Default Desktop Icons (Windows XP SP1)

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Here’s a wrinkle I haven’t been able to solve. I have a folder for downloaded icons. When I change the four icons on my Desktop, they stay put until I turn off my computer. When I reboot, they change back to the default icons. I have tried many, many solutions. (1) Logged in as Administrator (2) Saved the icons as part of a theme, etc. Nothing seems to work. I spent almost an hour with Dell’s Tech Support with the Tech Rep leaving the phone to confer with his cohorts, but they couldn’t suggest a way to solve this either.

Of course, this is not a serious problem. I have changed my icons previously when using Windows 98SE and Windows ME, using these same downloaded icons but Windows XP has me stumped!

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What are these “icons” linked to?

If they are to programs are they part of the “All users” group?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Well, I’m not sure. They are the icons on the Desktop of my User Account. I have different icons on the Desktop of two User Accounts and one Administrator account.

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What I think you are saying is that the screen that you are seeing is the “Welcome screen” for one to select which account is to be used. If this is correct tell use how you are changing the Account images.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Sorry. I wasn’t very precise in my question. The icons I am referring to are the four icons: My Computer, My Documents, My Network and Recycle Bin. In my User Account, I wanted to change the look of these icons using icons that I downloaded some years ago.

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Sorry. I wasn’t very precise in my question. The icons I am referring to are the four icons: My Computer, My Documents, My Network and Recycle Bin. In my User Account, I wanted to change the look of these icons using icons that I downloaded some years ago.

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What I think you are saying is that the screen that you are seeing is the “Welcome screen” for one to select which account is to be used. If this is correct tell use how you are changing the Account images.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Well, I’m not sure. They are the icons on the Desktop of my User Account. I have different icons on the Desktop of two User Accounts and one Administrator account.

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What are these “icons” linked to?

If they are to programs are they part of the “All users” group?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Barbara–

What are those “four desktop icons” attached to and what are they for? Do you mean the four default desktop icons referred to in this KB? Are you trying to get them off your desktop and make them stay in a particular folder, and finding them back on the desktop when you reboot?

3152723: How to Remove or Display Default Desktop Icons in Windows XP

When you say “they are the icons on the desktop of My User Account. I have icons on the desktop of two user accounts and one administrator account” do these include the 4 default icons referenced above in the KB or something different? Those 4 default icons don’t represent hard disk files; they are virtual objects, that is internal components of the Explorer.exe application. You can remove or reinstate them with the Desktop Items Window per the KB via Control Panel>Display>Desktop Tab>Customize Desktop. You can do this with TweakUI XP, and you can do this in the registry with corresponding keys except for the special case of Recycle Bin.

If these stubborn icons are something else (I can’t tell yet), installed by some app from MS or 3rd party, Tweak UI may help you if they are listed by unchecking items under Desktop or go to the Registry at (If you make a change export the key and set a restore point first):

HKCU_SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
In the right pane go to the value name: NoSaveSettings is the DWord Value
Value Data is 0=Disabled and 1=Enabled
You want it set to 0 to Save Your settings and icons

This should keep them in place after rebooting. Normally when Windows exits, it saves the desktop settings including icon location for rebooting.

SMBP

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I used the method you are referring t o in the KB article. I went to Properties, Desktop, Change Desktop and located the new icon I wanted for My Computer, etc. I saved the changes as My Favorite Theme. When I clicked OK, my Desktop looked the wanted I wanted.
When I turn off my computer and restart, all the icons have reverted back to the default icons.
I can locate My Favorite Theme, click on it and chage the look of the icons again, but why doesn’t it stay in place when I shut down?

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Tweak UI or the correct registry setting should force that to happen Barbara. You probably have that value set as “I” “NoSaveSettings” Enabled with a “1” at that value where you need to have a zero. For whatever reason, Microsoft often makes you re-enforce a negative statement in setting up services and sometimes registry values–i.e. they ask you “to enable not saving.” I would suggest if you aren’t comfortable in the registry, to simply download Microsoft’s Tweak UI (many other Tweakers have the setting to make them stay as well) which will enable you to make settings with checkboxes from the gui. Here’s the site to download TweakUI and the other Power Toys–only takes a minute.

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP: Tweak UI XP

SMBP

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Thanks! I’ll give your suggestions a try and get back to you. I’m out of time at the moment but I’ll do this this afternoon. I LOVE this Forum; it makes me feel that I am not alone in my struggle to co-exist with my computer.

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Thanks! I’ll give your suggestions a try and get back to you. I’m out of time at the moment but I’ll do this this afternoon. I LOVE this Forum; it makes me feel that I am not alone in my struggle to co-exist with my computer.

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(Edited by Leif on 11-Jan-04 18:02. To replace Doc attachment with smaller gif image.)

I’m beginning to feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. I downloaded TweakUI. When opened, in the left-hand column, I found Desktop. I opened that and found a place to select one or more of the four default icons to be placed on my Desktop AND a place to select whether I wanted My Computer or My Documents to be the Number One Icon. Neither of those possibilities addressed my problem.

I went into the Registry and negotiated my way to the Explorer folder and did not find NoSaveSettings in the right-hand column. I have attached a photo of my Registry.

I decided to try changing the icons on the Desktop of my Administrator Account and noticed that when I selected the first icon image from my downloaded folder, I received a message telling me this was not a Microsoft image. This is probably my problem; HOWEVER, as I said initially, I have used these same images with Windows 98SE and Windows ME and never encountered the problem of losing my selected icon images when I shut down the computer.

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Hi Barbra,

Try this………. Right click on your desktop and select Properties from the drop-down menu. Click on the Desktop tab and then on the Customize Desktop button on the bottom left of the window. This will open the Desktop Items window where you can change the icons in question. Click on the icon you want to change, select change icon. This will open to the shell32.dll folder. Then browse to your icon storage folder and select your icon. OK your way out and this should make the changes stick. HTH.

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Thank you, but that is exactly how I started this whole mess. I made those changes and when I shut down my computer and restart, the icon images revert to the default icon images.

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If you change the icon to another from the default location(s) offered first, does it remember those?

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Yes, It does. Guess Microsoft doesn’t like my icons. Any suggestions how I can use my own downloaded icons?

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If they are not there already, see what happens if you move ‘your’ icons into your Windows folder.

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If they are not there already, see what happens if you move ‘your’ icons into your Windows folder.

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If this behavior is recent, you may be able to restore to a point when it previously was working. Also make sure that you have Show Desktop Icons checked on your rt. click context menu when you rt. click the Desktop as shown here and also make sure that hitting the Restore Default button in the Desktop Items dialogue box won’t do it.

XP Desktop Icons Vinny Labash

I don’t know why your registry lacks that value and a number of other D Word values for that subkey (39 to be exact). I think your registry might be in need of repair on that count. You may need to restore that registry setting to its default since that account was created. Since the tweakers just mediate via a gui to alter the registry that would explain why the Tweak UI checkboxes aren’t delivering. I doubt Tweak UI’s icon repair works on these special virtual object icons. That’s for other normal shortcut icons. But give up, no way! Several options are available:

1) Try creating a new value (that you should have but don’t) by rt. clicking that explorer key and create a new Dword value “NoSaveSettings” and put the value number as zero. This way you make the value you don’t have you need–it’s done all the time. Export (Save) that Explorer subkey and set a restore point first of course (your backup moves).

I’d also run System File Checker which might repair this and other default registry settings.

2)Winguides Change Desktop Icons Visibility. This works with the subkeys that are GUIDs and naming subkeys that are CLSIDs representing each icon.

3) Doug Knox has written a VBscript that usually restores these icons. I can’t link directly because all Doug’s urls are the same but go to Doug’s Windows Tweaks and Tips at http://www.dougknox.com>In rt. hand column next to last click on Windows XP Doesn’t Save User Settings>Download and run his vbscript.(Note Norton and others will recognize this as a malicious script and it isn’t so if that happens select “run all once.” It happens with Doug and Kelly’s vbscripts and they are safe.

4) Use Kelly’s Tweaks and Tips #20. As with Doug’s you may have to right click and “Save Target As” to link to the download. Or use #54 Rt. Column “Save Settings on Exit.”

For reference backdrop see these KB’s that get the idea across even if not earmarked for XP:

162170: How to Remove Default Desktop Icons

185217Desktop Icons Appear As the Default Windows Icon

Read Kelly’s List of Common Description CLSID’s Under Icons Here to See Number Assigned to these System Icons. To add desktop icon create appropriate subkey.

SMBP

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Well, here is what I did. I exported a copy of my Registry to my Desktop. I looked up instructions on how to restore the Registry and went through that exercise. After the restoration, I still had only two items in my Explorer folder, so I followed your suggestion and created a new DWord file with a value of 0 and named it NoSaveSettings.
Next, I tried to copy my icons into the C:WindowsSystem32Shell32.dll file. Couldn’t do that. I created a new folder inside the System32 folder named Icons and copied the icons into that folder.

I changed the icons on my Administrator and my User Acoount Desktops, shut down and restarted.

Voila! The new icons were shining brightly on my Desktop.

My sincere thanks to all of you for your help. We all spent ‘way too much time on this minor irritation, but you have made this computer novice very happy.

Thanks again!

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Well, here is what I did. I exported a copy of my Registry to my Desktop. I looked up instructions on how to restore the Registry and went through that exercise. After the restoration, I still had only two items in my Explorer folder, so I followed your suggestion and created a new DWord file with a value of 0 and named it NoSaveSettings.
Next, I tried to copy my icons into the C:WindowsSystem32Shell32.dll file. Couldn’t do that. I created a new folder inside the System32 folder named Icons and copied the icons into that folder.

I changed the icons on my Administrator and my User Acoount Desktops, shut down and restarted.

Voila! The new icons were shining brightly on my Desktop.

My sincere thanks to all of you for your help. We all spent ‘way too much time on this minor irritation, but you have made this computer novice very happy.

Thanks again!

Reply | Quote

If this behavior is recent, you may be able to restore to a point when it previously was working. Also make sure that you have Show Desktop Icons checked on your rt. click context menu when you rt. click the Desktop as shown here and also make sure that hitting the Restore Default button in the Desktop Items dialogue box won’t do it.

XP Desktop Icons Vinny Labash

I don’t know why your registry lacks that value and a number of other D Word values for that subkey (39 to be exact). I think your registry might be in need of repair on that count. You may need to restore that registry setting to its default since that account was created. Since the tweakers just mediate via a gui to alter the registry that would explain why the Tweak UI checkboxes aren’t delivering. I doubt Tweak UI’s icon repair works on these special virtual object icons. That’s for other normal shortcut icons. But give up, no way! Several options are available:

1) Try creating a new value (that you should have but don’t) by rt. clicking that explorer key and create a new Dword value “NoSaveSettings” and put the value number as zero. This way you make the value you don’t have you need–it’s done all the time. Export (Save) that Explorer subkey and set a restore point first of course (your backup moves).

I’d also run System File Checker which might repair this and other default registry settings.

2)Winguides Change Desktop Icons Visibility. This works with the subkeys that are GUIDs and naming subkeys that are CLSIDs representing each icon.

3) Doug Knox has written a VBscript that usually restores these icons. I can’t link directly because all Doug’s urls are the same but go to Doug’s Windows Tweaks and Tips at http://www.dougknox.com>In rt. hand column next to last click on Windows XP Doesn’t Save User Settings>Download and run his vbscript.(Note Norton and others will recognize this as a malicious script and it isn’t so if that happens select “run all once.” It happens with Doug and Kelly’s vbscripts and they are safe.

4) Use Kelly’s Tweaks and Tips #20. As with Doug’s you may have to right click and “Save Target As” to link to the download. Or use #54 Rt. Column “Save Settings on Exit.”

For reference backdrop see these KB’s that get the idea across even if not earmarked for XP:

162170: How to Remove Default Desktop Icons

185217Desktop Icons Appear As the Default Windows Icon

Read Kelly’s List of Common Description CLSID’s Under Icons Here to See Number Assigned to these System Icons. To add desktop icon create appropriate subkey.

SMBP

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Yes, It does. Guess Microsoft doesn’t like my icons. Any suggestions how I can use my own downloaded icons?

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If you change the icon to another from the default location(s) offered first, does it remember those?

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Thank you, but that is exactly how I started this whole mess. I made those changes and when I shut down my computer and restart, the icon images revert to the default icon images.

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Doc–

I don’t know the answer to this but I wanted to pose the question.. We change icons this way all the time, and collect them by harvesting favicons from sites if they have one. You can of course, go that that folder and get the icons that represent My Computer, My Documents, Internet Explorer, My Network Places and the Recycle Bin. You could exchange them for everyone of your shortcuts.

But since those four default destop actual icons–the system icons, namespace icons, or resource objects (I’ve seen them called all three)name, don’t represent files but are actual resources built into Windows, they can of course be renamed, hidden, and restored, but I don’t believe by the regular method as other shortcut icons that directly represent files. The exception to renaming is the Recycle Bin, and that takes a regedit or the use of Norton Utilities/Internet Security or a program like Executive Soft’s Undelete which will impose their own regedits when they register on install.

These 4 don’t represent physical files on the hard disk but are actual internal components of the Explorer.exe application with tight connections to CLSIDs or GUIDs registry subkeys. The developers call them COM class registrations, HKCRCLSIDclsid is an individual class registration where clsid is the class’s class ID which is a GUID according to Jerry Honeycutt who does trip my eyes glaze over threshold with this phrase. In this case of these default icons the CLSIDs are as follows:

My Computer {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
My Documents {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
Recycle Bin {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Internet Explorer {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
My Network Neighborhood {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

and I would think that you can make them stick or bring them back on the desktop by right clicking the above subkeys and setting the Dword value to zero instead of one.

To Save Desktop Settings[/u]

HKCU_SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
In the right pane go to the value name: NoSaveSettings is the DWord Value

Change DWord Value to Zero here.

To restore default icons:[/u]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerHideDesktopIconsNewStartPanel

Change DWord Value to zero here.

SMBP

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Doc–

I don’t know the answer to this but I wanted to pose the question.. We change icons this way all the time, and collect them by harvesting favicons from sites if they have one. You can of course, go that that folder and get the icons that represent My Computer, My Documents, Internet Explorer, My Network Places and the Recycle Bin. You could exchange them for everyone of your shortcuts.

But since those four default destop actual icons–the system icons, namespace icons, or resource objects (I’ve seen them called all three)name, don’t represent files but are actual resources built into Windows, they can of course be renamed, hidden, and restored, but I don’t believe by the regular method as other shortcut icons that directly represent files. The exception to renaming is the Recycle Bin, and that takes a regedit or the use of Norton Utilities/Internet Security or a program like Executive Soft’s Undelete which will impose their own regedits when they register on install.

These 4 don’t represent physical files on the hard disk but are actual internal components of the Explorer.exe application with tight connections to CLSIDs or GUIDs registry subkeys. The developers call them COM class registrations, HKCRCLSIDclsid is an individual class registration where clsid is the class’s class ID which is a GUID according to Jerry Honeycutt who does trip my eyes glaze over threshold with this phrase. In this case of these default icons the CLSIDs are as follows:

My Computer {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
My Documents {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
Recycle Bin {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Internet Explorer {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
My Network Neighborhood {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

and I would think that you can make them stick or bring them back on the desktop by right clicking the above subkeys and setting the Dword value to zero instead of one.

To Save Desktop Settings[/u]

HKCU_SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
In the right pane go to the value name: NoSaveSettings is the DWord Value

Change DWord Value to Zero here.

To restore default icons:[/u]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerHideDesktopIconsNewStartPanel

Change DWord Value to zero here.

SMBP

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Hi Barbra,

Try this………. Right click on your desktop and select Properties from the drop-down menu. Click on the Desktop tab and then on the Customize Desktop button on the bottom left of the window. This will open the Desktop Items window where you can change the icons in question. Click on the icon you want to change, select change icon. This will open to the shell32.dll folder. Then browse to your icon storage folder and select your icon. OK your way out and this should make the changes stick. HTH.

Reply | Quote

(Edited by Leif on 11-Jan-04 18:02. To replace Doc attachment with smaller gif image.)

I’m beginning to feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. I downloaded TweakUI. When opened, in the left-hand column, I found Desktop. I opened that and found a place to select one or more of the four default icons to be placed on my Desktop AND a place to select whether I wanted My Computer or My Documents to be the Number One Icon. Neither of those possibilities addressed my problem.

I went into the Registry and negotiated my way to the Explorer folder and did not find NoSaveSettings in the right-hand column. I have attached a photo of my Registry.

I decided to try changing the icons on the Desktop of my Administrator Account and noticed that when I selected the first icon image from my downloaded folder, I received a message telling me this was not a Microsoft image. This is probably my problem; HOWEVER, as I said initially, I have used these same images with Windows 98SE and Windows ME and never encountered the problem of losing my selected icon images when I shut down the computer.

Reply | Quote

Tweak UI or the correct registry setting should force that to happen Barbara. You probably have that value set as “I” “NoSaveSettings” Enabled with a “1” at that value where you need to have a zero. For whatever reason, Microsoft often makes you re-enforce a negative statement in setting up services and sometimes registry values–i.e. they ask you “to enable not saving.” I would suggest if you aren’t comfortable in the registry, to simply download Microsoft’s Tweak UI (many other Tweakers have the setting to make them stay as well) which will enable you to make settings with checkboxes from the gui. Here’s the site to download TweakUI and the other Power Toys–only takes a minute.

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP: Tweak UI XP

SMBP

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I used the method you are referring t o in the KB article. I went to Properties, Desktop, Change Desktop and located the new icon I wanted for My Computer, etc. I saved the changes as My Favorite Theme. When I clicked OK, my Desktop looked the wanted I wanted.
When I turn off my computer and restart, all the icons have reverted back to the default icons.
I can locate My Favorite Theme, click on it and chage the look of the icons again, but why doesn’t it stay in place when I shut down?

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It took some time, but I cleared up the mystery of my disappearing icons. It was caused by the installation of Windows Update V4.
Thanks to everyone for working with me on this problem.

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It took some time, but I cleared up the mystery of my disappearing icons. It was caused by the installation of Windows Update V4.
Thanks to everyone for working with me on this problem.

Reply | Quote

Barbara–

What are those “four desktop icons” attached to and what are they for? Do you mean the four default desktop icons referred to in this KB? Are you trying to get them off your desktop and make them stay in a particular folder, and finding them back on the desktop when you reboot?

3152723: How to Remove or Display Default Desktop Icons in Windows XP

When you say “they are the icons on the desktop of My User Account. I have icons on the desktop of two user accounts and one administrator account” do these include the 4 default icons referenced above in the KB or something different? Those 4 default icons don’t represent hard disk files; they are virtual objects, that is internal components of the Explorer.exe application. You can remove or reinstate them with the Desktop Items Window per the KB via Control Panel>Display>Desktop Tab>Customize Desktop. You can do this with TweakUI XP, and you can do this in the registry with corresponding keys except for the special case of Recycle Bin.

If these stubborn icons are something else (I can’t tell yet), installed by some app from MS or 3rd party, Tweak UI may help you if they are listed by unchecking items under Desktop or go to the Registry at (If you make a change export the key and set a restore point first):

HKCU_SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
In the right pane go to the value name: NoSaveSettings is the DWord Value
Value Data is 0=Disabled and 1=Enabled
You want it set to 0 to Save Your settings and icons

This should keep them in place after rebooting. Normally when Windows exits, it saves the desktop settings including icon location for rebooting.

SMBP

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