How customize desktop icons - and make it 'stick'?

[Admiral Awesome]

I like to change the standard, boring, default folder icons to something meaningful and neat-looking from an excellent icon pack which I have got my hot little hands on.

Like

'A meal.'

or

Sometimes they stay changed, often they revert to standard, even after several reboots/weeks. How make my changes permanent?

Thank you.

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[vellfire]

Online Tool

Generally, I made a ton of custom shortcut icons by using this website :
X-Icon Editor

 

[Admiral Awesome]

Generally, I made a ton of custom shortcut icons by using this website :
X-Icon Editor

Thanks for the link vellfire! But..the question was how to make icon changes permanent, not how to customize the icons. But thx just the same.

 

[RoWin7]

Tell me if you do this: I right-click on the icon, click either "Customize" or "change icon" depending on whether it's a system folder, then navigate to my new icon. They stay put.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Icons are pretty interesting as to how many images are needed to accommodate all of the different sizes icons can be sized too.
Which possibly the icons you're using are not compliant to these different sizes ?
Here's one tutorial that came up
Devices and Printers - Change Device Icons with Custom Icons

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've found that, after I arrange my icons the way I want them, right clicking on an empty spot on my desktop, then left clicking on Refresh on the pop-up menu will make my desktop icons stay put.

 

[RoWin7]

That's only Devices and Printers, Thrashzone. My desktop icons stick, and most of them are 16 x 16, with a few 32 x 32. I've been using the same collection since Win 98. But when I replaced the main folder icon in Win Explorer, that had to be 256 x 256, because it's a system-wide icon. Desktop icons not so.

Off-Topic, but all of you might also be interested in this: Desktop Restore, which records the icon arrangement on the desktop, and restores that in case Safe Mode screws it up.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yea I don't know what the op means by "stick" I doubt any one but him/ her does
A proper .ico file would have a 8x-16x-32x-64x-128x-256x all in the same file if not one might have issues with the icon "sticking" and not reverting to the default icon or blank

 

[RoWin7]

@ThrashZone--"Yea I don't know what the op means by "stick" I doubt any one but him/ her does"

S/he means they revert back when s/he reboots. And 8x is obsolete, but that's a good suggestion.

@Admiral Awesome--give it a go with the 16x-32-128-256

Or try this search for other sites:
windows 7 custom icons won't stay at DuckDuckGo

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Details view of folders and subfolders isn't really obsolete
There are a lot of different sizes as I said and switching a folders size or windows explorer view will trigger changes.
It's best to have complete ico files
A lot of people also use ctrl+scroll wheel to adjust icon sizes quickly since small/ medium and large.. are usually not ideal.

 

[Admiral Awesome]

Thanks ThrashZone, point well taken

 

[RoWin7]

Hi,
Details view of folders and subfolders isn't really obsolete
There are a lot of different sizes as I said and switching a folders size or windows explorer view will trigger changes.
It's best to have complete ico files
A lot of people also use ctrl+scroll wheel to adjust icon sizes quickly since small/ medium and large.. are usually not ideal.

I meant 8px is obsolete.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I know what you meant
But if interested in seeing just how many files are in each ico file
Use free gimp it will show each file as a layer
GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program