Lately i've been on a icon binge changing the look of my PC and some system files. I use a freeware called Icon Phile that can change just about any folder to an icon of your choice (it's nice to liven up your PC and get rid of the bland yellow folders provided MS Windows - yik!).
I have however a tad bit of a problem w/ the Recycle bin icon - it refuses to change. I think something got corrupt.
I'm a Windows 2000 user and i happen to like a select few icons in Win XP - particularly the Recycle bin and My computer. I had a roommate that bought a new PC last year so I copied two files from her PC in the default directory. 1) Shell32.dll and 2) Shellstyle.dll. (Actually, there was a second set of identical files located in the "\Windows\System32" directory. I didn't know which one I needed so i copied both sets just in case).
Using another utility called "Icon Digger" i tried to extract the Recycle bin icon from the dll file but it looks totally washed out. I thought perhaps the software was buggy so i downloaded a different one called "Icon Extractor" and once again tried to extract it from the dll file. The opposite problem occured where the icon itself was fine but strangely there is a square black background. See the first screenshot for comparison.
I then discovered that the Icon Phile utility has the ability to look in dll files so rather than trying to extract the icon, i used Icon Phile to change it directly from the dll file. No matter what I do, it won't change. I'm perplexed by how it can change just about evertying (including "My Computer" icon) but the recycle bin continues to be stubborn. (See the 2nd screenshot).
My hunch is that something in my original shell icon file got corrupt. Because after so many attempts to try to change it, now the Recycle bin refuses to change to any other icon. But then again....if i'm able to change various other system folders/items, then it might not be corrupt at all. I did a fresh format of my system a few months ago and backed it up to a separate partition. I could delete my Shell icon cache, and replace it w/ the backup copy - but i don't want to risk losing all my work as I've already changed several items/folders.
If anyone has got icon utility that they'd like to recommend, i'm all ears cuz this one has me baffled. Thanks.
At this point I don't know if it will help, but TweakUI has a repair function to Rebuild Icons. It's accessed on the Repair tab, then scroll to it using the down arrow.
If 2000 is like XP Right click on your desktop go to properties select Desktop go to customize desktop this will allow you to change your trashcan Icon and a few other ones as well.
>If 2000 is like XP Right click on your desktop go to >properties select Desktop go to customize desktop this will >allow you to change your trashcan Icon and a few other ones as >well.
>At this point I don't know if it will help, but TweakUI has a >repair function to Rebuild Icons. It's accessed on the Repair >tab, then scroll to it using the down arrow. > >Jim.
Thanks Jim, I don't have that utility on my PC but there is a similar function provided within the Icon Phile utility - I think that's what caused the possible corruption - just guessing. At any rate, rather than repair it, I thought i'd replace it w/ the back up copy. But i don't know if it's simple matter of replacing the shell cache file or if there are other steps involved.
Problem solved. I used the management console to hide all icons on my desktop; disabled the Active Desktop feature and rebooted. Afterwards i used Icon Phile to change the recycle bin and it finally looks fine.
Hell the entire desktop looks so much like XP you can hardly tell it's W2K. Hilarious.
