Desktop shortcuts with no icon image

A number of shortcuts on my desktop (always the same few, I don't know what they have in common) are appearing without their associated icon image. I tried rebuilding the icon cache, based on the tutorial here (and running the batch file):

Icon Cache - Rebuild

and it works for a boot or two, then it's back to blanks. If I move the said shortcuts to a folder, like the C Drive, the icons show up just fine, but move them back on the desktop, blank again. Creating new shortcuts is fine, but they go blank as soon as I move them to the desktop. And as I say, it is affecting only some of the shortcuts (diverse, not from the same sources); most are OK.

If rebuilding the icon cache isn't working, I am not sure what else to try. I had his problem in the past, every six months or so, and rebuilding the cache used to fix things for some months, but not any more.

Thanks for further help.

This tends to happen when the program, for whichever icon, updates to a newer version, i woudn't expect them all update at the same time thou?.

Roy

No, indeed.

In any case, if I go to the original .exe file and create another shortcut, the icon disappears the moment I move it to the desktop..

M.

Er, no, I don't think so. Optimising what exactly? What sort of programmes did you have in mind? In any case, I haven't installed anything new recently and the shortcut issue only started last week. The PC in question is only used for gaming, so it doesn't have a lot of 'extra' programmes installed on it.

If you right click on one of the troublesome icons and choose Properties what is shown for the icon location ?

The Properties window shows the correct icon in the upper left-hand corner. 'Open File Location' goes to the right file in the right folder and 'Change Icon' shows the correct exe file & icon and correct file location. If I click 'OK' on change icon, having checked that the image is the one that should be showing, the icon on the desktop remains blank, that is, this one.. (If I copy and paste the same icon from the desktop to another location, the icon shows fine; the problem is restricted, as far as I can tell, to desktop icons).

martinlest said:

Er, no, I don't think so. Optimising what exactly? What sort of programmes did you have in mind?

I doubt that torchwood had a specific app in mind... but here is an example:

martinlest said:

...(If I copy and paste the same icon from the desktop to another location, the icon shows fine; the problem is restricted, as far as I can tell, to desktop icons).

Does it happen if you paste the shortcut (icon) to the Public Desktop?

No, I don't run any programmes like that.

The shortcuts show OK on the public desktop.

As a workaround, can you move all of the shortcuts to the Public desktop?

It sounds like your icon cache database is getting corrupted. You could try these steps to find the offending app(s): Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup