Drive Icon - Change

How to Change a Drive Icon in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to change a drive icon for an internal or external drive that has a drive letter in the Computer window to any icon you want for just your or all user accounts in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

   Tip

If your default drive icon is missing or was changed and you did not do it with the methods below, then look for a hidden (not always hidden though) autorun.inf file (OPTION ONE below) in the root directory of the affected drive, right click on the autorun.inf file, and click on Delete. Next, approve the deletion. If this was an external device, then you may need to disconnect and reconnect the device for the icon to appear afterwards.

   Warning

If you select to use a custom icon of your own, then it must be a 256x256 pixel icon (.ico) file for it to display properly in all icon sizes.

EXAMPLE: C Drive icon - Default and Changed

OPTION ONE

Change a Drive Icon using a "autorun.inf" File

NOTE: While this option can be used for any drive, it is really useful for external drives like a USB flash drive.
1. Set your known file extentions to no longer be hidden.
NOTE: This way you will be able to rename the file extension in step 3 below.

2. Connect and/or open the drive that you want to change the icon of.

3. In the root of the drive that you want to change the icon of, right click or press and hold on an empty space, and click/tap on New and Text Document. Rename this .txt file to autorun.inf, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: If you already have a autorun.inf file in the root of this drive, then skip this step and proceed to step 4.




4. Copy the icon .ico file (ex: Thumb_Drive.ico) that you want to use to the root of the drive that you want to change the icon of. (see right screenshot below)

5. If this is a New autorun.inf File
A) Open the autorun.inf file, then type each line below followed by pressing enter. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Substitute icon file name with the actual name of your icon file (ex: Thumb_Drive.ico) from step 4.

[autorun]
icon="[B][COLOR=red]icon file name[/COLOR][/B].ico"

B) Click/tap on File (menu bar) and Save, then close the autorun.inf file. (see screenshot above)
6. If you already have an autorun.inf File
NOTE: Be sure that you also check the Show hidden files, folders, and drives option in Folder Options in case the existing autorun.inf file (if there) may have been hidden.
A) Open the autorun.inf file, then add or change the icon= line below. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: Substitute icon file name with the actual name of your icon file (ex: Thumb_Drive.ico) from step 4.

[autorun]
[B]icon="[COLOR=red]icon file name[/COLOR].ico"[/B]

B) Click/tap on File (menu bar) and Save, then close the autorun.inf file. (see screenshots above)
7. If this is for an Internal or eSATA Dive
A) Restart the computer to apply.
8. If this is for an External Dive
A) Unplug and plug in the drive to apply.
9. Open the Computer window to see the changes.

   Note

To Restore the Default Icon


You would just need to do either option below and repeat steps 7 to 9 above.

• Delete the autorun.inf and .ico file.

OR

• If you have other lines (ex: label=) in the autorun.inf while editing it that you wish to continue using, then remove the icon= line entry for the drive, and save the changes.

OPTION TWO

Change a Drive Icon in Registry Editor for Current User Account Only

1. If you did OPTION ONE previously, then you will need to either remove the icon=icon file name.ico entry from the autorun.inf file, or delete the autorun.inf file in the root of the drive that you want to change the icon of.

2. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.

3. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes (Windows 7/8) or Continue (Vista).

4. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes

5. In the left pane, right click on Classes, click/tap on New and Key, type Applications, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the Applications key under Classes, then go to step 6. (see screenshot above and below)

6. In the left pane, right click on Applications, click/tap on New and Key, type Explorer.exe, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the Explorer.exe key under Applications, then go to step 7. (see screenshot above and below)

7. In the left pane, right click on Explorer.exe, click/tap on New and Key, type Drives, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the Drives key under Explorer.exe, then go to step 8. (see screenshot above and below)

8. In the left pane, right click on Drives, click/tap on New and Key, type the drive letter (ex: C ) that you want to change the icon for, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the drive letter (ex: C ) key under Drives, then go to step 9. (see screenshot above and below)

9. In the left pane, right click on the drive letter (ex: C ), click/tap on New and Key, type DefaultIcon, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the DefaultIcon key under the drive letter (ex: C ), then go to step 10, 11, or 12. (see screenshot above and below)

10. To Restore the Default Drive Icon
A) Right click on the drive letter (ex: C ) from step 8 above that you want to restore, and click/tap on Delete and Yes. (see screenshot below step 8)

B) Go to step 14.
11. To Use a Custom Icon of Your Own
A) Make sure that the icon is unblocked if not already.

B) Make sure that the icon is located in a folder where you have access permission rights. The icon will need to stay here for as long as you are using it for the drive icon, otherwise it will break the link and no longer display as the drive's icon.

C) In the right pane of DefaultIcon, double click/tap on (Default) to modify it. (see screenshot below step 9)

D) In the Modify window, type this below, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Substitute with your icons full path and name with file extension in quotes instead.

"[B][COLOR=red]full path of the icon file with file extension[/COLOR][/B]"

FOR EXAMPLE:

"G:\Windows 7 PNG Files\Start_Orb.ico"

E) Go to step 13.
12. To Use another Icon Included in Windows 7
A) Download and install the free program IconViewer for your 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7.
NOTE: This program will add a Icons tab to files (ex: imageres.dll) that contain a icon library in them so you can see the icons available in it.

B) In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll and right click on imageres.dll, click on Properties, and click on the Icons tab.
NOTE: You can use any of the Windows 7 files that include icons in them that you want though. This is just the most common one.

C) Scroll through the icons and make note of the icon number of the one you want to use to replace the default file extension icon with, then close the properties window. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, icon number 36 for the default C drive icon.

D) In the right pane of DefaultIcon, double click/tap on (Default) to modify it. (see screenshot below step 9)

E) In the Modify window, type in the location below, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

[B][COLOR=red](full path of the Windows 7 file with file extension)[/COLOR][/B],-[B][COLOR=red]####[/COLOR][/B]

FOR EXAMPLE:

C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,-36

13. The registry should look similar to this now depending on the icon path you entered in either step 11 or 12. (see screenshot below)

12. Close Regedit.

13. The changes should be immediate, but in some cases you may need to restart the computer to apply the changes. If the drive icon does not change for you using this option, then try OPTION ONE or OPTION THREE to change it instead.

OPTION THREE

Change a Drive Icon in Registry Editor for All User Accounts

NOTE: You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do this option.
1. If you did OPTION ONE previously, then you will need to either remove the icon=icon file name.ico entry from the autorun.inf file, or delete the autorun.inf file in the root of the drive that you want to change the icon of.

2. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.

3. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes (Windows 7/8) or Continue (Vista).

4. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

5. In the left pane, right click on Explorer, click/tap on New and Key, type DriveIcons, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the DriveIcons key under Explorer, then go to step 6. (see screenshot above and below)

6. In the left pane, right click on DriveIcons and click/tap on New and Key, type the drive letter (ex: C ) that you want to change the icon for, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the drive letter (ex: C ) key under DriveIcons, then go to step 7. (see screenshot above and below)

7. In the left pane, right click on the drive letter (ex: C ), click/tap on New and Key, type DefaultIcon, and press Enter.
NOTE: If you already have the DefaultIcon key under the drive letter (ex: C ), then go to step 8, 9, or 10. (see screenshot above and below)

8. To Restore the Default Drive Icon
A) Right click on the drive letter (ex: C ) from step 6 above that you want to restore, and click/tap on Delete and Yes. (see screenshot below step 6)

B) Go to step 12.
9. To Use a Custom Icon of Your Own
A) Make sure that the icon is unblocked if not already.

B) Make sure that the icon is located in a folder (ex: a C:\Users\Public folder) where all users (everyone) have access permission rights. The icon will need to stay here for as long as you are using it for the drive icon, otherwise it will break the link and no longer display as the drive's icon.

C) In the right pane of DefaultIcon, double click/tap on (Default) to modify it. (see screenshot below step 7)

D) In the Modify window, type this below, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Substitute with your icons full path and name with file extension in quotes instead.

"[B][COLOR=red]full path of the icon file with file extension[/COLOR][/B]"

FOR EXAMPLE:

"G:\Windows 7 PNG Files\Start_Orb.ico"

   Warning

The custom icon file that you are using must be saved at a location that can be accessed by all user accounts for it to be displayed in all user accounts. For example, in the C:\Users\Public folder.

E) Go to step 11.
10. To Use another Icon Included in Windows 7
A) Download and install the free program IconViewer for your 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7.
NOTE: This program will add a Icons tab to files (ex: imageres.dll) that contain a icon library in them so you can see the icons available in it.

B) In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll and right click on imageres.dll, click on Properties, and click on the Icons tab.
NOTE: You can use any of the Windows 7 files that include icons in them that you want though. This is just the most common one.

C) Scroll through the icons and make note of the icon number of the one you want to use to replace the default file extension icon with, then close the properties window. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, icon number 36 for the default C drive icon.

D) In the right pane of DefaultIcon, double click/tap on (Default) to modify it. (see screenshot below step 7)

E) In the Modify window, type in the location below, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

[B][COLOR=red](full path of the Windows 7 file with file extension)[/COLOR][/B],-[B][COLOR=red]####[/COLOR][/B]

FOR EXAMPLE:

C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,-36

11. The registry should look similar to this now depending on the icon path you entered in either step 9 or 10. (see screenshot below)

12. Close Regedit.

13. The changes should be immediate, but in some cases you may need to restart the computer to apply the changes.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Rename a Drive in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Hide or Show Empty Drives in Windows 7 Computer Folder
• How to Show Windows 7 Computer Drive Letters Before or After Drive Name
• How to Rebuild the Icon Cache in Windows 7
• How to Change or Restore Default Windows 7 Desktop Icons
• How to Restore Windows 7 Default User Folder Icons
• How to Change the Default Icon of a File Extension in Windows 7
• How to Change Windows 7 Default Control Panel Icons
• How to Change the Windows 7 Default Folder Icon
• How to Change Windows 7 Default Folder Icons using Resource Hacker
• How to Change the Open Folder Icon in Windows 7
• How to Change a Library Icon in Windows 7
• How to Change the Default Libraries Icon in Windows 7
• How to Change Windows 7 System Icons Using Resource Hacker
• How to Add, Change, or Remove a Drive Letter in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Pin or Unpin a Drive to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Change a Folder Icon in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Completely Block Autorun.inf Files in Windows

 

[yowanvista]

Brink,


I recently installed Acronis True Image Home 2011 and now the drive icons for all my hard drive's partitions are not showing. See the picture attached below. Any ideas on how to restore the default icons.The registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons is empty.

http://forum.acronis.com/sites/default/files/forum/2011/02/19107/clipboard01.png

Thanks.

Try that
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/49819-icon-cache-rebuild.html

 

[Brink]

Hello Mojonba, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If rebuilding the icon cache suggested by Yowan above doesn't help, then.......

Double check to see if you have the registry location below, and that it is empty as well.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons

Also, check using OPTION ONE to see if you may have a autorun.inf file in the root directory of these HDDs as well.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[mojonba]

thanks for the replies guys,

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons doesnot exist.

Rebuilding icon cache didnot work. And there is not autorun.inf in any drive.

 

[Brink]

Mojonba,

When you were looking for a autorun.inf file, did you also check the Show hidden files, folders, and drivesoption in Folder Options in case the autorun.inf file may have been hidden?

 

[mojonba]

Yes hidden & os protected files are shown.

 

[Brink]

Mojonba,

Since that looks good, lets try downloading and merging the drive option in the tutorial below and restarting the computer afterwards. This will restore the default associations for drives which also includes the default icon. If something else it not changing your icon, then hopefully this may restore the default icon.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/19449-default-file-type-associations-restore.html

 

[mojonba]

Brink

I downloaded and ran Default_Drive.reg, restarted and nothing. Still no default icons. Unless you have other ideas to restore the default icon, I believe my only option is to setup a custom icon with the default icon.

Thanks.

 

[Brink]

Mojonba,

LOL, that was going to be my next suggestion to do OPTION ONE or OPTION THREE in the tutorial for a custom icon using the default icons in the imageress.dll file.

 

[mojonba]

Brinks,

I did just that, a custom icon based on the default icon and all is good now. Thanks for the help.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Mojonba. That's great news.

 

[Spirit Wolfe]

I am not a "newbie" to registry hacks. I use UltraEdit as my "ultimate" text editor and UltraCompare for checking files that are the same. But I seem to have a hard time CREATING my own .reg entries. Brink, could you please upload a ZIPped .reg file so that I can edit it with the types of ICONS that I want to use so I can understand how this works better. Every time I seem to export certain segments of my registry to use later if (and when my system decides to "tank" again I can just merge the file with my new registry. Thanks. Since this is first (I think) post I would like to say that I really enjoy the vast information that this site and your knowledge has enlightened me and helped me in my endeavors.

Incidentally, I will get A LOT of use out of that Icon "Tab" program that you suggested...

What is the best program to use for Windows 7 x64 (Ultimate) to automate the process where it will pull out ALL of the icons, including the PNG icons (256x256x32).

 

[Brink]

Hello Spirit Wolfe, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I'm not sure if the REG file will help much since it will look different than what you type, but here's an example based on using OPTION THREE. If you follow that option step by step and use step 9 for your custom icon, then it should work out ok. If not, then please let me know. I'll be happy to help.

 

[zinbart]

Hello Brink,

I have 3 partitions on my HDD and i will be using Option 3, the manual registry thing.
So now do i have to create new keys for each partition and then create new subkey Defaulticon for all?
Ex: one key for C, one for D, one for E Partitons?

Also, is it the same procedure for my optical drives & virtual drive?

I would also like if you could suggest sum more safe software tht could change automatically, as the one mentioned here doesnt create desktop/start menu shorcuts.

PS: Using x64bits

 

[Brink]

Hello Zinbart,

Yes, you would need to create a different drive letter subkey under DefaultIcons in step 6 Option Three for each drive letter that you wanted to change the drive icon for.

You could manually create shortcuts of the drives on the desktop and Start Menu if you like without 3rd party software.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[JennB213]

Thank YOU !!

Hi Shawn,

Well, I finally found this Tutorial ...
I searched within Seven Forums and never did find it.
I used "Google" and found the Tutorial there.

I so Thank YOU, I now have my DRIVE icon straightened out.
I have also bookmarked this in case it happens to me again.

I have no idea why my D: drive's icon went generic.
I have two internal drives,
C: and D: and the C: drive was okay.
Anyway, things are fixed now THANKS to YOU.

I appreciate the time and effort you put into these tutorials.
They are always so easy to follow.
You are definitely

Again, THANKS so very much.

Jenn
​

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Jenn.

 

[JennB213]

Icon Help

Hi Shawn.

Well looks like I got excited a little to quick.

My Internal Hard drive (D: drive) works perfectly ...

However when I fixed my EXTERNAL Drive (G: drive) I've got a problem.

From outward appearance the assigned Icon looks okay ..

Now onto my problem .....

The assigned ICON (Heart) is showing inside EVERY Sub-Folder on my Drive.

I took a Screen Shot of my Paint Shop Pro folder to show you.

This is only ONE Folder ALL the SubFolders in every category are the same.

Any idea what could have happened to this EXTERNAL Drive ?

Like I said, my INTERNAL Drive is fine and I did them both the same way.

I sure hope you can help me because that big red heart is terribly distracting.
Not enough love in the world for all that.

Thank YOU in advance for ANY help.

Jenn
​

 

[Brink]

Hello Jenn,

It looks like they really like you.

Could you post back with a full copy of the autorun.inf file's text when you edit it to see if there might be a mistake made in it?

 

[JennB213]

@ Shawn/Brink

Hello Jenn,

It looks like they really like you.

Could you post back with a full copy of the autorun.inf file's text when you edit it to see if there might be a mistake made in it?

Hello Shawn,

Here is a Screenshot showing the Dreaded Heart Icon ..
Along with the Autorun file opened.

Also, When I VIEW FILES on this G: drive ..
All the Main Folders are not having this issue.

I have to open a Main Folder then ..
ALL the SUB-FOLDERS inside are
marked with the DREADED HEART ICON ...
UNLESS, it's been assigned a dedicated icon.

Do you think if I deleted the Heart Icon and Autorun.inf file
and started this all over that it might work ..
Or do you think I should go into the Registry and see what's up.

I've only fooled inside the registry a couple of times but I do
understand the Explorer TREE for lack of a better word.

I could do it with instructions from you because
your directions are always very clear.

Would appreciate any help you can share with me.
I'm totally perplexed with this one.
Thank YOU so much.

Jenn
​

 

[Brink]

Jenn,

You might see if clearing both the thumbnail cache and icon cache may help first. If not, then delete the autorun.inf file, restart, and try again to see if they still show or not to start over.