Broken or missing icons in Windows 7/8
Q. Some of my Windows icons have disappeared and look like the default application icon. How can I fix this?
Here's an example of what it looks like:
A. This happens because the icon cache gets corrupted. There are several ways to fix this:
Solution #1:
1) Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution"
2) Under "Advanced Settings" select "Monitor" tab. In the colords drop down select a value other than what you have now (so if it is "True Color 32 bit" select "True Color 16 bit" and vice-versa).
3) Click "Ok" and and the icons should restore themselves.
4) Once the icons appear, you can repeat the steps 1-3 and revert back to whatever value you've had initially.
Solution #2:
You can also just delete the icons database:
1) Open Windows Explorer window and go to: %HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local
2) Right click on IconCache.db and click on "Delete".
3) (As recommended by Adrian): Start the task manager (ctrl + Shift + Esc) and kill explorer.exe process, then re-run it again
I used #2 method 1st. It did not work at all.
Switching the Monitor Color Mode back/forth did the trick.
thank ya....
1. del iconcache.db
2. open task manager
3. kill explorer.exe
4. still on task manager, file -> new task (run..)
5. type "explorer" and hit enter.
1. Right click the broken icon
2. Select properties
3. Select Change Icon at the bottom of the options in the shortcut tab
4. Select the default icon from the pop up
5. Click OK
6. Click Apply
Cheers.
DONT REBOOT, nothing will happen, instead, after deleting iconcache.db start the task manager (ctrl + Shift + Esc) then kill explorer.exe process then re run it again.
after deleting iconcache.db start the task manager (ctrl + Shift + Esc) and del explorer.exe process,
click file, new task, type explorer and press enter,
does work
u can fix those easily with CC Cleaner, find a cracked version then go to registry in the program, scan and fix, then ctrl alt delete, find explorer.exe close it, then run> explorer and everything would be fine!
There seems to be no way around resolving this weird issue. I also tried change icon and browse but I do not have a systems file at all and have ZERO options to change the Icon. NOTHING works. So frustrating. Not your fault at all.
Thanks for all your help though. My computer is just set up weirdly. I have Dell Latitude E4300 and it seems to have been built upside down lacking many features that it ABSOLUTELY NEEDS. Shame on the Developers.
I needed space on my C: drive (an SSD) so I cut the Windows\Installer file, pasted it to D: drive, did what I needed to do with the extra space (install a program) and copied the Installer file back. No problem, I thought, until I discovered that all the icons for Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, Nero, Skype, Itunes and a few others were all gone and replaced with generic ones. I have tried all the fixes listed above and still the same. I even deleted all the User Choice registry keys from each and every file association with no luck. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. With thanks Stephen