Uninstalling StyleXP after upgrade corrupts icons

[Guest]

BUG: Icons in Windows Vista become corrupt after uninstalling StyleXP from an
upgrade of Windows XP.

Article ID : 321964*
Last Review : May 30, 2007
Revision : 1.0


SUMMARY
Assuming StyleXP was installed on Windows XP system prior to a Windows Vista
upgrade install. Is StyleXP is then uninstalled from Windows Vista, most
folder and special folder icons will become corrupt or invalid; either
showing the wrong icon or the Windows "default" icon.

NOTE: The incorrect icons are only shown for the Windows Explorer views:
List, Details, or Small Icon. Once Tile, Medium, or larger icons are
selected, the proper icon is displayed.

CAUSE
When installed, StyleXP customizes regular/special folder icons using
settings "somewhere" in Windows. Upgrading to Vista redirects all those
folder icon settings to the appropriate Vista settings. When uninstalling
StyleXP, the various folder icon settngs are "restored" to what they were
during install. But those "previous" settings only applied to Windows XP;
making them invalid for Windows Vista.

Icons over the medium size appear correctly because for these larger
resolutions Windows Vista ignores the invalid/corrupt folder icon setting,
and instead uses a resized version of the Windows Vista 128x128 png style
icon.


UNSUCESSFUL SOLUTIONS

Non-Solution 1
sfc /scannow - by definition no files are corrupt

Non-Solution 2
Virus/Spyware scan - it's not a virus or spyware problem. It's a
configuration problem.

Non-Solution 3
System Restore - In my case no system restore point early enough was
available. Maybe you'll be more lucky.

Non-Solution 4
Deleting the icon cache
Kill explorer.exe
Delete the file %LocalAppData%\iconcache.db
Restart Explorer

Non-Solution 5
Customizing the Folder (Bring up the properties of a folder and select the
Customize tab.)
- Under "Folder Pictures" section, Choose a file
Doesn't use the newly selected picture.

- Hit Restore Default
Doesn't restore the default.

- Hit "Change Icon" then Restore Default
Doesn't restore default

- Hit "Change Icon" then select a new icon from Shell32.dll
Doesn't keep the seeting

Non-Solution 6
Noting the setting of
HKCR/Folder/DefaultIcon
%SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,3
The 4th icon (0-based index) in shell32 is a picture of a folder. This
setting would indicate that the icon for a folder should be a folder, but it
is not.

Non-Solution 7
Changing the setting of
HKCR/Folder/DefaultIcon/(default) to
%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,3
This setting is unused on Vista; changing it on a fresh Vista install has
no effect either.

Non-Solution 8
Resetting all folders.
Windows Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View
Reset Folders

Non-Solution 9
Creating a new user account. It was hoped that a new user account would
cause the creation of a new icon cache file. But since the problem lies with
a problem in the machine-wide setting of the default folder icon, all users
experience the same problem.

SOLUTION
At this time Microsoft is still investigating the cause of this problem.
There is no known solution at this time.

WORKAROUND
For some reason you are not allowed to select a custom from image for a
foler, from anything except ImageRes.dll. Not even the default source for
icons, shell32.dll, will work. Any icon selection you make will not be kept,
unless the icon is in ImageRes.dll. Bring up the "Customize Folder" dialog.
Folder Icons -> Change Icon
Look for icons in this file: %SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll

The 4th icon (as well as the 3rd icon, and the 5-th icon) happen to look
vaguely like a folder.

NOTE: Customizing a folder in this way makes Windows Vista create a
desktop.ini file in the customized folder. Deleting this desktop.ini file
reverts the behaviour to the invalid "default" Windows icon.


REQUIRED INVESTIGATION
Why is no icon selection from shell32.dll being accepted? Why only
ImageRes.dll?

It's almost certainly not a setting specifically requesting the use of the
default icon (e.g. shell32.dll,0). i'll say that again: nobody is
specifically requesting the default icon. There must be a setting that is
invalid, or causing problems, and Windows Vista is falling back to the
"default" icon.
Where *exactly* is the setting that is trying to specify the icon for
folders on the computer, so that i may see if it really is invalid, try to
trace down the problem Vista is having, and fix it - perhaps globally.


APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows Vista

REFERENCES
http://tinyurl.com/37dhj7 (Windows Vista Community)
http://tinyurl.com/2whpf7 (Windows Vista Community)
http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t517830.html
http://forums.pcpitstop.com/lofiversion/index.php/t140768.html


Keywords: vista stylexp iconcache corrupt missing icons iconcache.db



* i made this kb article up. It's all the symptoms, and things that don't
work to try to fix it - but Microsoft hasn't posted an article on it yet. But
that's okay, because Google and every other website on earth will mirror this.

 

[Guest]

i've been in contact with Microsoft Support.

After searching MSKB articles, Guy#1 wasn't able to figure out the problem,
and escalated it.
After searching MSKB articles, Guy#2 wasn't able to figure out the problem,
and suggested a reinstall.


Where is the setting in Vista that specifies what icon to use for a folder?

Is there another set of support at Microsoft that i can call and pay for and
get answers? Or is Microsoft technical support limited to "i dunno,
reinstall" ?

 

[Guest]

Solution: delete the registry folder
HKML\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Shell Icons


PRB: Icons in Windows Vista become corrupt after uninstalling StyleXP from
an upgrade of Windows XP.

Article ID : 321964
Last Review : May 31, 2007
Revision : 1.1

This article was previously published under Q321963

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry.
Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that
you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For
information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986) Description of the Microsoft
Windows Registry


SYMPTOMS
If StyleXP is uninstalled from a Windows Vista machine that was upgraded
from Windows XP, various shell icons will become corrupt or missing.
Additionally, Windows Exporer and other programs may lock up when attempting
to browse to certain folders. Shell icons may only be invalid for the shell
views that use smaller icons: List, Details, and Small Icons. Icons will
appear normally using Medium Icons or larger views.

CAUSE
When installed, StyleXP customizes shell icons in the registry. When StyleXP
is uninstalled, the installer program doesn't delete these registry keys, but
instead blanks the values. This causes the customization setting to be
invalid; the proper way to deactivate a customization is to delete the entry.

Using the Large Icons setting does not use the icon customization setting,
but instead uses a resized version of the Windows Vista 128x128 png style
icon.

SOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry
Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, a user who has administrative rights must delete
the shell icon customizations. Normally no customizations are present, so the
entire Shell Icons registry key may be deleted; restoring all shell icons to
their default settings.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open text box, type regedit.
3. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer
4. Right-click the Shell Icons subkey, and click Delete.
5. Close Registry Editor.
6. Restart the computer.

REFERENCES

For more information, visit the following websites.
http://www.tgtsoft.com (StyleXP homepage)
http://tinyurl.com/37dhj7 (Windows Vista Community)
http://tinyurl.com/2whpf7 (Windows Vista Community)
http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t517830.html
http://forums.pcpitstop.com/lofiversion/index.php/t140768.html

APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows Vista


Keywords: vista stylexp iconcache corrupt missing icons iconcache.db shell
icons

 

[Guest]

Solution: delete the registry folder
HKML\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Shell Icons

PRB: Icons in Windows Vista become corrupt after uninstalling StyleXP from
an upgrade of Windows XP.

Article ID : 321964
Last Review : May 31, 2007
Revision : 1.1

This article was previously published under Q321963

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry.
Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that
you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For
information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986) Description of the Microsoft
Windows Registry


SYMPTOMS
If StyleXP is uninstalled from a Windows Vista machine that was upgraded
from Windows XP, various shell icons will become corrupt or missing.
Additionally, Windows Exporer and other programs may lock up when attempting
to browse to certain folders. Shell icons may only be invalid for the shell
views that use smaller icons: List, Details, and Small Icons. Icons will
appear normally using Medium Icons or larger views.

CAUSE
When installed, StyleXP customizes shell icons in the registry. When StyleXP
is uninstalled, the installer program doesn't delete these registry keys, but
instead blanks the values. This causes the customization setting to be
invalid; the proper way to deactivate a customization is to delete the entry.

Using the Large Icons setting does not use the icon customization setting,
but instead uses a resized version of the Windows Vista 128x128 png style
icon.

SOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry
Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, a user who has administrative rights must delete
the shell icon customizations. Normally no customizations are present, so the
entire Shell Icons registry key may be deleted; restoring all shell icons to
their default settings.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open text box, type regedit.
3. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer
4. Right-click the Shell Icons subkey, and click Delete.
5. Close Registry Editor.
6. Restart the computer.

REFERENCES

For more information, visit the following websites.
http://www.tgtsoft.com (StyleXP homepage)
http://tinyurl.com/37dhj7 (Windows Vista Community)
http://tinyurl.com/2whpf7 (Windows Vista Community)
http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t517830.html
http://forums.pcpitstop.com/lofiversion/index.php/t140768.html

APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows Vista


Keywords: vista stylexp iconcache corrupt missing icons iconcache.db shell
icons