My earlier post Incorrect icon shown for a file type in Vista (March 31, 2008) tells you how to refresh the shell icons in Vista. In case the solution posted in that link does not help, you may want to clear the icon cache database. The icon cache can be cleared by deleting the hidden file named IconCache.db in the following location:
Note: %userprofile% represents the path to user profile folder.
Rebuilding the Icon Cache Database
1. Close all folder windows that are currently open.
2. Launch Task Manager using the CTRL+SHIFT+ESC key sequence, or by running taskmgr.exe.
3. In the Process tab, right-click on the Explorer.exe process and select End Process.
4. Click the End process button when asked for confirmation.
5. From the File menu of Task Manager, select New Task (Run…)
6. Type CMD.EXE, and click OK
7. In the Command Prompt window, type the commands one by one and press ENTER after each command:
CD /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
DEL IconCache.db /a
EXIT
8. In Task Manager, click File, select New Task (Run…)
9. Type EXPLORER.EXE, and click OK.
Related Posts
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- How to Clear IE Temporary Internet Files Cache for a Particular Domain
- Fix Currency, Stock or Weather Gadgets Not Updating in Windows 7 and Windows Vista
- How to Fix Image Thumbnails Not Displayed in Windows 7 and Vista?
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Thanks, worked like a charm!
Worked for me too on Windows 7 64 bit! Thanks so much.
Wonderful. Thank you very much for this.
I L O V E Y O U ! ! !
I’ve been dealing with this problem for three years now…
This didn’t work for me. It changed all the icons, but now they are all another icon. In other words, instead of each program showing its own icon, about half of them show the same icon. It looks less generic, but it still isn’t functioning correctly. Any clues?
That was amazing!! I’m blown away!! I’ve been tryign to fix this issue for a REEEEAALY lomg time!!! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
This worked to restore the windows 7 default folder icons after a new theme changed them. Many thanks!
Thank you so much for this! Im starting to get worried when multiple icons keep showing the generic blank image. Thumbs up!
Nice! This was a quick easy fix.
This really works! Many thanks!