Published by

**Brink** · 05 Dec 2007

How to Change a Drive Icon in Vista

Information

This will show you how to change any drive icon that uses a drive letter to whatever icon you want in a user account. These will be the ones that show up in Computer with a drive letter.

Note

This is not to fix a missing or changed drive icon that just happened out of the blue, but to replace it with one you want instead of the default one. If the drive icon went missing or changed to some odd one, then try rebuilding the icon cache first. See: How to Rebuild the Icon Cache in Vista
If you want to also rename the drive, then see: How to Rename a Drive in Vista

Warning

The icons you decide to use must be a 256x256 bit .ico (icon) file, not .png, to be used in Vista without viewing problems. A png file must be converted to a 256x256 ico file before it can be used. To convert a PNG to ICO you must use a program such as this with a free 30 day trial program called: Axialis IconWorkshop: Axialis IconWorkshop Download Page

Tip

The default icon path for the C:\ drive is located at C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,30.
Here's a good location for some free icons: deviantArt: Dock Icons
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 when you open the drive letter in Computer and right click on the autorun.inf file and click on Delete. Next, approve the deletion.

EXAMPLE: METHOD ONE Before and After Drive Icon Change

EXAMPLE: METHOD TWO Before and After Drive Icon Change

OPTION ONE

For a Single User Account

NOTE: This will only change the drive icons for the user account that you are currently logged on in.

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes

5. In the left pane, right click on Classes and click on New and Key.
NOTE: If you already have the Applications key under Classes, then go to step 7.

6. Type Applications and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

7. In the left pane, right click on Applications and click on New and Key.
NOTE: If you already have the Explorer.exe key under Applications, then go to step 9.

8. Type Explorer.exe and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

9. In the left pane, right click on Explorer.exe and click on New and Key.
NOTE: If you already have the Drives key under Explorer.exe, then go to step 11.

10. Type Drives and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

11. In the left pane, right click on Drives and click on New and Key.
NOTE: If you already have the Drive Letter (EX: C) key under Drives, then go to step 13.

12. Type the drive letter (EX: C) you want to change the drive icon for and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

13. In the left pane, right click on the drive letter (EX: C) and click on New and Key.
NOTE: If you already have the DefaultIcon key under the drive letter, then go to step 15.

14. Type DefaultIcon and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

15. In the right pane, right click on (Default) and click on Modify.

16. To Restore the Default Drive Icon

A) Empty the Value data field and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 17)
B) Go to step 19.

17. To Change the Drive Icon

A) Type in the full path of where the icon is saved at and click OK.
(EX: C:\Users\Everyday\Downloads\HDD Black.ico)
NOTE: The icon will need to remain in it's location for as long as you are using it. You can use any icon (.ico file) you want, or one that came with Vista. (EX: A .dll file path) See the How to Use a DLL OR EXE Icon Library Filebelow.

18. The registry should look similar to this now. (See screenshot below)

19. Close regedit.
NOTE: The change will be immediate. If you have Computer open, then you may need to press F5 to refresh the window to see the new icon. If you used a wrong icon size for the drive icon, then you may need to change the window's icon size in the View or Views menu to a smaller size.

20. Repeat steps 11 to 19 if you want to add another drive letter icon to change.

21. In some cases, you may need to restart the computer to apply the changes.

Tip

How to Use another Icon from Vista

A) Download and install the free program IconViewer for your 32-bit or 64-bit Vista.
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 Vista 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.

OPTION TWO

For All User Accounts

NOTE: This method can be helpful for using with optical (DVD) or removable drives.
CREDIT TO: Member:AvatarOfTheShip

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer

5. In the left pane, right click on explorer.exe and click on New and Key.

6. Type DriveIcons and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

7. In the left pane, right click on DriveIcons and click on New and Key.

8. Type the drive letter (EX: D) you want to change the drive icon for and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

9. In the left pane, right click on the drive letter (EX: D) and click on New and Key.
NOTE: If you already have the DefaultIcon key under the drive letter, then go to step 11.

10. Type DefaultIcon and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

11. In the right pane, right click on (Default) and click on Modify.

12. To Restore the Default Drive Icon

A) Empty the Value data: field and click OK. (See screenshot below step 13)

B) Go to step 15.

13. To Change the Drive Icon

A) Type in the full path of where the icon is saved at and click OK.
(EX: C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,31)
NOTE: The icon will need to remain in it's location for as long as you are using it. You can use any icon (.ico file) you want, or one that came with Vista. (EX: A .dll file path) See the How to Use a DLL OR EXE Icon Library Fileabove.

14. The registry should look similar to this now. (See screenshot below)

15. To Rename the Dive
NOTE: This is helpful for something like a DVD (optical) drive since they cannot be renamed through the normal method here: How to Rename a Drive in Vista
If you do not want to rename the drive, then skip this step and go to step 16 below instead.

A) In the left pane, right click on the drive letter (Ex: D) and click on New and Key. (See screenshot below)

B) Type DefaultLabel and press Enter.

C) In the right pane, right click on (Default) and click on Modify.

D) Type the name you want (Ex: DVD-RW) and click OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: To Restore the Default Drive Name, leave this blank.

E) The registry will now look similar to this. (See screenshot below)

16. Close regedit.
NOTE: The change will be immediate. If you have Computer open, then you may need to press F5 to refresh the window to see the new icon. If you used a wrong icon size for the drive icon, then you may need to change the window's icon size in the View or Views menu to a smaller size.

17. Repeat steps 7 to 16 if you want to add another drive letter icon to change.

18. In some cases, you may need to restart the computer to apply the changes.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

**niGht kiD** · 05 Dec 2007

Thanks so much again Shawn, for taking your time to write this tutorial

I've tried the Vista Manager that u recommended me yesterday. The Icon Manager is easy to use but I notice a small problem in changing the icon of control panel(not those icons in control panel, but the control panel itself). The icon I chose only applies to the one in Start Menu, the icon of control panel on my desktop & navigation window still remain the same. I just like to find out if there's way to fix it

Thanks!

**Brink** · 05 Dec 2007

niGht kiD,

I have not found a way to change the Control Panel icon you are wanting to change yet. Have you tried the trial download for Microangelo On Display yet? It looks like it would do a better job the Vista Manager with icons.

http://www.microangelo.us/free-icon-editor-download.asp

Shawn

**Brink** · 05 Dec 2007

Originally Posted by niGht kiD

Thanks so much again Shawn, for taking your time to write this tutorial

I've tried the Vista Manager that u recommended me yesterday. The Icon Manager is easy to use but I notice a small problem in changing the icon of control panel(not those icons in control panel, but the control panel itself). The icon I chose only applies to the one in Start Menu, the icon of control panel on my desktop & navigation window still remain the same. I just like to find out if there's way to fix it

Thanks!

niGht kiD,

I finally found out how to change the Control Panel icon you were wanting to change.

See: How to Change the Desktop Control Panel Icon in Vista

Have fun,
Shawn

**scr621** · 05 Jan 2008

I followed your instructions & neither of these registry edits work for me:

C:\Windows\system32\shell32.dll(305)
C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll(305)
C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,305
C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll\305

basically the image for hard drive (local drive c) is missing on my system & I tried to repair & rebuid it to no avail

Before I sign off please note that I totally love this forum & u guys are da' bomb! I say this becuase whenever I have a problem with my PC a google search always leads me to this forum which is how I found it in the 1st place

I've fixed so many issues via this forum!

**Brink** · 05 Jan 2008

Hi Scr621,

It should be C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,30 instead.

Shawn

**scr621** · 05 Jan 2008

Originally Posted by brink

Hi Scr621,

It should be C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,30 instead.

Shawn

Thanx,
but still won't work for me

Woe is me

**Brink** · 05 Jan 2008

Scr621,

Double check the steps to make sure that you do not have a typo somewhere and that you have added all the registry keys. Did you do anything that you can think of that may have caused it to go away?

Shawn

**scr621** · 05 Jan 2008

Originally Posted by brink

Scr621,

Double check the steps to make sure that you do not have a typo somewhere and that you have added all the registry keys. Did you do anything that you can think of that may have caused it to go away?

Shawn

Checked till I'm blue in the face & followed all the steps to the letter

I checked & I followed the instructions. The icon just simply vanished one day!

**Brink** · 05 Jan 2008

Scr621,

This tutorial isn't really for fixing a missing drive icon, but I suppose it was worth a shot.

Try running a sfc /scannow command to see if it can find and fix the problem for you.

How to Repair and Verify the Integrity of Vista System Files with System File Checker

If that does not help, then you can do a Repair install. This will allow you to repair your Vista installation without losing your files, settings, and programs.

How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista

I hope this helps you,
Shawn

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