Changing File Icons in Win7?

[FranOnTheEdge]

Please, I'd like to be able to change the file type icons for certain program files, a friend found this:
http://www.online-tech-ti...r-tips/change-file-icon/
Where it explains how to change the file type icons - but this is for WinXP - it doesn't work for Win7 as there is no "File Types" tab in that area in Win7.
(Another instance of the failure of Win7's beastly Dumbing Down policy!)

Okay grumbling aside, please, please, please can someone tell me how to change the file type icon in Win7?

I do mean the "File Type Icon", not the Program Icon - I've already changed that many times, I design my own icon and use a new version of that each time a program is updated, so that I can easily see which version I am opening from my desktop.
I would like to be able to do the same with the File Type icons as I consider the original design to be ugly, and would rather use my own - please?

 

[Morph666]

Check this out; http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/57455-file-extension-icon-change-default-icon.html

 

[SledgeDG]

Hopefully this is of any help

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/57455-file-extension-icon-change-default-icon.html

-DG

 

[FranOnTheEdge]

Morph666,
Thanks I'll look into that.

subhadip,
No thanks, as I already explained - I have my own icons so I don't want to download someone else's set. But thanks for replying.

SledgeDG,
Thanks, I'll look into that one too.

 

[Morph666]

You're welcome! If you run into any problems let me know, but the link I gave you explains it all with quite a lot of details so I doubt you'll have any problems. But I'll be here if you do!

 

[FranOnTheEdge]

Darn! Where did all those separate links go? Now there's just the single link that SledgeDG posted, and subhadip's entire post has vanished completely - what the heck is going on here?
I saw the replies just before turning things off and (finally) went to bed, yet now when I come back to look at things in more detail - everything's gone. Is it some kind of censorship?

Help?

 

[Morph666]

For whatever reason Brink replaced my link...are we not allowed to link to other sites for answers? Can we only link to sevenforums?!

 

[Arc]

For whatever reason Brink replaced my link...are we not allowed to link to other sites for answers? Can we only link to sevenforums?!

Morph, I dont think so, but as my experience says, Brink always try to make it better and exact . Most probably that's why he replaced the link . He replaced some of my links, too, which made my posts better !

Anyways, generally there are two ways to change the icons .... either via registry edit, or via modifying imageres.dll . The first way is already discussed . If you want, you may see http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73191-icons-change-using-resource-hacker.html .

Change all the icons one by one using resource hacker (using IcoFX as the seach tool for the imageres number); save the final output as imageres.dll, and replace the original (after having a backup).

 

[FranOnTheEdge]

I'm finding this a more scary subject than I expected and I wanted to look at the different ideas people had for doing this sort of thing - in more detail.
I had also hoped to ask my husband, who is usually my PC Repair man and engineer as well, to take a look at the answers this weekend and tell me what he thought (and possibly do one for me while I watched) so that if my PC died, he couldn't blame me for meddling in the registry (which is not something I'd ever done before.)

I hadn't expected it to be so very difficult, and sound so dangerous, since the link I found for doing this in XP sounded so much simpler.
Unfortunately he's off to bed now as he has work early tomorrow, so it could now be another week before I can get him to look at this... if I can ever find a method for doing this without having to dive into the registry...

sigh.......

 

[Morph666]

Use Google to find the link I posted for the software I found, that should make it easier...

 

[Mike Connor]

You might like to try this as well;

IconViewer

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Arc]

Hi FranOnTheEdge

As the windows 7 file typoe icons are per calss, thay cannot be changed using the customization tab , as we used to do in XP . There are a few ways to do it though . These are

Free :
1. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/57455-file-extension-icon-change-default-icon.html ;
2. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73191-icons-change-using-resource-hacker.html ; and
3. Windows 7 Library Icon Changer - it is supposed to change the icons in imageres.dll, too .... though I haven't tried it at all .

Paid :
1. Stardock Iconpackager
2. TuneUp Utilities 2011

Unfortunately none of them are hassles free :sarc: Better you make a http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html before opting any one .

 

[Oaken]

The easiest way is to use "Types" a portable freeware for the purpose...

Types (download)

Been using this for months without incident and it's far more reliable than FileTypesMan...

 

[SledgeDG]

There are no files on sourceforge ATM
Try this link for the time being:

Types

-DG

 

[Oaken]

Darn, only downloaded the portable for my niece a short while ago. If anyone prefers the portable version then I can pass it on...