{"id":142,"date":"2008-04-02T11:18:34","date_gmt":"2008-04-02T05:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/mysterious-case-of-icon-overlapping-in-vista\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T11:16:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T05:46:42","slug":"fix-overlapping-icon-windows-7-vista","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-overlapping-icon-windows-7-vista\/","title":{"rendered":"Desktop Icons Covered with White Boxes or Black Squares"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a mysterious case of the icon overlap problem, which the screenshot below explains perfectly. You can see the original icon for shortcuts is overlapped by a generic white overlay (shown for unknown file types). An incorrect icon overlay setting is causing the problem.<\/p>\n

\"shortcuts<\/p>\n

As the issue is seen only for shortcuts (.lnk and .url files), the problem is with the “Shell Icons” registry key which you can use to hide or change the arrow icon for shortcuts.<\/p>\n

For a proper way to remove or modify the shortcut arrow icon overlay, read the article How to Remove or Modify the Shortcut Overlay in Windows<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is a variation of the same issue, but this time, the black square boxes cover the shortcut icons. This can happen if the blank icon within shell32.dll, 50<\/code> is used to remove the shortcut arrows.<\/p>\n

\"shortcuts<\/p>\n

Here is the particular registry key you want to check out.<\/p>\n

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Shell Icons<\/pre>\n
In the subject computer, the value named 29 in the above registry location was pointing to the following .ico file:<\/p>\n
%userprofile%\\\\Desktop\\\\WinBubble16\\\\WinBubble16\\\\icons\\\\noicon.ico<\/pre>\n
Presumably, an app called “WinBubble” was used to change the icons, and later the user removed the program — making the .ico file path invalid. The invalid reference causes the white icons (or black boxes) to appear as the shortcut overlay.<\/p>\n
To remove the overriding registry value, start the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe<\/code>) and go to the “Shell Icons” branch mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n
\"shortcuts<\/p>\n
Delete the value named 29<\/code> and restart Windows.<\/p>\n
\n
Related Issue: UAC shield replaced by a generic\/white icon<\/h4>\n
If a blank white icon covers the UAC shield icon, delete the value named “77<\/strong>“<\/u> in the “Shell Icons” registry key and restart Windows.<\/p>\n
\"UAC\n<\/div>\n
This should resolve the problem.<\/p>\n
\"shortcuts<\/p>\n
If the icons don’t refresh automatically,\u00a0refresh them<\/a> manually. If that doesn’t work<\/span>, rebuild the icon cache<\/a>.<\/p>\n
See also: How to Fix Missing Shell Icons in Various Places in the Windows User Interface<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here is a mysterious case of the icon overlap problem, which the screenshot below explains perfectly. You can see the original icon for shortcuts is overlapped by a generic white overlay (shown for unknown file types). An incorrect icon overlay setting is causing the problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[441],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-registry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1388,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/remove-modify-shortcut-overlay-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":0},"title":"How to Remove or Modify the Shortcut Overlay in Windows","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This article describes how to remove or modify the overlay (arrow icon) shown for Shortcuts in Windows. Remove or Modify the Shortcut Overlay Method 1 Download FxVisor (Shortcut Overlay Remover for Windows Vista and 7) by frameworkx. FxVisor allows you to either way to modify or remove the shortcut overlay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/articles\/content_images\/fxvisor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1386,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/blue-double-arrow-icon-files-folders-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":1},"title":"What is the Two Blue Arrows Icon on Folders in Windows 10 and How to Remove it?","author":"Ramesh","date":"December 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After installing Windows 10, you may notice that some of your files and folders show up with a double blue arrows icon at the top. This double blue arrows overlay icon is seen if the files and folders are compressed (NTFS compression), and there is nothing to worry about. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/windows-compress-blue-arrow.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/windows-compress-blue-arrow.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/windows-compress-blue-arrow.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/windows-compress-blue-arrow.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1028,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/open-file-location-missing-right-click-shortcut-windows-7-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":2},"title":"“Open File Location” Missing in Right-Click Menu for Shortcuts","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"When you right-click on a shortcut (.lnk file), the option Open file location may be missing from the right-click menu. This happens if the\u00a0IsShortcut registry value for .lnk files (Shortcuts) is deleted\u00a0in an attempt to hide the overlay icon\u00a0in\u00a0shortcuts. To resolve the problem, re-create the IsShortcut registry value. Method 1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2059,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/winx-menu-does-not-open-power-user\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":3},"title":"Win+X Menu Does Not Open in Windows 10 or 11","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Right-clicking Start, or pressing the Win+X key combination opens the power-user menu as in the following image: If this menu doesn't open or nothing happens when you use the Win+X key combination, it could be possible that the IsShortcut registry value has been removed for shortcuts (.lnk) file association. Follow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/winxmenu-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26942,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/internet-shortcuts-open-print-dialog-web-doc-tab-missing\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":4},"title":"Internet Shortcuts Open Print Dialog; Web Document Tab Missing","author":"Ramesh","date":"July 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When you right-click an internet shortcut (.URL file), the \"Print\" command is the default (shown in bold letters) action. As a result, double-clicking on internet shortcuts will open the Print dialog. And, the Web document tab may be missing in the property sheet for Internet Shortcut (.URL) files. Additionally, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"web document tab missing url properties","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/webdoctab-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1083,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/pin-to-taskbar-start-menu-missing-context-menu-windows-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":5},"title":"“Pin to Taskbar” and “Pin to Start Menu” Missing in Windows 7","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"After deleting the IsShortcut registry value to remove the shortcut arrow overlay in shortcuts (.lnk) files, you may notice that the \"Pin to Taskbar\" and the \"Pin to Start Menu\" context menu items go missing when you right-click on a shortcut. Also, one or more of the context menu items\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 7"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 7","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-7\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}