Some icons are now "generic"

[eric_stephens]

I'm running Win7 x64. I noticed today after logging in that some of my desktop icons have lost their normal view and are instead showing the generic icon (what you typically see if you have a file that doesn't have a program associated with it). This is happening on all of my MS Office apps and some 3rd party apps (like Cisco VPN). So it seems to be random and not associated with any specific software (meaning it's an issue with the system itself). The "generic" icons are also showing up this way from within the "All Programs" menu.

If I browse to the actual program folder and create a new shortcut on the desktop the correct icon appears. I can certainly do that for each one but I'd rather determine why this occurred.

I've tried clearing the "iconcache" file as described on several links to no avail. I also ran the Win7 diagonstics tool which didn't resolve the problem.

No new software was installed other than the automatic Windows updates.

I also ran the sfc /scannow command and no issues were found.

Any suggestions?

 

[eric_stephens]

Meant to include that the "generic" icons are still working. The programs open normally.

 

[Elmer BeFuddled]

Sounds to me, if random software's, something is cleaning or has cleaned out your (hidden) Installers Folder in C:\Windows. That's where office gets its icons from.

(EDIT) Office has changed, appears my trial is getting icons from the programs .exe file, not the ***icon.exe files stored in the Installers Folder! :dontknow: