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All my program icons in Windows 7 have disappeared:

like that

What could be causing this? I followed the instructions in this question but it didn't fix them. What can I do?

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Does it work in another user account? –  Vervious Aug 25 '10 at 1:19
No. Other account doesn't work too. –  siracel Aug 26 '10 at 6:09
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2 Answers

I also have a suggestion which may be completely useless (since it's very situation specific) but worth a try:

  • run regedit
  • navicate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\IconHandler
  • check if the value is {00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}. if not change it (back up the registry key first, I'm not responsible if something bad happens, since I've never done this to my own computer before)


  • then navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile\shellex\IconHandler
  • also backup and change its value to {00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} if not already done so

  • restart computer

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Thank you so much! It is fixed! It works! :) Solved! –  siracel Aug 26 '10 at 6:16
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(How to Geek)

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I think he means the icon image files (.ico?) are not properly displaying in the task bar. –  Thomas B. Aug 24 '10 at 23:46
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