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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.
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Worked perfectly. My Word 2010 start menu icon had changed to generic icon for some reason. Once I did this, it reverted to the original icon. Thank you
Ok. I was wrong. The file is re-created, but is hidden. Not sure why it wasn’t originally and is now. Un-hide it then you can run it again if needbe!
My hard drive spontaneously switched to a generic icon. I tried this method and unfortunately it didn’t change my icon back to a proper hard drive icon. Any advice for me?
Ok, so when I did this, I tried a second time for other icons. Turns out I didn’t need to run a second time cause logging off and back on seemed to fix that.
Now, I do not have an IconCache.db file in that location. How do I re-enable? Is it needed?
P.S. W7 Ultimate x64
hi, i have tried this and it hasn’t worked for me. my problem is most of my icons and shortcuts, ms office shortcuts in the start menu and skype and live messenger etc on my taskbar now have generic icons. ive tried deleting the cache. ive tried a system restore. ive tried increasing the icon cache in the registry by creating a new string. ive right clicked on my user profile folder and done a customize restore icons to default.
Any help on this would be much appreciated!
Thank you! My brain can take a break =)
GREAT!!!!!
You Sir saved my life.
Thanks a lot.
[...] this pain for some time, I finally found the solution in this terse article appropriately titled "How to Rebuild the Icon Cache in Windows Vista and Windows 7". Tagged as: icon cache, Windows 7, Windows Vista Leave a comment Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) [...]
Works fine on W7 Prof. x64.
Thank you!
knowledge shared is such a gift.. cheers