Windows 7 - Devices and Printers

I was wondering if there was any way of changing the icons displayed in the Devices and Printers folder. I was wanting to use life like photos of each of my devices inplace of what windows wants me to see.

Hello Webadict,

As far as I know, you can't change them yourself manually. However, you can check the Replace generic device icons with enhanced icons box in the Devices and Printers settings to allow Windows 7 to download custom icons for the devices instead if they are available.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the reply, Shawn.

You know, I did that, and it works great. I'm just not happy with the images used. I did find the folder where the custom images are stored / downloaded. I just can't figure out how to change / use them.

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Device Metadata\dmrccache

I would like to create my own icons from images of my devices and use those.

Hmmm, c'mon, I know someone else here would like to do this as well, how about some good ol Alien help here . . . .

As seven starts getting support after release you'll get device specific images. My sansa player shows up with the correct image.

What kind of files have you got in that folder? (mine is empty)
If they are images you can edit them, can't you?

I'm afraid that I have not found a way to manually customize these icons if it is even an option other that letting them update automatically.

They are device specific .PNG files, so yes I can edit those, but they are the images that have been downloaded for some of my devices already.

The images I want to edit are the stock icons, like routers, printers, even my pc itself, and I dont' know where to find those.

It is possible to do this, but it's not simple. You need the Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit and the hardware Ids of each device you want to customise. You also need to enable Test-signing mode (all Device Stage packages have to be signed by MS otherwise). Then you create an "devicemetadata-ms" file (essentially a cab with a different extension) that contains all the info Device Stage needs to show your device.

The documentation is included in the SDK linked below:

Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit

I've toyed around with it a bit, and while I managed to understand the basic structure of a device stage experience and how to construct it, getting it to work is a whole different ball game, and I was unable to do so.

Appearantly, Windows requires a digital signature for device stage experiences, without which it simply won't let it be.

There are ways to bypass it, but they're unconventional to say the least.
I know it's possible though, as I've seen screenshots from credible sources who managed to create experiences for currently unsupported devices.