Disappearing Icons

[Guest]

MY start menu icons have been replaced by black squares (I am using classic
menu). I went to the dialog where you choose which icons appear on the
desktop and pressed the restore default button. The missing icons were
replaced with random icons of programs i have installed. I started up my PC
this morning and they were black squares again. I was looking all day
yesterday for the registry keys of those start menu items (Programs,
Documents, Settings, Settings\Control Panel, Settings\Network Connections,
Search, Search\For Files, Help And Support, Run, Shut Down) to check that the
icons were set correctly, but as yet I haven't found which ones yet. Can
someone offer something helpful here, please.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

See if repairing the icons using TweakUI helps.

TweakUI v2.10 for Windows XP SP1/XP MCE/2003 [147 KB].
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

If that does not help, you may want to delete the IconCache.db file. Click Start/Run and type:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\

Select the file named "IconCache.db" (hidden file) and delete it. Restart Windows.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


MY start menu icons have been replaced by black squares (I am using classic
menu). I went to the dialog where you choose which icons appear on the
desktop and pressed the restore default button. The missing icons were
replaced with random icons of programs i have installed. I started up my PC
this morning and they were black squares again. I was looking all day
yesterday for the registry keys of those start menu items (Programs,
Documents, Settings, Settings\Control Panel, Settings\Network Connections,
Search, Search\For Files, Help And Support, Run, Shut Down) to check that the
icons were set correctly, but as yet I haven't found which ones yet. Can
someone offer something helpful here, please.

 

[Guest]

I upgraded to Vista Ultimate, so none of those apps will install/run, but the
problem was there since I was on XP which means that it's a problem with
state data that was not changed in the upgrade. I thought of doing a repair
install, but it requires that you have a backup disk or a restore point to
restore from. I don't have either. And even if I did, I suspect that this
problem would be saved there too. This is why my main angle here has been to
rummage through the registry searching for the keys at which these items are
specified. I read something about "Shell Icons" key, but that don't exist in
my registry. Also, deleting the iconcached.db file didn't work. What else do
you suggest??

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

1. Try deleting the "Max Cached Icons" registry value if already present. (The value does not exist by default in my Vista system.)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
Value named "Max Cached Icons"

2. Change the Color scheme to "Windows Classic". And then revert it back to "Windows Aero"

3. Reinstall the display drivers.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I upgraded to Vista Ultimate, so none of those apps will install/run, but the
problem was there since I was on XP which means that it's a problem with
state data that was not changed in the upgrade. I thought of doing a repair
install, but it requires that you have a backup disk or a restore point to
restore from. I don't have either. And even if I did, I suspect that this
problem would be saved there too. This is why my main angle here has been to
rummage through the registry searching for the keys at which these items are
specified. I read something about "Shell Icons" key, but that don't exist in
my registry. Also, deleting the iconcached.db file didn't work. What else do
you suggest??

See if repairing the icons using TweakUI helps.

TweakUI v2.10 for Windows XP SP1/XP MCE/2003 [147 KB].
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

If that does not help, you may want to delete the IconCache.db file. Click Start/Run and type:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\

Select the file named "IconCache.db" (hidden file) and delete it. Restart Windows.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


MY start menu icons have been replaced by black squares (I am using classic
menu). I went to the dialog where you choose which icons appear on the
desktop and pressed the restore default button. The missing icons were
replaced with random icons of programs i have installed. I started up my PC
this morning and they were black squares again. I was looking all day
yesterday for the registry keys of those start menu items (Programs,
Documents, Settings, Settings\Control Panel, Settings\Network Connections,
Search, Search\For Files, Help And Support, Run, Shut Down) to check that the
icons were set correctly, but as yet I haven't found which ones yet. Can
someone offer something helpful here, please.

 

[Guest]

Sorry Ramesh, none of these solutions have worked. I have recently installed
a new graphics card, an ATI X1300. The icons are still like this. I have been
switching the color scheme between classic and vista basic and aero. No
success. The "Max Cached Icons" value didn't exist before, so I created it to
test it, but it had no effect both when there and when not.

I also tried logging out and into another account on the pc and changing
it's style to classic. It too is afflicted with the missing icons disease.

So from this we can conclude that the problem is with some state data that
changed after the system was installed (with xp before the upgrade) and it's
system wide.

The only question still to be answered is what data??

1. Try deleting the "Max Cached Icons" registry value if already present. (The value does not exist by default in my Vista system.)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
Value named "Max Cached Icons"

2. Change the Color scheme to "Windows Classic". And then revert it back to "Windows Aero"

3. Reinstall the display drivers.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I upgraded to Vista Ultimate, so none of those apps will install/run, but the
problem was there since I was on XP which means that it's a problem with
state data that was not changed in the upgrade. I thought of doing a repair
install, but it requires that you have a backup disk or a restore point to
restore from. I don't have either. And even if I did, I suspect that this
problem would be saved there too. This is why my main angle here has been to
rummage through the registry searching for the keys at which these items are
specified. I read something about "Shell Icons" key, but that don't exist in
my registry. Also, deleting the iconcached.db file didn't work. What else do
you suggest??

See if repairing the icons using TweakUI helps.

TweakUI v2.10 for Windows XP SP1/XP MCE/2003 [147 KB].
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

If that does not help, you may want to delete the IconCache.db file. Click Start/Run and type:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\

Select the file named "IconCache.db" (hidden file) and delete it. Restart Windows.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


MY start menu icons have been replaced by black squares (I am using classic
menu). I went to the dialog where you choose which icons appear on the
desktop and pressed the restore default button. The missing icons were
replaced with random icons of programs i have installed. I started up my PC
this morning and they were black squares again. I was looking all day
yesterday for the registry keys of those start menu items (Programs,
Documents, Settings, Settings\Control Panel, Settings\Network Connections,
Search, Search\For Files, Help And Support, Run, Shut Down) to check that the
icons were set correctly, but as yet I haven't found which ones yet. Can
someone offer something helpful here, please.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

No idea then, Sidewinder58. See if posting this in Vista newsgroups helps.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Sorry Ramesh, none of these solutions have worked. I have recently installed
a new graphics card, an ATI X1300. The icons are still like this. I have been
switching the color scheme between classic and vista basic and aero. No
success. The "Max Cached Icons" value didn't exist before, so I created it to
test it, but it had no effect both when there and when not.

I also tried logging out and into another account on the pc and changing
it's style to classic. It too is afflicted with the missing icons disease.

So from this we can conclude that the problem is with some state data that
changed after the system was installed (with xp before the upgrade) and it's
system wide.

The only question still to be answered is what data??

1. Try deleting the "Max Cached Icons" registry value if already present. (The value does not exist by default in my Vista system.)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
Value named "Max Cached Icons"

2. Change the Color scheme to "Windows Classic". And then revert it back to "Windows Aero"

3. Reinstall the display drivers.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I upgraded to Vista Ultimate, so none of those apps will install/run, but the
problem was there since I was on XP which means that it's a problem with
state data that was not changed in the upgrade. I thought of doing a repair
install, but it requires that you have a backup disk or a restore point to
restore from. I don't have either. And even if I did, I suspect that this
problem would be saved there too. This is why my main angle here has been to
rummage through the registry searching for the keys at which these items are
specified. I read something about "Shell Icons" key, but that don't exist in
my registry. Also, deleting the iconcached.db file didn't work. What else do
you suggest??

See if repairing the icons using TweakUI helps.

TweakUI v2.10 for Windows XP SP1/XP MCE/2003 [147 KB].
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

If that does not help, you may want to delete the IconCache.db file. Click Start/Run and type:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\

Select the file named "IconCache.db" (hidden file) and delete it. Restart Windows.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


MY start menu icons have been replaced by black squares (I am using classic
menu). I went to the dialog where you choose which icons appear on the
desktop and pressed the restore default button. The missing icons were
replaced with random icons of programs i have installed. I started up my PC
this morning and they were black squares again. I was looking all day
yesterday for the registry keys of those start menu items (Programs,
Documents, Settings, Settings\Control Panel, Settings\Network Connections,
Search, Search\For Files, Help And Support, Run, Shut Down) to check that the
icons were set correctly, but as yet I haven't found which ones yet. Can
someone offer something helpful here, please.