[alanho]

I have added a number of document or website link shortcut icons to my Vista computer desktop - some are in folders containing a group of shortcuts.

I have changed the folder and shortcut icons from the standard explorer icon to more meaningful ones which are stored on my hard drive as ico files.

However - for no apparent reason - after being stable for a few days, certain icons randomly revert to the explorer icon. Especially those contained within a desktop folder. Right clicking on the desktop and selecting "Refresh" has no effect. After a reboot - the icons may - or may not - correct themselves. It is worth noting that it is only the icons I have allocated that randomly change and it is not always the same ones. Icons associated with programmes seem to be OK. (Word, Excel, Acronis, Nero etc)

If I right click on the faulty ones and select "properties" the heading of the web document tab still shows the correct icon even though the actual one on the desktop has changed - I have to go through the procedure of changing the icon all over again to get the specific icon back on the desktop.

A couple of weeks ago (for other reasons) I had to do a refomat of my C: drive and do a clean installation of Vista Ultimate. I hoped that this would result in the icon problem being resolved - but it is back again.

A post on another forum suggested that Vista is fussy about icon size and is more stable when they are 256 x 256 pixels. I have changed mine (using Microangelo) so that all are Vista size - but it has had little or no effect.

I have searched the Microsoft knowledge base in vain.

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This behavior is by design. Put your icons in their own folder, then assign them from there. Icons get overwritten in the temp files.
Johanna

[Johanna]

This behavior is by design. Put your icons in their own folder, then assign them from there. Icons get overwritten in the temp files.
Johanna

[alanho]

My icons are all stored in a dedicated folder on my D: drive.

A further twist to the problem is that frequently when a desktop shortcut icon reverts to the standard explorer one - it refuses to change back to the one I wish to assign.

I have two work-arounds. First change it to a quite different icon and then change it to the one I wish to assign.
Alternatively, store two versions of the icon in the icon folder with different names and select them alternatively when correction is required.

I appreciate that this is a nit picking minor problem - but having tried to use the claimed Vista feature of being able to assign unique icons I am mystified why it is so unreliable. I could understand your argument that it is a design feature if it happened all the time - but the problem is entirely ramdom. Some icons remain stable almost permanently - others change regularly.

I wonder if it is because my icon folder is on a different drive to the OS. Might try an experiment and move the folder to C:.....?

[Johanna]

I use Favorg which used to be free.
Johanna

[alanho]

Johanna

Thanks for your patience and responses. I have used Favorg for some time - however - unless I am missing out on something, I find that all it does is to download icons within Internet Explorer that are assigned by the web site or programme. These icons are not carried over into any desktop icons I install.

Hence to assign desktop icons I find that Favorg is irrelevant - I still have to manually assign them by right clicking on the icon on the desktop and then use the properties route.

Since my last post I have moved my icon folder to the C: drive and re-assigned all my desktop icons to the new location. So far so good - none of the icons have misbehaved - though I have a feeling that as soon as I click on the "add reply" button to this thread all [bleep] will break loose and I will be back to square one.


Watch this space.

[Johanna]

Right click on the desktop and, under "arrange icons by", be sure that "run Desktop Cleaner Wizard" is NOT ticked.
Johanna
Bear with me if it's different in Vista, I booted into XP tonight.

[alanho]

I am disappointment - I booted up this morning and two of my desktop icons had reverted to the standard explorer one - even though they are 256x256 pixels and stored in a dedicated folder on the C: drive. Thus my hope that moving the icon folder to the same drive as the OS has come to nought.

Right clicking on the desktop in Vista does not reveal a window mentioning "Run desktop cleaner". I did a search for desktop cleaner and nothing was found so it appears to be an XP feature not carried over into Vista.

My version of Vista Ultimate is OEM so I am unable to raise the problem with Microsoft - the computer is self build so forums are my only resource to find a solution. I have only found two other people mention the problem on forums - so I am not alone - but there are not many people complaining. Perhaps I am one of the minority geeks who likes to assign different icons to each desktop shortcut.

[alanho]

At long last I seem to have found a fix - my icons have been stable for several days.

The problem was confined to desktop shortcuts that opened a website link. Shortcuts to files, folders and programmes on the hard drive were stable - even when special icons were assigned in place of the standard windows icon.

This led me to the theory that if I could create a batch file to open each web site - and then place a shortcut on the desktop to open the batch file (assigning my chosen icon to each batchfile shortcut) - it may prove to be a suitable work-around. However - I am no computer techie and did not know how to create a suitable batch file.

I posed the question in a separate thread on this form and dsenette came to my rescue to whom I owe my thanks.

Other thread here


Several days have elapsed and all my icons have remained stable. There is no perceptible delay in opening a website via a batch file - so am a happy bunny.