Favicon
- Customize the icon use when URL added to IE favorites,,,
Note : If .html file is not in same directory as icon then specify the alternative location for the icon by adding to html -
<LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" href="
§ Could not test from drive, only online (may be my win settings?)
favicon icon generator.
My thanks to chelle @ redrival.com for pointers to this information.
Windows Icon Control
Change the icon associated with a favorite?
Change the icon associated with a file type?
- From My Computer or Explorer;
: View / Folder Options / File Types.
: Highlight the icon you wish to change from the list of file types
: Select Edit button then the Change Icon button at the top of the edit window
: Windows will open a window displaying the icon file currently in use. If you wish to use an icon from another source click the Browse button & use the window to locate the directory & file you want. The Files of Type box determines which icon formats are displayed for selection - .bmp is not defined you must select all files.
: Choose the icon you want & click ok
Change shortcut icons
- This does not change the icon of the original program - if you prefer your icons embedded in the file, it is quite simple to do with a suitable icon program
- Highlight the icon in question & Right Click / Properties
- Select Shortcut tab if necessary then Change Icon button
- Windows will open a window displaying the icon file currently in use.
If you wish to use an icon from another source click the Browse button & use the window to locate the directory & file you want. The Files of Type box determines which icon formats are displayed for selection.
- Choose the icon you want & click ok
Changing System icons?
- eg. Recycle bin, folders
- Registry
§ Windows 98 Annoyances see Customizing Windows 98
- Software to change system icons
§ ActivIcons. freeware
Replace/restore default Windows mouse cursors & icons, make icon text labels transparent, rebuild the Windows icon cache, replace drive / folder icons, remove shortcut symbols.
§ E-Icons 98 by Giovanni La Sala. freeware
§ More Properties by Donovan Olivier. freeware
§ Microangelo shareware
Microangelo Engineer will replace system icons / cursors & configure icon related settings for windows. {see also} Microangelo 98
- To select which system icons are displayed on the desktop, MS Power Toys
- Windows system icons are stored in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL
Conversion
- Display Version189a.
- Ico2Bmp.
- Icon Collector / Graphics Editor by William Peterson shareware
1st program to convert to macIcon format
- Batch Icon Extractor freeware
- Icon Painter by Colin Mummery - JAVA icon editor shareware
- IconShop v1.03 by Peter Stuer freeware
- Image Magick freeware
Compatibility for 72 file formats.
winIcon > other formats (lots!!!)
Linux, Mac, NT, Unix, VMS, Win95.
- Microangelo 98
- ANY 2 FORMATS You need a suitable editor for each format. Open the original file & copy it (depending on program, you may have to select all before copying). Open an editor which can save in the format you want, paste the copied image & save.
- .BMP TO .ICO. Simply rename with an .ico extension, the .bmp may be any size, it will appear icon sized on the desktop. .ico created this way will be reported by icon programs as an invalid format.
- .GIF to .ICO using Internet Explorer
Highlight .gif / Right click / 'Save Picture as' / Select the bmp extension from the file types drop down menu / Highlight the newly created bitmap in Explorer & rename it with an .ico extension.
I'm told Netscape did this first but it no longer appears to save images in a .bmp format.
Display 256 color icons
- If the beautiful icon you selected appears in different colors on your Desktop & your monitor is capable of displaying more than 256 colors, check
- Monitor Settings in Display Properties
Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display
Settings tab & check the color Palette entry, if it is 256 color, use the drop down menu to select a 16 bit or higher color setting & ok it.
You will need to restart your computer for this to take effect.
- Show All Icon colors
A setting in Windows Registry defines the icon colors on your desktop. The default setting on installation is 8 bit or 256 colors which ironically only displays 16 color icons.
To show all icon colors
- win98
Control Panel / Display / Effects / Show all icon colors
Thanks to <Luis Soczka> for this information
- win95
- Using Microangelo Engineer
Microangelo will enable you to set Show All Icon colors very easily.
Start Engineer & if necessary select the System tab
Click box beside Show Icons Using All Possible colors & apply it.
You will have to restart windows for this to take effect
- I understand MS Plus, AX-Icons & not doubt others by now also allow you to set 'Show Icons Using All Possible colors'
- Using Windows Regedit
WARNING : although you should not do any damage following these instructions, you should be careful when editing the Registry. So as a precaution after opening Regedit, choose Registry / Export Registry File & save it. You can then use Import Registry File to restore your registry if necessary
Open Regedit - C:\WINDOWS\REGEDIT.EXE
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ desktop \ WindowMetrics
Look for an entry Shell Icon BPP. The number is the color depth, highlight the entry, Right Click & select Modify, change the 'Value data' to 16 & ok it then close registry.
If the entry is not present, from the Windows Metrics folder, choose Edit / New / String Value. On creation, rename the new Value to 'Shell Icon BPP' then highlight the entry, Right Click / Modify, enter '16' in 'Value data', ok it & close registry.
You will have to restart windows for this to take effect.
Display first icon in dll/cpl
- Make text file called dll.reg containing the following & add it to the registry
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cplfile\
DefaultIcon]
@="%1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\
DefaultIcon]
@="%1"
Icon Editing/processing
- !conViewer freeware
Check the Hackers Tips for win9x icon control through the registry.
- Avalon Icon Library Viewer freeware
windows 32 bit, exe, dll, ocx, icl, il, nil, view/extract.
- Easy Apps 98
Easy icons & Eisel : win9x, NT?
Easy Icons 16 bit : win3x
- Icon Collector Graphics Editor by William Peterson
First program to convert to macIcon format
excellent editor which can open & save a number of formats
open .ico, .icn, .icl, .cur, .bmp, .dib, .wmf, .dll, .jpg, .iff, .ico, .xbm, .xpm, macIcon
save as .dll, .bmp, .cur, .xpbm, .xpm, icl, .ico, macIcon
shareware : some features disabled in evaluation version : updated monthly
win9x, 32 bit
- Iconmaster : win3x
Classic win .ico - 16 color windows palette, solo image
Excellent for sorting, good basic editor, handles icon libraries/zips
- Icon Painter shareware
JAVA icon editor
PNG, ICO, CUR, BMP, GIF (128 colors), JPEG, ANI
Win9x, Unix
- IconS
IconS lets you search and extract icons from .ico-, .exe-, .dll-, .nil-, .cpl- and icl-files and save founded
images as .bmp-, .gif-, .jpg- or .ico-file.
View icons with 256 colors made with Microangelo or similar program. English, Russian, German, French and Italian interface
- IconShop by Peter Stuer : v1.03 freeware
Read/write ICL icon libraries. Views multiple icons.
Extract icons from Macintosh icons, resources, IconDropper icon packs/executables, including MacOS 8.5 24-bit icons.
Convert bitmap files to icons.
Export icons from a library in icon, cursor or bitmap format.
- Iconutils
ICO, BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, CUR, ANI, PSD, WMF and WBMP
95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP
- Microangelo 98
.ico /.gif
Browse, extract, edit, animate, convert to gif.
Engineer will replace system icons / cursors & configure icon related settings for windows.
Animator does not show/allow author/title credits
win9x, NT, XP
Fix Icons not displayed correctly by Windows
- Windows default icons are displayed (usually caused by deleting/moving an icon file or changes made editing icons are not reflected in icons displayed
- To correct, you need to rebuild the icon cache
- Delete a file called ShellIconCache, which is in the Windows directory. When you restart the computer, the icons will be back to normal.
- Ax-Icons Rebuild icon cache option
- Microangelo Engineer Rebuild icon cache option
Print Icons
- Easy Icons
Excellent control over spacing & sizing when printing icons but doesn't handle multiple image icons
- Ax-Icons
Printing from multiple image icons but only one category at a time
View Icons
- GIFs
As long as your browser can view graphics, you can use it to view gifs just open or drag the gif onto the browser. Netscape allows easy viewing of multiple gifs - select the gifs & drag onto the the browser, you can then use the back & forward arrows of the browser to view the images.
- ICOs
Win9x, just open the directory with Explorer & there they are.
- {see also} Graphics Resources
Windows file formats for icons
- Executables : EXE DLL OCX
Icon Libraries : ICL NIL
Resources : ANI BMP CUR ICO RES
- Interchangeable file extensions
Basically they ain't but they do behave strangely.
Windows desktop control & a number of icon viewers will access the icons no matter what extension you give the file - if the permitted file types in a progam have been restricted, you may have to use an accepted format to open a window then drag the file across to try this.
The ICO extension has an additional variation, a BMP given an ICO extension will appear as an icon for desktop purposes, large images will appear icon sized on the desktop. An ICO created this way will be reported by icon programs as an invalid format.
- Icons & Cursors
- Microsoft Windows Cursor and Icon Format
- Icons in Win32
- XP
Windows XP icon format has 8-bit alpha channel transparency - smooth edges
- {see also} Conversion
- {see also} File formats.
The Iconolog
adapted by afactor
dated 13 April 1997 updated 20 January2007
©