Services"

Disable any service whose title contains the word "nvidia". I did that.
You can easily re-enable the service, if needed.


| I usually don't automatically install stuff from a 'hardware install cd'
| but i may have overlooked this and installed it

You certainly did not automatically install it, but condescending nvidia
did it for you. How thoughtful of them - NOT.


Recently I did a manual Windows Update from Microsoft and I was horrified
to see an update for a nvidia driver. Needless to say, "No way, Jose!"
Not only is it a nvidia driver, but also third-party drivers at the
Microsoft Windows Update are usually not the latest version - it would be
better to obtain drivers directly from the third-party site - except for
that particular version of nvidia driver (Catch 22?)

Unfortunately, if you have enabled "Automatic Windows Updates" then you
probably would not even be aware that you have a new driver, and that you
have been "hijacked" by nVidia.


| Appreciate your advice and insight.

Anything I post is just my opinion.
I have no in-depth knowledge relating to the issues that you mentioned.

 

[Sandman]

thanks for the additional follow-up on this; i do appreciate it....

 

[Brad Wardell]

XP Pro running StyleXP customized GUI for the last few years with no
such problem; suddenly System icons for My Computer and My Documents on
Desktop change, reverting to default Microsoft icons, sometime after I
access Outlook Express or any other Microsoft program. It is a real
annoyance to have to go back to re-assign my custom icons for several
of these items several times during any session. This is new behavior
and i have found no answer; XP always saved all these customized items
before, so i was at a loss.

I am posting my simple solution to this annoyance in case anyone else
has this problem. I created a shortcut to my Documents and placed that
on the desktop and did the same with the Recycle Bin even though i
cannot utilize the 'full' or "mt' options r.e.Recyle Bin doing it this
way, as they change to system default again.

Such a simple gui problem that an otherwise great OS can't leave alone.
can't imagine what happened to cause this as it always worked o.k.
without this. Unbelievably, there is nothing on the 'net that solves
this very simple problem and I have tried many.... Save settings etc,
registry changes do not work..

You might want to try IconPackager. It lets you assign icons system wide and
it should solve the problem you're running into. there's a free download
version of it here: http://www.iconzone.com.

hope this helps.