Vanishing icons in task bar

Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file folder
icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a couple
of weeks old.

Dano wrote:
> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file
> folder icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I
> suppose...but does it represent a symptom of something worse to come?
> New system is just a couple of weeks old.

Which icons for what? Do the icons represent an application or a folder?
Are they "pinned" items or shortcuts in a a toolbar?
--
Crash

"The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion."
~ Arnold H. Glasow ~

Hi, Dano.

Please always mention WHICH Win7. The Starter Edition and Ultimate x64 are
both Win7, and many answers are the same for both of them, but MANY answers
will depend on which version is involved. For example, Personalization is
much more limited for Starter.

Please tell us WHICH icons are becoming generic - and are you SURE? Some
icons - such as for Windows Explorer - may look like the generic folder icon
at first glance. And some icons are meant to be near-generic; the WLMail
icon could be mistaken for a folder, and the icon right beside it on my
Taskbar at this moment is a near-generic folder icon for this message that
I'm composing. And icons can expand or shrink as we start or stop their
applications. So please be specific as to which icons are changing on your
screen.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail Version 2011 (Build 15.4.3002.0810)) in Win7 Ultimate x64


"Dano" wrote in message news:i4tt0s$uie$...

Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file folder
icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a couple
of weeks old.

"Dave "Crash" Dummy" <> wrote in message
news:gQuco.19845$...
> Dano wrote:
>> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file
>> folder icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but
>> does it represent a symptom of something worse to come?
>> New system is just a couple of weeks old.
>
> Which icons for what? Do the icons represent an application or a folder?
> Are they "pinned" items or shortcuts in a a toolbar?
> --
> Crash
>
> "The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion."
> ~ Arnold H. Glasow ~

They represent applications. Both are pinned. One is for IObit Security
360...the other is GlobeReader (as in the Boston Globe), an Adobe Air
application that shows an actual depiction of the newspaper. Both apps are
in fine working order. Just no icons. They had worked before the other
day. All others are intact.

"R. C. White" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi, Dano.
>
> Please always mention WHICH Win7. The Starter Edition and Ultimate x64
> are both Win7, and many answers are the same for both of them, but MANY
> answers will depend on which version is involved. For example,
> Personalization is much more limited for Starter.
>
> Please tell us WHICH icons are becoming generic - and are you SURE? Some
> icons - such as for Windows Explorer - may look like the generic folder
> icon at first glance. And some icons are meant to be near-generic; the
> WLMail icon could be mistaken for a folder, and the icon right beside it
> on my Taskbar at this moment is a near-generic folder icon for this
> message that I'm composing. And icons can expand or shrink as we start or
> stop their applications. So please be specific as to which icons are
> changing on your screen.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> Windows Live Mail Version 2011 (Build 15.4.3002.0810)) in Win7 Ultimate
> x64
>
>
> "Dano" wrote in message news:i4tt0s$uie$...
>
> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file
> folder
> icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
> represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a
> couple
> of weeks old.

Sorry. I have the premium version. As I replied a moment ago...the icons
are for a couple of applications pinned to the taskbar. GlobeReader (by
Adobe) and IObit Security 360. They are the only ones that inexplicably
changed.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:00:53 -0400, "Dano" <>
wrote:

>
>"R. C. White" <> wrote in message
>news:...
>> Hi, Dano.
>>
>> Please always mention WHICH Win7. The Starter Edition and Ultimate x64
>> are both Win7, and many answers are the same for both of them, but MANY
>> answers will depend on which version is involved. For example,
>> Personalization is much more limited for Starter.
>>
>> Please tell us WHICH icons are becoming generic - and are you SURE? Some
>> icons - such as for Windows Explorer - may look like the generic folder
>> icon at first glance. And some icons are meant to be near-generic; the
>> WLMail icon could be mistaken for a folder, and the icon right beside it
>> on my Taskbar at this moment is a near-generic folder icon for this
>> message that I'm composing. And icons can expand or shrink as we start or
>> stop their applications. So please be specific as to which icons are
>> changing on your screen.
>>
>> RC
>> --
>> R. C. White, CPA
>> San Marcos, TX
>>
>> Microsoft Windows MVP
>> Windows Live Mail Version 2011 (Build 15.4.3002.0810)) in Win7 Ultimate
>> x64
>>
>>
>> "Dano" wrote in message news:i4tt0s$uie$...
>>
>> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file
>> folder
>> icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
>> represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a
>> couple
>> of weeks old.
>
>Sorry. I have the premium version. As I replied a moment ago...the icons
>are for a couple of applications pinned to the taskbar. GlobeReader (by
>Adobe) and IObit Security 360. They are the only ones that inexplicably
>changed.

I have seen that problem in more than one version of Windows 7. It
does not seem to be version or application related. It was a bit of a
worry when one of my applications exhibited the problem. It seemed to
correct itself later. The internal trace of my application did not
contain any clues. A search on the web reveals that the problem is
well known along with a few theories of why it happens.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com

Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/npsl1

Dano wrote:
>
> "Dave "Crash" Dummy" <> wrote in message
> news:gQuco.19845$...
>> Dano wrote:
>>> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic
>>> file folder icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I
>>> suppose...but does it represent a symptom of something worse to
>>> come? New system is just a couple of weeks old.
>>
>> Which icons for what? Do the icons represent an application or a
>> folder? Are they "pinned" items or shortcuts in a a toolbar? --
>> Crash
>>
>> "The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion." ~ Arnold H. Glasow
>> ~
>
> They represent applications. Both are pinned. One is for IObit
> Security 360...the other is GlobeReader (as in the Boston Globe), an
> Adobe Air application that shows an actual depiction of the
> newspaper. Both apps are in fine working order. Just no icons. They
> had worked before the other day. All others are intact.

1) Right click on Taskbar icon
2) Right click on Application Name
3) Left click on Properties
4) Select Change Icon button
5a) Browse to the application and select an icon
5b) If none is available in the application, browse
to c:\windows\system32\imageres.dll
or c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll
and select an icon.

--
Crash

"In politics, stupidity is not a handicap."
~ Napoleon Bonaparte ~

"Dano" <> wrote in message
news:i4tt0s$uie$...
> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file
> folder
> icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
> represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a
> couple
> of weeks old.

Right click on your taskbar; change "Always combine, hide labels" to
"Combine when taskbar is full".

"Dano" <> wrote in message news:i4tt0s$uie$...
> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file folder
> icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
> represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a couple
> of weeks old.
>

You could try right-clicking the Taskbar icon then right-clicking
the program's name and select Properties.
Try the Change Icon button to change it back.
Also deleting your icon cache might help, (it gets re-written on rebooting).
C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\IconCache.db
It's a hidden file in a hidden folder, so you'll need to see hidden files:
Control Panel > View Large icons > Folder Options.
View tab > Show hidden files, folders and drives.

"Dave-UK" <> wrote in message
news...
>
> "Dano" <> wrote in message
> news:i4tt0s$uie$...
>> Newbie to Windows 7 here. Why are icons changing to the generic file
>> folder
>> icon on my task bar. Just a couple. No big deal I suppose...but does it
>> represent a symptom of something worse to come? New system is just a
>> couple
>> of weeks old.
>
> You could try right-clicking the Taskbar icon then right-clicking the
> program's name and select Properties.
> Try the Change Icon button to change it back.
> Also deleting your icon cache might help, (it gets re-written on
> rebooting).
> C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\IconCache.db
> It's a hidden file in a hidden folder, so you'll need to see hidden files:
> Control Panel > View Large icons > Folder Options.
> View tab > Show hidden files, folders and drives.
>
>

What worked was selecting change icon in the properties and just selecting
the same icon again. Had to do it a couple of times though. And still
don't know why. Just another Windows mystery I'll never solve probably.