If you have a Windows Vista computer, you may have noticed that the special folders that are used to store files in the Windows operating system are reverting to the default folder icon. This is because of a bug in Windows Vista. To fix this problem, you can use one of the following methods:
- Change your computer’s settings so that the special folders are not reverting to the default folder icon.
- Use a utility program to fix the bug in Windows Vista.
Using the same example as last time, the Music folder here is showing the generic folder icon instead of the slick one that it should be using.
The icons that are displayed on the folders are set through the hidden desktop.ini file inside of each folder. The problem is that a lot of applications seem to screw with this file and cause it to become corrupted or otherwise unusable. What we’ll do here is just reset the offending file to the default values that I’ve listed here.
To open the desktop.ini file, you’ll need to paste this command into the start menu search or run box, which will open the music folder’s desktop.ini file.
If you wanted to open the desktop.ini file in the pictures folder instead, you’d substitute “pictures” for “music” in the command, like this:
You’ll see a file that should look exactly like this, but probably does not.
Select the entire contents of the file and delete it, replacing the contents with the default values that I’ve listed below. (You only need to pick the one that matches the folder you are trying to edit)
Note that you will need to logout and back in to see the changes, or you could just restart explorer.exe if you are feeling ambitious.
Contacts
Desktop
Documents
Downloads
Favorites
Links
Music
Pictures
Saved Games
Searches
Videos
Hopefully by this point your icons should be back to looking good again…
For extra credit… you can also create a desktop.ini file in any folder and use it to show a custom icon.
